The Susquehanna County holiday basketball tournaments were held simultaneously in two Elk Lake gyms December 27 and 28.
The Susquehanna Country Christmas Tournament for the boys and the Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament for the girls each started with the same first-round pairings.
Both tournaments also ended with the same order of finish.
Blue Ridge teams won both titles, beating second-place Elk Lake in the finals. Montrose placed third by beating fourth-place Susquehanna in the consolation games.
COUNTY CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
Jeff Morris dominated in the paint, scoring 17 of his 28 points in the first half, and Blue Ridge held off Elk Lake, 67-65, in the final of the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.
Morris was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Jarred Mills added 11 points and also made the all-tournament team.
Ben Woolcock scored 22 points and Reirdan Reyan 21 for Elk Lake and each made the all-tournament team.
Montrose defeated Susquehanna, 52-37, for third place.
Harley Mullins scored 17 points for the Meteors. Jacob Peck added 13.
Brennan Gilhool, who added eight points, represented Montrose on the all-tournament team.
Mullins scored nine in the first quarter to get Montrose out to a 12-8 lead.
The Meteors outscored the Sabers, 17-6, in the third quarter to build the lead to 39-24.
Tyler Williams made all seven of his free throws while leading Susquehanna with 15 points.
Garret Grausgruber, who scored six points, made the all-tournament team from the Sabers.
Blue Ridge (5-2) rallied in the second half to defeat Montrose, 62-48, in the tournament opener.
Morris scored 22 points in the win.
Mike Allen hit three of the team’s nine 3-pointers while adding nine points.
Morris and Kyle Donovan, who added eight points, each hit two 3-pointers.
Donovan had two of the five 3-pointers that the Raiders used to take a 20-14 lead after one quarter.
Montrose used an 18-7 second quarter to take a 32-27 halftime lead. Jacob Peck hit two 3-pointers and scored seven points in the quarter.
Gilhool had nine of his 15 points in the first half.
Devin Nash added 11 in the loss.
Elk Lake held on for a 50-48 victory over Susquehanna in the other semifinal.
The Warriors led 42-30 going into the fourth quarter.
Elk Lake had only one field goal in the quarter, but Woolcock went 5-for-6 from the line to finish an 18-point effort.
Reyan added 11 points.
Mason Deakin led Susquehanna with 15 points.
Grausgruber and Adam Rockwell, who had combined for just one point through three quarters, each scored seven in the fourth quarter.
DENISE REDDON MEMORIAL
Tournament Most Valuable Player Isabella Cosmello scored 17 points to lead Blue Ridge to a 39-38 victory over Elk Lake in the championship game of the Denise Reddon Memorial.
Rose Warner led Elk Lake with 10 points.
Montrose edged Susquehanna, 30-27, for third place.
Harper Andre led Montrose with 13 points.
Susquehanna’s Taylor Huyck had 11 points.
Kalynne Myers had 13 points for Blue Ridge in a 40-37 semifinal win over Montrose.
Georgia Smith had 13 points and Annalise Ely added 10 for Montrose.
Justine Johns had 16 points and Keri Jones had 12 as Elk Lake pulled away from a one-point game at halftime to defeat Montrose, 55-38, in the first round.
Bethany Maby had 10 points for Susquehanna.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Western Wayne won the title in the Forest City Rotary Tournament with a 50-37 boys’ basketball victory over Forest City Dec. 26.
Wyalusing beat Mountain View, 44-39, for third place.
Forest City topped Wyalusing, 51-45, and Western Wayne beat Mountain View, 41-34, in the semifinals.
In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored the game’s final three goals Dec. 26 to pull out a 5-4 American Hockey League victory over the host Binghamton Senators.
Garrett Wilson scored the game-tying goal 11 seconds into the third period on an assist from Oskar Sundqvist, who had started the rally with a goal late in the second period.
Jake Guentzel, who finished with two goals and an assist, scored the game-winner at 3:35 of the period.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Forest City opens its Lackawanna League Division 4 girls’ basketball title defense Thursday at Lackawanna Trail.
Other openers that night have Elk Lake at Mountain View and Montrose at Blue Ridge.
Susquehanna will begin division play Jan. 9 at home against Montrose.
In boys’ basketball, the Lackawanna League Division 4 schedule gets underway Friday with Mountain View at Elk Lake, Blue Ridge at Montrose and Lackawanna Trail at Forest City.
Susquehanna begins its division schedule Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Montrose.
In wrestling, each of the four Susquehanna County teams have two matches on Wednesday night.
Montrose is at Blue Ridge and both teams also face Honesdale that night.
Elk Lake wrestles at Scranton Prep where it will also face Western Wayne. Mountain View is at Lackawanna Trail and also wrestles Valley View there.
In professional hockey, the Binghamton Senators are at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a Saturday night AHL game.
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.
Elliott Must Be Reckoned With In 2017
Chase Elliott during a test session in 2016.
Chase Elliott's rookie season is behind him now. After a year's experience in the big league, Elliott will be someone that other drivers are going to have to deal with.
He never won a race as a rookie, but that doesn't detract from a great racing performance in his first full season as a Cup regular. He came close to winning the two Michigan races, but had to settle for runner-up in both.
After the second runner-up finish at Michigan, the Dawsonville, Georgia driver was very honest and candid about mistakes he made during the race.
"Yeah, this was definitely a bummer," said Elliott. "I hate to let my guys down. For the second time this has happened. I made a mistake early on in the race. I asked my guys to bail me out, and they did. Unfortunately, I didn't do my part again.
"This is the second time we had a really good car, and had an opportunity. I try really hard to make the most of opportunities when they're presented. Obviously I didn't do a very good job of that here both trips."
For his efforts throughout the 2016 season, Elliott was named NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series Rookie of The Year, as he wound up with a 10th-place finish in the final standings in his first year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
"It was a lot of fun and means a lot to us to get that done," he said. "We wanted to achieve more and make it farther into the Chase. Rookie of the Year is special to me, but we want to grow from that and try to get better."
Perhaps one of his hardest-fought races was at Richmond, the last race before the Chase began. Elliott acted and drove like a seasoned veteran as he overcame several problems and finished well enough to make the 16-driver Chase field.
"It was a difficult night," continued Elliott. "I just think we have to first off be thankful that we were able to get in tonight after the night we had. I can't thank my guys for working as hard as they did. I've never had to go through all the stuff we went through tonight, so hats off to them, fixing our car multiple times."
He kept up that strong performance in the opening round of the Chase, where he finished third at Chicagoland and Dover. His other finish in the opening round of the Chase was 13th at New Hampshire. Those strong performances easily moved Elliott into Round 12.
The Bank of America 500 at Charlotte was becoming a two-man race as Elliott and his Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson were the class of the field through the first 250 laps. Under the caution on Lap 254, Elliott tried to use some strategy to get lane preference exiting the pits and fell back to fifth on the restart. Austin Dillon, who took two tires, started slow and got spun by Martin Truex, Jr., catching Elliott in the crash.
That moment took Elliott from a potential win and advancement into Round 8 and put him in a hole that he couldn't recover from as he finished poorly the next week at Kansas. He entered Talladega in a must-win scenario and finished 14th. He was eliminated from the playoffs.
"To start the Chase, we had an opportunity at Chicago, an opportunity at Charlotte and Kansas, and that's something you're frustrated about, that we weren't able to get things done like we had hoped," Elliott said. "What's encouraging and something that I certainly won't forget is how well we ran at the start of the Chase. But then as the Chase went on, we understand the need to get better."
The rookie raced into the Chase on points because of a strong regular season, including a 12-race stretch where his average finish was 7.166 with 10 top-10 performances.
Those strong results lead most racing experts to believe Elliott will make his first trip to Victory Lane in 2017.
He had two poles, which makes him eligible for The Clash, a non-points race at Daytona, prior to the 2017 Daytona 500.
"Good news is I don't have to go to any more rookie meetings, which is nice," he continued. "Beyond that, it really-- I think you learn things as you go, but I can't see the back bumper, so I don't know what's there or not. I think you just kind of learn from experiences and things you encounter along the way, not so much whether it's your first year or first race or whatever it is. I think it's more of an experience-based kind of feel, whether you have that comfort moving forward."
In other racing news, Michael Waltrip plans to race in the 2017 Daytona 500.
This past week the former two-time Daytona 500 winner confirmed that he will be attempting to run in the Great American Race this season.
No word on the team or car number but speculations are that it will be for BK Racing.
But does he still have what it takes to win?
At age fifty three, he is one of the oldest drivers in NASCAR.
The last few NASCAR seasons have not been good for Waltrip, or his race teams. While he has been successful in the broadcast booth, when it comes to the on-track stuff, he has experienced some bumps in the road.
In February, 2012, it was announced that Waltrip would attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500, for Hillman Racing in the No. 40 Toyota. He failed to qualify for the race, crashing in a single-car incident in the first Gatorade race.
Waltrip entered the 2013 Daytona 500 driving the No. 30 Toyota for Swan Racing. At his Budweiser Duel, he ran close to the front, but faded back in the final laps. He ultimately finished 15th, but it was enough to grab the final transfer spot for the Daytona 500. He led four laps and finished 22nd.
He ran four races for Identity Racing in 2014. At Daytona in Speedweeks, he was collected in a last-lap pileup caused when Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas on the final lap. He nonetheless made it into the race. He crashed on lap 144 and finished 41st.
Waltrip returned to driving for his own team in 2015, piloting the No. 55 at Daytona to 26th. He skipped the summer Daytona race, but returned at Talladega in the fall, running a third MWR entry after leasing the owner points from the No. 98 of Premium Motorsports.
In 2016, he drove the No. 83 Camry for BK Racing to a 30th place finish.
His last Cup win came in 2003 at Talladega.
Waltrip appeared on the two-part April 30, 2009/May 7, 2009 episode of "My Name is Earl," entitled "Inside Probe."
When not racing, he is a prerace commentator alongside his older brother Darrell for NASCAR on Fox. He has also worked as a color commentator for both the Xfinity series since 2015 and the Truck Series since 2004.
On September 4, 2014, Waltrip was announced as one of the celebrities who would participate on "Dancing with the Stars." He was paired with professional dancer Emma Slater. They were eliminated after five weeks.
Waltrip wrote a book published in 2011 called "In the Blink of an Eye: Dale, Daytona, and the Day that Changed Everything," that became a best-seller.
Racing Trivia Question: Which driver has the most Daytona 500 wins?
Last Week's Question: At which track will NASCAR open the 2017 racing season? Answer. Daytona International Speedway.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
