BETHLEHEM – Lackawanna League teams continued to perform well in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association basketball tournament, which had its final round delayed because of weather and travel issues that interrupted the semifinals.
Abington Heights advanced to the state Class 5A final, making Lackawanna League boys’ teams 11-4 in the state tournament, including the two wins by Susquehanna before the Sabers were eliminated in the Class A quarterfinals.
Holy Cross was impressive in defeat in Class 2A.
Hazleton Area, the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion that gave District 2 another state semifinalist, was eliminated in Class 6A. That left District 2 teams with a 17-10 record in this year’s state boys’ tournament.
The Dunmore girls also lost in the semifinals in Class 3A. That dropped the combined girls’ records to 7-5 by Lackawanna League team and 9-11 by all District 2 representatives.
All four District 2 teams played their state semifinals against Philadelphia opponents at Bethlehem Freedom High School.
Abington Heights survived a controversial finish March 20 to defeat Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, 56-51, in overtime.
The Comets were scheduled to face Mars in the final that was delayed until March 27 in Hershey.
Abington Heights led by three with a second left when Bonner-Prendergast went to the line to shoot four foul shots.
Officials put time back on the clock after the buzzer sounded after ruling that Jackson Danzig had committed a foul with a second left on a collision going after a loose rebound in the corner. Because Abington Heights fans had showered the playing court with Hershey’s Kisses in celebration when the clock went to zeroes and the buzzer sounded, the Comets were assessed a bench technical foul and two additional free throws were awarded.
Bonner-Prendergast’s Mike Perretta made the first three foul shots and missed the fourth, then a 3-point attempt on the ensuing possession bounced off the rim to set up overtime.
Danzig blocked a shot and made two straight steals to begin overtime and Abington Heights never trailed in the four-minute period.
Abington Heights’ George Tinsley, who overcame foul trouble to finish with 18 points and 8 rebounds, scored the first four points of overtime.
Tinsley, Jack Nealon and Danzig each went 2-for-2 from the line in overtime for the Comets, who made their last 11 foul shots.
Danzig had 15 points and 4 steals. Nealon scored 14 points.
Holy Cross cut a 24-point, second-quarter deficit to two in the fourth quarter Saturday before falling to Constitution, 69-64.
Pat Galvin led the comeback by scoring 27 of his 33 points in the second half.
Hazleton Area fell in the same doubleheader, 76-71, in overtime to Abraham Lincoln.
Jeff Planutis scored 25 points in the loss. He reached the 1,000-point mark for his career with 17 points in the first half.
Jabria Ingram and Diamond Johnson scored 18 points each to lead three-time defending state champion Neumann-Goretti past the Dunmore girls, 66-42.
Johnson, who played all of her regular-season games at a Virginia High School where she averaged 33 points per game, came off the bench to score her 18 points in a little more than 18 minutes.
Dunmore cut an early, 15-2 deficit to 29-24 at halftime.
Victoria Toomey led the Lady Bucks with 18 points and 3 blocked shots.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Garrett Wilson scored in regulation then added the deciding goal of the shootout Saturday night to lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the host Binghamton Devils in an American Hockey League game.
Wilson’s second-period goal had given the Penguins a 4-1 lead before the Devils rallied to force overtime.
Daniel Sprong, who assisted Wilson’s goal, joined him as the team’s only scorers in a shootout that took eight attempts to decide.
Michael Leighton stopped seven of Binghamton’s eight attempts in the shootout.
In boys’ tennis, the start of the Lackawanna League schedule was delayed when the entire Opening Day schedule was postponed because of weather.
COLLEGE CORNER
Zachary Mead is a member of the University of Scranton men’s track and field team, which had its outdoor season opener postponed.
The freshman from Montrose, who also competed in cross country for the Royals, wrapped up his indoor track and field season by finishing fifth in the Landmark Conference Championships in the mile run in 4:29.11. The time was 8.08 seconds better than his previous season-best.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Lackawanna League Division 4 baseball season is scheduled to get off to an interesting start.
Defending champion Forest City is home on Opening Day, Monday, April 2, against Elk Lake, one of the team’s that tied for second, just a game behind the Foresters, a year ago.
Mountain View is at Blue Ridge and Montrose is at Lackawanna Trail in other openers.
In high school softball, Montrose opens its Lackawanna Division 4 title defense Monday, April 2 at Lackawanna Trail.
Mountain View is at Blue Ridge and Elk Lake is at Forest City in other openers.
Susquehanna is scheduled to play a crossover game, which does not count in the division standings, at home against Lakeland that day.
In boys’ volleyball, Abington Heights, considered the top threat to defending champion Blue Ridge, begins its Lackawanna League season Thursday at Susquehanna.
The Comets had a bye Monday when the league was scheduled to open.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
ALMIROLA IS SMILING AGAIN
Aric Almirola after a 2017 Exfinity Series win at Talladega
MARTINSVILLE, Vir.-- The world has turned rosy again for Aric Almirola. After six less than productive seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports, he took over Danica Patrick's seat in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Ford at the beginning of the 2018 season and is smiling again.
After five races, he appears rejuvenated. Driving one of the fastest cars in the series, Almirola came within half a lap of winning the Daytona 500 to start the season. He sits 10th in points with five top-13 finishes to start the season.
Last week, Almirola admitted he feels like a rookie again in working with a new team and showing up at the track each weekend with a blank slate.
“I think Johnny [Klausmeier, crew chief] and I sat down at the beginning of the year and we thought that running top-15 right out of the gate on a regular basis would be ideal, and so we've done better than that,” said Almirola.
“I'm proud of that and I'm pleased that we've gotten off to such a great start, but, at the same time, when you look at that company and you look at how fast their cars are across the board – my other three teammates show speed every week and are running up in the top-10, so if I wasn't I would feel like we've got a big problem. It makes me happy in not only our team but in myself to be able to get in that car and go get the job done to be able to at least be competitive and on a level playing field with at least two of my other teammate's.
“We've got one that's just incredible right now [Kevin Harvick] and they've been doing a great job, but I think for us as a new team and a new group of guys all working together, I feel like we're off to a really good start.”
Although he's led just one lap in five races, Almirola is already working with a career-high average finish at 10.6. His two top-10 finishes also have him on pace to best not only last year's total of six but his single-season career high of seven (2014).
“I wish I knew going into all of this how tough it was really going to be,” he continued. “I think everybody views things from TV and thinks they're way easier than they really are. The reason things look easy when you watch on TV is because those people are professionals and they do it for a living. The reason they make it look easy is because they're really, really, really good at it.
“I just think as a kid you grow up and you're arrogant and you think you know everything and you're awesome. Then, it's especially the case when you get your first few opportunities and you've got people who surround you and they're pumping your ego up, and telling you that you're awesome and that you're going to be the next big superstar. What you don't realize in those early years is that it's so tough. You've got to want it. Desire and passion don't do it alone. You've got to have the work ethic, the mental stability, all those things to make a really great race car driver.”
ANOTHER EARNHARDT GONE
Jeffrey Earnhardt, driver of the No. 00 for StarCom Racing left the team after a frustrating start to the 2018 season.
Earnhardt, the 28-year-old grandson of Dale Earnhardt and nephew of Dale Earnhardt Jr., was 33rd in the NASCAR Cup Series standings five races into the season.
Earnhardt and the team, which is run by former driver Derrike Cope, had hoped they could grow together. The team fielded a car for Cope in two races last year and leased a charter from Richard Childress Racing for the 2018 season. Earnhardt, the son of Dale Earnhardt's eldest son, Kerry, lost his ride in December when his team co-owners Joe Falk and Curtis Key ended their partnership.
Earnhardt has 83 career NASCAR Cup starts.
He was replaced by Landon Cassill this past weekend at Martinsville.
It was Cassill’s first NASCAR race since being replaced by Michael McDowell at Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 Ford, leaving him without a ride in the first five races. In 259 Cup starts, Cassill’s best-career finish took place at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2014, finishing fourth for his only top-5 and top-10 finish to date.
BUY A CUP TEAM, LOSE $30 MILLION
Bankrupt NASCAR Cup Series team BK Racing lost $11.0 million in 2014, $10.1 million in '15 and $8.45 million in '16, according to court documents listed by ESPN.com as the team finds itself under reorganization.
The numbers as a whole are shocking and when looked at closely, offer an intriguing peek into team finances.
The bottom line: If you aren't heavy with sponsors, you're going to struggle to survive, as BK Racing did with only $2.5 million in sponsorships over the 2015 and '16 Cup Series seasons
In 2016, with two full-time cars (David Ragan drove the No. 23, Michael DiBenedetto drove the No. 83, both Toyotas) and a third car that competed in nine races and a fourth car in the Daytona 500, BK Racing cars had 82 opportunities to race over the course of the season and earned $7,822,596 million in prize money.
That represented roughly 79 percent of total revenues ($9.93 million) because the team had so few sponsors
Payroll and wages: $5,896,898 (27.5 percent); Engine lease: $4,093,761 (19.1 percent); Tires: $1,916,327 (8.9 percent); Travel: $1,801,822 (8.4 percent). Some interesting smaller expenditures: $493,120 on entry fees, $292,512 on transmissions, $162,494 for brakes and $138,880 for decals
Thus far, the two biggest creditors to file claims in bankruptcy court are Union Bank & Trust ($11.47 million) and the IRS ($2,893,509). Creditors have until April 26 to file claims, at which point it will become clear how much BK Racing owes.
Weekly Racing Joke: Brad Keselowski and a priest get into a car accident and it's a bad one. Both cars are totally demolished, but amazingly, neither of them are hurt. They crawl out of their cars and Keselowski sees the priest's collar and said, “So you're a priest. I'm Brad Keslowski a NASCAR driver. Just look at our cars. There's nothing left but we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God. The Almighty must have meant that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace the rest of our days.”
The priest said, “I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God.”
“And look at this,” Keselowski continued. “Here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of Blue Nun wine didn't break, surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.”
The Priest nodded his head in agreement, so Keselowski opened the bottle, took three or four big drinks and then handed the bottle to the priest.
The priest took the bottle, looked at it, put the cap on, and handed it back to Keselowski, who asked, “Aren't you going to have any?”
The priest replied, “No....I think I'll just wait for the police.”
Weekend Racing: It is Easter weekend, which means no NASCAR racing. The stands will be empty and the TV screen will have reruns. Regular racing will return on April 7 from Texas Motor Speedway.
Racing Trivia Question: Which Cup driver did Kevin Harvick replace in 2002?
Last Week's Question: Who does Justin Allgaier drive for in the Xfinity Series? He drives the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, which is managed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR photojournalist and author. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
