DIMOCK – The Elk Lake boys and Montrose girls returned to winning ways while defending championships in county basketball tournaments.

Elk Lake, which won its first three games, bounced back from its first loss this season with consecutive victories in the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.

Montrose, which took a 26-game winning streak all the way to the state semifinal last season, had been 0-6 to start this season before winning back-to-back games in the Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament.

Both tournaments were decided on the Mike “Red” Wallace Court at Elk Lake in a Dec. 30 doubleheader to conclude the twice-delayed events.

Elk Lake pounded Susquehanna early, opening a 22-point lead on the way to a 62-49 boys' victory.

In the opener, the Montrose girls broke a tie early in the second quarter, then ran away from Elk Lake, 50-32.

Elk Lake’s defense bottled up Susquehanna to 22 percent shooting while forcing nine turnovers and opening a 37-19 halftime lead.

“We knew they were going to start with a lot of energy on their home floor,” Susquehanna coach Lawrence Tompkins said after Elk Lake took an 18-4 lead in less than six minutes.

Tyler Arnold held Susquehanna scoring leader Andrzej Tomczyk to just four shots – only two from inside the 3-point arc – in the first half. Elk Lake’s team defense closed the interior on Cole Mallery, forcing him to miss his first nine shots.

Tanner Reyan led a balanced Elk Lake attack with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Reyan joined Arnold on the all-tournament team.

“Defense has to be our strength,” Elk Lake coach John Warnero said. “Our guards did a great job of pressuring the ball; Tyler Arnold is a guy we count on as our lock-down defender; and the rest of the guys did a great job collapsing on Mallery.”

Dan Biegert did his best to get the Susquehanna offense going. He scored 20 points and made the all-tournament team.

The Sabers cut into the 22-point deficit by closing the third quarter with a 16-3 run that included three 3-pointers by Tomczyk in a span of 3 1⁄2 minutes and a 3-pointer, a steal and a blocked shot by Biegert.

“We did a good job after halftime,” Tompkins said.

Susquehanna got within 52-46 with 3:22 left before Nick Dudock went 5-for-6 from the line down the stretch to help Elk Lake pull away.

Matt Woolcock and Rob Heft added 12 points each while Dudock added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Tomczyk had 14 points and three steals for the Sabers, who lost for just the second time in eight games. Mallery had eight points and eight rebounds despite fouling out after playing less than 20 minutes.

The game is the first of at least three meetings between the two basketball teams that have the best records in the county in the first month of the season.

“This tournament is brutal because it means we’re going to play a great time like that three times,” Warnero said.

Troy Ely scored 12 points while Austin Smith and all-tournament selection Cameron Dean added 11 each to lead Elk Lake to a 54-43 win over Blue Ridge in the third-place game.

Sawyer Dearborn hit six 3-pointers while scoring 38 for Blue Ridge in the loss. He also made the all-tournament team.

The Montrose girls faced a demanding schedule to open the season with a revamped lineup minus its top two scorers from last season.

“We had an extremely difficult schedule,” Lady Meteors coach Al Smith said. “Against Wallenpaupack and Abington Heights, we played good defensive games, but struggled offensively.

“Our confidence is starting to rise.”

Myra Lattimore, the third-leading scorer last season while playing inside, showed off her perimeter game while scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

“I played in the post my freshman and sophomore seasons,” Lattimore said. “In AAU last spring, I moved to guard.

“We do have kind of a smaller team with not too much size, so I have been playing both.”

Lattimore showed she could score in a variety of ways while putting up eight points in five minutes during the second quarter to turn a tie game into a 26-14 halftime lead for the Lady Meteors. She scored on a drive, a strong inside move after a rebound, a spinning left-handed shot in the lane and a 17-footer from the left wing.

“We’ve gone through changes at some positions,” Smith said. “We’re looking for her to score more.”

Lattimore opened the second half with a pair of baseline jumpers from beyond 15 feet to extend the lead to 30-14.

Elk Lake made one last run to get within, 31-24.

The Lady Meteors pulled away again and never let the Lady Warriors within single digits in the fourth quarter.

Megan Gilhool had 10 points, five assists and three steals to join Lattimore on the all-tournament team.

Nicki Lewis had 11 points and Morgan Groover added eight rebounds for Montrose.

Casey Tyler scored 16 points to lead Elk Lake and also made the all-tournament team.

Susquehanna took third place when Mashawna Hargett scored 20 points and the Lady Sabers held off a Blue Ridge rally in a 40-37 win.

Hargett made the all-tournament team along with Jenna Rupakus, who led Blue Ridge with 12 points.

Dakota Radikovich added 11 points for Blue Ridge.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Forest City followed Montrose’s tournament routine.

The Lady Foresters, who won two state Class A tournament games last season, started 0-7.

When league play opened, however, they won two straight to take the early Lackawanna League Division 4 lead.

Forest City downed Susquehanna, 53-30, then edged Elk Lake, 41-40.

Cassandra Bendyk had 25 points against Susquehanna.

Carly Erdmann had 19 points against Elk Lake, which was led by Meghan Bush with 17.

Montrose was the only other team to make it through the first week without a division loss.

The Lady Meteors defeated Blue Ridge, 55-24, then suffered a 54-36 loss to Holy Cross in a crossover game that does not count in the division standings.

Lattimore and Groover had 11 points each while Fallon Gurn had 10 in the win over Blue Ridge.

The win was the 17th straight in division play for Montrose, which won Division 3 last season before realignment.

In boys’ basketball, Blue Ridge and Elk Lake finished the first week of league play with 2-0 records, a half-game in front of Lackawanna Trail, which edged Susquehanna, 66-64, in overtime its league opener Saturday.

The Sabers had won their opener Thursday and had a 14-point, second-half lead before the Lions rallied.

Dalton Mecke hit six 3-pointers and led Lackawanna Trail with 22 points.

Tomczyk had 23 points and four assists for the Sabers. Mallery had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Josh Wheeler had 12 points.

Biegert’s 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation forced overtime.

Dearborn kept up his hot hand for Blue Ridge. He opened league play with 40 points in a 74-56 victory over Montrose, then had 35 more in a 69-50 win over Mountain View.

Elk Lake edged Mountain View, 65-62, then blasted Forest City, 64-24.

In professional hockey, Robin Lehner made 43 saves Friday night to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in an American Hockey League game.

The Penguins outshot the Senators, 44-15, including 20-5 in the third period.

Beau Bennett gave the Penguins a first-period lead.

Derek Grant, Mike Hoffman and Hugh Jessiman scored for the Senators, who won their fourth straight.

In professional baseball, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders announced that manager Dave Miley and the entire field staff will be returning to the top affiliate of the New York Yankees in the spring.

Pitching coach Scott Aldred, hitting coach Butch Wynegar, coach Frank Menechino, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Lee Tressel will join Miley.

Miley was named Minor League Baseball Manager of the Year by Baseball America after leading the Yankees to an International League North Division title in 2012 while the team spent the entire season on the road during the reconstruction of PNC Field.

COLLEGE CORNER

Brandon Stone, a 6-foot-2 junior guard from Susquehanna, has played eight minutes in three games for the Misericordia University men’s basketball team.

Stone made his only shot from the floor and both of his free throw attempts. He has four points and one rebound.

Last season, Stone averaged 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 17 games while helping Misericordia reach the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Tournament.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose and Elk Lake will meet in a pair of basketball games.

The girls play at Elk Lake Thursday in a rematch of the Reddon Memorial final that the Lady Meteors won.

The boys play at Elk Lake Friday. Elk Lake currently has the best record among county teams. Montrose won the title when the teams were together in Division 3 last season before landing in Division 4 under the Lackawanna League’s realignment.

In professional hockey, AHL rivals meet again Wednesday when the Binghamton Senators travel to Wilkes-Barre to face the Penguins.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local college sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at <mailto:RobbyTR@aol.com>RobbyTR@aol.com and followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

PASTRANA TO RUN FULL NATIONWIDE SERIES

Coming off of back-to-back Nationwide Series Championships in 2011 and 2012, Roush-Fenway is hoping to make it three in a row with the signing of Action Sports driver Travis Pastrana.

Pastrana will make the move to full-time NASCAR racing in 2013, driving Roush Fenway’s No. 60 Ford Mustang in all 33 events on the Nationwide Series schedule.

“I am extremely excited about making the move into full-time NASCAR competition in 2013 and equally thrilled to have the opportunity to make that move with Jack Roush and the team at Roush Fenway Racing,” said Pastrana, a four-time rally champion, motocross champion and multiple X Games gold medal winner.”

Travis Pastrana in 2012. Furnished by NASCAR

Pastrana has made nine career Nationwide Series starts, including one for Roush Fenway last September at Richmond, where he qualified a career-high fifth and ran top-10 for much of the race en route to a 17th-place finish.

Pastrana will team up with veteran crew chief Chad Norris.

“Travis is a champion,” said Jack Roush. “It takes a great deal of drive and determination to reach that level of greatness in any field. He is serious about this move to NASCAR and we are committed to doing everything we can to see his career develop. We also expect to see a great level of excitement brought to the table as he progresses within our sport.”

The No. 60 will be one of two full-time RFR Nationwide Series entries in 2013, with Pastrana being paired with Roush Fenway teammate and 2010 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Ford Mustang.

COURT ORDERS DIVORCE DOCUMENTS UNSEALED

The North Carolina Court of Appeals last week upheld a judge’s order unsealing the secret documents in NASCAR Chairman Brian France’s legal battle with his former wife.

France has sought to scrap the separation agreement with his ex-wife that calls for him to pay the mother of his two children $9 million as well as more than $40,000 a month in alimony and child support. The NASCAR chairman claims Megan France breached their confidential agreement.

The appeals court ruling Monday upholds Mecklenburg District Judge Jena Culler’s ruling in August 2011 unsealing the documents in the Frances’ litigation. Culler also overturned an order by a former judge sealing the documents in 2008.

“The public has a right to access court files,” Culler announced in court. “I feel very strongly that these files should be unsealed.”

Johnny Stephenson, one of Brian France’s attorneys, told the Charlotte Observer: “We are disappointed by the court of appeals opinion, which we believe to be legally flawed, and we intend to seek immediate review from the N.C. Supreme Court.”

The secret documents, however, won’t be unsealed immediately. Brian and Megan France can now appeal.

Public disclosure about the Frances’ separation agreement, Culler said, warranted unsealing the documents. The judge also pointed out the difficulties of holding hearings in open court about documents that are under seal and issues that are confidential.

“This is simply not how our courts are supposed to run,” Culler said

FANS SUPPORT THE HIGH COST OF RACING

Television is NASCAR’s main source of revenue, but who is really paying the tab?

The number of fans attending races and watching on television has slipped for the past three years.

Talladega’s announced crowd of less than 78,000 for its October race was the lowest in recent history. And even that figure seemed exaggerated for a facility that can seat over 160,000.

Mike Callaway has parked his motorhome in Talladega’s turn-4 since 1987.

“We’ve seen every race held there for over 25 years,” he said. “Things have changed a lot. I think if I had to buy a regular ticket, I would have quit a long time ago. We still like the racing, but it’s not as good as it used to be.

“Except for the last few laps you don’t see the competitiveness you did in the past.

“The adrenaline rush is still there. Maybe it’s us, but the thrill isn’t the same.

“Our weekend costs have gone from about $300 to nearly $1,500 last year. I’m not sure how much longer we will attend.”

Bristol Motor Speedway was the one bright spot, but that is because track owner Bruton Smith spent mega-millions changing the track surface to make the racing more exciting.

Tracks announce attendance totals in different ways, with some counting paid crowds and others using different methods, such as turnstile counts. Either way, the empty seats continue to accumulate on race day. Reasons could include the economy, high trip costs, perceived lack of competitiveness, the comfort of watching on TV, and the racing lacking as much significance as it once had.

Overall, TV viewership was down nearly 8-per cent from 2011, and even more from 2010.

To some industry analysts, these might be indicators that NASCAR racing has lost its appeal to many Americans.

However, television executives are expressing an optimistic view, because three major networks are scrambling to land a bigger share of the NASCAR action.

FOX has already renewed its agreement through 2022 to the tune of $300 million per year, or $2.4 billion over the eight years. That's a significant bump up from the $220 million they are currently paying for a package of races that includes the Daytona 500.

ESPN is expected to increase its amount of NASCAR coverage in 2014.

NBC, which has it own sports program “Wide World of Sports,” announced they would make a bid for some races.

Why does television continue to “up the ante” and feel so positive about NASCAR’s future?

Remember this point: There is no free ride, someone has to pay.

I really don’t know how television companies can justify the mega-billion contracts. It seems to me that most of their revenue would be derived from commercials.

If you’ve watched only one NASCAR race on TV, you know how many times and ways they manage to slip in some form of commercial or corporate endorsement.

It stands to reason that if network costs increase, they must pass it on in some form; either more commercials during a race, or higher priced ads.

Which ever way it goes, you and I won’t have much voice in the decision-making process. We must accept whatever programming TV executives decide is necessary to reap a profit.

We might not notice the slightly higher costs for cereal, car insurance, and office supplies, but where else would the money come from? Everyone who buys the advertised products or services, are contributing to NASCAR and its television partners.

Racing Trivia Question: How many racing flags does NASCAR use?

Last Week’s Question: Who won the first Daytona 500? Answer. Lee Petty.

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

Tanner Reyan correctly points out that the Elk Lake boys’ basketball team has multiple offensive options.

The junior guard proved to be the most effective of those choices during the holidays, leading the Warriors in scoring in both games on the way to the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament championship on their home floor.

For his efforts throughout an opening month that saw the Warriors win five out of six games, Reyan has been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month.

“Really, on our team, it doesn’t matter,” Reyan said. “Anyone can shoot. Whoever has the shots can take them.”

This season, his second as a starter, that “anyone” has been Reyan more often. He averaged just under 14 points per game in December, a half-point behind team leader Rob Heft.

Reyan had a game-high 18 points when Elk Lake crushed Blue Ridge in the tournament opener. He led the Warriors again Dec. 30 when they shot out to a 22-point lead on the way to a 62-49, championship game victory over Susquehanna.

In the championship game, Reyan hit both of his 3-point attempts in the first half. He led the Warriors in points (16), rebounds (10), assists (five) and steals (two).

“Early on, we were clicking on all cylinders,” said Reyan, who was selected to the all-tournament team.

Reyan is in his third season on the varsity basketball team. He is also a two-year starter in the fall on the Elk Lake soccer team.

Tanner is the son of Rob and Holly Reyan of Friendsville.