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HEADLINES: Carbondale – The Mountain View boys’ basketball team walked away from the first round of the state basketball tournament knowing it needed to work on defensive rebounding and foul shooting. The good news for the Eagles is that they would get a chance to work on their deficiencies. Nick Stoud scored seven of his game-high 30 points in the second overtime Saturday night to help Mountain View escape with a 95-92 victory over Loyalsock Township in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA game. “They’ll be talking about this one for a long time,” Mountain View coach Patrick Heaton said after his team overcame a series of deficits to become one of the final 16 teams in the state in its class. For the Eagles to move on, they needed to eventually hit some free throws. Stoud finished 7-for-7 from the line, including 3-for-3 in the second overtime. The Eagles were just 10-for-23 until Stoud hit one to complete a three-point play and put the Eagles ahead to stay, 91-90. He then closed the scoring by hitting two free throws with 22 seconds left. “We shouldn’t miss all those foul shots, but hitting them at the end is the biggest part,” Stoud said. “We’ve got to try to take advantage of the opportunities whenever we get them. “I guess we’ll be practicing foul shots.” The Eagles will also be spending time boxing out, including on the other team’s free throws. Loyalsock pounded Mountain View on the boards throughout the second half and overtime, nearly spoiling a strong defensive effort by the Eagles. When the Lancers missed, they simply went up and got the ball back. As a result, Mountain View was forced to score on nearly every possession late in the game. “The defense wasn’t bad but our rebounding was horrible,” Heaton said. Loyalsock built some staggering advantages on the boards. The Lancers out-rebounded the Eagles, 37-19, after halftime and, 59-38, for the game. They got back more than half their misses, pulling down 25 offensive rebounds while the Eagles had just 15 defensive rebounds. “That’s one thing we have to improve on,” said Robbie Johnson, who had 27 points, seven assists and five steals for the Eagles. “Will Kelly really has a nose for the ball. Whenever he shot and missed, he knew where the ball would end up.” Kelly finished with 27 points, 25 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots for Loyalsock. He was one of six players to put up at least 20 points. Greg Wheeland had 23 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 offensive, before fouling out in the first overtime. Eric Gaetano led Loyalsock with 29 points while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Josh Madas was the most unlikely player on the list of high scorers. The Mountain View reserve went 9-for-12 from the floor while scoring a career-high 20 points. “I just happened to be open at the right time,” Madas said. “Rob, Joe (Scanlon) and Chad (Lasher) kept finding me underneath.” The Mountain View bench combined to outscore Loyalsock, 30-11. The play of Madas and five points by Patrick Lambert in the second overtime helped the Eagles escape from a game in which they trailed for a stretch of 12:42 in the second half. Johnson’s steal set up a reverse lay-up by Madas to cut the deficit to 69-68 with 3:12 left in regulation. Madas then made a steal and took the ball the length of the court to bank in a shot for the lead with three minutes left. Wheeland had a rebound and an apparent lay-up chance to put the Lancers back in front, but Johnson poked the ball away, tracked it down as he headed for the corner and called timeout before landing out of bounds. Madas made Johnson’s save pay off when he hit his only 3-point attempt for a 73-69 lead with 2:34 left. “That doesn’t happen very often,” Madas said. “I think I only had two (3-pointers) all season.” Mountain View held for the last shot of regulation and the first overtime, but could not convert. The comebacks were not over with regulation. Loyalsock scored the first two baskets of overtime for a 79-75 lead. Mountain View answered with six straight points, including a three-point play by Johnson. Gaetano hit a 3-pointer to open the second overtime and give Loyalsock an 86-83 lead. Kelly’s drive gave Loyalsock its last lead, 90-88, with 2:23 left. Stoud’s spinning drive led to the three-pointer with 2:07 left. Lambert, who had banked in a 3-pointer earlier in the second overtime, got to a loose ball for a lay-up and 93-90 lead. After Kelly converted his own rebound, Stoud made two free throws. Lasher blocked a desperation 3-point attempt as time expired. John Corbin had eight rebounds for Mountain View. Lasher had seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. The game was tied 12 times, including seven in the final 8:34. Loyalsock’s biggest lead was, 62-55, with 6:33 left. Johnson responded with eight points in the next 2:38 and Stoud hit a 3-pointer during that stretch. “He does what great players do,” Heaton said. “Johnson and Stoud really stepped up when we needed them.” WEEK IN REVIEW Berwick, the team that eliminated Blue Ridge and Elk Lake from the District 2 Class AA Dual Meet Tournament, wound up with three place-winners at the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey. Aaron Karns (189) finished second, Tyler Perry (135) was fourth and Nick Venditti (160) eighth for the Bulldogs, who finished 11th in the team standings. District 2 had two individual champions – Lake-Lehman’s Scott Davis at 140 pounds in Class AA and Hazleton Area’s Ben Eachus at 189 pounds in Class AAA. Three Lackawanna League wrestlers medaled in Class AAA. Delaware Valley’s Joe Kennedy was fifth at 189 while Ray Bennett of Abington Heights was seventh at 215 and freshman teammate Evan Craig was eighth at 285. COLLEGE CORNER Amanda Rizner got her sophomore season at King's College off to a strong start. The sophomore lefty pitcher/first baseman from Forest City pitched a five-inning shutout in the season opener, a 10-0 victory over Philadelphia Biblical. King's won the first four games of its season-opening Florida trip by a total of 56-2. The Lady Monarchs, who matched a school record for wins last season when they went 38-9, are seeking their eighth straight trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament. Rizner pitched three scoreless innings in the team's fourth game of the season. After eight innings, she has not allowed a run or a walk while giving up three hits and striking out eight. Rizner had the team's best earned run average as a freshman. In 13 appearances, including eight starts, she was 8-0 with a save and a 1.86 ERA. Rizner had six complete games, including two shutouts. She allowed 51 hits, 24 runs, 11 earned runs and seven walks while striking out 19 in 53 1/3 innings. Rizner also played in seven other others, including two starts. She was 1-for-10 at the plate. In the field, Rizner handled 29 chances without an error and was involved in two double plays. THE WEEK AHEAD Mountain View (24-5) will face District 3 champion York Catholic (24-6) Wednesday in the second round of the state Class AA boys’ basketball tournament. York Catholic opened the state tournament with a 71-42 victory over Bishop McCort. TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
NASCAR Racing The Racing Reporter TRIFECTA FOR JOHNSON At Vegas, Las Vegas, NV – Jimmie Johnson won against the odds in Sunday’s UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas.
Jimmie Johnson celebrates his Sunday win at Las Vegas Photo by Angela Hodges Johnson, the defending Nextel Cup champion, passed Jeff Burton for the lead on lap 240 of the 267-lap race and pulled away on a restart with just 11 laps to go, and went on to victory by nearly three seconds over his teammate, Jeff Gordon. On the way to victory Johnson overcame a pit road penalty after having a tire get loose on pit road and a brush with the outside wall to score his third straight victory at Vegas. “Outside of winning, overcoming adversity today is the most gratifying thing,” said Johnson. “I got into the wall and hurt the right side of the car. I thought I had torn it up. I thought we had a third or fourth place car, but after Chad (crew chief Chad Knaus) and the crew made all the adjustments, I had what I needed to win the race.” Johnson moved up from fifteenth to fourth in the points. Jeff Gordon led the most laps, but near the end of the race, he was simply outran by Johnson. Denny Hamlin rallied late to finish third, with Matt Kenseth fourth and Mark Martin fifth. Burton, fighting an electrical issue in his Chevrolet late in the race, wound up fifteenth as the last car on the lead lap. Mark Martin maintains the points lead, but still says he will not run the full schedule or try to make a run for the championship. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good run going until he was sent to the tail end of the field late in the race for pitting under caution while the pits were still closed. He is now 28th in points. There were only two Toyota drivers that made the field. Dale Jarrett got in on a championship provisional and finished 33rd. Dave Blaney, who qualified 22nd was 42nd. Top ten finishing order: 1. Jimmie Johnson, 2. Jeff Gordon, 3. Denny Hamlin, 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Mark Martin, 6. Carl Edwards, 7. Tony Stewart, 8. Ryan Newman, 9. Kyle Busch, 10. Jamie McMurray. Top-10 unofficial points leaders: 1. Martin-495, 2. J. Gordon-489, 3. J. Burton-453, 4. Johnson-406, 5. Kenseth-397, 6. Harvick-389, 7. Kyle Busch-382, 8. Hamlin-374, 9. Yeley-365, 10. Sadler-342. JEFF BURTON Takes Vegas Busch Race – Jeff Burton won Saturday’s caution-marred Busch Series race at Las Vegas, after Kyle Busch spun as the pair approached the finish line. Burton, who had nearly lost control of his car coming out of turn four on the last lap, was able to catch Busch just before they got to the stripe. Busch, who was on the inside, slipped and his car slid up and bounced off Burton. Burton went to his first Busch win of the year while Busch slid across the finish line backwards. Top-10 Busch Series leaders after 4 of 35 races: 1. Edwards-650, 2. Hamlin-582, 3. Blaney-521, 4. Harvick-496, 5. Ambrose-484, 6. Wood-452, 7. Biffle-446, 8. Stewart-442, 9. M. Wallace-430, 10. Kyle Busch-412. Top-10 Craftsman Truck Series leaders after 2 of 25: 1. Sprague-355, 2. Skinner-355, 3. Benson-330, 4. Hornaday-321, 5. Bodine-306, 6. Musgrave-298, 7. Kvapil-290, 8. Crawford-277, 9. Crafton-272, 10. Darnell-256. Cup Series To Have New Name In 2008 – According to the Charlotte Observer, the name of the Nextel Cup Series is fairly certain to change in 2008. The company said they hope to have a decision by mid- to late-summer. Nextel Communications signed a 10-year agreement in 2003 to become the sponsor of what is now known as the Nextel Cup Series beginning in the 2004 season. Nextel replaced Winston, which had sponsored the series for 33 years. In 2005, Nextel merged with Sprint and almost immediately speculation started on a possible new name for the Cup series. Nextel is allowed a name change in its agreement with NASCAR. The most discussed name at the time was the "Sprint Cup Series." Sprint Nextel officials then decided to delay a decision while the new company evaluated how best to leverage its sponsorship with the merger. NASCAR is also seeking a sponsor for the Busch Series, which has been sponsored by Busch since 1982. TNT To Limit Breaks In Pepsi 400 – TNT’s telecast of this year’s Pepsi 400 will contain fewer breaks. For all but four minutes of every hour, television viewers will be able to see the live action on their screen. TNT calls it “branded content.” The commercials will be imbedded into a separate box at the bottom of the screen. The idea of blending commercials and live action is not new. Several companies have had “side by side” coverage of other racing series, including Indy Racing. If advertisers are happy after the July 7 race at Daytona, TNT might use the format in more races. The idea is to bring or keep more viewers in front of their screen, because many fans have complained about the number of commercials. Last year’s television ratings were down for all except two races, and this season doesn’t look any better. The Daytona 500, California, and Mexican Busch Series telecasts lost fans. The season-opener at Daytona was down slightly, while the February 25 California race was down 9.5 per cent. The biggest loser was the Busch race in Mexico City, which was down a whopping 34.3 per cent. From my viewpoint, the increasing number of commercials is only partly to blame. While NASCAR attempts to diversify into new markets, they are losing their mainline racing fans. But thanks to the business savvy and ingenuity of the France family, NASCAR has overcome many hurdles since it was founded in 1948. It might stumble, but the odds are that it will survive, but not in the way it was known in the past. WEEKEND RACING All three of NASCAR’s major series are at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. Friday, March 16, Craftsman Trucks American Commercial Lines 200, race 3 of 25, 135 laps, 9 p.m. TV: Speed Channel. Saturday, March 17, Busch Series Nicorette 300, race 5 of 35, 195 laps, 3 p.m. TV: ABC. Sunday, March 18, Nextel Cup Kobalt Tools 500, race 4 of 36, 325 laps, 1:30 p.m. TV: Fox. Racing Trivia Question: Jeremy Mayfield left Ray Evernham Motorsports prior to the end of the 2006 racing season. Who is he driving for this year? Last Week’s Question: Which Cup team is Brian Vickers driving for in 2007? Answer. He is driving the No. 83 Team Red Bull Toyota. You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodgesnews@earthlink.net
Mountain View’s Johnson Is Athlete Of Month Robbie Johnson picked up a special individual accomplishment while helping Mountain View add to its list of achievements in boys’ basketball. Johnson became the school’s all-time leading scorer during a perfect month that completed an unbeaten season in Lackawanna League Division III boys’ basketball for the Eagles. For his efforts, Johnson is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for February. Mountain View won a division title a year ago, but needed a playoff to finish the championship. This time, the Eagles won both halves of the league season and avoided the playoff. “Coach (Patrick Heaton) stresses in practice that no game is easy,” Johnson said. “Anyone can beat you at any time. You have to come to practice ready to work every night. “That’s what we did.” The Eagles held off Lackawanna Trail, 63-62, but handled most of their other competition with relative ease. An 85-77 win over Susquehanna in which Johnson scored 29 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, was the second-closest of seven games in the month. Johnson hit more than 80 percent of his free throws for the month while averaging 19.8 points. He had 11 points in the fourth quarter alone against Carbondale. When Johnson scored 15 points in a 73-54 victory over Forest City, he surpassed Frank Rowe’s 39-year-old school record of 1,381 career points. “That was pretty cool,” Johnson said. “I really didn’t know I was getting close. “I was glad that coach kept it from me because I didn’t have to think about it. “It was pretty neat, but it was more important to win.” Johnson is in his fourth season as a starter on the basketball team. He has also started most of the last three seasons on a District 2 Class A champion soccer team. Robbie is the son of Robert and Christine Johnson of Jackson.
Introduce A Young Person To Hunting Thanks to a new mentor license program, young and novice hunters in Pennsylvania can turkey hunt with an adult mentor this spring before they complete a hunter education course. Pennsylvania’s mentor hunting license allows licensed adults over the age of 21 to take youth under the age of 12 hunting for squirrels, groundhogs, spring gobblers and, for fall of this year, antlered deer before completion of a hunter education course. Before the young hunter becomes fully licensed, he or she would be required to complete a hunter education course. Reducing and eliminating age and other barriers that prevent people from hunting is a major component of the Families Afield initiative. Started by the National Wild Turkey Federation, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Families Afield aims to remove youth hunting barriers throughout the country. For more information about the NWTF or Families Afield, contact Perrin Anderson or Jonathan Harling at (803) 637-3106, or panderson@nwtf.net or jharling@nwtf.net.
Kayla L. Traver, a senior at Montrose Area High School, is now coaching the Bumper Bowlers at Maplewood Lanes in South Montrose. Coaching the “Bumpers” is her Senior Class Project. She is there every Saturday morning ready and willing to guide and instruct the Bumpers in any way she can. The Bumpers are ages 3 – 7, and this year Kayla has about 11 that come each Saturday morning.
Kayla Traver Kayla not only has taken on this task, but she has helped to organize the Endless Mts. United States Bowling Congress Youth Leaders program and is currently president of that group. Kayla has been bowling since she was five years old and has a lot of fun with her bowling friends, and has made lasting friendships with all at the lanes. She owes her love of bowling to her Grandma Liz Traver. Kayla used to go with her Grandma and watch Grandma bowl, long before she was able to pick up the ball. Leroy and Judy Spadine, owners and operators of Maplewood Lanes taught her how to bowl in the beginning, and they are still there to guide all of the younger bowlers along. In June, 2003, Kayla was on a bowling team that attended the PA Y.A.B.A. State Championships. They came home champions. They had beaten the odds; a team from a small town and a small bowling league had won! At Montrose Area High School, Kayla is involved in the Montrose Marching Band – five years; Montrose Massed Band – three years; District Band – one year; Concert Choir – four years; SADD – six years; Spanish Club – three years; and was listed in the Who’s Who of High School Students, Sports Edition, 2006. She was inducted into the National Honor Society in the spring of 2006. The summer of 2001, Kayla was selected to be a People to People Student Ambassador. She spent three weeks in Europe, seeing London, Paris, Normandy, Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich, and Brussels. She had a wonderful time and will remember this experience all through her life. Kayla will graduate from Montrose in June, 2007 and has been accepted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL for the fall of 2007. She is planning on studying meteorology.
Sabers Win 6th Grade Basketball Tourney The Endless Mountain Basketball sixth grade basketball tournament was hosted at Tunkhannock High School on March 2, 3, and 4. Susquehanna Sabers won three elimination games, to enter the semi-final game Sunday afternoon.
Pictured (l-r) are the sixth grade Sabers Basketball Team: back row – Coach Travis, Caleb Scepaniak, Cole Mallery, Andrezj Tomcyzk, Danny Biegert, Tim Haynes; front row – Dylan Haynes, Zach Vaughn, Michael Frye. Montrose Meteors and the Sabers played to have the rights to be in the final game. The game was a close competition between both teams, until the third quarter when the Sabers went on a 16 to 8 point run, leading to a 57 – 50 win over the Meteors.’ On Sunday afternoon, the Sabers had their work cut out for them. The league champions, Tunkhannock Tigers, had eliminated two other opponents to qualify for the championship game. The Tigers came out tough in the first quarter, with both teams battling to an 11 – 10 score, Sabers leading. The second quarter was all Sabers, ending 27 – 14. In the third quarter, the Tigers came back strong cutting the lead to within 8 points. The fourth quarter was even harder for the Sabers, with the Tigers outscoring them by 7, just 2 points short of a win. The Sabers took the championship, with a 43 – 41 win over the Tigers.
Federation Of Sportsmen’s Clubs Meeting Update The regular scheduled meeting of the Susquehanna County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs was held on February 22, hosted by the Rush/Middletown Sportsmen’s Club at the Rush Fire Hall, Lawton, PA. State delegate appointments and committee chairmen appointments are as follows: John Ord of the New Milford Rifle & Pistol Club, delegate to the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs with Bob Tiffany, of the Central Conservation Club as alternate delegate. Gary Williams, of S.C.O.R.E., Chairman of the Gun Raffle, and Lew Davy of the New Milford Rifle & Pistol Club as vice chairman. Jo Morrison, of the Harford Sportsmen’s Club, as Chairman for the Federation’s booth at the Harford Fair. Bob Tiffany, of Central Conservation Club, as Chairman for the Youth Field Day in September. Meeting agenda items included voting in favor of the PFSC supporting these proposed resolutions: Implement a uniform three-point antler restriction throughout the state. To allow a light to be attached to firearms for night varmint hunting. To prevent the passage of legislature that will require permits for hunting on state game lands. To encourage the PA Game Commission to create a regulation that would prohibit the use of State Game Lands parking areas after dark to those not actively engaged in hunting, trapping, fishing or related activities, in an attempt to alleviate littering. Bob Tiffany and Bill Kasten were awarded “Outstanding Hunter” and “Trapper Training Awards,” respectively, for the year 2006. Next meeting is scheduled for March 22 at Central Conservation Club, hosted by S.C.O.R.E., at 7 p.m. For more information on SCFSC activities, you can contact them at scfederation@gmail.com.
Quaker Lake Public Access Is Restored The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced that public access to the boat launch and associated parking area at Quaker Lake has been restored. The PFBC today also announced it will resume trout stocking at the 127-acre lake for the 2007 season. Stocking is planned for April 13 at the PFBC launch at 2:00 p.m. and again April 24 at 2:00 at the launch area. The access area has been reopened through an agreement between the PFBC and an adjacent landowner in anticipation of a final decision in litigation currently pending before the local court. Quaker Lake is regulated under the Early Season Trout Stocked waters program. Under this designation, in addition to the Commonwealth Inland waters seasons, sizes and creel limits, anglers are allowed to fish between March 1 and the opening day of trout season (this year April 14), and have a creel limit of three trout with a minimum size limit of 7 inches. Consult the Fishing Summary booklet or the PFBC website (www.fish.state.pa.us) for further, complete regulations.
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