NEPA Sports Nation

Lady Bucks return to top ranking

Dunmore returned to the top in Small School girls to lead the half-dozen teams that improved their status this week after qualifying for district championship game appearances at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The Lady Bucks return to the No. 1 ranking in the latest Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams which were released Sunday evening.

Following the first of two weeks of district and subregional playoffs, four teams moved up and five teams moved into those rankings. Of those nine teams, six have earned spots in the series of championship games at the arena.

Both Abington Heights teams moved up, along with the Mid Valley boys and Dunmore girls. The Scranton Prep and West Scranton boys joined the rankings.

The Wyoming Valley West and Mountain View girls moved into the rankings, but are still waiting to play subregional semifinals to see if they play at the arena. The Scranton girls, who have a third-place game left to try to qualify for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, also joined the rankings.

Dunmore continued to trade places with Lake-Lehman, passing the Lady Knights by moving from second to first.

The teams will not, however, be meeting.

Lake-Lehman missed out on a chance to play at the arena when it lost to No. 3 Holy Redeemer in the District 2 Class 3A semifinals.

Holy Redeemer, Montrose and Western Wayne all held steady in third through fifth.

Holy Redeemer will play Dunmore in the Class 3A championship game and Montrose will play for the Class 2A title against Old Forge.

Mountain View, a semifinalist in the District 2-11 Class A Subregional, is the new sixth team.

Elk Lake fell out of the rankings after a quarterfinal loss to Holy Redeemer.

There is just one change in Small School boys.

Mid Valley defeated Old Forge in Friday’s district Class 3A semifinals. The Spartans moved from fourth to third and the Blue Devils dropped from third to fourth.

Holy Redeemer, which will play Mid Valley in the 3A final, and Holy Cross, a Class 2A finalist, remained 1-2.

Blue Ridge and Riverside are still fifth and sixth.

The fifth-ranked Raiders are in the district Class 2A final against top-ranked Holy Cross.

The Valley View boys and Scranton Prep girls remain the top Big Schools.

Valley View will play one of the rankings newcomers, Scranton Prep, in the district Class 4A final.

Abington Heights passed Dallas, moving from second to third. The Comets reached the Class 5A final where they will play West Scranton, the team that knocked off Dallas, dropping the Mountaineers to third.

Scranton Prep joined the rankings in fourth and West Scranton joined in fifth after each won two rounds of playoff games.

North Pocono slipped from fifth to sixth.

Hazleton Area and Nanticoke were eliminated and fell out of the rankings.

Scranton Prep and Pittston Area remain 1-2 among Big School girls teams after reaching the Class 4A and 5A finals.

Abington Heights defeated Wallenpaupack Saturday in the semifinals and traded places with the Lady Buckhorns, going from fourth to third.

Wyoming Valley West and Scranton are the new fifth and sixth-place teams, replacing Dallas and Hazleton Area.

The full rankings, with records and previous rankings:

RIVERFRONT SPORTS SUPER SIX BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS

BIG SCHOOL BOYS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Valley View21-3  1
  2Abington Heights20-4  3
  3Dallas21-5  2
  4Scranton Prep15-9 NR
  5West Scranton14-10 NR
  6North Pocono14-10  5

SMALL SCHOOL BOYS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Holy Redeemer24-2  1
  2Holy Cross18-5  2
  3Mid Valley19-5  4
  4Old Forge17-7  3
  5Blue Ridge20-3  5
  6Riverside14-10  6

BIG SCHOOL GIRLS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Scranton Prep20-2  1
  2Pittston Area23-2  2
  3Abington Heights17-7  4
  4Wallenpaupack18-7  3
  5Wyoming Valley West14-8 NR
  6Scranton15-9 NR

SMALL SCHOOL GIRLS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Dunmore21-3  2
  2Lake-Lehman22-5  1
  3Holy Redeemer17-10  3
  4Montrose19-4  4
  5Western Wayne  9-14  5
  6Mountain View16-6 NR

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