Lackawanna League Division 4 boys basketball underwent a leadership change Tuesday night.
Forest City took down preseason favorite and early leader Blue Ridge, 60-58, to end the night sharing first place in the division with Montrose, a team that finished tied for last a year ago.
D.J. Heath scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead Forest City to the home-court victory.
The game was close throughout with the teams separated by one point after each of the first three quarters and Blue Ridge getting a shot in the closing seconds that would have forced overtime.
Forest City led, 17-16, after one quarter.
Blue Ridge took a 26-25 halftime lead and held a 40-39 lead going to the fourth quarter.
Forest City surged in front, then made just enough free throws to hold on. Heath went 6-for-8 and the Foresters were 10-for-16 as a team from the line in the fourth quarter.
Dylan Bezek had six points and Collin Bailer five in the first quarter for Forest City.
Bezek finished with 11 points while Bailer and Max Urbas added 8 each.
Connor Cranage and J.J. Rosa each had six points in the fourth quarter for Blue Ridge.
Cranage finished with 17 points, Carson Gallagher had 14 with the help of four 3-pointers and Rosa had 10.
Forest City is 5-1 since a 1-5 start with the only loss in that stretch coming in a competitive game with defending Lackawanna Division 3 champion Mid Valley.
More important for the Foresters than reaching .500 overall is getting to 4-0 in the division, matching Montrose’s start.
Blue Ridge, the No. 6 Small School boys team in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams, had been 4-0 in the division prior to Tuesday and came in on a six-game winning streak. The Raiders fell to 9-2.
In other Tuesday Lackawanna Division 4 boys games:
Montrose 56, Elk Lake 43
Sammy Stashko scored 19 points to lead visiting Montrose, which has also won five of its last six, including a 4-0 start in the division.
The Meteors and 6-7 overall in their first season under coach Bernardo Cruz after going 2-10 in the division and 3-16 overall last season.
Levi Smith hit two 3-pointers and Zack Funk scored six points each as Montrose took a 17-9 lead after one quarter.
Funk and Jack Russell finished with 11 points each.
The Meteors offset a career-high, 31-point effort by Elk Lake’s Wyatt Casselbury.
Montrose led 26-18 at halftime.
Casselbury scored 17 in the second half. He had eight in the third quarter, but Russell hit two 3-pointers to help keep the Meteors in control, 37-31.
Montrose then stretched the lead with the help of 7-for-10 foul shooting in the fourth quarter. Stashko went 5-for-6 while scoring his last seven points.
Mountain View 55, Susquehanna 42
Zayandre Bradford scored 19 points to lead the way as Mountain View snapped a nine-game overall losing streak in a meeting between two of the last three winless teams.
Susquehanna and Lackawanna Trail, which lost to Carbondale, 71-40, in non-league play Tuesday, remain winless overall.
