Montrose made it past the top challengers in the final week to finish the first half of Lackawanna League Division 4 boys’ and girls’ basketball as the unbeaten champions.
The Meteors went 6-0 in boys’ play where they were followed by: Forest City 4-2, Elk Lake 4-2, Lackawanna Trail 3-3, Blue Ridge 2-4, Mountain View 1-5 and Susquehanna 1-5.
The Lady Meteors also went 6-0 and were followed by: Forest City 5-1, Mountain View 3-3, Elk Lake 3-3, Susquehanna 2-4, Blue Ridge 1-5 and Lackawanna Trail 1-5.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Montrose played the two teams that tied for second place during the final week of the half and used the same approach to post both wins.
The Meteors used strong defense to build big leads, then shot well from the line in the fourth quarter to top visiting Elk Lake, 63-49, Jan. 20 and host Forest City, 68-53, Thursday.
Montrose held both opponents to 16 first-half points. The Meteors then shot 10-for-13 from the line in the fourth quarter against the defending champion Warriors, completing a 15-for-18 night, and 10-for-14 in the fourth against the Foresters.
Austin Smith scored 21 points to lead the way against Elk Lake.
Smith had 12 of the 28 fourth-quarter points Montrose used to double its lead over the final eight minutes. He made his final five free throws while going 6-for-7 for the fourth quarter and 8-for-11 for the game.
Troy Ely had seven of his 15 points in the first quarter when Montrose opened a 16-6 lead.
Bailey Newhart had eight of his team-high 20 points in the second quarter when Elk Lake closed the halftime deficit to 22-16.
Jack Fruehan then heated up for Montrose. He had 13 of his 17 points in the second half as the Meteors gradually pulled away.
Ben Woolcock added 11 points for the Warriors.
Fruehan led four players in double figures with 17 points against Forest City, including 11 in the second quarter when the Meteors took control.
Montrose extended a 12-8 lead after one quarter to 32-16 at halftime when Fruehan made four baskets and converted all three of his free throw attempts.
Hunter Traver (14), Smith (13) and Brendan Buck (12) added to the balanced attack.
Traver and Smith each hit two 3-pointers. Traver was 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth.
Buck got half his points in the first quarter to help Montrose take the lead.
Noah Yates had nine of his 13 points and Matt Nevins had all 11 of his in the second half for Forest City.
Montrose held Forest City scoring leader Noah Fedak to less than a third of his season average, limiting him to five points, all in the first half. Dylan O’Dell scored all seven of his in the fourth quarter when the Foresters outscored the Meteors by two.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Montrose held visiting Forest City to just three field goals for three quarters Friday night while winning a battle of Lackawanna League Division 4 unbeatens, 38-30.
The first-half title came down to the final game played after the Lady Meteors and Lady Foresters were the only game postponed from Wednesday to Friday.
Meghan Gilhool scored 13 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, to lead Montrose to its win.
Forest City did not score a basket in the first quarter when Montrose took a 6-3 lead.
The Lady Meteors were ahead 10-8 at halftime before opening a 25-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Hannah Dieck and Fallon Gurn each had two baskets in the third quarter.
Kendra Bendyk hit a 3-pointer for Forest City in the third and had eight of her team’s 14 points at that stage.
Gilhool went 4-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter while Montrose was shooting 7-for-12 to hold off Forest City.
Madie McGraw and Katelyn Zembrzycki matched Bendyk for the Forest City scoring lead with eight.
McGraw hit two 3-pointers while scoring all eight in the fourth. Zembrzycki had six in the fourth.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Susquehanna boys made sure there were no winless teams in the first half of Lackawanna League Division 4 play when they defeated Mountain View, 50-43, Thursday night with the help of three players scoring in double figures.
Tyler Williams led the way with 15 points while Luke Falletta added 12 and Christian Miller had 11.
The Sabers took a 21-14 lead after one quarter when Williams and Falletta each hit two 3-pointers and Felter had one.
Mountain View rallied from 10 down to tie the game going into the fourth quarter, but Susquehanna pulled out the win.
The Sabers nearly broke through in their previous game, only to fall to Blue Ridge, 58-53, in double overtime despite six 3-pointers and 23 points by Falletta.
Austin Darrow led the Blue Ridge victory with 36 points.
In high school swimming, Elk Lake swept a meet at West Scranton to improve to 4-1 in Lackawanna League girls’ and 3-1 in Lackawanna League boys’ competition.
In professional football, the Lackawanna Football Conference’s strong ties to National Football League coaching jobs continue but with a slight twist.
Dunmore’s Vic Fangio turned down the Washington Redskins and took the defensive coordinator position with the Chicago Bears. Fangio had been in the same role with the San Francisco 49ers before head coach Jim Harbaugh left, leading to changes on much of the staff.
COLLEGE CORNER
Blue Ridge graduate Allison Hall is a distance runner on the California University of Pennsylvania track and field team that competes in both the winter indoor and spring outdoor seasons.
Hall wrapped up her college cross country career by receiving U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-region honors. She helped the Vulcans finish fifth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championships in November, the highest ever by the university.
The three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic selection was 15th in the region.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The District 2 Dual Meet Wrestling Championships are scheduled for Saturday at the Kingston Armory.
Only Mountain View appears to have a chance to be selected for the eight-team Class AA field.
In high school basketball, the second half of Lackawanna League play was scheduled to get underway with girls’ games Monday and boys’ games Tuesday. Full slates of Division 4 games are set for Wednesday, Friday and Monday, Feb. 2 for the girls and Thursday, Satuday and Tuesday, Feb. 3 for the boys.
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.
The five-driver group of the 2015 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, consisting of Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White, will be inducted on Friday, Jan. 30th, at the NASCAR HOF in Charlotte.
Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars even though he was a “part-time” driver never running more than 29 of the season’s 50-plus races. Lorenzen got his start in NASCAR as a mechanic with the famed Holman-Moody Team in 1960, but was elevated to lead driver by the end of the year. Lorenzen won three races in only 15 starts the following season.
His’s best overall season came in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. Despite missing 26 races that season, hefinished third in the standings.
In 1964, he entered 16 of the scheduled 62 races but won eight, including five consecutive starts. During that stretch, Lorenzen led 1,679 of the possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant runs in NASCAR history. In 1965, he won two of NASCAR’s major events – the Daytona 500 and the World 600.
Lorenzen retired in 1967 but made a brief comeback from 1970-72.
He was an extremely popular driver with fans, to the point that he had several nicknames – “Golden Boy” and “Fearless Freddie.”
He has lived in a Chicago assisted living facility for the past several years.
Joe Weatherly competed from 1952-64, had 229 starts, 25 wins, 18 Poles, and two championships (1962-63).
But that’s only part of his story, which is long on versatility.
A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried his hand in NASCAR’s short lived Convertible Division from 1956-59 winning 12 times.
When he won his first NASCAR premier series championship in 1962, he drove for legendary owner Bud Moore. When he repeated as champion a year later, he drove for nine different teams. Those were the only two years Weatherly competed in the premier series full-time.
“Awesome” Bill Elliott from Dawsonville, Georgia, was born on Oct. 8, 1955.
His lone championship came in 1988, but he competed from 1975-2012, with 828 starts, 44 wins, and 55 Poles.
His most prestigious accomplishment came in 1988 when he won the NASCAR premier series championship with six wins, 15 top fives and 22 top-10s in 29 races.
All that, combined with a likeable demeanor, endeared him to fans who adored him, and that adoration led to a record 16 Most Popular Driver Awards.
Consistency was the hallmark of Rex White’s NASCAR career. He finished among the top five in nearly a half of his 233 races and outside the top-10 only 30 percent of the time, even though he only raced from 1955-1964.
White was a short track specialist in an era in which those tracks dominated the schedule. Of his 28 career wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in length. White’s victory total ranks 24th among all-time premier series winners
He won six times during his 1960 championship season posting 35 top-10s in 40 starts. He was the fourth driver to win a premier series championship in his own equipment.
White hails from Spartanburg, S.C., once the hub of stock car racing and a community that produced NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Cotton Owens and Bud Moore. White was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
Wendell Scott wasn’t the first African-American to compete in NASCAR’s premier division. But the Danville, Va. native, whose career on wheels began as a taxi driver, was the first of his race to become a full-time competitor in the series. Scott served three years in the U.S. Army during World War II where he honed his mechanical skills in the motor pool. Scott started racing in 1947 and experienced immediate success behind the wheel. He won over 100 races in the next decade at local area tracks.
He made his first start in NASCAR’s premier series March 4, 1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, S.C. He made 23 starts that season, posting five top-five finishes.
On Dec. 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Fla., Scott became the first African-American to win a NASCAR premier series event. Scott won the 100-mile feature race after starting 15th. The trophy was originally given to another driver, who was white. After the crowd left NASCAR told Scott they were mistaken, and he was the winner. He was handed the trophy, with no fanfare and credited with the win. There was speculation that it wouldn’t be good publicity for NASCAR if a white trophy-girl was seen hugging or kissing a black man on the front page of the nation’s newspapers.
Over the next 13 years, Scott would make 495 starts, which ranks 35th on the all-time list. In his distinguished career, Scott accumulated 20 top-five finishes including eight of them in the same season he won his first career race, 1964. He also posted 147 top-10 finishes, more than 25 percent of the races he entered. Note: The HOF Induction Ceremonies will be televised on NBC Sports Network, beginning at 7 pm ET.
Meanwhile, next season will be the last for Jeff Gordon as a full-time driver.
The 43-year-old Gordon, who ranks third all-time with 92 career Cup victories, enters his 23rd season at Hendrick Motorsports. He has four Sprint Cup championships and if he is to get a fifth it must be in 2015.
“As a racecar driver, much of what I've done throughout my life has been based on following my instincts and trying to make good decisions,” Gordon said. “I thought long and hard about my future this past year and during the offseason, and I've decided 2015 will be the last time I compete for a championship.
“I won't use the ‘R-word' because I plan to stay extremely busy in the years ahead, and there's always the possibility I'll compete in selected events, although I currently have no plans to do that. I don't foresee a day when I'll ever step away from racing. I'm a fan of all forms of motorsports, but particularly NASCAR.”
Gordon won his first championship at age 24 in his third full-time season in 1995 and followed that with championships 1997, 1998 and 2001. He seriously challenged for a fifth title in 2014, winning four races and scoring the most points of any driver throughout the year. But he missed the final cut for the championship round.
Racing Trivia Question: Where did Jeff Gordopn win his first Cup race?
Last Week’s Question: The 2015 racing season is just around the corner. When and where will the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race be held? The Daytona 500 is the first points race of the seasson. This year it will be on Sunday, Feb. 22.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at: www.hodges@race500.com.
