Chris Cespedes scored six points in each of the first three quarters and Honesdale held off Delaware Valley in the fourth quarter Saturday night to post a 38-35 victory in the Lackawanna League Division 2 boys basketball season opener at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The 18-point effort by Cespedes made the Hornets (3-2 overall) a winner in the first league game for any District 2 boys or girls team.
The two teams traveled to New York to play following the National Basketball Association game between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks.
Brooklyn used a 37-14 fourth quarter to pull out a 122-112 victory in the NBA game.
Delaware Valley tried to mount its own fourth-quarter comeback when the high school teams took the court. The Warriors outscored the Hornets, 9-3, over the final eight minutes.
Honesdale led 12-6 after one quarter, 22-14 at halftime and 35-26 going into the fourth quarter.
Trent Lyons had the only Honesdale basket of the fourth quarter and Joey Scarfalloto made one of two free throws for the only other point.
Jackson Shafer had 11 of his 12 points in the second half to lead Delaware Valley (1-5).
The rest of the division schedule will be played following the New Year.
The remaining games were all non-leaguers.
Dunmore 51, Mount Carmel 44
Dunmore rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit on the road against an unbeaten team to win the opener of the first Coal Cracker Classic, trophy games between the boys and girls programs at both schools.
Mount Carmel came into the game 6-0.
Frankie Ruggiero led the way for Dunmore, which is 3-2 while working through injury issues under first-year coach Kevin Clark.
Tyler Maciejewski added 10 points in the win.
Mount Carmel led 16-13 after one quarter and 27-18 at halftime.
Dunmore’s 19-6 third quarter put the Bucks ahead 37-33.
Holy Cross 44, Holy Redeemer 36
Holy Cross trailed throughout, but finished strong to pull out the win while playing without Kieran Burrier, last season’s NEPABasketball.com Lackawanna League Division 3 Player of the Year.
Patrick Bennie had 17 points to lead the way in the meeting of defending division champions and teams ranked among the top three Small Schools in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
Burrier was out because of an injury.
The Holy Cross match-up zone cut off penetration and allowed the Crusaders to rally from a 22-19 halftime deficit.
Visiting Holy Cross recovered from its first loss, two days earlier against Valley View, to improve to 4-1. The Crusaders are ranked first in the Super Six.
Third-ranked Holy Redeemer fell to 3-3.
Scranton Prep 54, Father Judge 51
Scranton Prep limited visiting Father Judge of Philadelphia to one basket and four points during the third quarter to overcome a halftime deficit.
Nahseer Johnson hit six 3-pointers and scored 28 points for Father Judge, but Scranton Prep held him scoreless during a 14-4 third quarter in which the Cavaliers moved in front, 40-35.
Rhys Merritt and Robert Rossi scored four points each for Scranton Prep during the third quarter.
Merritt had scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the first half.
Rossi, held to 2 points in the first half, had 7 in the fourth quarter to finish with 13.
Old Forge 61, Northumberland Christian 48
Dante Lucarelli hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter to put Old Forge ahead on the way to a home-court victory.
Northumberland Christian led, 18-17, after one quarter, but Lucarelli scored 11 points while Old Forge was using a 14-4 second quarter to take a 31-22 lead.
Lucarelli finished with 18 points.
Michael DiGregorio went 5-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter to finish with 15 points.
Dallas 67, Hanover Area 52
Jack Farrell scored 18 points as host Dallas extended District 2’s longest winning streak to 6 games.
Austin Finarelli added 15 points in the win.
Forest City 44, Blue Ridge 42
Forest City edged visiting Blue Ridge in a non-league meeting between winless Lackawanna League Division 4 rivals.
The teams will still play their home-and-home series as part of the division schedule.
Scranton 61, Pocono Mountain East 42
Scranton won on the road.
Since an opening loss, the Knights (4-2) have won four times by at least 14 points and suffered a one-point loss in their other game.
Mid Valley 53, Lake-Lehman 30
Host Mid Valley handled winless Lake-Lehman.
Central Columbia 53, Berwick 32
Central Columbia defeated Berwick to complete a girls-boys doubleheader at Bloomsburg University.
