All-District 2 girls team

Scranton Prep all-state guard Rachael Rose.

Posted: Apr 07, 2021

Rachael Rose, Moriah Murray and Ciera Toomey all reached the top levels of high school basketball early, as freshmen.

All three stayed there and helped make sure their teams did as well.

Rose completed a remarkable four-year run at Scranton Prep by repeating as NEPABasketball.com’s District 2 Girls Player of the Year.

Of the dozen people recognized on the all-District 2 team – a Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and two five-player units – 11 were part of championship efforts by their team and the other led a defending champion back to a district final. The group also includes seven players returning from a year ago, making it clear that once they arrived on the elite level, they made sure to stay there.

Rose and the Dunmore combination of Murray and Toomey have been at least first-team, all-District 2 since their freshmen seasons. A broken leg suffered late in her freshman season is likely the only thing keeping Riverside’s Kylie Lavelle from making the same claim.

The five new names on the squad all belong to individuals who helped their teams win championships that were just beyond their reach a year ago.

Bill Phillips is the Coach of the Year after leading Berwick to its first divisional title since 1998.

Murray, Toomey and Lavelle are joined on the first team by Cecelia Collins from Scranton Prep, another first-team repeater, and Kaci Kranson from Holy Cross, who earned a promotion from the second team in 2019-20.

Old Forge’s Olivia Ciullo is back on the second team where she is joined by newcomers Claire Dougherty from Lake-Lehman, Clair Marion from Abington Heights, Kaeli Romanowski from Western Wayne and Katie Starr from Berwick.

University of South Carolina Upstate-commit Rose added to an already lengthy list of achievements.

A first-team, all-District 2 choice as a freshman and sophomore, Rose followed that up with District 2 Player of the Year honors in both her junior and senior seasons. She is a four-time NEPABasketball.com choice for Lackawanna League Division 1 Player of the Year and is a three-time Class 4A all-state selection by Pennsylvania Sports Writers with this season’s selections still pending.

Rose 52 percent from 3-point range, going 39-for-75. She averaged 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.0 steals despite a series of early exits because of the way Scranton Prep repeatedly obliterated local competition.

Collins joined her in keeping Division 1 champion Scranton Prep perfect in the Lackawanna League for four straight seasons that also included four straight District 2 Class 4A championships. The Classics were the last girls team standing from District 2, advancing to the semifinals before losing to state champion Archbishop Wood from the Philadelphia suburb of Warminster.

Like Rose, Collins is a 1,000-point career scorer and a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I recruit after signing her National Letter of Intent to play at Bucknell University. She was also a Class 4A all-state player last season along with her first all-District 2 selection.

Murray, a two-time, first-team Class 3A all-state choice, landed her third straight first-team, all-District 2 berth. The Dunmore junior is already verbally committed to Division I Drexel University.

Toomey, a sophomore who is already heavily recruited on the Division I level, joined Murray in leading Dunmore to an unbeaten Lackawanna Division 3 championship. Like Rose and Murray, she made an immediate impact as an all-stater in her freshman season.

Lavelle was named Lackawanna Division 3 Player of the Year and led Riverside to a District 2 Class 3A championship. She is also an early commit to Drexel.

Kranson led Holy Cross to a District 2 Class 2A championship.

Murray, Lavelle and Kranson all joined the 1,000-Point Club as juniors, something Rose and Ciullo had done during the 2019-20 season.

Phillips provided the guidance for Berwick to overcome a slow start and an early-season COVID-19 stoppage to win the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title.

Starr, who will play on an NCAA Division II scholarship at Bloomsburg University, surpassed 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career. She wound up as the WVC Division 1 Player of the Year.

Romanowski, a junior, repeated as Lackawanna Division 2 Player of the Year and led Western Wayne to its first division title as a District 2 member.

Marion, a three-time Lackawanna Division 1 first-team, all-star, helped Abington Heights to its third District 2 Class 5A title during her career.

Romanowski and Marion each made it to 1,000 points during the season.

Dougherty was division Player of the Year while leading Lake-Lehman to the WVC Division 2 title.

Ciullo, an all-state choice last season, helped Old Forge return to the District 2 Class 2A final before falling short of a title repeat.

ALL-DISTRICT 2

Coach of the Year

Bill Phillips, Berwick

Player of the Year

Rachael Rose, Scranton Prep senior

First Team

Cecelia Collins, Scranton Prep senior