Five Wyoming Valley Conference teams head to arena for shots at district titles
Mar. 1—Five Wyoming Valley Conference basketball teams — four girls and one boys — will be vying for District 2 titles during championship weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The good news is four of them will be in the PIAA playoffs regardless of the outcome. The bad news for the Wyoming Valley West girls is they must win the District 2/4 Class 6A championship to advance.
All tickets are $8 and available on the Mohegan Sun Arena box office website or at the box office on the day of the games. Cash or credit are accepted on game day. All tickets are general admission. No District 2 gold passes will be accepted.
Inclement weather is forecast for Friday. If Friday's schedule is postponed, all the games will be moved to Sunday. Saturday's games will remain as scheduled.
There is also a possibility of a 2 p.m. game Friday at the arena. If the top-seeded Mountain View girls won its D2/11 Class A semifinal game Wednesday night, it would play District 11's Pottsville Nativity. That game would be at the arena provided District 11 agrees to play there. Considering it would cut Nativity's travel time in half, it seems logical. (Key word being "seems").
Here's a look at the five championship games involving WVC teams.
District 2 Class 4A
Girls Championship
Wyoming Area (14-9) vs. Scranton Prep (20-2)
6 p.m. Thursday
What's At Stake: Both teams qualify for the state playoffs and will start play on Saturday, March 11. The winner plays either the District 4 third seed or the District 11 third seed. The loser plays the District 4 runner-up.
About Wyoming Area: Second-seeded Wyoming Area made history with its 35-31 semifinal win against Valley View. Not only did the Warriors make a district title game for the first time in the program's existence, they also clinched their first-ever state playoff berth. They came close in 2016 and 2018, losing in the district third-place game.
Five seniors are in the starting lineup — 1,000-point scorer Morgan Janeski, rebound leader Jocelyn Williams, assist leader Halle Kranson, 3-pointer shooter Anna Wisnewski and Olivia Rome.
Wyoming Area's defense has been very good all season. The Warriors, though, run into some issues offensively. In the nine losses all against teams still playing, they've averaged only 30.3 points.
About Prep: The top-seeded Classics had their run of four consecutive D2-4A championships end last year with a 44-43 loss to Dunmore in the title game. The current lineup has an excellent chance to string together some district crowns.
Prep has three sophomores in the starting five — leading scorer Maya Jenkins, Bella Dennebaum and Jenna Hillebrand. Seniors Gianna Cafarella and Rita Collins have big-game experience. All can score. All but Dennebaum are adept at shooting 3-pointers, although the arena has been notorious for being a hard place to shoot from distance. (Speculation is because the backdrop is much different than a high school gym).
Prep's only losses were 44-36 to Red Bank Catholic of New Jersey and 54-53 to Villa Maria Academy. All but three wins have been by double digits. Lake-Lehman fell to the Classics 44-38 way back on Dec. 6.
District 2 Class 3A
Boys Championship
Holy Redeemer (22-2) vs. Mid Valley (19-5)
8 p.m. Thursday
What's At Stake: Both teams have clinched state playoff berths and will begin the state playoffs on Saturday, March 11. The winner plays the District 12 fourth seed. The loser plays the District 4 champion.
About Mid Valley: Mid Valley goes for that elusive second district title in school history. The first came in 2015.
The Spartans are playing at the arena for a third consecutive year. They lost to Scranton Prep 57-49 in the 4A title game in 2021 and to Dallas 61-53 last year.
A couple holdovers from last season's runner-up team lead Mid Valley. Senior guard Danny Nemetz, who scored 24 vs. Dallas, tops the team with 17 points per game. Ricky Vinansky, a 6-foot-4 center, averaged 16 points. Jakob Lesher, a 6-2 sophomore, is the only other regular over 6-foot tall.
Second-seed Mid Valley defeated Dunmore 49-33 and Old Forge 48-31 in districts, the latter win avenging a loss in the regular-season finale. The Spartans have lost a pair of game by one point and another by two points.
About Redeemer: The Royals blitzed through the D2-3A tournament last season, routing Riverside 52-28 in the title game, and made it to the state semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion Devon Prep 73-72 in overtime.
The road has been a little tougher this season. Wyoming Seminary battled top-seeded Redeemer in the quarterfinals before falling 62-47. The Royals also had their hand filled with Riverside in the semifinals and were able to keep their season alive with a 50-43 victory.
The offense runs through the guard trio of Zach Perta, Darryl Wright and Jacob Hunter. Hunter went from a sixth-man to WVC Division 2 MVP. Hunter (15.7 ppg) and super-quick Perta (13.2) are the only players scoring in double figures. Wright (8.8 ppg) is next and is a strong defender. Center Jeff Kozerski, a returning starter, and Louis Lussi will likely round out the starters. George Sabatini, a 6-f00t-5 junior, has provided solid minutes off the bench.
District 2/4 Class 6A
Girls Championship
Wyoming Valley West (15-8) vs. Williamsport (9-14)
6 p.m. Friday
What's At Stake: Only the winner advances, playing the District 1 ninth seed on Friday, March 10.
About Valley West: The Spartans had a rollercoaster season. They were flying high in late January, but finished up the regular season losing five of their last seven games.
Third-seeded Valley West regrouped in the semifinals, shaking off a slow start and rallying for a 47-39 win over Wilkes-Barre Area. The victory gave the Spartans their first shot at a district title since 2019.
Guard Mackenzie Perluke missed time during the season with an ankle injury. She looked fine in a 19-point performance vs. WBA. Freshman Thalia Irizarry had a solid game with 12 points. Valley West got destroyed on the boards in the first quarter before pretty much evening things out over the final three periods.
About Williamsport: District 4's Williamsport was 0-4 against WVC teams entering the subregional as the fourth seed. One loss was 50-30 to Hazleton Area. The Millionaires, though, regrouped late in the season and have won five in a row. They were 1-8 in their previous nine games.
The latest win in the streak came in the semifinals as Williamsport upset top-seeded Hazleton Area 54-37. Nadirah Tutler had 12 points and Payton Bailey and Alexandria Chilson added 11 each. Tutler and Bailey are both 6-foot while Chilson is 5-foot-9, so the Millionaires have size across the board. The offense is averaging 53.2 points during the winning streak.
District 2 Class 3A
Girls Championship
Holy Redeemer (17-10) vs. Dunmore (21-3)
noon Saturday
What's At Stake: Both teams move to the state playoffs. The winner plays the District 4 third seed and the loser plays the District 4 champion on Friday, March 10.
About Redeemer: Holy Redeemer is back at the arena for the first time since 2020, which was its fourth consecutive trip there. The Royals needed to defeat Lake-Lehman in the teams' fifth meeting of the season 39-37 in the semifinals.
The difference in the semifinals than in the prior three meetings — all won by Lehman — was defense. Redeemer held Lehman to 3-of-26 shooting in the middle quarters. Seniors Jillian DelBalso and Mia Ashton and sophomore Meghan Albrecht led the offense, which scored under 40 points for the fifth time this season. However, the game was tightly officiated and flow was bogged down by numerous fouls.
Redeemer goes nine deep, so it's able to mix-and-match against opponents as warranted.
About Dunmore: The Bucks won the D2-4A championship last season, but the 44-43 win over Scranton Prep was bittersweet. Ciera Toomey, their 6-foot-3 Division I recruit, suffered a knee injury which would require surgery. A legitimate chance at a state title ended with a 40-39 loss to Jim Thorpe in the quarterfinals.
Toomey, who has since committed to North Carolina, is back, albeit with limited minutes in the nine games she has played. She is playing about nine minutes per game and averaging a little over seven points. Three-point ace Cadie Lewis and Sophia Talutto are also back as starters.
Dunmore lost 42-36 to Mount Carmel and 52-33 to Scranton Prep prior to the calendar flipping to January. Since then, the Bucks' only setback was 51-40 in overtime against Lake-Lehman, which will be the third seed out of District 2 in the state playoffs.
District 2 Class 5A
Girls Championship
Pittston Area (23-2) vs. Abington Heights (17-7)
6 p.m. Saturday
What's At Stake: Both teams advance to the state playoffs. The winner plays the District 12 fourth seed and the loser plays the District 12 third seed on Saturday, March 11.
About Pittston Area: The Patriots get a second crack at Abington Heights. They lost to the Comets 38-31 in last year's championship game where the score was knotted 20-20 entering the fourth quarter. Their losses this season were 41-27 to Wyoming Valley West and 63-59 to Holy Redeemer in the WVC semifinals.
The offense revolves around 1,000-point scorer Kallie Booth and sophomore Daniella Ranieli, who will be within reasonable striking distance of the milestone next season. Ideally, Abington Heights will want to curtail one of them and has the length to do so. That's what happen in Pittston Area's two losses.
Ava Callahan can also hit 3-pointers while the other starters — Taylor Baiera and Maddie Karp — do the dirty work inside, although they will be giving up a little height against the Comets.
About Abington Heights: Five WVC opponents tried to wrestle away the D2-5A title from Abington Heights at the arena. All five have failed. The Comets have won five of six D2-5A championships since the PIAA expanded to six classifications for the 2016-17 school year.
The offense is fairly balanced with Caroline Murray, Madison Zalewski and Maggie Coleman as the top threats. Murray and Coleman are excellent 3-point shooters. However, the Comets shot 1-of-13 from behind the arc in last year's title game. Peyton Houlihan had 14 points in the quarterfinal win against Dallas.
The Comets opened the season with double-digit losses to Hazleton Area and Lake-Lehman. Since then, the only head-scratching loss was 51-42 to Valley View on Jan. 9, a team it wiped out 61-29 later in the season.
