Susquehanna’s C.J. Stone (20), Mason Deakin (10), Alex McHugh (4) and Travis Craig (at right) set up late-game pressure defense in the comeback win over Lackawanna Trail. Zach Cost (at left), Josh Rzucidlo (33) and Shawn Jones (44) are trying to get the ball for the Lions.  (Tom Robinson photo)

TUNNEL HILL – The Susquehanna boys’ basketball team is showing the resiliency needed to climb out of early holes.

The Sabers put that ability on display Thursday night when they overcame a 13-point deficit to hand host Lackawanna Trail its first Lackawanna League Division 4 defeat, 50-48.

Susquehanna came back less than 24 hours later with a 64-43 rout of defending champion Elk Lake for its third straight win.

The Sabers started the winning streak after apparently bottoming out with three straight losses, beginning with the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament championship game and ending with the league opener when they were blown out by 22 points by Montrose.

Susquehanna coach Lawrence Tompkins did not want his team worrying about any damage that had been done in a 3-7 start that put the Sabers behind in the pursuit of a .500 record needed to guarantee a berth in the District 2-11 Class A Subregional or in the league-opening loss that made the goal of a division championship pursuit more difficult. The division standings printed at the bottom of the nightly game plans remind of the task at hand.

“All I do is show them what our current division standings are and I pose the question, ‘how do me move up’?” Tompkins said. “And, the easiest way to move up is you have to beat teams that are in front of you and you’ve got to take care of business against teams that are below you.”

Bryce Baldwin and Mason Deakin led the way when the Sabers put together the consecutive wins over two teams they had been behind in the standings.

Susquehanna was the only one of the division’s seven teams to win twice during the week and they got a little help from an upset elsewhere. Those results meant Susquehanna joined Montrose and Lackawanna Trail as the teams to enter the last week of first-half play with just one loss in Division 4.

The consecutive wins were two dramatically different types of games.

Susquehanna led for just 18 seconds of regulation – at 2-0 – against Lackawanna Trail and needed Deakin’s game-tying basket with six seconds left to get to overtime where it was four points behind midway through the four-minute period.

The next night, the Sabers took a 14-10 lead after one quarter against Elk Lake and expanded it to 36-25 at halftime.

Baldwin hit the game-winning shot against Lackawanna Trail to complete an all-around effort that included seven points, nine rebounds and eight blocked shots. The junior post player had 26 points against Elk Lake.

“He’s really coming around,” Tompkins said. “His development has been a key for us since the Christmas Tournament.

“He’s starting to figure out that he’s 6-4. He’s getting comfortable playing in there and he’s accepting that role. He’s starting to see some results and he’s excited about it.”

Baldwin held Lackawanna Trail scoring leader Shawn Jones without a field goal in the second half. He combined with Travis Craig, who had a team-high four steals, to lead a defensive effort that limited Lackawanna Trail to four points in the third quarter and 13 in the second half.

“He prides himself on being that defender who’s just an annoyance, but we’ve been working with him on the offensive game as well,” Tompkins said.

Deakin provided plenty of offense with 20 points in each game. While he struggled with his shot at times against Lackawanna Trail, he led the team with six assists.

“Even when he doesn’t score, his court vision is really good,” Tompkins said. “He draws so much attention from the opposing team. He finds guys. Eric Lee and Bryce are really the recipients of a lot of easy shot opportunities because of the things that he does.

“You’re going to have nights like that where you’re not hitting as many shots as you’d like, but he’s seeing the floor well and he’s getting guys involved.”

Tompkins credited the improved second-half defense at Lackawanna Trail in part to a more patient approach to finding the right shots on offense.

“We wanted to slow the game down offensively and get the shots that we wanted to get, which I felt like we didn’t do real well in the first half,” Tompkins said. “We were kind of helter-skelter.

“It’s easier to play defense if you get a shot that you want, make it and come back and set your defense. In the third quarter, we were able to chip into their lead a little bit. I felt the pace of the game was coming back a bit to where we wanted it, instead of being a bit more chaotic.”

Lackawanna Trail’s 24-11 lead with 5:16 left in the half was down to 28-26 before the Lions scored their first points of the second half with 3:25 left in the third quarter.

The Sabers tied the game twice early in the fourth quarter, then fell back behind before Deakin scored the last five points of regulation over the final 1:09. He hit three out of four free throws after getting offensive rebounds, then banked in the tying basket on a drive.

Lackawanna Trail’s Zach Cost got an open look at the 3-pointer for the win at the final buzzer, but it did not fall.

Deakin, who struggled through a 6-for-15 night at the line, hit two more for a 43-42 lead just 19 seconds into overtime.

The Lions scored the next five points, before the Sabers answered with six straight.

Baldwin sandwiched baskets around Lee’s foul line jumper to put Susquehanna ahead to stay. Deakin set up the last two baskets, including Baldwin’s game-winning, 17-footer with 30 seconds left.

C.J. Stone added one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds left.

Lee finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Stone came off the bench to provide six points, four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

Jones led Lackawanna Trail with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Lackawanna Trail again got a 3-point attempt at the win and an open, but hurried, shot in the lane off the rebound for the chance to force another overtime. Griffin Holmes and Nico Berrios were unable to connect.

There was no such drama the next night.

Baldwin had seven points in the first quarter. Deakin had seven and Baldwin six in the 22-point second quarter. Baldwin then put up nine more to key a 13-7 advantage in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 49-32.

Lee added 10 points in the win, which avenged a loss in the county tournament final.

Rierdan Reyan poured in 34 points for Elk Lake, but the Sabers limited the rest of the Warriors to just one field goal in each quarter.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Susquehanna went 3-0 on the week, moving into a tie for the Lackawanna League Division 4 girls’ basketball lead with two wins and adding an impressive non-league victory.

The Lady Sabers, rated fourth among all Small Schools in District 2 in the NEPABasketball.com Super Six Power Rankings, are 4-0 in the division and 9-3 overall. They have won five straight.

Susquehanna showed off balance in the victories, placing at least three scorers in double figures in each game with five different players filling that role in at least one game.

Skyla Wilson and Taylor Huyck had 13 points each while Bethany Maby added 12 in a 52-20 romp over Elk Lake January 15.

The Lady Sabers shut out the Lady Warriors in the third quarter while extending their lead from 17-12 to 35-12.

Maby’s 15 points led Thursday’s 55-31 victory over Lackawanna Trail.

She was joined in double figures by Huyck (13), Mackenzie Steele (11) and McKenzie Rhone (10).

The non-league win came Saturday when Susquehanna outscored Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3 co-leader Northwest in every quarter on the way to a 64-52, home-court victory.

Huyck led the way with 18 points while Maby added 17 and Steele had 15.

Susquehanna used the wins to catch up to Mountain View at the top of the division standings.

Mountain View relied on defense to win its only division game of the week, beating visiting Montrose, 20-14, Thursday.

The Lady Eagles lost a crossover game to Mid Valley, 52-35, but are 4-0 in the division.

As the last two unbeatens, while every other team has two losses in the division, Mountain View and Susquehanna entered this week as the only teams still in contention for the first-half title.

In boys’ basketball, Mountain View used its first Lackawanna League Division 4 win to disrupt the title race Friday, handing first-place Montrose its first loss, 59-51.

Kyle Streich scored 22 points, with the help of five 3-pointers.

Montrose, which opened division play with four straight wins, remained a half-game in front of Susquehanna and Lackawanna Trail.

COLLEGE CORNER

Montrose graduate Nicole Chaszar picked up the 200th win of her 13-year coaching career at Western New England University with Thursday’s 69-63 overtime victory over Gordon College in Springfield, Mass.

Chaszar, a former Temple University captain, is the school’s career leader in both coaching wins and winning percentage. She improved to 201-141 Saturday with a 68-55 victory over Eastern Nazarene College.

With their fifth straight win, the Golden Bears improved to 8-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and 12-5 overall.

Another Montrose graduate, Meghan Gilhool, contributed to the wins.

The junior guard led Western New England with seven rebounds in the milestone win. Gilhool then had five points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals against Eastern Nazarene.

Gilhool is hitting better than 40 percent from 3-point range while averaging 7.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists on the season.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The first half of Lackawanna League Division 4 girls’ basketball play will conclude Wednesday night.

Susquehanna and Mountain View were scheduled to play Monday night to break a tie for first place.

The winner of that game will have clinched at least a tie for the first-half title and will try to take the half outright Wednesday.

Susquehanna will play at defending champion Forest City in a rematch of first-half and all-season playoff games from last season.

Mountain View will be home against winless Blue Ridge, the division’s last-place team.

In boys’ basketball, Susquehanna could be playing for the first-half title or a piece of it Thursday when it hosts Forest City.

First, the Sabers needed to get through a Tuesday game against Mountain View.

Montrose and Lackawanna Trail, which were scheduled to play each other Tuesday, joined Susquehanna as the teams that entered the week with just one loss. Tuesday’s game completed the first-half divisional schedule for Montrose.

In wrestling, Montrose is home Wednesday in a Lackawanna League Division 2 double-dual against Scranton Prep and Lackawanna Trail as the Meteors try to secure a spot and possibly a better seed in the District 2 Class 2A Dual Meet Championships.

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.

NEW ROLE FOR DALE JR.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. in November, 2017

Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have moved out of the driver's seat in NASCAR racing, but that doesn't mean he is slowing down.

Earnhardt announced last year he would retire as a full-time NASCAR driver following the 2017 season and join NBC Sports as an analyst. His 2018 duties will begin with NBC’s Super Bowl pregame show on Feb. 4 and then the Winter Olympics, which commences on Feb. 8.

“I’m excited to get to work with my new NBC family,” Earnhardt said in a statement. “Beginning with two huge events like the Super Bowl and Olympics, right out of the gate, should be quite the introduction.”

NBC said Earnhardt will take part in various “outdoor events and adventures” in wintry Minneapolis, Minn. In Pyeongchang, Earnhardt’s role will involve him experiencing Olympic sports up close, including short-track speed skating and bobsledding.

“We can’t wait to get Dale’s take on what is one of the most compelling aspects of the Winter Games, sports that offer a mix of speed with the prospect of danger, an equation that he knows very well,” said Jim Bell, of NBC. “But instead of the turns at Daytona, it’s the downhill, the luge, and the short track oval. And I think he will have something unique to offer about the need for speed on snow and ice.”

Earnhardt will leave the Olympics before the closing ceremonies to attend the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening race, where he will serve as the grand marshal. When NBC Sports begins broadcasting its portion of the NASCAR schedule in July, Earnhardt will be an analyst for all 20 of the network’s Cup Series races.

Meanwhile an article on ESPN said Earnhardt has an interest in becoming a minority owner of the Charlotte-based Carolina Panthers, which is valued at $2.3-billion.

According to Forbes Earnhardt has a net worth of about $300 million.

“I wouldn't have the kind of money where I would move the needle too much, but it would be something to have a lot of pride in, and a good Charlotte NFL team is good for the city of Charlotte,” Earnhardt said. “I wish them success because of what it does for our community, not only from a pride standpoint but from an economical one also.”

DOES NASCAR NEED A CEILING CAP

Just like in everyday life there are “haves” and “have-nots” in the NASCAR garage. In most professional sporting series there are financial checks and balances in place that keep organizations from spending themselves out of existence while maintaining an even playing field.

Andrew Murstein, co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, said NASCAR team owners need to agree to a spending cap to create a “level playing field’’ in the Cup Series.

“Every single league has a cap these days, it creates a level playing field,’’ Murstein told NBC Sports. “The salaries, the wind-tunnel time, it’s the whole kit and caboodle. It’s better for the fans, I think, if there is a level playing field. No one can outspend the other guy. It’s better for the owners. It creates more competition, more excitement.’’

In nine of the previous 10 seasons, one organization won more than 25 percent of the races each year. Joe Gibbs Racing won 38.9 percent of the races in 2015 — the highest percentage since Hendrick Motorsports won 50 percent of the races in 2007 with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Casey Mears.

Murstein, whose company was involved in the purchase of Richard Petty Motorsports in late 2010, said he would like to see more done toward an overall cap on spending. Such a move would be revolutionary for a sport where owners do not share their financial information and athlete contracts are kept secret.

“I think this sport needs to start coming up with revolutionary concepts, so they have to leave the past in the past and they have to start looking to the future,’’ Murstein said.

Because teams are not the same size, there would be different cap amounts. It would be unreasonable to have Richard Petty Motorsports, which is fielding one team this year, have the exact same cap as Joe Gibbs Racing, which fields four cars. Still, proportional caps could be created for each team to help keep costs in line. Murstein suggested independent auditors could monitor the spending.

Should teams spend beyond their limits, Murstein said there should be a luxury tax.

“Kind of punish the ones that don’t care about spending and that extra money goes into a pool that would help the other owners, and hopefully they would use their money to make their cars more competitive, too,’’ Murstein said.

While Murstein is looking to cut costs, he said that drivers are underpaid relative to other athletes. As teams struggle to find sponsorship, driver contracts take a hit.

“I do think that even the older drivers, when they come off their contracts, they’re seeing the reality of the sport today and they’re willing to take pay cuts,’’ continued Murstein. “It’s one sport where there are so few seats. NBA athletes, there’s what 30 teams, about 360 professional athlete. Here you’re talking about 40. It’s probably the hardest sport to be a superstar in.

“I see hockey guys who play a third of the game make $17 million a year. Now you’re talking about (drivers) who are 10th best in the world at what they do getting only salaries of $5 million, so I actually think their salaries are low compared to other sports but the business needs that right now with the sponsorship decline.”

The exact framework of a NASCAR budget is a long ways off, but a rough outline has emerged that could serve teams on two primary fronts: 1. It will help teams reduce and better manage operating costs that are no longer practical in an economical climate where teams face a sponsorship deficiency and, 2.  A way to induce better competitive balance and bridge the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots”.

“For any professional sport to be viable on a long term basis, it needs to have a reasonable business plan for the team owner,” said Rob Kauffman co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing. “You look at football, baseball, English football, Formula One and there are a variety of models and ways, some more successful than others to make that happen. NASCAR is no different.”

Murstein said he understands a cap likely won’t be instituted soon. He admits it could start with more standardized parts for teams.

“I think NASCAR would probably start at parts and pieces, but that’s the wrong way to do it, which is probably what will happen,’’ Murstein continued. “I think it will happen because it will be the easy one to do. It won’t remove the 800-pound gorilla, which is all the other costs involved and dealing with that. Maybe you tippy-toe into it by starting that way and then eventually you look at the overall spending.

“The sport could even evolve years from now where there’s one manufacturer making all the Toyota cars. That’s the way I actually think it should be. That’s 100 per cent the way it should be.

“At some place there’s a tipping point you have to start looking past. I think you’ve got to point the sport back in the right direction. It’s a fantastic sport. I go to every other sporting event in the world and none parallel NASCAR, but the direction of it right now needs to be, I think, spun a little bit differently.

“It could happen if the owners get together and I’m sure the ownership of NASCAR would be behind it, so I think it’s more an ownership issue than a NASCAR issue.’’

Quote of the day: A race track is one of the few places that has prayer and people sing the National Anthem without offending anyone.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy you a trip to a NASCAR racing weekend.

Racing Trivia Question: How many Cup teams will Chip Ganassi Racing have in 2018?

Last Week's Question: Who won the 2017 Daytona 500? Answer. Kurt Busch. Ryan Blaney was second and A. J. Allmendinger came in third.

Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR writer and author. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.

Pictured (l-r) above: Elk Lake's Dakota Barber pinned Mountain View's Christian Kuhar in the 152lb match recently. Barber, Jerry Fassett and Chris Kinder all had pins which lead to the Warriors 42-15 win over Mountain View.

Pictured (l-r) above: Chris Kinder pinned Brandon Kanna at the 160lb match recently to provide the Warriors only points in a 63-6 loss to Montrose.