It doesn’t get better than a late January game with major implications for high school basketball fans in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Excitement, intensity and energy will fill the Dunmore High School gymnasium Thursday night for the rematch, which will tip off at 7:15 p.m., as the top-ranked Bucks host No. 2 Riverside in a Division II boys basketball showdown.

Dunmore and Riverside staged a thrilling, back-and-forth battle that captivated a sold-out crowd when the two met at Riverside High School three weeks ago.

Brayden Canavan scored 20 points to lead four Dunmore starters who scored in double figures to counter the high-scoring combination of Riverside’s Nico Antoniacci and Brayden Rose.

Nate Aviles scored 15 points, Jimmy Clark had 13 and Carter Sload added 11 for Dunmore, which ended Riverside’s unbeaten start to the season.

Rose led Riverside with 31 points, and Antoniacci had 28 points.

Dunmore’s win put it in first place in a competitive race for the Lackawanna Division II championship.

The two teams are also fighting for the top seed in the District 2 Class 3A power rating standings. The top seed in Class 3A earns a bye in the quarterfinals.

Riverside (16-1, .761) leads Dunmore (15-1, .749) with Elk Lake (16-1, .683) in third.

Dunmore and Riverside have the highest-scoring offenses in the league.

This season, Dunmore scored 97 points in a win over Honesdale, 96 in a win over rival Holy Cross and more than 70 points nine times.

Since the win over Riverside, the Bucks won by an average of 13.4 points. Last week, Dunmore earned a win over Old Forge, 69-66, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Canavan, and defeated Lakeland, 73-60.

Canavan leads the team in scoring at 19.2 points per game. He ranks fifth in the league. He has 910 points in his career. Sload averages 17.4 points per game, Clark averages 13.4 points per game and Aviles averages 10.6 points per game.

Riverside scored a season-high 97 points in an opening-night win over Wyoming Valley West and 95 points in a win over Holy Cross last week.

After the loss to Dunmore, Riverside won its next six games and averaged 76.8 points per game.

The matchup will certainly impact the Division II championship race.

Riverside still has a road game against Old Forge remaining, while Dunmore will play at home against Holy Cross and at Old Forge as the regular season winds down.

In other Division II games, Holy Cross is at Mid Valley, Lakeland is at Old Forge and Western Wayne is at Honesdale.

Division I

Abington Heights, the division leader, is on the road against Scranton on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

Jordan Shaffer scored 27 points, and Andrew Kettel had 12 when the Comets earned a 65-49 win in the first meeting.

Tony Battaglia scored 17 points, Justin Mayers had 12 points and Deondre Dickey had 10 for the Knights.

Abington Heights dominated its Division I games. The Comets won by an average of 17.9 points during a seven-game winning streak. They also scored more than 80 points twice.

Second-place Scranton Prep plays at North Pocono on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. The Cavaliers responded after their loss to Abington Heights on Jan. 13. They defeated Executive Education Academy, 91-71, last Saturday and averaged 77 points per game in their last four.

Scranton Prep already clinched a spot in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs, leading the power-rating standings at .744.

Packy Doherty, a career 1,000-point scorer, leads the division in scoring at 22.5 points per game. Brody Martin contributes 10.8 points per game for the Cavaliers. That duo combined for 35 points in Scranton Prep’s 66-36 win over North Pocono on Jan. 6.

Valley View, which trails Scranton Prep in the District 2 Class 4A standings, plays at Wallenpaupack, and West Scranton is at Delaware Valley on Thursday.

Division III

Elk Lake continues its pursuit of a second consecutive Division III championship.

The Warriors, who won 22 of 23 games in the division, play at Blue Ridge on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.

Elk Lake won 13 straight games, while averaging 64.2 points per game. Coach John Warnero earned his 200th career win last week.

John Heitsman averages 16 points per game and has 818 points in his career, while Chase Pond leads the team, scoring 17.9 points per game.

Blue Ridge is 0-2 against Elk Lake this season. The Raiders threw a scare into the Warriors in their last meeting and trailed, 54-53, after three quarters before losing, 69-64. Paxton Pingarelli scored 17 points, and Jack Parks made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.

Susquehanna plays at Forest City on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.; Lackawanna Trail is at Mountain View at 6:45 p.m.; and Montrose is at Carbondale Area at 7:15 p.m.