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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — MMI Prep’s first game in nearly three weeks was buoyed by a big addition Sunday afternoon. Susquehanna was hampered by a big subtraction.

Phillip Byriel, the Wyoming Valley Conference’s tallest player at 6-foot-9, played for only the second time since Dec. 28 and MMI Prep turned in its best defensive performance of the season to defeat Susquehanna 38-22 for the District 2 Class A championship.

MMI finished its season at 7-16, ineligible to advance to the PIAA Class A state playoffs since it didn’t qualify for a subregional tournament with District 11. Instead, Susquehanna (17-9) will play in states after winning the subregional final.

The Sabers, though, won’t know if they will return to full strength when they play D3 fifth seed Conestoga Christian (16-9) on Friday. They were missing leading scorer Mason Deakin, who netted 31 points in the subregional championship game. Susquehanna coach Lawrence Tompkins said an academic issue cropped up and with school closed Friday due to inclement weather, there was no time to resolve it prior to Sunday’s game.

“Players get into their roles,” said Tompkins, who is hoping to get things cleared up Monday. “Without having him around, it kind of changed a little bit of guys’ comfort zones I guess you can say.”

Byriel brought a level of comfort to MMI. The sophomore finished with eight rebounds and four blocks, both team highs, while adding six points.

“You see the difference in us,” MMI Prep coach Joe Flanagan said. “They didn’t score for 10 minutes and a lot of it was Phillip doing a pretty good job challenging shots.”

Ironically, Byriel broke his left wrist in MMI’s best defensive game prior to Sunday — a 54-24 win against Benton where he was about to be removed from the game when the injury occurred. He returned for the WVC finale Feb. 15 vs. Northwest.

The Northwest game was the last time MMI played, but the Preppers showed little rust except for a stagnant second quarter. Matt Marchetti led the teams with 12 points, while Marcus Kassick had 11 and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, Susquehanna played as bad of two quarters of basketball as any team could. The Sabers scored two points in the second quarter and were shut out in the third. The shot 1-of-15 in those middle quarters and had 11 turnovers.

Susquehanna managed to get out of the teens on the scoreboard when sophomore reserve Jakub Tomczyk tossed in a what-the-heck 3-pointer from NBA range at the final buzzer.

District 2 Class A Championship

MMI Prep 38, Susquehanna 22

MMI PREP (38) — George Palmero 2 0-0 5, Mike Badamo 0 0-0 0, Matt Marchetti 5 2-2 12, Phillip Byriel 2 1-2 6, Marcus Kassick 4 3-5 11, Keefer Hoover 2 o-0 4, Dave Antolick 0 0-0 0, Tyler Degnehart 0 0-0 0, Jon Debellis 0 0-0 0, AJ Jordan 0 0-0 0, Harry Kress 0 0-0 0, Robert Rinaldi 0 0-0 0, Pete Walko 0 0-0 0, Ryan McNeils 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 6-9 38.

SUSQUEHANNA (22) — Travis Craig 0 0-0 0, Canyon Stone 1 0-0 3, Eric Lee 0 0-0 0, Adam Rockwell 2 2-2 6, Alex McHugh 0 0-0 0, Block Blodgett 0 0-0 0, Anthony Dolfini 0 0-0 0, Devon Dubanowitz 0 0-0 0, Jakub Tomczyk 1 0-0 3, Mat Phillips 0 0-0 0, Gavin Baker 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 3-3 22.

MMI Prep`12`5`10`11 — 38

Susquehanna`10`2`0`10 — 22

Three-point goals — MMI 2 (Palmero, Byriel), SUS 3 (Stone, Rockwell, Tomczyk).

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By John Erzar

[email protected]

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar