The Montrose girls were the only District 2 basketball team to choose not to play in the district’s open tournament format in 2015-16.

With a new system in place, the Lady Meteors are only Susquehanna County girls’ team that will have to play its way into the basketball postseason. The Susquehanna boys are also trying to qualify for the playoffs.

A season of change within the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has many teams seeking different titles.

District 2 made its own changes, restricting the size of the field in some classes, introducing a new rating system and ranking teams based on all games instead of league play only.

Teams head to the midway point in the regular season this week with Blue Ridge on top of the ratings race for top seeds in Class 2A in both boys and girls basketball.

The PIAA switched from four to six classes for football and basketball for the 2016-17 school year.

Montrose, which has the largest enrollment of any county school, is the only Class 3A from the county in basketball.

District 2 has decided that it will limit tournaments to the top eight teams. District 2 has more than eight basketball teams in Class 5A and 4A boys and Class 4A and 3A girls, meaning teams will be rated against each other not just for seeding purposes, but to also see who makes the playoffs.

Montrose is among 11 Class 3A girls teams trying to get the eight available spots. The Lady Meteors started the week in 10th place, in danger of not qualifying.

District 2 has just two Class A boys’ basketball teams, so it will combine with District 11 for a Subregional. Susquehanna is currently last among the 10 teams trying to land the eight spots in the District 2-11 Class A boys’ subregional.

The rest of the county teams are assured of an available playoff spot.

The qualifiers and the seeds are being determined this season with a complex mathematical formula designed by Mid Valley athletic director Tom Nowakowski. The formula takes into account only the record of opponents, not the enrollment size of the schools.

Nowakowski’s formula gives credit for the record of opponents played and combines a modified winning percentage with the combined rating of opponents based on their records and the quality of their opponents.

All 22 regular-season games – league, non-league and tournaments – count for all of the teams involved. Since county schools joined District 2 when District 12 was dissolved, small school basketball playoff berths had always been determined entirely on league records.

The first step of the formula is to weigh teams wins and losses according to what the opponent’s 22-game record ends up being. Beating an opponent with 18 or more wins counts as 1.3 wins, beating an opponent with 12-17 wins counts as 1.1 win, beating an opponent with 6-11 wins counts as 0.9 wins and beating an opponent with 0-5 wins as 0.7 wins. Similarly, losing to an opponent with 18 or more wins only counts as 0.7 losses while losing to a team with 12-17 losses counts as 0.9 losses, losing to a team with 6-11 wins counts as 1.1 losses and losing to a team with 0-5 wins counts as 1.3 losses.

Winning percentages are determined from both the teams weighted wins and losses and the combined weighted wins and losses of its opponents.

The final step is to add 59 percent of the team’s weighted winning percentage (TWWP) to 41 percent of the opponent’s weighted winning percentage (OWWP) to get a rating that is expressed in terms of a four-place decimal.

Teams generally hope for their opponents to do well in the remainder of their schedule, particularly the non-league opponents, with the hope that it will boost their own records.

If the formula is well-received after a two-year test period, it could be implemented, in some form, for boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball and softball.

THE RATINGS

District 2 Class 3A boys will have an eight-team tournament with seeds determined by the rating.

Mid Valley went into the week with the lead with a .5940 rating off an 8-1 record. Dunmore (4-4) had a slight edge over Montrose (5-4) for second place, .3736-.3718.

Dunmore is 8-0 and leads the 11-team Class 3A girls’ race for eight spots with a .7829 rating. Montrose is 2-7 for a .2201 rating and 10th place.

Blue Ridge is the only one of eight Class 2 A boys’ teams with a winning record.

The Raiders are 6-2 and lead the race with a .4264 rating, well in front of Northwest at 3-5 and .3066. Other county teams are: Elk Lake, fifth, 2-6, .2075; Mountain View, sixth, 1-7, .1900; and Forest City, eighth, 1-6, .1707.

The Blue Ridge girls are in a much closer race among the seven teams working for seeds in Class 2A.

The Lady Raiders are first with a 7-2 record and .5528 rating. Elk Lake is second at 6-2 and .5033. Mountain View is last among the seven at 1-7 and .1655.

There are 10 teams in District 2-11 Class A boys.

Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School from District 11 leads with an 8-2 record and .6299 rating. Susquehanna is last at 3-6 and .1223.

Green Pond Notre Dame leads the eight District 2-11 Class A girls’ teams at 5-6 and .4352.

Forest City is sixth with a 3-4 record and .3164 rating. Susquehanna is seventh at 1-7 and .2072.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Jacob Peck hit three 3-pointers and scored 21 points Friday night when Montrose opened the Lackawanna League Division 4 boys’ basketball season by knocking off division favorite and Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament champion Blue Ridge, 58-51.

The Raiders entered the game 6-2, including a 14-point win over Montrose on the way to the tournament title.

In the other division openers: Elk Lake defeated Mountain View, 53-47, and Lackawanna Trail downed Forest City, 56-37.

Matthew Lavin scored 19 points and Ben Woolcock had 18 for Elk Lake.

Lakeland defeated Susquehanna, 62-56, in a Division 3-4 crossover that is not part of the division standings.

Tyler Williams finished with 15 points for the Sabers, who led at halftime.

Mountain View got its first win overall the next night when Lavin and Streich scored 20 points each in a 62-46 victory over Northeast Bradford.

In girls’ basketball, Blue Ridge rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Montrose, 38-35, in a Friday Lackawanna League Division 4 opener.

Isabella Cosmello scored 17 points in the win.

Elk Lake defeated Mountain View, 63-38, behind 22 points by Keri Jones.

Forest City opened its title defense with a 40-22 victory over Lackawanna Trail.

Like the Mountain View boys, Susquehanna used a Saturday non-league game to post its first win after starting 0-7.

Bethany Maby scored 16 points and Taylor Huyck added 15 when the Lady Sabers defeated Northwest, 53-47.

In wrestling, the Lackawanna League Division 2 schedule opened Wednesday with a series of triple-duals.

While Blue Ridge, Elk Lake and Mountain View were each going 0-2, Montrose got the only win by a county team, going 1-1.

Montrose defeated host Blue Ridge, 54-18, and lost to Honesdale, 55-18.

Jacob O’Brien (120), Cole Aukema (160) and Robert Gregory (285) each had first-period pins for the points against Honesdale and went 2-0 on the night. O’Brien had a second pin.

In boys’ swimming, Elk Lake edged Scranton, 89-86, to improve to 2-0.

In professional hockey, Danny Kristo scored two goals and Jake Guentzel assisted on three Saturday when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the visiting Binghamton Senators, 5-4, in an American Hockey League game.

Guentzel, goalie Tristan Jarry and coach Clark Donatelli were named Wednesday to represent the Penguins in the Jan. 29-30 AHL All-Star Classic in Allentown.

Binghamton Senators forward Casey Bailey was also selected.

LOOKING BACK

Montrose’s Joe Hester and Blue Ridge’s Fred Lewis each finished second in their weight classes at the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament.

The tournament was held Dec. 29-30, following the holiday deadline of the previous edition of the Susquehanna County Transcript.

Hester placed second at 126 pounds to lead Montrose to a ninth-place finish out of 26 teams in the field.

Lewis went into overtime in the 120-pound final before falling to Tyler Vince from Wyoming Seminary, 13-11.

Wyalusing outscored Wyoming Seminary’s B Team, 222 ½-188 ½, for the team title.

Montrose’s 98 ½ points was more than the other three Susquehanna County teams produced combined.

Elk Lake was 21st with 47 points. Blue Ridge, with 27 ½ points, and Mountain View, with five points, occupied the bottom two spots in the team standings.

Hester was pinned Tunkhannock’s Josh Beeman in 5:14 in the semifinals, but was pinned by Wyoming Seminary’s Connor Kievman in 1:59 of the final.

O’Brien (120) and Gregory (285) each reached the semifinals for the Meteors before losing. O’Brien came back with two more wins, including a pin in the consolation final for third place. Gregory finished sixth.

Mikyle Fabrizio (145) and Cole Aukema (160) each placed seventh for the Meteors.

Lewis pinned West Scranton’s Yahny Ortiz in 2:29 of the semifinals to reach the 120-pound championship match.

Jake Hand was fifth at 170, Francisco Lopez was sixth at 126 and Juan Loboda was eighth at 132 for Elk Lake.

In boys basketball, Mountain View was still in search of its first win when it threatened an upset before falling short, 47-38, at Wyoming Area, an unbeaten Class 4A team.

The Eagles are a Class 2A team.

Mountain View held Wyoming Area to three points in the second quarter, then scored five quick points to open the second half and take a 22-18 lead.

The Warriors responded with a 10-0 run and went on to the win.

Streich and Lavin led a balanced Eagles attack with 11 points each. Mike Schermerhorn added 10.

In professional hockey, Chris Dreidger made 44 saves on New Year’s Eve to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Dreidger stopped 37 of 38 shots in the final two periods.

It was the first time this season that the first-place Penguins lost two games in a row in regulation.

COLLEGE CORNER

Kenzie Jones qualified for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:44 at the Houghton Classic in New York State in December.

The sophomore from Elk Lake placed fourth out of 17 runners.

Jones was 63rd out of 163 runners at the PSAC Championships during cross country season in the fall.

She has been part of the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field teams in her two years at Mansfield.

Jones received PSAC Scholar-Athlete honors as a freshman.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The schedule is full of games between neighboring Susquehanna County teams.

In wrestling, Elk Lake and Montrose will wrestle each other and each will wrestle host Mountain View in a Lackawanna League Division 2 triple-dual Wednesday.

In girls’ basketball, the Lackawanna League Division 4 schedule for Thursday is Susquehanna at Blue Ridge, Elk Lake at Montrose and Forest City at Mountain View.

In boys’ basketball, the Friday Lackawanna League Division 4 schedule is Blue Ridge at Susquehanna, Montrose at Elk Lake and Mountain View at Forest City.

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.

JOHNSON MADE A BELIEVER OUT OF SOME

Jimmie Johnson after Charlotte win in 2016.

Jimmie Johnson did what they said couldn’t be done.

He won his seventh NASCAR Cup championship.

It was a feat that had only been accomplished by two other drivers in the history of NASCAR, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr.

There was no worry or nail biting going into the last race of the season, which led to his seventh championship.

“What’s wild is I never thought it was a bleak night,” Johnson said. “There was this weird, comfortable confidence I had all night long. Maybe weird is the wrong word to use, but I was just-- I felt like something was going to happen, and I was going to be okay with it. For a while I came to grips with the reality of it being third, fourth, somewhere in there and shaking somebody else’s hand and being happy for them, and then it changed so quick at the end.”

Johnson’s 2016 season was a roller coaster. It started off strong with two wins in the first five races. But then his team slipped back into mediocrity, by going 25 straight races before another win.

He had made the 16-driver Chase and moved up to the Round of Twelve, before winning at Charlotte and becoming eligible for the Round of Eight. At Martinsville, he won once again and put himself into the Championship 4.

During the last race of the season at Homestead, where all the marbles were in the ring, events did not begin well. He started from dead last due to unapproved adjustments prior to the race. He quickly moved up through the field, but was never able to reach the leaders in the early and middle stages of the race.

Towards the end of the race, a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, appeared to be the favorites. But on a late-race restart, Edwards, who was on the pole spun his tires, got bumped, tried to block Joey Logano, and wrecked in turn-1.

On the race’s last restart, Johnson was fourth. By the time the field had reached the back straightaway, Johnson had put his No. 48 Chevrolet ahead of Kyle Larson and went on to take the checkered flag.

“Wow. Just overwhelmed,” Johnson said. “I mean, I had this crazy weird calmness through the last couple of weeks and then even through the race amongst all the chaos we dealt with, and the fact that we ran behind those guys all night long, fifth, sixth, wherever we ran, there was just some calmness that was in me, and then we restart and the 22 and the 19 wreck, and I’m like, oh, okay, we’ve got a shot at this thing. I don’t know why I’ve been so calm, but maybe it’s in the cards.

“The next restart works out well, we get the second, and I’m like, you’ve got to be kidding me. There’s really a shot at this thing. Then I get the restart of my life at the end and I get clear off of Turn 2, and it just all like-- I got the goosebumps down the backstretch. I’m like, you’ve got to be kidding me. I looked in the mirror and the 22 is fading, and I don’t know where that calmness came from. But there was just something really interesting and different about my calmness and the relaxed nature that I had in the car. I didn’t know what the outcome would be, but I was very content and peaceful with whatever was coming my way, and then it ended up being the greatest thing in the world. So it’s just wild.”

He ended the 2016 season with five victories, eleven top fives and 16 top tens.

Meanwhile Kevin Harvick and his team are still shaking their heads after his eighth-place points finish. He had four wins, 17 top-fives, 27 top-tens and two poles.

In his three seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing as driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet, he’s amassed 12 wins, one championship and one runner-up finish in the Chase. Even though Tony Stewart was the co-owner of the team, there’s no question that Harvick continued as the star of the four-driver team.

He missed the final round of the Chase for the first time since the new format was introduced in 2014. His eighth-place finish was his lowest showing since finishing eighth in 2012 while with Richard Childress Racing.

Costly errors on pit road hampered Harvick at times, contributing to why he wasn’t able to reach the final round. The costliest episode in the Chase was at Martinsville. He came into that race tied for the lead in the points after the second round finale at Talladega, but finished 20th, dropping him to sixth in the standings. Even though he finished sixth at Texas and fourth at Phoenix, it wasn’t enough to get him over the hump and he missed qualifying for the Championship 4 finale at Homestead.

The only thing they can do is prepare for the 2017 season.

But preparations will probably be a little more difficult than in the past, because Stewart-Haas Racing will switch from Chevrolet to Ford engines. Harvick has only driven a Chevy since he came to the Sprint Cup Series in 2001. The team will go it alone in developing the motors and bodies instead of linking with other Ford teams.

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.  

Isabella Cosmello

Isabella Cosmello had paid her dues – in the Blue Ridge girls’ basketball program and in the Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament.

Cosmello has been a starter since her freshman season and an all-tournament player since her sophomore year.

The senior guard had played in as many games in the tournament as are possible prior to one’s senior year, but had never experienced a win.

Cosmello and her teammates changed that this season.

With Cosmello earning Most Valuable Player honors, Blue Ridge claimed the tournament championship for the first time.

Cosmello landed another honor for her effort in the tournament and throughout the first four weeks of the high school basketball season. She has been selected as the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month for December.

“We went into in pretty confident,” Cosmello said, “but in the past we’ve always been the underdogs. We haven’t done too well in that tournament.

“Winning that was everything to me. I’ve wanted to win that since my freshman year and finally being able to achieve that was amazing.”

Blue Ridge had to hang on through two tense fourth quarters to win the tournament title.

Cosmello went 7-for-9 the line and scored nine points in a 40-37 semifinal win over Montrose, which has lost just once in the tournament’s history.

In the final, Blue Ridge edged defending champion Elk Lake, 39-38, with the help of a game-high 17 points by Cosmello.

“Winning that I think really boosted our confidence and gave us a good look for what we’re capable of in the season,” she said.

Blue Ridge finished the month with a 4-2 overall record with Cosmello leading the team offensively at 13.8 points per game. It has since improved to 7-2 for the best overall record by a Lackawanna League Division 4 team, making the Lady Raiders a contender in what could be a wide-open race involving Elk Lake, defending champion Forest City and Montrose.

The strong start to basketball season, continues a recent successful stretch for Blue Ridge girls’ teams.

The basketball team gets a boost from the jumping abilities of players from a league and district championship volleyball team that reached the final eight in the state and speed from a strong track team that qualified several sprinters, including Cosmello, for the state championships.

“That probably motivates us a little bit,” Cosmello said of the success in other sports.

Winning on the basketball court is new at Blue Ridge.

Cosmello came into the program along with then new coach Paula Finn in 2013-14, trying to improve on a squad that had won just one game the year before.

The Lady Raiders went 1-20 that season, then 3-20 in 2014-15 before improving to 9-15 last season. With Cosmello leading the way, they are in position to potentially win more games this season than those other three years combined.

Isabella, the daughter of Sam and Chris Cosmello from New Milford, is a four-year varsity athlete in three sports. As a golfer in the fall, she twice qualified to compete in the District 2 tournament. She has started throughout her basketball career. The track sprinter made her first appearance at the state championships in Shippensburg in a pair of relays last spring.