Forest City reached a new level of play while Montrose maintained the impressive level that has already carried the Lady Meteors to a series of championships.

As a result, both teams advanced in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association girls’ basketball playoffs with wins.

Forest City needed two wins to reach the final 16 teams in the state in Class A.

After handling Hershey Christian, 40-21, in a preliminary round game March 6 in Hershey, the Lady Foresters traveled to the Philadelphia suburbs to knock off three-time District 1 champion Delaware County Christian, 45-42, Saturday night.

“I think this is our best win ever,” Forest City coach Carl Urbas said. “This is a very unassuming group of girls. They put it all together.

“It’s the first time all year that we played a good game when we were up against a good team.”

Montrose kept rolling with its 24th straight win, 57-41, in Friday’s first-round Class AA game at Scranton High School.

During the streak, the Lady Meteors won the Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament, the Lackawanna League Division 3 title and the District 2 Class AA championship.

Forest City, the District 2 runner-up, has won seven of its last 11 to climb above .500 to 13-11 overall.

Carly Erdmann had 15 points Saturday, including two free throws with 11 seconds left to end the scoring.

Delco Christian’s shot at the tying 3-pointer at the buzzer went off the rim.

Cassandra Bendyk added 12 points for the Lady Foresters.

Delco Christian (14-12) took a 23-22 halftime lead with the help of 12 of Stacey MacArthur’s 17 points.

Forest City switched to a zone defense in the second half and was more effective containing MacArthur.

Morgan Saul hit back-to-back 3-pointers to end the third quarter and put the Lady Foresters in front, 36-31.

Katelyn Zembrzycki erased the last deficit, hitting two free throws to start a 6-for-7 finish at the line by Forest City. She put the Lady Foresters up, 41-40, with 1:40 left.

Erdmann was 4-for-5 from the line in the final minute.

The first state playoff obstacle for Forest City was a Hershey Christian team that entered state play with an 18-5 record.

Forest City made a big turnaround from the district final in which it did not hit a first-half field goal against Old Forge.

The Lady Foresters jumped to a 29-9 halftime lead in the preliminary game. They were up 13-5 after one quarter.

“We hit some three and we played very good man-to-man defense,” Urbas said.

Erdmann had two 3-pointers and Bendyk one in the first half. Saul added one in the fourth quarter.

For Montrose, Dallas Ely produced what has become her expected outcome.

Freshman Meghan Gilhool provided the unexpected against neighboring Wyalusing, a District 4 representative.

Ely had 28 points and five steals.

Gilhool, despite often being the smallest player on the floor, had 11 rebounds and eight assists. She ran down loose rebounds on offense and battled inside against bigger opponents to pull them down on the defensive end.

Sara Krupinski had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Ely hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the game’s first six points. She had a third 4:48 into the game for a 12-5 Montrose advantage.

Wyalusing rallied with the last seven points of the quarter to force a tie, then took its only lead when Alexis Daly opened the second quarter with a free throw.

Daly led the Rams (22-4) with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Montrose ran off eight straight points late in the second quarter before Wyalusing scored to make the Lady Meteors’ lead 24-18 at halftime.

Ely had a 3-pointer in the second-quarter streak and another when Montrose opened the second half with seven more points for a 31-18 lead. She finished 5-for-10 from 3-point range.

Montrose moved into Tuesday’s second-round game where it was scheduled to face Carver Engineering & Science of Philadelphia (17-5).

WEEK IN REVIEW

SCRANTON - Faith Christian Academy coach Dave Forker wanted Greg Boyd to change his style of play.

When he did, Boyd altered the pace in the second half of the state Class A first-round boys’ basketball game Friday night at Scranton High School.

Taking the ball to the basket when he had it and going out and getting it when he didn’t, Boyd helped the Lions overcome a five-point Susquehanna halftime lead and run away to a 57-41 victory.

“When he attacks the basket, he makes our team go,” Forker said.

The Lions got going in the second half after managing just four points in the second quarter when the upset-minded Sabers moved in front, 25-20.

“We had a great effort in the first half,” Susquehanna coach Lawrence Tompkins said. “We kept them bottled up with our 3-2 zone.

“In the second half, we turned the ball over more and that got them into the pace they wanted to play. But, we fought hard for the whole 32 minutes.”

Boyd finished with 19 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals. He had eight points and three defensive rebounds in the third quarter. For the second half, Boyd had five assists and four steals.

“The best way to make them speed up is for us to get out in transition,” Boyd said.

Brandon Soden came off the bench to hit his only three shots of the game and score six points for Susquehanna in the second quarter.

Cole Mallery took a steal the length of the floor for a layup just 16 seconds into the second half to complete a 16-4 run that dated back to the first quarter. The basket gave the Sabers their biggest lead, 27-20.

Faith Christian (24-4) changed the game drastically, outscoring the Sabers, 24-6, the rest of the quarter.

“They’re the 12th-ranked team in the state for a reason,” Tompkins said.

The Lions scored the last seven points of the third quarter and the first five of the fourth - in a span of just 2:25 - to take a 49-33 lead on Boyd’s only 3-pointer. Boyd has seven of the 12 points in the streak.

“We were definitely concerned,” Forker said.

Faith Christian hardly missed in the third quarter, going 11-for-15. Of the four times they missed, the Lions retrieved the rebounds three times.

The Lions wound up with a 35-24 rebounding advantage with help from Alexander Woelkers, who had 10 rebounds, including six in the first quarter.

J.D. Zamroz went 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

Andrzej Tomczyk, a junior who is already over 1,000 points for his career, had 15 points to lead Susquehanna. He blocked two shots.

Mallery added 14, along with team-highs of seven rebounds and three steals for the Sabers.

Susquehanna won its first district title since 1961 and finished 8-16. After losing 10 straight at one point, the Sabers went 5-4 over their final nine games.

“We’ll remember this experience tonight and try to get back next year,” said Tompkins, who was in his first year as coach.

COLLEGE CORNER

Brooke Darling has already emerged as the number-one pitcher at Columbia University.

The freshman from Elk Lake, who was the 2011 Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month, won her college debut.

Columbia defeated Louisiana Tech, 5-4, on opening day behind a complete game by Darling, who allowed seven hits and seven walks while striking out two.

In addition to producing Columbia’s only win, Darling has the best earned run average among the team’s three pitchers at 5.73. She leads the team in appearances (seven), starts (four) and innings pitched (18 1/3).

Darling has walked 15 and struck out 10.

Columbia is 1-6.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Forest City (14-11) plays District 3 runner-up Steelton-Highspire (24-3) Wednesday at Hazleton Area at 6 in the PIAA Class A girls’ basketball playoffs.

If Montrose (25-2) got past District 12 champion Carver Engineering & Sciences of Philadelphia (17-5) in Tuesday’s second round, the Lady Meteors would advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against the winner of the game between Pine Grove (18-7) and Delone Catholic (22-5).

In swimming, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA boys’ championships are Friday and Saturday at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

Elk Lake’s Adam Phillips will compete in the 200-yard individual medley Friday and the 100 breaststroke Saturday. He is seeded seventh of 32 in the IM and third of 32 in the 100 breaststroke.

Each day’s schedule involves afternoon qualifying for the evening finals.

In professional hockey, the Binghamton Senators are at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Sunday at 3:05 in an American Hockey League game.

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.

Stewart Is Big Winner In Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Tony Stewart took the lead on lap 234 of Sunday's 267-lap Kobalt 400 and held off Jimmie Johnson for his first-ever Las Vegas Cup victory.

There were three cautions late in the race, but each time Stewart was able to maintain his lead.

“This is special, after having the dominant car last year and losing it,” said Stewart. “We might not have had the dominant car today, but we were awesome on the restarts.”

Tony Stewart, winner at Las Vegas.

Johnson tried to catch Stewart after each caution, but was never able to get within distance to make a passing move.

“I think we could have used a little more speed,” said Johnson. “Tony could get up through the gears quicker than I could.”

Johnson moved up 14 spots from 37th to 23rd.

Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Jamie Mcmurray, Trevor Bayne, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Polesitter, Kasey Kahne finished 19th.

Matt Kenseth had the stronger of the Roush Fords, but he got bottled up in a bunch of cars on the last restart, brushed the wall, and finished 22nd.

“I really don't know what happened near the end,” said Kenseth. “I think some of the drivers laid back on that last restart, and I just got shuffled around.”

STENHOUSE WINS VEGAS NATIONWIDE RACE

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dominated the last 50 laps of Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, pulling away from Mark Martin during a 39-lap green flag run to the finish.

The victory was Stenhouse's first of the season and third in the series, and his first on a 1.5-mile track.

“To win on a mile-and-a-half (racetrack) is big for me,” Stenhouse said. “I feel like our cars are better than I am at some mile-and-a-halfs, and I feel like I drive really hard at the short tracks. The car was not as good as we wanted at the start of the race. If you would have listened to our radio, I’m sure (crew chief) Mike (Kelly) over here was tired of listening to me, but he kept taking notes of what I was saying and made it better. The guys on pit road did an awesome job to get us out first and that really helped to win us that race.”

Stenhouse drove away from Martin after a restart on Lap 162, opening a lead of 4.785 seconds with 20 laps left. The defending Nationwide champion maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Martin said the last green-flag run was no contest.

“That was one serious beat-down he put on me that last run,” Martin said.. “I mean just a beat-down. I kept up with him for a while and about wrecked five times, and that's it. I could stay ahead of him, and any time he would close in on me, I could get up on the wheel and pull back out.

“But that last run, he seemed to be stronger. I didn't feel my car was off. He just had that thing rolling. I'm not ashamed to say it wasn't even close.”

Points leader Elliott Sadler came home third, followed by Trevor Bayne and Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan. Cole Whitt, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish Jr. and Kasey Kahne completed the top-10.

Danica Patrick finished where she started, running 12th after qualifying 12th .

Top-10 leaders after 3 of 33: 1. E. Sadler - 131, 2. A. Dillon - 116, 3. R. Stenhouse Jr. - 114, 4. T. Bayne - 112, 5. C. Whitt - 109, 6. S. Hornish Jr. - 98, 7. T. Malsam - 90, 8. M. Annett - 82, 9. J. Allgaier - 76, 10. B. Koch - 66.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams are back east this weekend at Bristol, Tennessee, one of the shortest tracks on the schedule. The .533-mile track's first NASCAR race was the Volunteer 500 in 1961, which was won by Jack Smith in a Pontiac.

Darrell Waltrip is the all-time leading race winner with 12. Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch leads all current drivers with five wins. Kyle Busch is the defending champion.

Saturday's Nationwide race might not have all the big-name Cup stars, but it could have just as much action, because the Cup racers are more likely to mix it up more when their points aren't on the line.

There is no love lost between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, and both will be in Saturday's race.

Harvick has five Nationwide wins at the half-mile oval and joins Busch, winner of the last three Nationwide events at Bristol, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski, with one Nationwide win each at BMS and Danica Patrick, who is making her second Cup start.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., winner at Las Vegas, goes for his first win at BMS while Justin Allgaier, tries to duplicate the success he experienced winning for the first time at Bristol in March, 2010.

A surprise entry for the race is another Earnhardt. Jeffrey Earnhardt becomes a fourth-generation racer to compete in NASCAR events at Bristol, following in the footsteps of his great grandfather Ralph, grandfather Dale, and father Kerry.

The Camping World Trucks do not race again until March 31.

Sat., Mar. 17, Nationwide St. Patrick's Day 300, race 4 of 33; Starting time: 1 p.m. ET; TV: ESPN.

Sun. Mar. 18, Sprint Cup Food City 500, race 4 of 36; Starting time: 12:30 p.m. ET; TV: FOX.

Racing Trivia Question: Which series does Cole Whitt drive in?

Last Week's Question: Where is Kevin Harvick's hometown? Answer. It is Bakersfield, CA.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

Adam Phillips was more informed of the specifics of the 200-yard individual medley pool and meet records than usual when he arrived at the Lackawanna County Swimming and Diving Championships at Scranton High School Feb. 19.

“That one I was aware of,” said Phillips, a senior at Elk Lake. “Two years ago, Gabe Thran of Abington Heights set it against me.

“(Tunkhannock's) Ben Spencer and I were both going after it last year.”

Phillips got the pool and meet records this year with a time of 1:59.62. He also won the 100 butterfly at the Lackawanna County Championships to combine with his performances in Wyoming Valley Conference action and make Phillips the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for February.

“This year, I saw almost everything,” Phillips said.

When it came time to concentrate for the postseason, Phillips was working on his breaststroke the most.

Phillips won District 2 Class AA gold medals in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM, the two events he finished seventh in at last year’s state championships. His district-winning efforts made Phillips the state’s third seed in the breaststroke and seventh seed in the IM.

“I feel like I have my best chance in the breaststroke,” Phillips said.

As he approaches the end of a successful athletic career at Elk Lake, Phillips is undecided on his college plans. He has a swimming recruiting visit scheduled with Division I Rider one week after next weekend’s state championships.

Phillips is also preparing for his fourth season on the varsity baseball team and his third as the starting catcher. He also played soccer and golf during his high school career.

Adam is the son of Jim and Ann Marie Phillips of Springville.