EDITOR’S NOTE: The second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association basketball tournament for District 2 teams was played in its entirety Wednesday. While NEPASportsNation.com compiles more complete reports, here is a quick recap.
By Tom Robinson and Paul Gerrity, NEPASportsNation.com
The last two District 2 boys teams emerged from a doubleheader at Hazleton Area High School while wins by the district’s girls teams were spread around five different gyms throughout the eastern half of the state.
When the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament played out Wednesday night, District 2 had another cumulative winning record. District 2 teams went 7-6 in the round, making them 20-14 for the first two rounds of state play.
The Abington Heights and Holy Cross boys, as well as the Scranton Prep, Dunmore, Lake-Lehman, Montrose and Mountain View girls all advanced to the state quarterfinals, which will be played Friday and Saturday.
Sites and times are expected to be announced Thursday and at least one game should be played within the confines of District 2.
Dunmore and Lake-Lehman will face off in a rare state quarterfinal between District 2 teams in Class 3A girls.
The anticipated matchup of the two teams that traded the Small School girls No. 1 position in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams throughout the regular season never happened at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza because Holy Redeemer upset Lake-Lehman in the district semifinals.
No. 1 Dunmore will be trying to avenge an overtime loss at No. 2 Lake-Lehman in a non-league game in the regular season when North Carolina commit Ciera Toomey played less than three minutes in the early stages of her return to the court from reconstructive knee surgery.
Toomey is starting now and Dunmore is rolling, winning five postseason games by an average of 55.8-26.4.
Lake-Lehman, the only non-finalist from District 2 still playing, pulled off the night’s dramatic win.
Molly Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to lift the Lady Knights over Columbia, 50-48, at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.
Hailey Kline scored 18 points to help Lake-Lehman overcome a 32-point game by Columbia’s Brie Droege.
Multiple District 2 teams were in action at four different locations Wednesday, but Hazleton Area was the only site where more than one team won.
Abington Heights downed Pocono Mountain West, 61-56, in Class 5A boys before Holy Cross pounded Muncy, 66-38, in Class 2A boys.
Ryan Nealon scored 18 points to lead four Comets in double figures. Will Marion hit four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points and 7 assists while Mason Fedor had 11 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Holy Cross was too strong for Muncy on the inside.
Gabe Gonzales led the way with 14 points while Logan Tierney and Matt Lyons added 12 each.
District 2’s other winners were in girls games where: Scranton Prep downed Nazareth Academy, 51-47, in overtime in Class 4A at Easton Middle School; Dunmore handled Imhotep Charter, 52-34, in Class 3A at Bethlehem Liberty; Montrose held off a Marian Catholic rally, 49-47, for an upset in Class 2A at Holy Redeemer in Wilkes-Barre; and Mountain View shut down Christian School of York, 41-26, in Class A at Blue Mountain.
Maya Jenkins and Jenna Hillebrand each scored four points in overtime for Scranton Prep.
Jenkins (13) and Hillebrand (11) were joined in double figures by Claire McGrath (10).
Dunmore led by as many as 26 in the third quarter before Imhotep Charter cut into the final margin, reducing it to 18 to make it technically the closest Lady Bucks’ game of the playoffs.
Sophia Talutto hit five straight shots in the second half while scoring a game-high 15 points.
Toomey had 14 points, game-highs of 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and also provided 3 assists and 2 steals.
Tristan Canavan made her last 4 shots to finish with 12 points.
Mia Snyder made six 3-pointers while scoring 21 points for Montrose.
The Lady Meteors built a 17-point lead through three quarters, then fought off a comeback by Marian Catholic, a 25-2 team that came in with six state championship game appearances on the program’s resume.
Mountain View shut out Christian School of York in the first quarter on the way to qualifying for the first state quarterfinal appearance in the program’s history.
Freshman Addison Kilmer had 9 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter when the Lady Eagles expanded their 28-18 lead.
Six District 2 teams were eliminated.
The Abington Heights girls led with less than 30 seconds remaining before falling to West Chester Rustin, 49-46, in a Class 5A game at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.
Holy Redeemer led at halftime of a meeting of two of the top five Class 3A boys teams in the state, according to TribHSSN.com, before falling 56-47 to Philadelphia West Catholic in the last game of a tripleheader at Bethlehem Liberty.
Jacob Hunter scored 20 points in the loss.
Bishop Shanahan defeated Scranton Prep, 69-57, in Class 4A boys to complete the doubleheader at Easton Middle School; Pittsburgh North Catholic downed Valley View, 78-56, in Class 4A boys at Central Mountain; and defending state champion Devon Prep routed Mid Valley, 82-52, in Class 3A boys at Whitehall.
Pittston Area fell to Bishop Shanahan, 43-35, in another Class 5A girls game in Pottsville.
Kallie Booth had 17 points in the loss.
MORE COVERAGE
Up next: See who each District 2 teams plays in the quarterfinals Friday or Saturday: Quarterfinal PIAA opponents – NEPA Sports Nation.
Return to Basketball – NEPA Sports Nation more-detailed reports on Wednesday’s action and more upcoming coverage of the future rounds of the state tournament.
