By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
FORMAT: There are three rounds, with higher-seeded teams hosting the first two rounds, before the championship game is played at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Both finalists advance to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament.
2022 RECAP: Pittston Area routed North Pocono, 59-26, for the championship. The higher-seeded team won every game.
HIGHEST SEEDS: 1. Abington Heights; 2. Dallas; 3. Pittston Area.
DIVISION CHAMPIONS: Dallas won Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and North Pocono won Lackawanna League Division 2.
RANKED TEAMS: Dallas is second, Abington Heights third and North Pocono fifth among Big School boys teams in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams. Pittston Area was ranked for much of the season.
WINNING RECORDS: Dallas 20-4, Abington Heights 19-4, North Pocono 13-9, Pittston Area 12-8, Crestwood 12-10, West Scranton 12-10.
BEST OPENER: West Scranton had a 22-point lead on Pittston Area in the third quarter of their Dec. 17 meeting before the Patriots rallied for a 49-48 victory. The rematch is at Pittston Area in the quarterfinals. The defending champion Patriots are winless in February. After ending February on a six-game winning streak to get to 14-4, they have lost four straight, all by a dozen or more points.
KEY GAME: With top-seeded Abington Heights stumbling down the stretch – the Comets have lost three of the last five after starting 17-1 – there could be an opportunity for the team facing the Comets coming off their quarterfinal bye in Friday’s semifinals. Lackawanna League Division 2 champion North Pocono is at Crestwood for the right to face Abington Heights.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Mason Fedor, Ryan Nealon, Will Marion and Robby Lucas from Abington Heights; Darius Wallace and Michael Bufalino from Dallas; Anthony Cencetti and Silvio Giardina from Pittston Area; Drew Sechleer from Crestwood; A.J. Nemitz and Chris Walsh from North Pocono; Evan Laybourn-Boddie and Tristan Lee from West Scranton; and Jake Holbert from Wallenpaupack.
NOTEWORTHY: Abington Heights finished tied for first place, but lost to Valley View in a playoff for the division title. … Dallas is coming off a loss to Holy Redeemer Saturday night in the championship game of the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament. … The tournament includes two 2022 district champions. Dallas won the title in Class 4A last year and went all the way to the state semifinals. … Although all 7 teams in the field reached double figures in wins and are a collective 43 games above .500, all but Crestwood and North Pocono enter the tournament after losses in their most recent games. North Pocono has won four straight. … Pittston Area coach Al Semenza reached 500 career wins in January. Ken Bianchi from Abington Heights, District 2’s all-time winningest coach, moved past 850 wins this season. … Wallenpaupack’s Holbert scored 40 points in a loss at Scranton Prep.
QUOTABLE: Pittston Area coach Semenza following a 48-35 loss to eventual champion Holy Redeemer in the semifinals of the WVC Tournament: “We’ve lost four straight, but we’ve lost to four pretty good basketball teams. You take a look at who beat us. I thought we gave a good effort tonight, so I think that was a positive step. I never like to lose, but there were some positive things that we haven’t done in the past three games, so I think we got a little bit of our (game) back.” The other losses were to Dallas (70-47), Tunkhannock (72-49) and Wyoming Valley West (57-45).
North Pocono coach Pat Shields, after clinching the division title, on Noah West, who became the team’s point guard this season after Ryan Ruddy ran the team for four years: “Noah really rose to the occasion. He became a team leader and made the players around him better.”
West Scranton coach Mike Fazzi, on forward Tristan Lee, in a late-season interview: “He’s a physical force for us. He’s averaging a double-double for us and he’s come a long way this year.”
