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Since the start of the 2016-17 boys basketball season, no Wyoming Valley Conference team has won more games than the Hazleton Area Cougars. No team in the entire District 2 has a higher winning percentage during that span.
Yet, the Cougars don’t have a state playoff appearance to show for it. And they won’t get one unless they defeat Scranton in the District 2 Class 6A championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Hazleton Area (22-1) vs. Scranton (16-7) matchup concludes three days of basketball at the arena where six boys and six girls district championships will be decided. WVC boys teams playing in those games that have locked up state spots, regardless of the outcome, are Northwest (2A), Holy Redeemer and Wyoming Seminary (3A) and Dallas (5A). Nanticoke Area gained the district’s third spot in Class 4A by defeating Wyoming Area on Tuesday.
Hazleton Area lost to District 4’s Williamsport 64-56 at the arena last year, sending Williamsport to states and the Cougars to a consolation prize a few days later.
That was the D2-6A championship game against Delaware Valley which they won, but that was it. Season over despite a 21-4 record that was better than a majority of the teams in the PIAA Class 6A state tournament.
“It kind of left a better tastes in our mouth,” said Hazleton Area leading scorer Jeff Planutis, one of four Cougars who averages double-figures. “We want to win it this year the right way, not coming in second.”
Hazleton Area didn’t advance to states in 2017 because of how the PIAA sets up state playoffs.
Districts get a certain number of state slots based on the number of teams they have in a specific classification. For example, District 1 will get 10 of the 32 Class 6A state berths because it has 39 Class 6A schools. District 2 has only three and is joined by Williamsport, District 4’s only 6A school, to form a four-team playoffs with only the champion making states. The winner will play the District 1 seventh seed on March 10.
Before Hazleton Area thinks about playing next weekend, it needs to get past Scranton, which has one of the top players in the state in 6-foot-4 senior guard Ky’Ron Harbin. Plus, the Knights have a pair of perimeter aces in seniors Robbie McAndrew and Cameron Jordan.
“Our four main guys who played in that game last year, I don’t know how you want to state it, but there was just something missing,” Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph said about winning the title last year. “We were crowned district champions in a game and I credit for my guys for coming back two days after losing the championship game. They are definitely a motivated group.”
Only one game doesn’t involve WVC teams — the D2-4A championship game between Scranton Prep (19-5) and Valley View (16-8) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Here’s a look at the other title contests involving WVC teams.
Wyoming Seminary (20-4) vs. Holy Redeemer (18-6)
D2-3A Championship
8 p.m. Thursday
The teams will meet for a third time this season, just the way they wanted it.
“I have a lot of respect for the team, for the program,” Wyoming Seminary coach C.J. Kersey said of Redeemer. “I texted coach Guido (the day of the semifinals) and said ‘I hope we both win so we can have an all-Wyoming Valley Conference final.’ I think we had two great games against them that frankly could have gone either way.”
Those games went Seminary’s way. The Blue Knights won 46-41 on Jan. 19 and 58-51 on Feb. 6 on the way to dethroning Redeemer as the WVC Division 3 champion. Now, Seminary will try to knock the Royals from the D2-3A pedestal.
A big factor in the two wins was Seminary big man Dimitri Gnall, the WVC Division 3 MVP. Gnall had 17 and 16 points against Redeemer. The caveat was Redeemer was without one of its inside players, Nick Prociak. Prociak played only a few minutes in the first game before being unable to continue due to a foot injury. He missed the rest of the regular season and returned for last week’s 51-45 semifinal win against Riverside.
Prociak showed some rust vs. Riverside, but J.D Turosky continued his strong play in the paint with 10 points. He and Prociak will match up with Gnall and Nick Ganter, an underrated inside player, for the first time this season.
The perimeter game should be interesting as well with a pair of WVC Division 3 first-team all-stars — Redeemer’s Collin Cook and Seminary’s Jeremy Callahan.
Seminary is going for its first district title since 1986 when it won the D2-A championship. The Blue Knights will be in states for the first time since 1992.
Both teams will play in states on March 10. The winner gets the District12 fourth seed. The loser plays the District 4 runner-up.
MMI Prep (6-16) vs. Susquehanna (15-8)
D2-A Championship
2 p.m. Friday
MMI Prep hasn’t played since Feb. 15. Susquehanna will be playing for a second time inside a 19-hour window. The reason is because the two are the only Class A teams in the district and district officials decided to have them play for the title.
Susquehanna plays Pottsville Nativity at 7 p.m. Thursday for the D11/2-A subregional title and a spot in states. The Sabers then have a quick turnaround and play MMI. Susquehanna has a solid bunch led by top scorers Mason Deakin and Bryce Baldwin and 3-point shooter Adam Rockwell, but will those guys have their legs for the matinee?
MMI, which can’t advance to the state playoffs, received a big boost from the return of 6-foot-9 sophomore Phillip Byriel. Byriel missed a month and a half with a wrist injury. He returned for the WVC finale with Northwest and scored 18 points. Junior swingman Matt Marchetti established himself during Byriel’s absence and averaged 15.6 points, second best in Division 3 of the WVC.
Dallas (20-4) vs. Abington Heights (21-3)
D2-5A Championship
8 p.m. Friday
Dallas survived one group of Comets — edging Crestwood 52-50 in the semifinals on a buzzer-beating shot. Now comes even a better group of Comets — Abington Heights, which is going for its seventh consecutive district championship.
Dallas has been building toward this season with five seniors — Jay Bittner, Alex Charlton, Nick Kocher, Matt Mathers and Joey Parsons — in the starting lineup. The hot hand varies game to game, making the Mountaineers very tough for opponents to decipher.
What Dallas lacked is size, with the 6-foot-4 Kocher the biggest of the bunch. Abington’s best scorers work the paint — 6-foot-6 George Tinsley and 6-foot-5 Jackson Danzig. Trey Koehler also averages in double figures.
The Comets have some impressive wins on their resume. They defeated Holy Cross by 40, Williamsport by 16 and Holy Redeemer by 29. They rolled their two district opponents by a combined score of 122-41.
Both teams will be in state action on March 9. The winner gets the District 3 eighth-place team. The loser gets the District 3 fourth-place team.
Northwest (10-14) vs. Holy Cross (19-6)
D2-2A Championship
2 p.m. Saturday
Former Tunkhannock coach Dustin Babcock took over Northwest’s program two years ago, inheriting an unstable situation where the coaching position was a carousel. (Heck, one guy was hired but never showed up). Things aren’t on solid ground yet, but the future looks much brighter. The Rangers are locked into the state tournament for the first time since 1992 when they finished the D2-A runners-up. But getting their first district championship since 1993 will be a major task.
Northwest has a young but somewhat experienced team. Juniors Sam Saxe, Tyler Stevens and Jaxson Yaple started as freshmen. Yet, the Rangers got here with a 46-45 victory over Elk Lake where Saxe scored the game-winner with 13 seconds left and Stevens secured the victory with a defensive rebound.
Holy Cross, a perennial player in the state tournament, didn’t need such heroics. The Crusaders routed Blue Ridge 63-34 and Old Forge 45-25 in their two district games. Now they go for their second consecutive D2-A crown.
Holy Cross started slowly, losing six of its first nine before going on a 13-game winning streak. The team isn’t very big as its top players — senior Patrick Galvin, juniors Tyler Mozeleski and Tom Montefour and sophomore Kieran Burrier — all 6-foot or shorter.
Both teams will begins states on March 9, The winner gets the District 4 runner-up. The loser plays the District 4 champion.
