As the high school fall sports season is fast approaching, the intense heat of competition at the Riverfront Sports Complex summer basketball season winds down.
On Tuesday night, local teams in the high school elite division will compete in a championship doubleheader at the West Olive Street location. The girls final is at 6:20 p.m. The LBs, a group of players from Dunmore, face the Lady Knights, the team from Scranton. The boys game follows at approximately 7:25 p.m. The Knights, also from Scranton, face the Crusaders, who play at Holy Cross during the scholastic season.
This year’s girls tournament started July 13 with play-in games. The Lady Warriors (Elk Lake) advanced by forfeit over the Lady Hawkeyes, and the Lady Patriots (Pittston Area) defeated the Lady Invaders (West Scranton), 54-14.
In the quarterfinals, the LBs advanced via forfeit over the Lady Warriors, and the Cougars (Valley View) edged the Lady Vikes (Riverside), 33-31. The Lady Comets (Abington Heights) beat the Lady Patriots, 40-32, and the Lady Knights received a forfeit win over Wyalusing.
The LBs reached the title game with a 46-45 win over the Cougars on a buzzer-beater by Michelle Nidoh. The Lady Knights advanced to the final with a 40-30 win over the Lady Comets.
In addition to Nidoh, the LBs are led by twins Janessa and Janaya Martin. All three were key contributors to Dunmore’s march to the District 2 Class 3A championship last winter.
Rhylee Bell, Jaelyn Alers and Bianca Perez pace the Lady Knights.
The boys tournament had 22 teams. There were six play-in games, followed by a round of 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and culminating in the final.
Devil Dental defeated Buckhorns Basketball (Wallenpaupack), 47-44; Ignation Nation 2 edged AH Blue Crew JV, 47-45; Spartan Nation beat MMI Varsity, 50-29; Crestwood beat the Black Knights (Lake-Lehman), 64-23; NP Legion turned back HA Team A, 71-66; and Lakeland beat Nanticoke, 57-42, in the play-in games.
The Vikings (Riverside), led by Nico Antoniacci and Brayden Rose, knocked out Devil Dental, 90-24; the AH Blue Crew varsity advanced with a 53-40 win over the Hornets (Honesdale); Valley AC (Valley View) beat Ignation Nation 2, 78-46, the Knights beat Spartan Nation, 55-26; the Crusaders beat Crestwood, 76-44; Dunmore beat Western Wayne, 53-36; NP Legion advanced with a 55-44 win over CA Chargers; and Ignation Nation beat Lakeland, 83-64.
In the Elite Eight, the Vikings defeated the AH Blue Crew, 72-54, and the Knights beat Valley AC, 71-38, in the first half of the bracket. The Crusaders defeated Dunmore, 72-42, and NP Legion beat Ignation Nation, 64-55, in the other bracket of the tournament.
The Crusaders reached the title game with an 81-68 win over NP Legion in the semifinals. The Knights upset the Vikings, 81-76, in the semifinals.
CJ Thompson, Adam Badyrka, Jack Alpert and Colin Ritterbusch lead the Crusaders. The Knights’ top players are Max DePietro, Jayden Mayers and Justin Mayers.