Carbondale broke away from a halftime tie Friday night to defeat visiting Elk Lake, 55-47, in the annual Michael “Red” Wallace Memorial Scholarship game to open the boys’ basketball season.

The Chargers used a 16-5, third-quarter advantage to take a 47-36 lead.

Kyle Burrell scored 16 points and was selected as Carbondale’s Most Valuable Player.

Hunter Watkins earned Elk Lake’s game MVP award by scoring a game-high 17 points. Dalton Sherman added 11 points for the two-time defending Lackawanna League Division 4 champions.

The game is played in memory of Wallace, an original member of the Boston Celtics who graduated from Fell Township, now part of the Carbondale Area School District, and coached Elk Lake to state championships in 1969 and 1977.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Mountain View’s Hannah Richner was named to the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state team.

Richner, a junior midfielder, was one of 51 girls from around Pennsylvania honored by state coaches.

In football, Dunmore gave the Lackawanna Football Conference a state finalist for the third straight season and fourth time in five seasons when it rallied by Wyomissing, 23-21, Saturday at Northern Lehigh in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA semifinals.

Wyomissing opened a 14-0 lead after one quarter, but Dunmore came from behind twice to take the lead.

Colin Holmes ran 34 yards for the winning touchdown with 1:22 remaining.

Holmes ran 15 yards for Dunmore’s first score in the second quarter.

In boys’ basketball, Susquehanna cut an early 11-point deficit to four, but could not complete its comeback while losing Saturday’s opener at home to Freedom Village, 61-47.

Freedom Village led, 15-4, after one quarter. The Sabers got within, 39-35, after three quarters.

Tyler Williams led Susquehanna with 17 points and Luke Falletta added 12.

Mountain View also lost at home Saturday, letting an early lead get away in a 35-29 loss to Northeast Bradford.

Forest City broke through with the county’s first basketball win of the season Sunday night when it outscored host Carbondale in every quarter on the way to a comfortable, 56-37 win in a Finan Tournament semifinal.

The Foresters were scheduled to play Honesdale in Monday’s tournament final.

Montrose fell to Riverside, 70-49, Friday.

In girls’ basketball, all four Susquehanna County teams that opened Friday night suffered loses.

Montrose came the closest, dropping a 30-28 decision at Valley View.

Meghan Gilhool had 12 points in the loss.

Wyoming Area hit seven 3-pointers while downing host Susquehanna, 64-47, to give Chad Lojewski the win in his head coaching debut.

Katie Wolfgang hit four of the 3-pointers while scoring 17 for Wyoming Area, which opened a 40-17 halftime lead.

Mikaela Hargett scored 13 points, Nicole Barnes added 12 and Gabby Cina 11 for Susquehanna.

Holy Cross routed Mountain View, 74-26, and Sayre defeated Blue Ridge, 39-25, at the Towanda Tipoff Tournament.

Blue Ridge finished last in the four-team Towanda tournament when it also lost, 32-24, to the hosts Saturday night.

Elk Lake opened with the host team in the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament Saturday night, losing to the Lady Tigers, 53-31.

In wrestling, Blue Ridge and Elk Lake each went 2-3 in the Ram Duals at Wyalusing.

COLLEGE CORNER

Tanner Reyan, a 5-foot-11 guard who helped lead Elk Lake to the two Division 4 boys’ basketball titles, made the most of his limited playing time with King’s College in November.

The freshman hit his only two 3-point attempts, using them to score three points in three minutes against Penn College and three points in five minutes against Susquehanna University.

Reyan appeared in four games, playing 38 minutes, during a 4-1 start by King’s before its MAC Freedom Conference opener.

In those games, Reyan was 2-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the line for eight points. He also had two rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot while committing four turnovers.

THE WEEK AHEAD

District 2 champion Dunmore will play District 7 champion South Fayette Saturday at noon at Hersheypark Stadium in the state Class AA football championship game.

Dunmore has won 14 straight, including victories over Susquehanna and Montrose, since a season-opening loss. South Fayette, which is trying to become the first state champion to repeat in Class AA, is 15-0.

Last week’s high school football prediction was 0-1, dropping our playoff record to 11-4 (73.3 percent) and our season mark to 100-35 (74.1).

This week’s prediction: South Fayette 33, Dunmore 27.

In boys’ and girls’ swimming, Elk Lake, which was scheduled to open the new Lackawanna League Tuesday at Abington Heights, will meet Holy Cross in its league home openers Tuesday, December 16.

The Warriors and other Lackawanna teams competed in the Wyoming Valley Conference last season.

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.

HARVICK GIVES THANKS TO HIS WIFE

Kevin Harvick puts a championship decal on his car, while Delana, and son, Keelan watch

Kevin Harvick won a total of $12,762, 411 on the way to the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship, but he credits his wife Delana for being there and making life easier.

“For sure it's been an incredible feeling of accomplishment,” said Harvick. “I think as you look back, and being able to fulfill your lifelong dream is something that a lot of people can't really say that they've ever done.

“And as far as Delana, you’d be surprised how much she contributed. She grew up in a racing family, and knows how hard this sport is and knows the sacrifices that we make. She's been an incredible part of this for me personally, just for the fact that she knows what’s going on, and we've been around each other so much that she knows exactly what to say, when to say it, what not to say.

“It's been an incredible amount of pressure on her outside of racing. We bought another house, and actually went through the process of moving in Monday and Tuesday. I think over the last couple weeks, everybody can see how much pressure was on her, and the pressure is almost worse when you have no control over it.

“The money is great, but it’s been a fast and hectic season. I think as you look back at everything that happened, it was so competitive, with positions changing and how things shook out.

“I’ve told several people over the past couple days, it's like you go from this huge, competitive mode, and all of a sudden you get right out of the car, you do an interview, they hand you the trophy and then you're off to do interviews and photos. It's been hard to sit down and really kind of take a deep breath and take it all in. I’m looking forward to going home tonight. I think it'll really start to sink in when I can be around my team guys who I've been around all year and see their excitement and be able to talk about everything we've done this year.”

Meanwhile Harvick’s car owner Tony Stewart has undergone a fourth surgery on the leg he broke last year during a sprint car race in Iowa. Stewart was released from the hospital on Wednesday. He then headed to Las Vegas to celebrate Harvick's championship.

Stewart broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg during the Aug. 5, 2013, crash and underwent two surgeries immediately after the accident, including one to insert a metal rod inside the tibia. A third surgery last year was to close a wound on his shin. Stewart spokesman Mike Arning said the surgery was more like routine maintenance.

DALE JR GETS MOST POPULAR DRIVER AWARD

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2014 Sprint Cup Most Popular Driver Award, an award he has won for the past 12 seasons.

“This doesn't even seem real,” said an emotional Earnhardt at the 2014 NASCAR Awards Luncheon held in Las Vegas. “The truth is obviously I'm extremely humbled by this award, but I feel like I share it on so many levels; with my sister Kelley and everyone at JR Motorsports, who are as deserving of this as anyone. I have a lot of passions with NASCAR, but I wouldn't be able to know how to make them realities without all those folks.”

Only NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott has more MPD awards with 16. The Sprint Cup’s Most Popular Driver Award is the only major NASCAR award determined solely by fan vote.

KYLE LARSON NAMED ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Chevrolet was named NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year.

He finished in the top-10, seventeen times and had three runner-up finishes. However, the checkered flags eluded him.

“The best feeling I had this year was probably when I finished fourth at Watkins Glen,” Larson told NASCAR’s Holly Cain. “I didn’t grow up racing on road courses and I struggled really bad during the whole practice and qualifying that weekend. So then to end up fourth, which was way, way better than I thought I was going to be - I was super pumped up about that.”

Larson has already been dubbed by other drivers, especially by Kyle Busch, as a rising star, one that will certainly find the winner’s circle sooner than later.

“Really to start the year everyone thought I was going to fail,” Larson continued. “At least three-quarters of the people sitting in the media center probably did. Then I think they realized after the first handful of races that our team was capable of running well and the bar got raised and raised more throughout the year.

“My expectations going into the start of the season were top-15’s every week. That quickly turned into wanting top-10’s every week, and lately top-fives and wins were the goal.”

While most drivers and their crews generally take the next couple months to regroup and rest, Larson has decided to stay active.

“Off-season calls for dirt racing and karaoke,” he tweeted this past weekend.

On Wednesday, he left his North Carolina home to return to his roots, the dirt tracks of California, for the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Then he’ll fly back home to be with his girlfriend Katelyn Sweet, who is expecting the couple’s first child.

It’s going to be a boy, named Owen Miyata Larson. In honor of his Japanese heritage, the middle name is his mother Janet’s maiden name.

“As much as I’ve had a blast racing, I can’t wait for the off season for all the exciting things coming; the baby, the new house,” Larson said. “We just finally stayed in it one night this week.”

FOYT RETURNS HOME

A.J. Foyt has been released from the hospital, and is recovering at home from his triple bypass heart surgery. Although his heart surgery was successful, Foyt developed serious complications with his lungs. He was kept on a ventilator for eight days to allow his lungs to recover full functionality.

“It's been pretty rough but I guess I slept through the roughest part,” said Foyt, who will turn 80 in January. “I had some problems that most people don't have after open heart surgery so I made my doctors work extra hard but they saved my life. We've turned a corner so everything's pretty good. I've got a long way to go but I'm feeling better every day.”

Foyt is expected to make a full recovery but his doctors have explained to him that it may take longer than he is anticipating.

Racing Trivia Question: Which Xfinty (formerly Nationwide) team will Elliott Sadler drive for next season?

Last Week’s Question: Kevin Harvick started his Cup career with Richard Childress after the death of Dale Earnhardt. Where was his first win? Answer. He edged Jeff Gordon at Atlanta by 6/100th of a second in only his third start in 2001.

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

Katie Bennett

Katie Bennett needed one day to produce the month’s best athletic effort.

Back on November 1, Bennett finished 10th individually to lead Elk Lake to a second-place team finish in Class A girls at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships.

For her effort, earning individual and team state medals, Bennett is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for November.

Bennett finished the 3.1-mile Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey in 19:42.

With Bennett leading the way, finishing directly in front of teammate Kenzie Jones, and Justine Johns joining them as individual medalists, Elk Lake came out on top of Holy Cross in the last of the many season battles between the District 2 rivals.

The Lady Warriors beat the defending state champion Crusaders while going unbeaten to win the Lackawanna League title. Holy Cross won the District 2 team championship on Elk Lake’s home course with the top two individual finishers, but Bennett followed up a third-place finish in the district by beating the top two Holy Cross runners in Hershey.

“All year, we were aiming for something at states,” Bennett said. “We knew that we had beat Holy Cross. We were almost sure about that.”

While waiting for the official team scores, Bennett said it was also apparent that District 6 champion Central Cambria, which ultimately beat the Lady Warriors, 72-84, had likely done enough to finish first.

Peaking at the state meet has become routine for Elk Lake under coach Will Squier. The Lady Warriors have finished first or second in the state in each of the past four seasons.

“Coach knows how to push us and when to push us and how to prepare us for each race,” Bennett said. “The team is really what helps the most. We love each other and we’re really more of a family than a team.”

Bennett, who joined the cross country program as a seventh-grader, runs year-round. She competes in indoor track during the winter and is on the Elk Lake track team in the spring.

During track season, Bennett was part of the district championship 3200-meter relay team that finished 14th in the state in Class AA.

The individual state cross country medal was the second of Bennett’s career. The top 25 in each race earn medals. She finished 24th as a sophomore.

Katie is the daughter of Stan and Jill Bennett of Lawton.