Sports

Chase Pond hit 3-pointers in all four quarters while scoring 28 points and leading Elk Lake to a 69-52 victory in a first-place showdown at Susquehanna Feb. 9, paving the way for the Warriors to secure a repeat of their Lackawanna League Division 3 boys' basketball title two nights later.

The Warriors wrapped up the division championship Wednesday with a 65-41 victory over visiting Montrose.

The Mountain View girls also won a Lackawanna Division 3 basketball title when they won twice during the week and got help from Elk Lake beating Montrose.

Both the Elk Lake boys and Mountain View girls finished 13-1 in the division, finishing one game in front of the Susquehanna boys and Montrose girls.

Elk Lake built a lead for three quarters at Susquehanna.

The Warriors were up 15-8 after one quarter, 29-19 at halftime and 48-30 through three quarters.

John Heitsman had 13 of his 17 points in the first half, then Kendyl Jones had 11 of his  in the second half.

Pond for a force throughout, hitting five 3-pointers total and scoring at least five points in each quarter. He finished strong with 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Griffin Fisk scored a game-high 34 points for Susquehanna, making four 3-pointers and going 6-for-7 from the line. He hit three 3-pointers for all but two of Susquehanna's second-quarter points, then scored 18 in the fourth quarter.

The victory at Susquehanna clinched no worse than a tie for first for Elk Lake.

Elk Lake avoided the potential tie and took the title outright when it took control after trailing 16-15 at the end of one quarter against Montrose Wednesday.

The Warriors used an 18-6 second quarter to take a 33-22 halftime lead.

Elk Lake got at least six points from seven different players, led by Heitsman's 16 and Pond's 12.

Jai Herman led Montrose with 14 points.

Final boys' standings: Elk Lake 13-1, Susquehanna 12-2, Lackawanna Trail 10-4, Blue Ridge 7-7, Montrose 7-7, Mountain View 5-9, Carbondale 2-12, Forest City 0-14.

Mountain View rode its defense to the girls' title.

The Lady Eagles matched their season-low in points allowed Feb. 10 in a 51-22, home-court victory over Forest City, then went well below it in a 61-8, title-clinching win at Carbondale Thursday.

While Mountain View was winning in Carbondale, Montrose lost at home against Elk Lake, the 2024-25 champion, 46-43.

Addison Kilmer celebrated Senior Night with a 35-point performance against Forest City.

Kilmer scored all 14 Mountain View points in the second quarter when the lead grew from 15-8 to 29-12. She had 15 more in the third quarter, combining to go 10-for-11 from the line in the middle quarters, and the lead reached 47-18.

Montrose led Elk Lake at halftime and after three quarters, but the Lady Warriors used an 18-13 advantage in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

Piper Keeney, who scored a game-high 15 points, broke a 42-42 tie by making the second of two free throws with 1:08 left. Lacy Ayotte, who added 13 points, also hit the second of two with 30.5 seconds left.

Madisyn Casslebury made both free throws with 4.8 seconds left to clinch the win and finish with 11 points.

Montrose scored its last two points with two-tenths of a second remaining.

Sadie Jones had 13 points for Montrose. Vivy Nabywaniec, who made three 3-pointers, and Molly Weller added 11 each.

The Lady Meteors had given themselves a title shot with a 56-36 victory at Lackawanna Trail Feb. 10.

Montrose led 21-0 after one quarter.

Jones had 10 of her 25 points in the first quarter.

Weller added 16 points and Myckenna Kublo had 13.

Final girls' standings: Mountain View 13-1, Montrose 12-2, Elk Lake 10-4, Forest City 8-6, Blue Ridge 7-7, Susquehanna 3-11, Lackawanna Trail 3-11, Carbondale 0-14.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Mountain View won its final two boys' basketball league games, beating host Forest City, 71-60, Feb. 9 and visiting Carbondale, 60-58, Wednesday. The Eagles then lost a non-league game at Old Forge, 63-43, Friday.

Aidan McCloskey made five 3-pointers while scoring 21 points against Forest City.

Hudson Bain added 18 points and Gavin Travis had 16.

T.J. Collins had 17 points for Forest City.

Bain had 18 points and Jordan Jagger 17 against Carbondale.

Blue Ridge also had a 2-1 week, but the Raiders were 1-1 in the league with a non-league win.

The Raiders lost to visiting Susquehanna, 75-57, between wins at Carbondale, 72-65, Feb. 9 and a 79-35, non-league rout of Sayre Friday.

Mason Keyes scored 19 points and Griffin Fisk had 17 for the Sabers in their win over the Raiders.

Jaxon Downton made three 3-pointers in the first quarter to fuel a 23-15 start and finished with 13 points. Linden Baker added 11.

Paxton Pingarelli led Blue Ridge with 27 points and Landon Bishop added 10.

Pingarelli had 20 points, Bishop 18 and Travis Rutter 12 in the win over Carbondale.

Against Sayre, Pingarelli scored 23 points while Bishop and Rutter had 13 each.

In girls' basketball, Elk Lake and Blue Ridge each won their final two league games.

Before knocking Montrose out of the first-place tie, Elk Lake handled Susquehanna, 55-18, Feb. 10.

Madisyn Casselbury had 19 points and Celeste Clark 15 in the win.

Cassandra Cottrell led Susquehanna with eight.

Blue Ridge defeated Carbondale, 45-18, Feb. 10 and Susquehanna, 57-30, Thursday, but lost a non-league game to Old Forge, 48-38, Feb. 14.

Abigail Gelinger had 17 points and 14 rebounds against Carbondale.

Gelinger scored 24 points and Lyndee Barbour had 23 against Susquehanna, which got nine points on three 3-pointers from Lauren Huyck.

Gelinger had 18 points and Barbour 12 in the loss to Old Forge.

Forest City defeated Lackawanna Trail, 43-23, Thursday.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Elk Lake, Susquehanna and Blue Ridge are all home Wednesday in first-round District 2 boys' basketball playoff games.

Third-seeded Elk Lake (20-2) hosts sixth-seeded Lakeland (10-12) in the seven-team Class 3A tournament.

Montrose (9-13) is at second-seeded Dunmore (19-3).

The winners of those two games meet Saturday with Dunmore hosting if it avoids upset. Otherwise, the Lakeland-Elk Lake winner would be at home.

Susquehanna (17-5) is the second seed in Class 2A and opens at home against seventh-seeded Forest City (0-22).

Sixth-seeded Mountain View (7-15) is at third-seeded Lackawanna Trail (15-6).

The winners meet Saturday with Susquehanna hosting as long as it gets past the Foresters.

Blue Ridge (10-11) is the fourth seed and hosts fifth-seeded Wyoming Seminary (8-14) in another Class 2A quarterfinal. The winner plays Saturday at top-seeded Old Forge, which is 16-6 and has the only bye in the seven-team tournament.

In girls' basketball, the semifinals of the District 2 Class 3A and 2A tournaments are scheduled for Friday with winners from the Tuesday quarterfinals in action.

Montrose (14-8) was the fifth seed in Class 3A and needed a win at fourth-seeded Riverside (13-9) to earn a trip to play at top-seeded Dunmore (19-3), barring a loss by the Lady Bucks against eighth-seeded Carbondale.

Fourth-seeded Elk Lake (14-8) hosted fifth-seeded Blue Ridge (10-11) Tuesday, trying to earn a game at top-seeded Wyoming Seminary (15-6) Friday as long as Wyoming Seminary got past eighth-seeded Lackawanna Trail.

The other quarterfinals had second-seeded and defending champion Mountain View (16-6) hosting seventh-seeded Old Forge (6-15) and sixth-seeded Forest City (9-13) playing at third-seeded Holy Cross (12-10). The winners meet Friday with Mountain View hosting if it advanced.

In wrestling, the District 2 Individual Championships for boys and girls will be contested Friday and Saturday at Wilkes-Barre Area.

Action begins at 4:30pm Friday and 10:00am Saturday.

Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Montrose and Mountain View all compete in Class 2A.

In swimming, the diving portion of the District 2 Championships will be held Saturday 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.