CLARKS SUMMIT - The 14 straight league games the Montrose girls won without a loss produced one championship.
The two games the Lady Meteors face this week have the potential to produce an even more prestigious one.
The Feb. 22 win in a playoff game at Abington Heights High School created not only a better seeding spot for district play, but it also brought some significant bragging rights.
The Division 3 champion Lady Meteors raced out to the game’s first 13 points on the way to a 58-48 victory over seven-time Division 2 champion Dunmore in a game to determine which would take the Lackawanna League’s top seed in the District 2 Class AA Tournament.
“It’s a nice signature win,” Montrose coach Al Smith said following the victory over Dunmore. “We wanted to play well and we came ready to play, but we realize we have to come ready to play Friday night.”
The improved seeding spot would have been virtually meaningless if the Lady Meteors had failed to reach this week’s semifinals where three out of four teams will advance to the state tournament.
Montrose avoided that fate when Dallas Ely scored a career-high 37 points Friday in a 52-49 victory over Holy Cross at North Pocono.
“I was trying to drive more and take whatever they gave me,” Ely said.
Holy Cross had taken Montrose into overtime earlier in the season.
The Lady Meteors had even more trouble with Dunmore last year when the Lackawanna League introduced the playoff game between the two division champions to decide top seed. Dunmore defeated Montrose, 50-38, and went on to an appearance in the state championship game.
Ely also had a big game against Dunmore, scoring 28 points.
Sara Krupinski added 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists.
They combined in the fast start when Ely hit two 3-pointers and Krupinski added five points.
The closest Dunmore got after the 13-0 start was five points three times.
Alexa Gerchman led the Lady Bucks, going 6-for-12 on 3-pointers while scoring 26 points and making four steals.
Montrose (21-2) pushed its winning streak to 20 against Holy Cross. Dunmore (22-3) had a 13-game winning streak broken.
Dunmore crushed Wyoming Seminary, 55-14, in the district opener.
Both teams were scheduled to play in Tuesday’s semifinal doubleheader in Scranton. Dunmore and Mid Valley met in one game before Montrose took on Riverside in the other.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Blue Ridge’s Zach Edwards won the District 2 Class AA 120-pound wrestling championship Saturday night at Lake-Lehman with a 5-4 victory over Justin Elick of Wilkes-Barre Meyers.
Blue Ridge’s Tom Maby and Elk Lake’s Derrick Smith also advanced to the Northeast Regional tournament by finishing third in their weight classes.
Maby decisioned Dominic Vitale of Hanover Area, 3-2, at 138 pounds. Maby won a district title last year for Susquehanna before the two schools entered into a cooperative sponsorship in wrestling.
Smith pinned Wyoming Area’s Ryan Fillipiak in 4:18 at 145.
Lake-Lehman edged Dallas, 182.5-181.5, for the team title.
Lackawanna Trail was the top team from the Lackawanna League with a fifth-place finish.
Blue Ridge and Elk Lake tied for 11th with 53 points. Montrose was last in the 14-team field with 10.5 points.
In girls’ basketball, MMI Prep eliminated Blue Ridge, 34-29, Saturday at Scranton High School in the District 2 Class A quarterfinals.
Maria Cerrato scored four of her eight points in overtime to lead MMI to victory.
Andrea Lara’s offensive rebounding keyed a second-half run that brought MMI back from a six-point deficit and allowed the Preppers to win in overtime.
Cerrato hit a 19-footer off an in-bounds pass 50 seconds into overtime to put MMI ahead, 29-28. She hit two free throws for the final points with 28 seconds remaining.
The Preppers were trailing most of the way before a streak of 11 straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters created a 23-18 lead with 6:29 left. MMI got eight of its points in the streak on offensive rebounds. Lara scored one of those baskets and passed to Kristen Purcell for scores after grabbing two other rebounds.
Blue Ridge rallied to tie the game twice in the final minute of regulation on a runner by Jenna Rupakus with 50 seconds left and a shot from the wing by Ashley Warren with 21 seconds left.
Lara grabbed another rebound and hit one of two free throws for a 32-29 lead with 39 seconds left in overtime.
Blue Ridge had a 12-10 lead at halftime and extended it to 18-12 on a 3-pointer by Jackie Furch with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
Furch led the Raiders with 10 points. She was 7-for-12 from the foul line, including 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter.
MMI Prep advances to play top-seeded Forest City, the defending champion, in the semifinals.
Forest City and Montrose are the only county teams still playing.
Susquehanna was the only team in the district that chose not to participate in the postseason. The Lady Sabers could have been part of the open Class A tournament.
In boys’ basketball, Montrose played its way into the District 2 Class AA tournament with a 74-60 victory over Blue Ridge, then lost twice and was eliminated.
The Meteors dropped to a lower seed with a 55-43 loss to Dunmore then fell to Holy Cross, 63-56, in the quarterfinals.
In swimming and diving, Elk Lake’s Julia Amorine finished 13th in the District 2 Class AA girls’ diving.
COLLEGE CORNER
Brandon Stone played just one minute but had two points, hitting his only shot, Saturday afternoon when the Misericordia University men’s basketball team played its way into the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 65-46 victory over Wilkes University in the MAC Freedom League championship game.
Misericordia trailed by three at halftime before outscoring Wilkes, 41-19, in the second half.
Stone was a bigger factor in the conference semifinal when he scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in six minutes of a 76-73 victory over FDU-Florham.
Stone hit his only attempt from the floor and both of his foul shots.
In 16 games off the bench, Stone has averaged 1.5 points in his 5.3 minutes per game. He is 8-for-12 from the floor and from the line.
Stone also has 21 rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The District 2 Class A boys’ final and Class AA girls’ final and consolation game are scheduled for Friday night.
Susquehanna and Forest City, the county’s last two boys’ teams in action, were scheduled to play semifinals Tuesday to try to get to Friday’s game. Susquehanna faced MMI Prep and Forest City played Old Forge.
Depending on whether it won or lost Tuesday, Montrose will play the team that had the same result in the matchup of Dunmore and Mid Valley.
The Class A girls’ semifinals are Wednesday. Forest City plays MMI at 7:30 at Scranton for the chance to advance to Saturday’s final against the Old Forge-Northwest winner.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
