District 2’s plans for placing its basketball finals at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza are moving faster than originally planned.

The district and arena officials are close to making a deal that would allow the basketball finals to be held at the arena for the first time, beginning at the end of February, 2016.

District 2 chairman Frank Majikes said Thursday that he hopes to be able to have a press conference by the end of the month to announce the change. He said, however, some details still do need to be negotiated.

“We’re a couple of steps away from finalizing it,” Majikes said. “That’s where we are.”

The Susquehanna County Transcript reported last month that District 2 was making significant progress on the move for the next two-year cycle, which involves the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. Majikes said that the plans now call for this school year.

“We’re talking about this coming (February) and the following year right now,” Majikes said.

The Mohegan Sun Arena has been the home of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins American Hockey League team since 1999. Although there have been a few high school events at the arena since then, District 2 has never held any championships at the Wilkes-Barre Township location.

All six Susquehanna County schools are District 2 members. Forest City played in the 2015 Class A girls’ basketball final at Lackawanna College, the former Scranton CYC.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Sebastian Cimoch and Dylan O’Dell, both from Forest City, qualified for last week’s Antrhacite Golf Association Lawler Junior Tour’s Tournament of Champions.

Cimoch shot 77-81-158 to finish sixth in the 21-player boys’ field.

Jonathan Wilson of Dallas shot 75 at Emanon Country Club and 78 at Elmhurst Country Club for a winning 36-hole total of 153.

Adam Kowaleski, a Forest City High school player from Vandling, tied for ninth with a 162. O’Dell tied for 13th with a 164.

Julia Santo from Hawley won the girls’ title 76-76-154.

COLLEGE CORNER

Blue Ridge graduate Austin White, who played quarterback for Susquehanna as part of a cooperative sponsorship of the sport between the two schools, is headed to King’s College to play football.

White, who recently started at quarterback for the winning City team in the 81st annual Dream Game, said he plans to play quarterback at King’s. If he does not earn playing time there in a timely manner, it is possible White may be tried at another position.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The fall high school sports season gets underway Monday, August 17 with the first day of official practice in football, field hockey, girls volleyball, girls tennis, and boys and girls soccer, cross country, and golf.

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.

CLEAN SWEEP FOR LOGANO

Joey Logano winner of both Watkins Glen races

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—What a difference one week can make. Last week, Joey Logano ran out of fuel while leading, just one lap from the finish line.

This past weekend he went into the races at Watkins Glen, never having won on a road course.

He left The Glen with two victories, the last coming in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

With Kevin Harvick leading the race on lap 89 of the 90-lap race, and Logano running second, it looked like another runner-up finish for Logano, driver of the No. 22 Penske Ford.

But luck was riding with Logano.

Barely 200-yards from the finish line, Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet sputtered, and then shut off. The gas tank had gone dry.

Harvick could only watch as Logano zipped by at full throttle and took the checkered flag.

“This is a big surprise,” said Logano. “It’s taken a long time to win on road courses, but it sure feels good. I never thought this would happen. Two wins in one weekend is really something.

“We never talked about our fuel, so I assume they weren’t worried about it. I didn’t try to save any. I was trying as hard as I could to catch and get around the 4-car (Harvick).”

Kyle Busch led three laps on the way to a second-place finish, which puts him within the top-30 in Chase points.

“It was fun and challenging,” said Busch. “I could have raced the 22 (Joey Logano), but the team got a little scared about our gas situation, and we didn’t want to come up short.”

Harvick led 29 laps, but had to settle for third.

“I thought I did a good job of saving fuel,” said Harvick. “I was only running as fast as I needed until near the end when Joey got up behind me. But I still think we have the best team in NASCAR, and we’re going all the way.”

The remaining top-10 finishers: 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Kurt Busch, 6. Clint Bowyer, 7. Brad Keselowski, 8. Carl Edwards, 9. Sam Hornish, 10. Jimmie Johnson.

Polesitter, A J Allmendinger was 24th.

Three drivers that had poor finishes and took hard hits in the points standings were: Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, and Jamie McMurray.

McMurray finished 40th, while Jeff Gordon was 41st. Both drivers are in danger of dropping out of the Chase.

Kasey Kahne wound up 42nd, and is no longer in the Chase.

Unofficial top-20 points leaders with four more races left before the Chase begins: 1. Harvick-823, 2. Logano-781, 3. Earnhardt-750, 4. Johnson-747, 5. Keselowski-719, 6. Truex-714, 7. Kenseth-703, 8. Kurt Busch-659, 9. McMurray-635, 10. Hamlin-631, 11. Menard-622, 12. Gordon-622, 13. Newman-613, 14. Bowyer-612, 15. Edwards-589, 16. Almirola-562, 17. Kahne-561, 18. Biffle-532, 19. Larson-517, 20. Mears-493. Note: Kyle Busch is 30th, but NASCAR has ruled that because he was out for 11 weeks due to a racing accident, he will be eligible if he remains within the top-30. Only the top-16 drivers will be eligible for the 10-race Chase.

PENSKE IS 1-2 IN XFINITY RACE

Penske Racing teammates, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski finished 1-2 in Saturday’s Xfinity road course race at The Glen.

Logano, who started from the pole, overcame a stop-and-go penalty, after he left his pit area with a gas can attached to his car. He raced back to the front, and held off Keselowski after a restart with four laps to go in the 82-lap race.

“It's pretty special as a driver,” said Logano. “You always want to have a road course victory. We've been close to winning a lot lately. It feels really good.”

Keselowski led 40 laps to Logano’s 39, but lacked the speed to keep Logano behind him at the end.

Chris Buescher was third, followed by Boris Said, Ty Dillon, Brian Scott, Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler, Paul Menard, and Brendan Gaughan.

Top-10 leaders after 20 of 33: 1. C. Buescher-724, 2. Elliott-700, 3. T. Dillon-700, 4. Smith-667, 5. Sadler-666, 6. D. Wallace-629, 7. Suarez-625, 8. Gaughan-610, 9. Scott-606, 10. Reed-565.

STEWART WILL FACE WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT

Tony Stewart must face a wrongful death lawsuit, stemming from an August, 2014 incident when he struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr.

Ward’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against Stewart, nearly a year after Stewart's sprint car struck and killed their son under caution during a race at an upstate New York dirt track.

Stewart was not criminally charged in the death of Ward, who had gotten out of his car and ran toward Stewart's car as he drove around under caution during the Empire Super Sprints race Aug. 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

The lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages the family seeks in claims of wrongful death, reckless conduct, gross negligence and Ward's suffering between the time he was struck and his death.

“Stewart could have easily acted reasonably and with prudence to avoid striking Ward, just as all other drivers had done as they passed Ward during the yellow caution flag,” the lawsuit states. “Stewart acted with disregard for Ward's life and safety by driving his vehicle in a manner that would terrorize Ward and thereafter strike, severely injure and kill Ward.”

In order to get judgment, the family must prove that Stewart had some percentage of fault in Ward's death. If the case goes to a jury, a jury would have to decide whether Stewart had a duty to Ward to drive in a certain manner under caution and if he breached that duty.

New York law does not allow the Ward family to collect damages for their own pain and suffering but does allow parents to recover loss of expected future support and care that their child could have provided.

Weekend Racing: The Trucks and Cup teams will be at the 2-mile Brooklyn, Michigan track. The Xfinity Series is at the 2.4-mile Mid-Ohio road course, just outside Lexington, Ohio.

Wednesday, Aug. 19, the Trucks will be at Bristol.

Sat., Aug. 15; Truck Series race 13 of 23; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.

Sat., Aug. 15; Xfinity Series race 21 of 33; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: NBCS.

Sun., Aug. 16; Sprint Cup race 23 of 36; Starting time: 2:30 pm ET; TV: NBCS.

Wed., Aug. 19; Truck Series race 14 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.

Racing Trivia Question: Kevin Harvick currently drives the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet. Who did he previously drive for?

Last Week’s Question: How many road courses are on the 2015 Sprint Cup schedule? Answer. There are two; Watkins Glen, NY, and Sonoma, CA.

You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.

Christian Miller

PECKVILLE – The City lined up for the last of its seven kickoffs with 21 seconds remaining, a 41-6 rout of the County in the 81st annual Dream Game already secured.

For Christian Miller, it meant the final 21 seconds of his athletic career.

Miller arrived at John F. Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium July 29 intent on making the most of his last chance in competitive sports.

The recent Susquehanna graduate did just that and he did it all the way to the game’s end. Hustling down the field on the kickoff, Miller slammed County return man Kyle Smith of Western Wayne to the turf after just an 11-yard return.

Miller came up with the City’s last tackle, then rushed the passer to break up a trick play to finish off the finest defensive performance by any player in the all-star game for recent Lackawanna Football Conference graduates.

For his efforts, Miller is the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for July.

“I was thinking ‘one last time’,” Miller said of the kickoff, the third of which the defensive end got involved in a tackle on during the second half.

Miller was also sharp early, showing he was ready to make the most of the chance after finding out he would be in the starting lineup.

“When I heard that, I was like, ‘oh baby, time to shine and represent Susquehanna’,” Miler said. “ … One last game forever, so I had to leave it all on the field.”

Miller did that. He finished with six tackles, including a sack for a seven-yard loss and another for a four-yard loss, while assisting on five more. He rushed the passer into incompletions three times.

Along the way, he showed he could fit in playing alongside Dunmore twins Tim and Dan Drewes, the most decorated lineman in the LFC last season, and many other standouts that allowed the City to win big.

“It was great,” Miller said of the preparation for the game. “I met the Drewes brothers. I met the Scranton Prep boys and guys from West Scranton and Delaware Valley.

“They’re a great group of guys and I enjoyed playing with them.”

Miller was on the football and baseball teams throughout his high school career and played basketball as a junior and senior. After earning northeastpafootball.com LFC Division 3 defensive first-team all-star honors as a junior, he was a two-way selection as a senior.

Christian is the son of Chris and Joni Miller of Susquehanna.