Cavaliers, Cougars had big weeks

Scranton Prep and Lake-Lehman continue to play a game of one-upping each other, playing in different conferences in different counties while building anticipation for a showdown of what could be the best two small school high school golf teams in the state.

In a week where the list of District 2 golf unbeatens was trimmed from seven to three, Scranton Prep strung together a series of impressive accomplishments that allowed the Cavaliers to regain the number-one Small School spot in this week’s Scranton Golf Center Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.

The Small School rankings are for Class 2A teams with Scranton Prep and Lake-Lehman appearing to be on a collision course for a title showdown for the district title.

Hazleton Area also had an impressive week, joining Scranton Prep and Lake-Lehman as the last unbeatens in District 2, and jumped up from fifth to third among Big Schools.

At the end of an eventful week, Montrose and North Pocono joined Scranton Prep and Hazleton Area in moving up while Lackawanna Trail and Honesdale joined the rankings.

Scranton Prep has the district’s best record at 10-0 after beating three championship teams in succession, then putting together the top four Class 2A finishers – and four of the top six overall – during Wednesday’s Lackawanna League qualifier for the District 2 individual tournament.

The Cavaliers avenged their only loss of any type – finishing behind North Pocono at the Bob Simons Classic. They completed a sweep of Abington Heights in a meeting of defending District 2 champions. Then, they topped Lackawanna Trail in a non-league match between Lackawanna teams that are defending division champions and current leaders.

Along the way, Scranton Prep clinched at least a tie for first place in Lackawanna Division 1.

Lake-Lehman, which replaced the Cavaliers at No. 1 following the first week of the season, did not exactly give away its No. 1 ranking. The Black Knights won five more times to reach 9-0, but drop to No. 2 this week.

Hanover Area, which split matches with a loss to Lake-Lehman, and Riverside, which went 3-0 in the week, held third and fourth.

Montrose lost a non-league match, but clinched at least a tie for the Lackawanna Division 4 title. The Meteors moved from sixth to fifth.

Lackawanna Trail returned to the rankings in sixth after beating Mid Valley to break a tie for the Lackawanna Division 3 lead.

The loss was the first of the season for Mid Valley, which had tied Lackawanna Trail earlier, and dropped the Spartans from fifth to out of the rankings.

Abington Heights lost, but remains first in Big Schools. Both of its losses have come in Lackawanna League Division 1 matches against Scranton Prep, the defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A state champion.

North Pocono suffered its third loss in the Lackawanna League’s match play format, but continue to excel in medal play, which will be used to decide the District 2 championship. The Trojans moved up from third to second following Wednesday’s performance in the Lackawanna League qualifier for the District 2 individual championships.

The Trojans added to beating Scranton Prep in the early-season Bob Simons Classic. They would have been 12 strokes in front of Abington Heights if team scores were part of Wednesday’s qualifying event.

Hazleton Area made its move from third to fifth by handling the WVC’s other two unbeaten Class 3A teams, Dallas and Crestwood, in back-to-back matches.

Dallas recovered to beat Crestwood and then clinch the WVC Division 1 title, but the Mountaineers slipped from second to fourth.

Crestwood lost twice, but remained fifth.

Honesdale makes it first appearance in the rankings in sixth after winning streak, ruining Montrose’s perfect record and improving to 7-5-1.

The ranked teams with their records and last week’s rankings:

SCRANTON GOLF CENTER SUPER SIX POWER RANKINGS

Big Schools

Small Schools