The Susquehanna Sabers gathered at Forest City to celebrate clinching the school’s first Lackawanna League Division 4 boys’ basketball title
The Susquehanna basketball teams will never have to say “never” again when it comes to comparing themselves against local competition.
By going unbeaten in their second-half schedules, after winning first-half titles, both teams won Lackawanna League Division 4 championships.
Clinchers for both teams came against Forest City on consecutive days.
The Sabers went on the road Thursday and held on through some tense moments to win the first all-season, regular-season championship of any kind in school history.
The Lady Sabers dominated at home Wednesday to claim a division championship for the first time since becoming a Lackawanna League member in the 1996.
Susquehanna’s championships follow up a District 2 Class A title sweep at the Mohegan Sun Arena in 2017. Although District 2 covers a wider area, it is broken up by school size and that accomplishment merely required being the best out of two or three of the district’s smallest schools for a day or week at the end of the season.
Winning a division meant that Susquehanna, the smallest school in Division 4 in terms of student enrollment, had to be consistently better than six larger schools over the course of more than six weeks.
It is an accomplishment that didn’t come about easily and one that seemed impossible at times in the recent past.
Just two years ago, the Sabers lost all 12 games in the division.
“Our team has worked incredibly hard for the last three basketball seasons to get to this point,” Sabers coach Lawrence Tompkins said. “We were 1-22 when these juniors and seniors were freshmen and sophomores.
“ … This is a testament to the buying into what we’re telling them to do.”
Similarly, the Lady Sabers struggled not long ago. They lost their first seven games as a team with a large freshman-and-sophomore presence last season, but are 24-10 with a series of significant wins since.
Current sophomores Taylor Huyck and Mackenzie Steele and junior Bethany Maby, who also play together in the JB Hoops AAU program in the spring and summer, have led the turnaround.
“The things we’ve tried to put in for five years are all starting to come to fruition,” Lady Sabers coach Errol Mannick said. “Obviously having three very good players that play at a high level and play out of season makes a big difference.
“But there’s a lot of other people that come into play here, too. There’s a lot of other people that are contributing.”
Both teams have senior contributors, including defensive leaders Eric Lee and Travis Craig for the boys and starter Emily Lawrenson and top sub Skyla Wilson for the girls.
Both programs, however, have strong underclassmen leaders that make it possible that their rise through the ranks could continue.
The Lady Sabers won a state playoff game for the first time in school history last year and, though not currently state-ranked, appear to be on the verge of becoming a state-level threat. The Sabers will be trying to move in that direction as the top seed for the upcoming District 2-11 Class A Subregional that they need to get through to make the state tournament.
BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Mason Deakin led Susquehanna to an early, 13-point lead and the Sabers held off several surges by Forest City over the final 2 ½ quarters in Thursday’s 64-60, title-clinching win.
“Mason has been really focused,” Tompkins said of Deakin, who scored 28 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 6 assists. “I think our whole team has been focused on finishing the job.”
Deakin, who went 10-for-19 from the floor and 8-for-14 from the line, led that process with 70 points over the final three games.
“I think it might just be guys falling into their roles and getting a little more confident in what we need to do,” Tompkins said. “He’s the best guy we’ve got and with his experience – he’s got close to 70 varsity starts now – he’s been through it.”
Bryce Baldwin added 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Adam Rockwell had 10 points.
Lee grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to help the Sabers to a 47-34 advantage on the boards.
Forest City came out fast on its Senior Night, opening an 11-6 lead in the first quarter.
After Susquehanna rallied to tie, Deakin was in on the last 16 points of a 19-1 run that carried to nearly the midway point of the second quarter and gave the Sabers a 25-12 lead.
Deakin had 12 of the points and assisted two other baskets. He hit six of seven shots at one point and also grabbed six rebounds during the game-changing run.
Forest City fought back with 11 straight points, including 7 by Dakota Knehr-Cook.
Susquehanna took a 29-25 lead into the locker room when Baldwin ran the floor to beat the second-quarter buzzer on a layup.
The Sabers were ahead 61-50 with 40 seconds left before Forest City cut the final margin to four with the help of a Knehr-Cook 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Knehr-Cook finished with 24 points and Jordan Non had 22 for Forest City.
“These guys ‘earned’ it,” Tompkins said. “They put time in. I want people to know that it wasn’t handed to them. We had 14 or 15 guys in the gym together at 6:45 in the morning in April and in October and November.
“That’s why our team is where it is.”
The Sabers improved to 15-8 overall by winning 12 of their last 13 games since losing the division opener to Montrose.
Susquehanna clinched at least a tie for the second-half title when it beat Mountain View, 57-52, Feb. 13.
Deakin had 15 points to lead four players in double figures. Baldwin added 13, Lee 11 and Adam Rockwell 10.
Mountain View led, 28-25, at halftime after Mikey Schermerhorn hit four 3-pointers.
Schermerhorn and Kyle Streich led Mountain View with 16 points each.
“We’ve taken three really good shots from (Lackawanna) Trail, Mountain View and Forest City, each one of them really different styles of games,” Tompkins said. “I think our team showed, in each one of the games, a different style we can play.”
GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Facing the team that denied a championship breakthrough a year ago by beating Susquehanna in an all-season championship playoff game, the Lady Sabers put in a near-flawless performance while completing a perfect – and often dominant – league season.
Huyck reached a new career-high in scoring, the Lady Sabers obliterated the Lady Foresters on the boards and Susquehanna put together scoring streaks of at least 10 points in each of the first three quarters of Wednesday’s 62-26, home-court rout.
“Our defensive end was very good and we were on with our shooting,” said Maby, who matched her season scoring high. “ … We knew that we’ve had to work really hard to win this league and we just put everything out there.”
Huyck made five of her six 3-point shots while scoring 28 points.
Maby added three more from long range while scoring 17.
Huyck had 15 rebounds, Steele had 14 and four teammates added at least five.
The Lady Sabers outrebounded the Lady Foresters, 22-4, in the second quarter when Forest City came away with just one clean rebound and got the other three on team rebounds when Susquehanna either knocked the ball out of bounds or committed a foul going after the rebound.
Susquehanna scored 10 straight points in the first quarter, 14 straight in the second quarter and 16 straight in the third quarter with the help of holding Forest City scoreless for 7 ½ minutes.
The effort impressed even Mannick.
“I was really happy with us,” Mannick said. “We talked about beforehand the big keys tonight. One was to take care of the basketball and I’m kind of 50-50 on that one.
“The second one was rebounding, the third one was running the floor and the last one was communicating and I thought were right on top of those three.”
Susquehanna outscored Forest City, 17-0, in points off offensive rebounds. The Lady Sabers also had a 24-5 advantage in fast-break points, including 8-3 in points that came off steals.
Huyck went 11-for-15 overall from the floor. She got off to a fast start with all the scoring in a 13-2 run to a 15-4 lead.
Steele blocked four shots. Mackenzie Heath and Huyck each had three steals. Maby, Huyck, Lawrenson and Heath all shared the team lead with three assists.
MacKenzie Hartman led Forest City with 17 points.
Susquehanna last won a regular-season girls’ championship in 1993-94 in the Northeast Athletic Conference. The title was just the second since winning the 1975 Susquehanna League championship.
The Lady Sabers had a close call on its way to the clinching game.
Susquehanna needed a second-half rally to win, 39-34, at Mountain View Feb. 12.
Mountain View led 8-4 after one quarter, 19-10 at halftime and 24-12 with 3:44 left in the third quarter before Susquehanna started its comeback.
Steele kept the Lady Sabers in the game early. She was the only starter to score in the first half when she scored seven of her team-high 10 points.
Susquehanna found balance in the second half when it hit five 3-pointers in the comeback.
Mackenzie Heath came off the bench to hit two of the 3-pointers and finish with eight points.
Maby, who also made two 3-pointers, and Taylor Huyck, who hit one while doing all her scoring in the third quarter, added seven points each.
Mountain View still led 28-23 going into the fourth quarter.
Erika Freely was the only Lady Eagle to score in the fourth and hit all but one of the team’s field goals in the second half when she had 12 of her 17 points.
After winning the division title, Susquehanna completed its regular-season schedule with Friday’s Senior Night victory, 56-46, over Lakeland in a crossover game that does not impact the division standings.
Lawrenson, one of the seniors, shared team scoring honors with Maby with 12 points each as the Lady Sabers won their 15th straight to improve to 19-3.
Huyck added 11 points.
Wilson, Kathryn Meck, Taylor Millard and Kaylin Trynoski were the other seniors.
WEEK IN REVIEW
After suffering through a winless season, the Blue Ridge girls were the only team to decline to participate in the District 2 basketball tournament.
District 2 has open tournaments in all classes where it has fewer than eight teams available.
Blue Ridge officials informed District 2 that the school would not be sending its team to the Class 2A girls’ playoffs.
The Montrose girls were the only Susquehanna County team that had to qualify for a spot in a District 2 tournament.
The Lady Meteors needed to finish in the top eight out of 11 teams in Class 3A girls and did so by finishing seventh after winning two more games last week.
Both Susquehanna teams and the Forest City girls made it through qualifying for the District 2-11 Class A Subregional.
The Susquehanna boys had to finish in the top six in District 11’s playoff ratings formula or post a .500 or better record. The Sabers not only accomplished both, but wound up with the best rating out of nine teams to land the top seed.
The Susquehanna girls matched those accomplishments, hitting both qualifying standards and building the best rating to land the top seed. Forest City made it by finishing sixth out of nine teams.
Other than the two Susquehanna teams, the top seed from Susquehanna County is the Elk Lake boys, who are second in Class 2A.
The District 2 Class 3A boys’ records and ratings: 1, Wyoming Seminary, 18-4, .6753; 2, Holy Redeemer, 16-6, .6622; 3, Mid Valley, 15-8, .5886; 4, Dunmore, 13-9, .5467; 5, Carbondale, 12-10, .5219; 6, Riverside, 9-13, .4587; 7, Montrose, 13-10, .4237; 8, Lakeland, 6-16, .3626.
District 2 Class 3A girls’ records and ratings: 1, Dunmore, 22-1, .7955; 2, Holy Redeemer, .7621; 3, Holy Cross, 18-5, .6872; 4, Mid Valley, 15-7, .6064; 5, Riverside, 13-9, .5790; 6, Hanover Area, 10-12, .4584; 7, Montrose, 12-10, .4460; 8, Meyers, 9-13, .4048; 9, Carbondale, 7-15, .3699; 10, Lakeland, 1-21, .2524; 11, GAR, 2-20, .2329.
District 2 Class 2A boys’ records and ratings: 1, Holy Cross, 17-6, .6383; 2, Elk Lake, 12-10, .4270; 3, Northwest, 8-14, .4041; 4, Old Forge, 7-15, .3398; 5, Mountain View, 7-15, .3377; 6, Lackawanna Trail, 4-18, .2496; 7, Forest City, 4-18, .2424; 8, Blue Ridge, 2-20, .2190.
District 2 Class 2A girls’ records and ratings: 1, Northwest, 13-9, .5611; 2, Old Forge, 10-12, .5161; 3, Wyoming Seminary, 13-9, .5082; 4, Mountain View, 10-12, .4487; 5, Lackawanna Trail, 5-17, .3274; 6, Elk Lake, 7-15, .3074; 7, Blue Ridge, 0-22, .1958.
District 2-11 Class A boys’ records and ratings: 1, Susquehanna, 15-8, .4719; 2, Tri-Valley, 11-11, .444; 3, Pottsville Nativity BVM, 12-10, .443; 4, East Stroudsburg Notre Dame, 11-11, .441; 5, Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter, 6-16, .361; 6, Weatherly, 10-12, .348; 7, Salem Christian, 12-10, .340; 8, MMI Prep, 6-16, .332; 9, Lehigh Valley Christian, 0-15, .183.
District 2-11 Class A girls’ records and ratings: 1, Susquehanna, 19-3, .638; 2, Weatherly, 14-8, .482; 3, Salem Christian, 18-4, .443; 4, Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter, 12-8, .440; 5, Pottsville Nativity BVM, 6-16, .355; 6, Forest City, 8-14, .352; 7, MMI Prep, 0-21, .199; 8, East Stroudsburg Notre Dame, 3-19, .191; 9, Lehigh Valley Christian, 4-9, .164.
Montrose teams finished second to Susquehanna in the final Lackawanna Division 4 basketball standings for the second half and in terms of all-season records.
Division 4 second-half boys’ basketball standings: Susquehanna 6-0, Montrose 5-1, Mountain View 4-2, Elk Lake 3-3, Forest City 2-4, Lackawanna Trail 1-5, Blue Ridge 0-6.
Final Division 4 all-season boys’ basketball records: Susquehanna 11-1, Montrose 10-2, Elk Lake 7-5, Mountain View 5-7, Forest City 4-8, Lackawanna Trail 4-8, Blue Ridge 1-11.
Division 4 second-half girls’ basketball standings: Susquehanna 6-0, Montrose 5-1, Mountain View 3-3, Forest City 3-3, Lackawanna Trail 3-3, Elk Lake 1-5, Blue Ridge 0-6.
Final Division 4 all-season girls’ basketball records: Susquehanna 12-0, Montrose 9-3, Mountain View 8-4, Forest City 6-6, Lackawanna Trail 4-8, Elk Lake 3-9, Blue Ridge 0-12.
In boys’ swimming, Elk Lake finished sixth out of nine teams in the Lackawanna League.
Final standings: Delaware Valley 8-0, Abington Heights 7-1, Scranton Prep 6-2, Scranton 5-3, Wallenpaupack 4-4, Elk Lake 3-5, Valley View 2-6, West Scranton 1-7, Holy Cross 0-8.
COLLEGE CORNER
Malachi Phillips has appeared in three games, playing four minutes and grabbing one rebound as a freshman center on the Catholic University men’s basketball team.
Phillips, a 6-foot-8 graduate of Holy Cross High School in Dunmore, lives in Harford.
Catholic went 9-5 in the Landmark Conference to qualify for the playoffs. It went 15-10 overall during the regular season.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna County teams make up half the field in the District 2 Class A boys’ basketball playoffs that open Wednesday with four quarterfinals.
Forest City plays second-seeded Elk Lake at Tunkhannock, Mountain View faces Old Forge at North Pocono and Blue Ridge plays top-seed, defending champion and prohibitive favorite Holy Cross at Carbondale. All three games start at 7:30.
The tournament continues with semifinals Saturday when the Elk Lake-Forest City winner will take on the Lackawanna Trail-Northwest winner. The Mountain View-Old Forge and Blue Ridge-Holy Cross winners will also square off.
Montrose will be trying to get to Friday’s quarterfinals in Class 3A. The Meteors would have needed to get past defending champion and second-seed Holy Redeemer in order to get into a matchup with the Riverside-Mid Valley winner.
Susquehanna will begin the District 2-11 Class A Subregional in the semifinal round after receiving the only bye in the first round.
The Sabers will face the winner of the Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter-East Stroudsburg Notre Dame quarterfinal Monday, Feb. 26 at a site to be determined.
In girls’ basketball, Montrose faces second-seed and defending champion Holy Redeemer in Wednesday’s District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals at Pittston Area at 6 p.m.
The winner heads to the semifinals against the Hanover Area-Holy Cross winner.
The Class 2A semifinals are Friday.
The winner of Tuesday’s Mountain View-Lackawanna Trail quarterfinal will face top-seeded Northwest. The winner of Tuesday’s Elk Lake-Wyoming Seminary game will take on Old Forge.
Susquehanna is off until the District 2-11 Class A Subregional semifinals when it faces the winner between Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter and Pottsville Nativity BVM.
In high school wrestling, the District 2 Individual Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Kingston Armory.
Action begins at 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
All four county wrestling teams compete in Class 2A.
In high school swimming, the diving portion of the District 2 Championships will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre.
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.
