The District 2 officiating crew of Fred Ceccacci, Steve Modrovsky and Stacey Williams worked the opening game of the 3-day, 12-game series of Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association basketball championships at The Giant Center in Hershey.
Ceccaci, Modrovsky and Williams officiated the Class A girls game in which Kennedy Catholic defeated Homer-Center, 65-45, Thursday afternoon.
The championships are scheduled to conclude Saturday night with the Class 6A boys game, the last of the day’s four games.
Title celebration
The Dunmore Lady Bucks were escorted in and out of town to cheers from supporters Friday before and after their 42-30, Class 3A championship game victory over River Valley.
The title was the first for a Dunmore team since the football team won in Class A in 1989. It was the first for a District 2 basketball team since Abington Heights in Class 5A boys in 2018, the first by a District 2 girls basketball team since Bishop Hoban (now part of Holy Redeemer) in 1999 and the first by a Lackawanna League girls team since Riverside in 1987.
The celebration of the title continued Friday at noon when a parade was held through Dunmore, culminating in a pep rally at the school’s football stadium.
Familiar faces
Lancaster Mennonite and Imhotep Charter, the teams that eliminated Holy Cross and Abington Heights, won Friday’s boys titles.
In both cases, the teams won their state finals by larger margins than they defeated the District 2 champions, who gave them the second-closest of their five state games.
Camden Hurst and David Weaver, the two leaders of Lancaster Mennonite’s semifinal win over Holy Cross, also led the way in Hershey.
Hurst, who became his school’s all-time leading scorer in the win over the Crusaders Tuesday, scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds during a 60-44 victory over Aliquippa. David Weaver continued to control the inside with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
The Blazers defeated the Crusaders, 51-40. Their toughest game was a one-pointer in the opening round against Neumann-Goretti.
Imhotep Charter completed its destruction of the Class 5A field with a 78-40 romp over Exeter.
Kentucky commit Justin Edwards had 19 points,7 rebounds and 3 steals in 23 minutes.
Imhotep led 16-6 after one quarter and 42-21 at halftime.
The Panthers outscored tournament opponents by an average of 73.6-38.6, including beating Abington Heights, 65-38, in the quarterfinals.
Lake-Lehman had lost to Dunmore in an all-District 2 quarterfinal.
The girls teams that eliminated Montrose and Mountain View in the semifinals lost in the openers of each of the first two days.
Laylie Ficlos went 10-for-14 from the floor while leading Kennedy Catholic past Homer-Center in Class 2A.
Macy Sardone, Homer-Center’s 1,000-point scorer who was held to 9 points during Monday’s 47-13 rout of Montrose, had 27 points. She was 8-for-15 from the floor, 5-for-8 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line.
Union Area defeated Shamokin Lourdes Regional, 46-29, in Class A girls Friday.
Kylie Fruehstorfer led Union Area with 19 points and 5 assists.
Paityn Moyer, who hit the last-second game-winner in a 34-33 semifinal victory over Mountain View, led Lourdes. Moyer had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals before fouling out.
Elsewhere
Archbishop Carroll arrived at the Class 6A girls final with just a 16-11 record while Cedar Cliff was 30-1.
It was Archbishop Carroll, however, that won Friday night’s game, 43-37.
Imani Christian Academy outscored Berlin Brothersvalley, 81-64, in the first boys final, Class A Thursday afternoon.
Alier Maluk scored 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting to lead Imani, which shot 55.1 percent (27-for-49). Maluk, Avery Wesley (16 points) and Dame Givner (15 points) combined to shoot 19-for-29 from the floor, 8-for-13 on 3s and 7-10 at the foul line.
Lincoln Park defeated Neumann-Goretti, 62-58, in the entertaining Class 4A boys final that followed Dunmore’s victory.
Brandin Cummings scored 25 points and Meleek Thomas 22 for Lincoln Park. Robert Wright led Neumann-Goretti with 27.
Thomas hit a tough floater in the lane with 10 seconds left to break a 58-58 tie and Thomas added two late free throws.
