By Tom Robinson, NEPA Elite News
SCRANTON – Periodic updates from Sunday’s action in the first KYDA Invitational:
SIXTH UPDATE
Cadie Lewis led a fast start and finished with 17 points as the NEPA Elite Sheehan 16U team closed out the event with a 49-25 victory over Syracuse United in a 10th/11th Grade Girls Division game.
The Sheehan team went 2-1 for the weekend.
Lewis had three of her four 3-pointers and 11 of her points during a 35-point first half by NEPA Elite.
Erin Van Ness, a Tunkhannock eighth-grader who is new to the team this weekend, added 11 points.
Julia Glowacki had a team-high six rebounds.
Lewis is from Dunmore and Glowack is from Crestwood.
The JB Hoops-Sunseri team played twice late in the day and split its 10th/11th Grade Boys Division games.
JB Hoops defeated KYDA Storm White, 60-51, then lost in the finale, 48-39, to Academy Hoops 10.
NOTE: Return to https://nepasportsnation.com/nepa-elite/ Monday. We’ll have more coverage wrapping up the event.
FIFTH UPDATE
The NEPA Elite Scoblick 15U girls team played once each day and wound up 2-0 on the weekend by a combined margin of 52 points in its Girls 9th/10th Grade Pool A games.
NEPA Elite defeated District One-9th-Johnson, 55-40, in an afternoon game at Scranton High.
Finley Bittenbender, playing on her home high school court, led the way with 14 points.
Emily Romanowski and Elyse Montgomery added eight each.
Playing at the same time at the Throop Civic Center, the NEPA Bulldogs-Piccolino felt to (New York) City Rocks-Stockwell, 59-56, in a Boys 9th Grade Division Pool A game.
FOURTH UPDATE
Elizabeth Viglone scored 18 points but the NEPA Elite Butler 15U girls team fell short, losing to District One-9th-Johnson, 57-52, today at Scranton High School to finish the weekend 1-1.
In a boys game at Riverfront, the Riverside Hawks handled NEPA Elite Van Zelst 16U, 64-34.
THIRD UPDATE
The New York Rens completed a 4-0 run through the Platinum 17U Division with a hard-fought, 69-65 victory over Team Melo from Baltimore.
Team Melo led 32-31 at halftime.
The Rens (Renaissance Hoops) feature three of the nation’s top 50 college prospects in the Class of 2022, according to ESPN, and one of them, 6-foot-10 forward Kyle Filipowski, was one of the weekend’s dominant figures.
The other two teamed on a play that helped put the game away.
Simeon Wilcher made a steal and fed Roddy Gayle for a powerful dunk and 65-58 lead with 1:11 remaining.
SECOND UPDATE
Tyler Betsey hit his first five 3-point attempts and the New York Rens (Renaissance Hoops) used a strong defensive effort to spoil the NEPA Elite Joyce 15U boys teams hopes of a perfect weekend by posting a 69-47 victory in each team’s finale.
The Rens had gone 0-2 in the Platinum 15U Division Saturday, but came back to win both games Sunday.
NEPA Elite used a comeback in the early morning game to get to 3-0 before coming up short against the Rens.
Betsey finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds, 5 of them offensive.
The Rens blocked 8 shots, including 3 in a row at one point in the second half, and forced 17 turnovers.
Nico Pena added 13 points and 3 steals while Jayden Ramirez had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
James Moore had game-highs of eight rebounds and four blocked shots to go along with six points.
Mikey Cumbo led NEPA Elite with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Ricky Vinansky added nine points and team-highs of seven rebounds and three assists.
The game got off to a fast start when Betsey fed Moore for a dunk just five seconds after the opening tap.
NEPA Elite immediately answered with a Chase Scanlan 3-pointer from the wing for one of just two leads it had in the game.
The other lead came at 13-11 when Mason Fedor blocked a shot, then ran the floor to score off an offensive rebound.
Fedor’s basket capped a 7-0 run that started with Cumbo’s corner 3-pointer and included two free throws by Vinansky.
Pena, who was 0-for-4 to that point, scored eight points in a 16-2 run from the game’s last tie for a 33-19 Rens lead with 1:20 left in the half. He hit two 3-pointers and turned a steal into a breakaway during the run.
FIRST UPDATE
Two New York Gauchos teams defeated NEPA Elite boys teams on adjacent Riverfront Sports courts in the first game of the morning for all four teams.
The Gauchos won the Platinum 17U game, 55-44, over the NEPA Elite Coyle team and the Platinum 16U game, 57-30, over the NEPA Elite Wignot team.
Nearby at Scranton High, the NEPA Elite Van Zelst 16U team edged NE6 Select, 58-56.
INITIAL REPORT
Games started early – 8 a.m. at Riverfront Sports – today and the NEPA Elite Joyce 15U boys team went right to work on continuing a successful weekend.
Ricky Vinansky hit two free throws with 4.9 seconds left to lift NEPA Elite to a 47-46 victory over New York Gauchos in a Platinum 15U Division game.
By completing a comeback from a 29-18 halftime deficit, NEPA Elite improved to 3-0 in the KYDA Invitational.
Vinansky, who started as a freshman for Mid Valley’s District 2 Class 4A finalist, also grabbed two defensive rebounds in the final minute to get the team extra chances after he had missed at the line with NEPA Elite down two with 56 seconds left.
Kellen Casey’s steal and two free throws tied the game, 45-45, with 26.7 seconds left before Ralsean Jones gave the Gauchos the lead with 17.9 left by making the front end of a one-and-one.
The NEPA Elite 15U team will try to complete a 4-0 weekend when it meets the New York Rens at 10:10 a.m.
The Rens 15U team started the day with a 65-61 win over Team Thrill. The Rens beat Team Thrill in a Platinum 17U game at the same time, 73-55, to improve to 3-0.
The NEPA Elite Coyle 17U boys are on the court now.
MORE
Return to this blog as the day progresses.
Additional information about the event can be found in various stories at https://nepasportsnation.com/nepa-elite/.
Full scores and schedules are available at https://basketball.exposureevents.com/162850/kyda-invitational/schedule.
Find Saturday’s blog at: https://nepasportsnation.com/kyda-invitational-saturday-blog/.
