Two days of holiday basketball tournament action at Susquehanna began with Montrose losing a Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament game for the first time ever in the December 28 opener.

The tournaments concluded December 29 with the Montrose boys winning their record fifth Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.

A total of eight games were played over the two days with much of the drama packed into the first day before titles and all-tournament teams were decided on the second.

Elk Lake followed up handing Montrose its first Reddon Tournament loss – after five straight championships – by taking the championship of the girls’ event. Montrose got through overtime against Elk Lake on the first night before winning the boys’ tournament.

Pictured (l-r) are the Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament All-Tournament Team - Blue Ridge's Isabella Cosmello, Montrose's Katie Warner, Susquehanna's D.J. Decker, and Elk Lake's Keri Jones and Justine Johns.

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT

Sophomore Jacob Peck came off the bench to provide an offensive boost at the end of the first half, then Montrose used its defense to shut down Blue Ridge in the second half and pull away for a 54-31 victory in the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament championship game.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Austin Smith went to the bench with three fouls with 4:45 remaining in the first half and Montrose behind by three.

The deficit went to 15-10 before Peck entered the game 27 seconds later.

Peck immediately turned a steal into a breakaway. He then added a 3-pointer and converted an offensive rebound into the go-ahead basket with five seconds left in the half.

“We’re deeper than a lot of people think,” Montrose coach Tim Lopez said. “When Austin’s in the game, he kind of takes the majority of the spotlight.

“With Austin on the bench, it really showed how deep we are. We even went to guys that really haven’t played that much this year varsity-wise and a guy like Jacob Peck came in and gave us a quick seven points. That really turned around the game and gave us a lead going into the half.”

The rebound conversion was part of a game-changing, nine-point streak to end the first half and start the second.

Brendan Buck had scored on a tip-in with 30 seconds left in the half. Buck then opened the second half with a three-point play and Smith set up Todd Lattimore to make it 28-22 just 1:28 into the third quarter.

Lattimore led the Meteors with 13 points, six rebounds, six steals and four assists. Buck finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Mason Peck added 10 points and three steals.

Chris Guyette chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals to join Smith on the all-tournament team.

Montrose pulled away in the second half when it forced Blue Ridge into 16 of its 29 turnovers while allowing the Raiders just 13 shots.

“I think we were just more active,” Lopez said. “When we play that 1-3-1, we’re pretty long. We extend it, we’re getting our hands on tipped balls – that’s what we keep track of – and we’re hard to score on. When we can set up our half-court defense, we’ll be in good shape.

“We held them to nine points total in the second half. That speaks volumes.”

Blue Ridge’s Jeff Morris led all scorers with eight points in the first half, but only got off one shot and did not score after halftime as the Meteors shifted their zone toward him as needed. Ty Herbert also wound up with eight points along with a game-high 10 rebounds while blocking three shots.

Smith was held to four points, but had three assists and three steals in the championship. The MVP award was largely the result of his play in the first round.

Smith scored 32 points, including the game’s two most important baskets in a 60-57 overtime win over Elk Lake, which had won the title three years in a row before Montrose claimed the last two.

After scoring the basket that forced overtime, Smith came off a screen to launch the game-winning 3-pointer from 30 feet out at the buzzer of the extra session.

Smith wound up with seven 3-pointers, one more than Bailey Newhart, Elk Lake’s all-tournament team representative.

Newhart, who finished with 20 points after being scoreless in the first half, led Elk Lake back from a 31-17 halftime deficit by hitting four 3-pointers in the third quarter for a 39-37 lead.

Chris Guyette added 15 points for Montrose.

Hunter Watkins had 12 points for Elk Lake. Cole Tyler, who came off the bench to score seven in the fourth quarter, and Seth Tewksbury added 11 each.

Newhart and Tewksbury had 20 points each in the third-place game to lift Elk Lake over Susquehanna, 57-40.

Tyler Williams made the all-tourney team for Susquehanna after scoring 14 points in the loss.

Blue Ridge made the final by finishing a long first day of the tournament with a 55-52, double-overtime victory over Susquehanna.

The Sabers held the Raiders without a field goal in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback from a 20-4 deficit after one quarter.

All-tourney choice Austin Harper led the Raiders with 14 points.

Tyrell Cheeseboro went 3-for-4 from the line in the second overtime and finished with 11 points. Morris also scored 11.

Williams scored 25 points, including 21 in the middle two quarters, before Susquehanna put together an 11-3, fourth-quarter advantage.

Mason Deakin had eight of the fourth-quarter points and added two more in overtime to finish with 17.

DENISE REDDON MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

All-tournament team selection Keri Jones got Elk Lake off to a fast start before MVP Justine Johns provided a big finish when Elk Lake won the Reddon Memorial title with a 45-37 triumph over host Susquehanna.

Jones hit her first four shots and did all the scoring as the Lady Warriors got off to a 10-3 start. She had eight straight points after Haley Aldrich hit a 3-pointer to give Susquehanna its only lead of the first half, 3-2.

Johns took over after the Lady Sabers scored 15 straight points – the last three of the first half and the first 12 of the second half – for a 27-24 lead. She hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the third quarter to erase Susquehanna’s last lead, then scored 10 of Elk Lake’s 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve had trouble with our first quarters, so we really concentrated on coming out hard in the first quarter, but then we slacked off in the third,” Elk Lake coach Alicia Traver said. “They really wanted it in the third quarter.

“We had to settle back down and make our layups.”

Johns drove for one layup with 5:47 left, breaking the last tie, then turned another on a fastbreak into a three-point play 16 seconds later for a 36-31 lead. She finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Jones added 14 points and nine rebounds.

D.J. Decker made the all-tournament team for Susquehanna. She hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the fourth quarter to force that last tie and finished with 13 points and four steals.

Haley Aldrich had 11 rebounds and Gabby Cina contributed eight points and seven rebounds.

Johns was 14-for-15 from the line in the fourth quarter during the tournament. She also had a big finish in the opener.

Elk Lake knocked off Montrose, 46-37, when Johns went 10-for-11 on foul shots while scoring 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Montrose had been 10-0 in the event since the Reddon Memorial was created.

It looked like that success might continue when all-tourney choice Katie Warner scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half for a 20-16 lead.

Jones had seven of her nine points in the third to rally Elk Lake into a 32-27 lead.

Cina scored 15 points when Susquehanna defeated Blue Ridge, 48-37, to reach the final.

Susquehanna turned a 22-19 halftime deficit into a 38-27 lead after three quarters when Cina went 6-for-6 from the line while scoring eight points. Alyssa Hubal had seven of her 10 points in the quarter.

Cina went 7-for-8 and Susquehanna was 12-for-16 on free throws in the game.

Aldrich added 11 points.

Isabella Cosmello, who made the all-tournament team, and Abby Hartman each scored nine points for Blue Ridge.

Montrose came back in the consolation game to post its first victory of the season, 38-30, over Blue Ridge.

Warner scored 10 points.

Montrose held Blue Ridge to one third-quarter point while opening a 28-14 lead. Warner and Kourtney Snigar each had five points to help the Lady Meteors hold on in the fourth quarter.

Cosmello and Kalynne Myers had eight points each.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Susquehanna linebacker Zach Conrad was named second-team Class A all-state by the Pennsylvania Football News (pafootballnews.com).

Conrad stood out even in a two-win season. He led the Sabers in tackles (94), assists (51), and fumble recoveries (three). Of his tackles, 12 were for losses, totaling 37 yards.

In high school wrestling, Montrose 106-pounder Joseph Hester finished third at the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament with a 9-0 decision over Western Wayne’s George Mrsich in the consolation final.

Montrose led the four county teams and finished 18th of the 26 teams in the two-day event that was won by the host Tigers.

The Meteors scored 55 points. Blue Ridge was 21st with 40, Elk Lake was 24th with 17 and Mountain View was last with nine.

Montrose’s Jacob O’Brien (120) and Blue Ridge’s Dave Austin (126) had the county’s next-best finishes, placing fifth.

Blue Ridge also had Fred Lewis (120) and Adam Roe (152) place eighth.

Jake Hand led Elk Lake, taking seventh at 160.

Corbin Smith was eighth at 113 for Mountain View.

In girls basketball, Isabella Cosmello scored 21 points Saturday when Blue Ridge opened the Lackawanna League Division 4 season by ending Montrose’s division winning streak at 52 games, 41-28.

Forest City finished third in the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament by beating the hosts, 37-35, after losing to Western Wayne, 52-42, in the first round.

In boys basketball, Montrose opened its title defense by improving to 6-2 overall with a 72-44 romp over Blue Ridge in a rematch of the county tournament final.

Lattimore (15), Buck (13), Travis Birchard (12) and Smith (11) all scored in double figures for the Meteors.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Lackawanna League Division 2 wrestling season gets underway Wednesday with Blue Ridge at Montrose and two double-duals.

Elk Lake and Valley View will travel to Scranton Prep while Western Wayne and Lackawanna Trail travel to Mountain View. At each site, the teams will wrestle against each of the other two in league matches.

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.

WINNERS AND LOSERS OF 2015

Joey Logano was one of the biggest losers of 2015

While there are many drivers and teams that could be considered “winners and losers” during the 2015 racing season, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, and Kevin Harvick had to be three of the biggest losers.

Logano's problems started during the Hollywood Casino on Oct. 18 at Kansas Speedway.

With four laps remaining, Kenseth and Logano were racing for the lead. As they approached slower lapped traffic, Kenseth tried to block Logano, but Logano tapped Kenseth's No. 20 in the left rear, sending Kenseth into a slide and bringing out the caution flag.

Logano went on to win the race, while Kenseth finished 14th.

“It's just good hard racing," Logano said of the incident with Kenseth. “He raced me hard, so I raced him hard back. The fact that we're the only team that can relax now (with Talladega looming) is going to pay big dividends going into Martinsville. To make a lot of these guys nervous going into Talladega is part of the strategy.”

However, Kenseth viewed the incident much differently.

“I pulled up in front of him (to block Logano on the high line of the track), and he lifted my tires off the ground and wrecked me,” Kenseth said. “I won't talk to Joey. I don't have anything to talk to him about really. I mean, you make decisions every minute behind the wheel. To me, strategically, that doesn't seem like such a great decision for him. But that's how they wanted to win. I'm one of the only guys that hasn't been into it yet with Joey. I always raced him with a ton of respect. I actually have been one of his biggest fans. I'm not anymore.”

Logano was already guaranteed his spot in the next round of the Chase after his previous victory, a week before at Charlotte.

Kenseth's team arrived at Kansas knowing they needed to win.

The incident left Kenseth 12th, the last spot of the remaining Chase drivers and put him in a must-win situation at Talladega the following week, if he was to advance to the next round of the Chase. He did not win, and was eliminated from the Chase.

Kenseth's anger apparently seethed until the Martinsville race, when it reached a boiling point.

During the early part of the Martinsville race Logano's teammate, Brad Keselowski got into Kenseth, damaging his car on a restart. This aggravated Kenseth even more.

During lap 454 of the 500-lap race, Logano was leading. After passing Kenseth on the outside, Kenseth moved up the track and into the rear of Logano's No. 22. Kenseth continued to push Logano into the wall, further damaging his car.

Logano was out of the race and so was Kenseth.

“It's a chicken-you-know-what move to completely take out the leader when your race is over,” Logano said. “We'll move on.”

Kenseth said the incident was “definitely my fault”.

“I got into him,” Kenseth said. “The right front was dragging down there ... and man (I) couldn't get it to turn and collected him.

“I know it's got to be disappointing for him. It's a tough sport; some days you're the bat and some days you're the ball. I was the ball a few weeks ago and I was the ball again today, so that part of it is never fun.”

His deliberate wrecking of Logano drew him a two-race suspension from NASCAR. Kenseth said he would have handled the payback differently had he known he'd draw such an unprecedented penalty.

But in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Kenseth said he would do it again.

“'I really stand by my actions,” he said. “I feel like there's a breaking point. It wasn't just about being mad, it was about getting this fixed. It was time to make it stop.”

Neither Kenseth nor Logano recovered from the two separate incidents and did not make the final chase round.

Kevin Harvick finished second in the points behind Kyle Busch. Most drivers would consider it a great year, but for the Harvick team it was nothing short of a bitter disappointment. Harvick and his team thought they would win a second consecutive Sprint Cup championship. He had three wins, but a couple accidents and bad pit stops cost him positions. He was in contention for his second championship going into the final race of the season, but did not have the car to out run Kyle Busch.

Despite finishing second he had race winnings of over $9-million, more than any other driver.

Clearly the biggest winner of the 2015 season was Kyle Busch. He missed 11 races at the beginning of the season due to a wreck at Daytona that left him with a broken ankle and foot. He won five races and the 2015 Championship.

One of the biggest success stories of the season was that of Martin Truex Jr. and his “Little David” team. Truex’s Furniture Row Racing of Denver, Colorado is a single car operation that lacked funding, engineers, and other technical know how available to the multi-car teams.

Still Truex managed to finish fourth in the Chase with one win and 22 top-10s.

In addition he was been named the 2015 Colorado Professional Athlete of the Year by Mile High Sports Magazine.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized in the home state of our Furniture Row Racing,” said Truex. “Though it will be showcased as an individual honor, the Mile High Sports award would never have been possible if it weren't for the talented and dedicated group of people at our Denver shop for giving me fast race cars throughout the season.”

MARVIN PANCH PASSES AWAY

Marvin Panch, a hard- charging NASCAR driver died last week. Panch will always be remembered as the driver that took Smokey Yunick’s 1959 Pontiac and won the 1961 Daytona 500. The win infuriated Pontiac executives, because they wanted the 1961 model driven by Fireball Roberts to win. Pontiac personnel refused to stand in victory lane with Panch, saying, “We want people to buy our new cars, not the old ones.”

It would seem like California would be an awful long distance for a Wisconsin native to begin his racing career. But that’s where it all started for him. Panch was born May 26, 1928 in Menomonie, Wisconsin, a small town about 20 miles west of Eau Claire.

“I had a good friend that was in the Merchant Marine and sailed out of Oakland,” said Panch in a 2015 interview. “He was ready to go back out on a ship and he asked me to ride with him to the west coast. When we got to Oakland, my friend wanted to sell his car and we worked out a deal and I bought it.”

Panch built a 1950 Mercury and asked a local driver, Loyd Reagan to drive it for him at Balboa Stadium. Reagan did real well in Panch’s car, but one night he didn’t show up.

“I wanted to race, so I decided to give it my best shot,” continued Panch. “I finished third and from then on, I was the driver.”

He won a championship on the West Coast and entered five NASCAR races, before Bill France Sr. talked him into coming east and racing with NASCAR. His first race was at Darlington. He finished 28th out of a 59-car field.

Panch went on to claim 17 NASCAR victories, but one of his most cherished wins was the 1966 World 600 (now the Coca Cola 600} at Charlotte.

“Richard Petty had an old Plymouth setting in the yard, and Dale Inman (Petty’s crew chief), asked me if I would like to run it,” said Panch. “The car didn’t look too great, but since I didn’t have anything to drive, I took it.

“That car turned out to be one of the best cars I’ve ever driven.

“A lot of people thought I got out of racing too early. But I had decided that when I turned forty, I would retire. My last race was at Charlotte in that Petty Plymouth.”

Racing Trivia Question: Who was the first NASCAR champion?

Last Week’s Question: Where was the first official NASCAR race held? While Bill France Sr. had promoted several races before forming NASCAR, the firt official NASCAR race was held on the old Daytona Beach/Road Course on February 15, 1948. The race was won by Red Byro in a Raymond Parks Ford.