The Binghamton Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are rolling as the American Hockey League heads to the stretch run.

Binghamton is two points behind the Syracuse Crunch for first place in the East Division, Eastern Conference and entire AHL.

The Senators and Penguins, who would also be in the playoffs if Calder Cup play opened today, are in second and third place in the East Division.

Binghamton defeated the Norfolk Admirals, 5-1, Saturday night to improve to 6-2-0-1 in the last nine games and run its season record to 37-19-1-5.

Nathan Lawson made 42 saves, including 17 in the third period of the win.

The Penguins (34-26-2-1) have won four of their last five.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defeated the Worcester Sharks, 5-3, Friday and Portland Pirates, 3-2, Saturday.

Riley Holzapfel, Chad Kolarik and Warren Peters each had a goal and an assist against Worcester. Brad Thiessen made 34 saves.

The Penguins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win on a Trevor Smith goal with 9:37 left against Portland.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Scranton Prep’s Mia Nonnenberg won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA title in the girls’ 500 freestyle by a 9.7-second margin.

Nonnenberg also finished second in the 200 individual medley to help Scranton Prep finish 10th in the team standings.

Holy Redeemer’s Kelsey Williams gave District 2 another state silver medalist in Class AA girls’ diving.

Lake-Lehman’s Matthew Edkins placed third in Class AA boys’ diving.

The winter high school sports season is over for all Susquehanna County teams.

The Lackawanna League and District 2 are down to their final team.

In boys’ basketball, Holy Cross won twice to reach the PIAA Class AA semifinals.

Holy Cross won both games handily. The Crusaders defeated Delaware Valley Charter, 70-54, and Constitution of Philadelphia, 75-61.

Josh Kosin, a 6-foot-7 senior center, continued a dominant tournament effort. Kosin had back-to-back, double-doubles in points and rebounds, scoring 31 points in each game.

Corey Callejas added 23 against Delaware Valley Charter.

Abington Heights reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated.

The Comets defeated Philadelphia Electric, 66-53, then lost to Imhotep Charter, 66-53. Abington Heights was ahead for most of three quarters in Friday’s loss.

In girls’ basketball, Scranton Prep was eliminated in the quarterfinals and Old Forge in the second round.

Scranton Prep knocked off Palmyra, the only unbeaten in Class AAA, 40-36, in the second round. The Classics then fell, 48-30, to Villa Maria Academy.

Old Forge was unbeaten in Class A until losing in the second round, 68-44, to Tri Valley.

COLLEGE CORNER

Colby Major finished his first season at Penn State-Hazleton with a 3.6 scoring average while appearing in 24 games, starting two.

The freshman forward from Montrose had a season-high 15 points in 18 minutes in an 80-59 win over Penn State-New Kensington.

Penn State-Hazleton went 9-8 in the Commonwealth Colleges Athletic Conference and 11-13 overall.

Major scored in double figures three times in one eight-game stretch and shot 7-for-17 on 3-point range after the New Year.

For the season, Major shot 39.0 percent from the floor,38.7 from 3-point range and 66.7 from the line. He averaged 14 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.6 steals per game.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Lackawanna League Girls’ Basketball All-Star game is scheduled for Wednesday night at Forest City.

In boys’ basketball, District 2 champion Holy Cross (26-5) plays District 3 runner-up Trinity (20-7) Wednesday at 7 at Martz Hall in Pottsville.

If Holy Cross wins, it will face the Beaver Falls-Middlesex winner Saturday at 2 at the Giant Center in Hershey for the state title.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.

KAHNE FINISHES STRONG AT BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Kasey Kahne came on strong in the closing laps of Sunday’s Sprint Cup race to register his first win of the season.

Kasey Kahne

Jimmie Johnson slapped the wall during lap 460 to bring out the race’s 10th caution.

Kahne was lined up third on the restart behind Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch with 35 laps to go in the 500-lap race. Leader Keselowski spun his tires and Kyle Busch, followed by Kahne shot out front. Five laps later, Kahne got around Busch and held a commanding lead for the remaining 30 laps.

“This is a big win,” said Kahne. “We’ve had good cars in the past, but something has always come up to bite us. The whole team was flawless today. Bristol has been a tough track for us, so this is a special win.”

Kyle Busch, the winner of Saturday’s Nationwide race came from the rear of the field to finish second, after a pit road speeding penalty.

“We were just trying to stretch our luck on pit road,” said Busch. “The car was tight at the end and I wasn’t able to run the lower groove.”

Brad Keselowski finished third, followed by Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard, and Jamie McMurray.

Joey Logano’s temper got the best of him after an on track incident between him and Denny Hamlin. After the race he went over to where Hamlin was sitting in his parked car and tried to stick his head inside the car. He was restrained by crewmembers, but there were a few tense moments for both drivers.

“I don’t mind someone just bumping me, but he practically took me out,” said Logano. “We had a really fast car, and I thought we had a chance to win, until we got knocked in the rear.”

After the incident on the track, Hamlin continued on, but Logano had to pit for repairs to his car.

“I didn’t mean to run into him,” said Hamlin. “He slid up into me. I’m sorry, but it was just racing.”

Logano finished 17th, while Hamlin was 23rd.

Danica Patrick finished 28th without any mishaps.

Early in the race, Tony Stewart blew a left rear tire and hit the outside wall. He finished 31st.

Jeff Gordon lost an engine in his No. 24 and slid up the track. Matt Kenseth rammed into the back of him, and both drivers were done for the day.

Gordon wound up 34th, while Kenseth was 35th.

Top-10 points leaders after 4 of 36: 1. Keselowski-166, 2. Earnhardt-157, 3. Johnson-151, 4. Bowyer-128, 5. Biffle-126, 6. Hamlin-125, 7. Kahne-124, 8. Edwards-124, 9. Menard-118, 10. Kyle Busch-115

“ROWDY” BUSCH HOLDS OFF YOUNG ROOKIE

Kyle Busch held off a determined and hard charging, young rookie, Kyle Larson to win Saturday’s Nationwide race at Bristol.

Larson, making his fourth NASCAR Nationwide Series start, trailed Busch by five car lengths with 10 laps to go but went high around lap traffic and traded paint with Busch as the two crossed the finish line .023 seconds apart, making it the second-closest finish ever at Bristol.

“I did everything I could to try to protect the momentum,” Busch said. “A young kid like that, he's got a lot of talent. He's obviously made a name for himself. He was running hard, that's for sure. He brought a lot to the table today and brought his show to the fans.”

The remaining top-10 finishers were: Brian Vickers, Sam Hornish, Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith, Chris Buescher, Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, and Brian Scott.

Top-10 points leaders after 4 of 33:: 1. Hornish-167, 2. Allgaier-145, 3. Scott-142, 4. Smith-141, 5. Vickers-137, 6. Dillon-133, 7. Bayne-128, 8. Bowman- 120, 9. Larson-118, 10. Sadler-116.

WHAT HAPPENED TO DENNY

What a difference one week makes.

Last week, I wrote about how Denny Hamlin said he was going to stand firm and fight NASCAR's decision to fine him for comments he made after the Phoenix race about the (lack of) passing ability from the Gen 6 cars.

He insisted he was not over the line in his comments, and it was not a punishment he was going to accept, and an appeal was coming. He even said he didn't care if he ended up getting suspended for not paying the fine.

That was last week.

Friday at Bristol, he announced his appeal had been dropped.

“The biggest thing is I think that we won in the judge of the people and their opinion I think some of the peers of mine -- at least the ones that have a backbone had the nerve to stick up for what they know is right and wrong – agreed,” said Hamlin. “But what was the point in going another week or so. We've got bigger fish to fry than to argue over what I said just for $25,000 and it's better just to move on and let NASCAR get its credibility back and they're going to do that and I'm going to move on and just focus on a championship.

“Ultimately, I had some conversations with Brian France (NASCAR CEO) and we had a lot of the same ideas. And I think that in hindsight I really believe they (NASCAR) overreacted and I believe that they think they overreacted once they thought about it a little bit, but now we're at a point that we're good with each other and we're just going to move on from here.”

In essence, pressure from the top forced Hamlin to concede to NASCAR.

And NASCAR now has another “company man.”

Despite transitioning to a new car, the early 2013 Cup Series standings bear a remarkable resemblance to the conclusion of 2012 when it was Jimmie Johnson chasing Brad Keselowski.

“I think Brad has shown that he and that team are going to be a familiar face up there (in the standings) week in and week out and year after year,” said Johnson.

“We have been able to stay in and around the top spot for the 10 years, 11 years, which is staggering to me that we have had that type of staying power.”

That’s why it’s no shock to Keselowski that Johnson is the driver he’s chasing.

“You know the 48 (Johnson) is gonna be tough to beat and it’s flattering to be in a league where we can compete with them week in and week out,” said Keselowski, who has won two of his previous six Sprint Cup starts at Bristol and threw in a 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series victory for good measure.

“I feel like we’ve been tit-for-tat each of the last three weeks. We’ve just got to keep pushing forward. I’m not so naïve to think that we can just keep our feet still and not be caught or passed by anyone in the field.”

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams will be at the 1.5-mile Auto Club Speedway in California. The Trucks do not race again until April 6.

Sat., Mar. 23, Nationwide Series, race 5 of 33; Starting time: 5 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Sun., Mar. 24, Sprint Cup, race 5 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: FOX.

Racing Trivia Question: Which full time series is Elliott Sadler running this year?

Last Week’s Question: Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. heads five 2013 inductees into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. How many truck titles did he win? Answer. Four; 1996, ’98, ’07, and ’09.

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