Officially it will still be known as Division 4 of the Lackawanna League but realignment means the schedule will resemble the old Susquehanna County League for high school basketball teams from around the county.
Susquehanna, Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Forest City, Montrose and Mountain View are still in a division with Lackawanna Trail. Lakeland, which won the boys’ title and finished second in the girls’ division when the teams competed together in Division 3 last season, will no longer be part of the mix.
The realignment from three to four divisions and an emphasis on local scheduling to reduce travel are not the only changes in the basketball season, which opens Friday night.
District 2 is returning to an open tournament format, which will assure all of the county’s Class AA teams of a shot in the postseason.
The Blue Ridge girls were Class A last season but they move up to Class AA for the new two-year cycle, joining the school’s boys’ team, as well as both teams from Elk Lake, Montrose and Mountain View.
Susquehanna and Forest City remain in Class A.
There are just four Class A schools in District 2, including Old Forge and MMI Prep.
When the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association dropped the play-in games to reach the round of 32 this season, it eliminated the chance for teams to work their way into the state tournament after finishing second in the district in Class A.
Only the District 2 champions in Class A and AAAA will have any chance at state play.
The top three finishers in Class AA and AAA will all advance to state play.
The Forest City girls won a pair of state games in Class A last season after finishing second in District 2.
Carly Erdmann, a Class A second-team, all-state choice as a sophomore, returns for Forest City.
Montrose brings back starters Myra Lattimore, Nicki Lewis and Meghan Gilhool from a team that reached the Class AA girls’ state semifinals after winning Lackawanna League Division 3 and District 2 titles.
Susquehanna returns four starters, including top two scorers Andrzej Tomczyk and Cole Mallery from its District 2 Class A boys’ championship team.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Daiqwon Buckley and Austin Seamon combined for 325 yards and five touchdowns rushing Friday night as Dunmore advanced to the state Class A semifinals with a 34-12 victory over Bristol at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium in Peckville.
The Bucks trailed at halftime before outscoring the Warriors, 26-0.
Dunmore broke on top less than two minutes into the game.
Seamon returned the opening kickoff 74 yards and scored the first of his three touchdowns three plays later on a 3-yard run. He finished with 161 yards on 13 carries.
Bristol moved in front 12-7 with a touchdown in the first quarter and another in the second.
Seamon’s 58-yard run midway through the third quarter put Dunmore (13-1) ahead to stay.
Buckley finished with 164 yards on 19 carries. He had touchdowns of 18 and 11 yards in the fourth quarter, sandwiched around a 31-yarder by Seamon.
The Bucks ran for more than 200 yards in the second half and overcame having one touchdown called back and fumbling the ball away at the Warriors 1.
In professional baseball, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Dave Miley was named Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America magazine, which is generally regarded as the top authority on Minor League Baseball.
Miley was earlier named IL Manager of the Year for the second time in his career with the Yankees, who were renamed the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders after the season.
Under Miley, the Yankees went 84-60 to win the North Division despite playing the entire season on the road while PNC Field in Moosic was being reconstructed.
“No home games and win the division, that’s pretty unbelievable,” New York Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman told Baseball America.
The division title was the fifth in six years for the Yankees under Miley, who has a 1973-1610 record in 23 minor league seasons.
Miley, 50, is managing this winter in the Puerto Rican league for the second straight year. He is expected to be back in northeastern Pennsylvania as manager of the RailRiders in April.
“Dave’s work in 2012 was mind-blowing,” RailRiders president and general manager Rob Crain said in a press release. “Under rare and difficult conditions, he authored the type of season most would find unbelievable on a movie screen.”
COLLEGE CORNER
Jehiel Boner, a senior from Elk Lake, is part of the Lycoming College men’s swimming team that is off to a 3-1 start in dual meets.
Boner finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, providing three points during a 156-86 win at Elizabethtown.
Lycoming has won three straight since losing its opener.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Opening night of basketball includes the annual Michael “Red” Wallace Scholarship Game with Elk Lake playing at Carbondale Friday in a boys’ game.
Wallace played at Fell Township, now part of Carbondale Area, and coached Elk Lake to two state titles.
Montrose will be home against Riverside in a game between teams that finished second in their divisions last season.
Susquehanna opens at home against Northeast Bradford Friday night.
Blue Ridge will begin the season in the Sayre Tournament Friday and Saturday.
In girls’ basketball, Montrose opens its season at Valley View Friday night.
In high school football, Dunmore will travel west to face Bellwood-Antis in the state semifinals.
Our high school football prediction was correct last week, bringing our playoff record to 13-5 (72.2 percent) and our season record to 104-33 (75.9 percent).
This week’s prediction: Dunmore 34, Bellwood-Antis 20.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
ERIC JONES WINS SNOWBALL DERBY
PENSACOLA, Fla.—Sixteen year old Eric Jones of Byron, Michigan passed Kyle Busch with 15 laps remaining to win Sunday’s 300-lap Snowball Derby.
Jones was leading the race, when an accident on lap 272 brought out the yellow, bringing all the leaders to pit road for fresh tires. Jones’ team had a tire get away from them, which allowed Kyle Busch to beat him out of the pits.
But when green flag racing resumed, Jones easily passed Busch’s No. 51 and held on for the win.
“I knew I could catch him, but I didn’t know if he would try to wreck me or not,” said Jones. “But as it turned out, my car was good enough to stay in front the rest of the way.”
Kyle Busch is glad the season is over
Top-10 unofficial finishers: 1. Eric Jones-Byron, MI; 2. Jeff Choquette-W. Palm Beach, FL; 3. Kyle Busch-Mooresville, NC; 4. Jeff Fultz-Mooresville, NC; 5. Chase Elliott-Dawsonville, GA; 6. Grant Enfinger-Fairhope, AL; 7. Kyle Benjamin-Easley, SC; 8. David Ragan-Concord, NC; 9. Chris Davidson-Pearland, TX; 10. John Nemechek-Mooresville, NC.
KYLE BUSCH GLAD IT’S OVER
Kyle Busch didn’t live up to his racing expectations last season.
“We never got it all together,” said Kyle Busch, who was in Pensacola, Florida for the Snowball Derby. “It was very frustrating. We were never able to get on track. I thought the entire team performed very well, but we weren’t able to produce good results.”
He led 1,436 laps in the Sprint Cup series, but had a disappointing finish. His lone Cup victory in the Spring race at Richmond represented his lowest win total over all three national series since he started full time in 2004.
“In several races we qualified well, had good runs, but things happened to take us out of contention. In a couple races, we didn’t qualify well, but the team made enough adjustments that allowed me to run up front. Still, we weren’t able to win like we wanted to.”
He failed to win in nine races where he led the most laps. Three of those races occurred in the Chase -- at Dover, Phoenix and Homestead.
One of his most frustrating moments came during the Sep. 30th race at Dover.
Busch led 302 laps of the 400-lap race, but had to pit with 10 laps remaining because he did not have enough gas to make it to the finish.
Crew chief, Dave Rogers, said afterward that the team had opted for ultimate horsepower rather than fuel mileage when it tuned the engine before the race.
Busch had been able to control his emotions for most of the season, but during the Dover race he let go with choice expletives over his car radio, about the engines, which come from Toyota Research and Development.
He issued an apology two days later.
“We have a great partnership with TRD and they built me a motor that helped me lead over 300 laps and nearly lap the field. It's just frustrating that the caution fell where it did and suddenly it became a fuel-mileage race and we were set up for maximum horsepower,” Busch said.
Busch had engine problems in two other races during the summer that contributed to his missing the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
However, he did record four consecutive top-fives in the final four races of the year.
“We were really fast for most of our races,” Busch continued. "The team gave me some fast race cars, which I've been excited about. Dave [Rogers] and the guys have done a really nice job of putting together some good stuff. It's just stupid things kept happening to us.”
Busch clearly needed a victory going into Bristol, in order to squeeze his way into the final Chase wild card spot. The opportunity was there for him, since he had five previous victories at the .5-mile bull ring.
He qualified 10th, led several laps, but could only manage a 6th-place finish.
Busch’s lack of wins even carried over to the Camping World Truck Series.
While leading the final truck race of the season at Homestead in a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Busch exited the final turn as the leader. Fast-closing Cale Gale caught Busch and pushed Busch's No. 18 Toyota against the outside wall, taking the checkered flag by a nose in a shower of sparks.
“I got drove into the fence,” Busch said. “That's it. You saw it.”
Gale didn't disagree.
“Will we have a better season next year?” Continued Busch. “What can I say? Will we win a lot of races? I hope so. We’ve got a good team, and we expect to have good, fast cars. There’s no way anyone can say how many races they’re going to win. We’ll go out and do our best.”
GEOFF BODINE HANGING UP HIS HELMET
Geoff Bodine is moving on.
After more than 50 years of racing, 27 of those spent in NASCAR’s top three divisions, Bodine said he has other priorities in life; his family, charity work, and building the next generation of bobsleds for the U.S. Olympic team.
“I’m not using the word retirement because people misinterpret what you are saying,” he said. “I don’t want that word associated with me. I’m not retiring from life. I’m more active now than ever. I’m just not going to drive a race car anymore. That’s all.”
Bodine began to rethink why he was still trying to race at the Sprint Cup level at the age of 63 after he suffered a lifetime of hard hits to his head, including a concussion from a spectacular Truck Series crash at Daytona International Speedway in 2000 that almost cost him his life.
“I don’t know the definition of what a concussion is, but all I know is that I’ve been knocked out several times and have hit my head and jarred it several times really hard,” Bodine said. “I even got knocked out in high school football, so my head injuries started a long time ago. I’ve had all of those multiple concussions and they add up. You never know if the next one is going to put you down. Dale Jr.’s situation kind of pushed me into making this decision.”
Racing Trivia Question: Which Cup driver is nicknamed, “The Cuban Missile?”
Last Week’s Question: Where is NASCAR’s first regular season Cup race held? Answer. The Daytona 500, held in Daytona Beach, FL.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.
