By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
FORMAT: There are three rounds with only the champion advancing to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, which has been modified for this season only because of the coronavirus pandemic. The district tournament has also been altered to allow higher-seeded teams to host in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
2020 RECAP: Old Forge defeated Holy Cross, 55-33, in the final.
HIGHEST SEEDS: 1. Holy Cross; 2. Elk Lake; 3. Old Forge.
DIVISION CHAMPIONS: None.
RANKED TEAMS: Holy Cross is second, Old Forge fourth and Elk Lake sixth among Small School girls in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
WINNING RECORDS: Holy Cross 10-4, Elk Lake 10-4, Lackawanna Trail 8-5, Northwest 9-7, Old Forge 6-5.
BEST OPENER: Northwest is a mystery to District 2 teams. After leaving the Wyoming Valley Conference for the Mid-Penn League, which is otherwise made up of District 4 teams, the Lady Rangers played just one District 2 opponent, losing at home to Tunkhannock, 42-33. The teams met in the quarterfinals each of the past two years with Northwest defeating Lackawanna Trail, 63-21 in 2019 and 41-33 in 2020.
KEY GAME: Old Forge will need to beat a higher-seeded team on the road when it travels to Elk Lake if it is going to be able to make it into the potential championship game rematch with Holy Cross. They met in the semifinals last year with the Lady Devils rolling, 77-30, on their way to the title.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kaci Kranson and Abbey Lentowski from Holy Cross; Krista Jones from Elk Lake; Olivia Ciullo from Old Forge; Amaralis Thiel from Lackawanna Trail; Charleigh Miner from Northwest; Regan Cameron from Mountain View.
NOTEWORTHY: Since Holy Cross dropped from Class 3A to 2A, it has split with Old Forge in the past two District 2 title games. The teams also split their two Lackawanna League Division 3 meetings this season. … Elk Lake went 10-2 for second place in Lackawanna Division 4 this season, but is 0-5, all by more than 20 points, against Lackawanna Division 3 teams the past two seasons. … Kranson, Lentowski and Ciullo are all 1,000-point career scorers. … Ciullo, a returning all-state player, had back-to-back, 36- and 37-point games late in the regular season. … Lackawanna Trail is coming off its first winning Lackawanna Division 4 season since 2012 and is looking to break a five-game losing streak in district play. The last win came, 49-48, over Susquehanna in the Class A semifinals in 2016 to reach the first championship game played at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
COMPLETE PAIRINGS
Thursday’s quarterfinals
5, Northwest (9-7) at 4, Lackawanna Trail (8-5), 6 p.m.
6, Mountain View (3-9) at 3, Old Forge (6-5), 7 p.m.
7, Blue Ridge (2-12) at 2, Elk Lake (10-4), 7 p.m.
March 8 semifinals
Northwest-Lackawanna Trail winner at 1, Holy Cross (10-4), 7 p.m.
Mountain View-Old Forge winner vs. Blue Ridge-Elk Lake winner
March 12 final
Semifinal winners at Mohegan Sun Arena, 3 p.m.
