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By DAVE KONOPKI davek@leader.net
Wednesday, March 05, 2003 Page: 9A
JUNIOR HIGH BASKETBALL
It entered the post-season as a wild card. And the Dallas Middle School
girls basketball team has made the most of the hand it was dealt.
The Lady Mountaineers can turn their wild card into a trump card when they
face Nanticoke Area at 6 tonight in the first game of a District 2 Junior High
School championship doubleheader at Pittston Area High School.
In the nightcap, Hazleton Area faces Scranton Prep for the boys title.
Tip-off for the boys contest is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. Hazleton
Area advanced to the title game with a 53-45 win against Valley View, while
Scranton Prep edged Meyers, 55-50.
Playing for the fifth consecutive time while facing elimination, Dallas
defeated Wallenpaupack, 44-32, in a semifinal game Monday night at Bishop
Hoban. In the other semifinal, Nanticoke posted a 31-29 win against Bishop
O’Reilly to advance to the championship game.
“We’re playing very well right now,” said Dallas coach Mark Lacey. “We’ve
beaten some good teams and I think we’re peaking at the right time.”
Just when it was needed.
After Nanticoke won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II championship
to clinch a berth in the district playoffs, Dallas finished in a three-way tie
for the WVC wild-card berth. In special playoff games to determine the final
playoff spot, the Lady Mounts posted wins against Wyoming Valley West Red and
Hazleton Area Red.
And they weren’t done.
When the WVC held games to determine the seeding of its teams in the
district playoffs, Dallas defeated previously unbeaten Hazleton Area White and
Nanticoke Area for the No. 1 seed. Wallenpaupack entered the district playoffs
as the No. 4 seed, while Nanticoke Area and Bishop O’Reilly were the second
and third seeds, respectively.
Lacey knows his team will have its hands full against the Lady Trojans
tonight. The teams have played four times this season, with each team winning
twice. Dallas defeated Nanticoke by one point in the first meeting, before the
Lady Trojans posted 11- and 18-point wins the next two times the teams played
each other. And in the most recent meeting, the Lady Mounts won by four.
“Nanticoke is an excellent team,” said Lacey. “They’re very well-coached
and they have some very good players. We’re going to have to play well to
win.”
In the semifinal game against Bishop O’Reilly, Aly Byorick and Sarah Acker
combined for 23 points for Nanticoke. Byorick scored a game-high 12 points,
including a pair of three-pointers, while Acker finished with 11.
Bishop O’Reilly jumped out to a 15-6 lead after one period, but the
Nanticoke defense held the Queenswomen to only four points over the next two
quarters.
Samantha Solack led Bishop O’Reilly with nine points, while teammate
Marissa Chesnavich chipped in seven.
In the other semifinal, Melissa Gorski fired in a game-high 21 points for
Dallas and teammate Lyndsey Ellis added nine points, including two
three-pointers. The Lady Mounts led 18-16 at halftime, but used a 17-9 run in
the third quarter to break the game open. Olivia Kranick scored seven points
to lead Wallenpaupack.
In boys action, three players scored in double figures as Hazleton beat
Valley View. Brandon Zabinski led the way with 18 points, while Mike DeMarco
and Mark Scarcella finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Kyle Callejas
scored a game-high 22 points for Valley View. Game information was not
provided from the Meyers-Scranton Prep game.
Lacey says his players are hoping to duplicate the success of the Dallas
varsity team, which recently defeated Bishop Hoban to win the District 2 Class
3A championship.
“That’s all the kids have been talking about,” he said. “The last time a
Dallas Middle School team won a district championship was when this year’s
11th-grade group was in eighth grade.
“We started our wild card playoff run at Pittston Area. We’re hoping to
have the same success we had last time.”
BOYS
Division I – Hazleton Area
Division II – Wyoming Area
Division III – Meyers
GIRLS
Division I – Hazleton White
Division II – Nanticoke Area
Division III – Bishop O’Reilly
IF YOU GO
What: District 2 Junior High basketball championships
Who: Nanticoke faces Dallas in the girls game and Hazleton plays Scranton
Prep in the boys game
When: Girls play at 6 p.m.; boys game begins 7:30
Where: Pittston Area High School
Tickets: $3 for adults, $2 for students