Susquehanna delivered a message that it may not be ready to go away just yet.
Playing their season opener, minus two all-state players and two other graduated starters, the Lady Sabers pounded visiting Forest City, 60-17, for their 39th straight Lackawanna League Division 4 victory.
“We need to let people know we’re still on the scene,” Gina Baker, an assistant coach on division championship teams each of the past three seasons, said after winning her head coaching debut.
Meghan Kiernan, the only returning starter, and the Decker twins, Megan and Mackenzie, made sure of that.
Kiernan scored a game-high 13 points.
Both Deckers scored eight points while leading the defensive effort. Megan also had 8 rebounds and 10 steals while Mackenzie made 7 steals.
“I’m a happy coach after the first one,” Baker said.
The Lady Sabers built leads of 17-3 after one quarter, 41-5 at halftime and 52-10 after three quarters.
North Pocono 74, Scranton 66
Carena Colo scored 21 points to lead five scorers in double figures while giving Lauren Carra her first victory as a head coach at North Pocono, which won the Lackawanna Division 1-2 crossover game.
The game was the second for the Lady Trojans, but first for the division champions in Lackawanna League play.
Alicia Goldenzeil scored 17 points, including 11 in the first quarter.
Morgan Seideta made three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points.
Kylie Mastillo came off the bench to add 11 points and Jenna Beach had 10.
The Lady Trojans shot 10-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter and 18-for-24 for the game.
Colo was 3-for-4 on free throws in the fourth quarter when Beach, Goldenzeil and Seideta each made both of their attempts.
Scranton Prep 71, Western Wayne 21
Cecelia Collins scored 29 points as Scranton Prep extended its winning streak to 30 games with the Lackawanna Division 1-2 crossover.
Meredith Purcell grabbed a team-high nine rebounds as the Classics, the top-ranked Big School in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams, improved to 3-0 overall.
Lakeland 52, Mid Valley 33
Colby White, Skylar Arendt and Addie Piraino each scored at least 14 points and made other contributions to Lakeland’s Lackawanna Division 3 win at Mid Valley.
Lakeland shook off a sluggish offensive start and came from behind in the second half.
White had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 7 steals. Arendt finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals. Piraino had 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Holy Cross 73, Carbondale 40
Kaci Kranson scored 26 points to help Holy Cross to the home-court Lackawanna Division 3 victory.
The Lady Crusaders led 50-11 at halftime and added to that advantage before being outscored in the fourth quarter.
Emily Ferguson added 15 points.
Alysa Schiavone made five 3-pointers while scoring 15 for Carbondale.
Abington Heights 70, Valley View 38
Anna Scoblick scored 24 points and Clair Marion scored 23 for Abington Heights, which trailed 16-10 after one quarter of the Lackawanna Division 1 game at Valley View.
Scoblick scored 19 points in the middle quarters when the Lady Comets turned the game around. She had 11 points to lead an 18-6 Abington Heights advantage in the second quarter.
Marion then scored 11 points and Scoblick 8 more during the third quarter when the lead grew to 47-31.
Rachel McDonald closed it out, scoring 8 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Comets continued to add to their lead.
Scoblick finished with a double-double. She had 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.
Marion had five steals and three assists.
Scoblick, Marion and McDonald each finished with three 3-pointers.
Valley View was led by Skylar Bianchi with 19 points.
Elk Lake 62, Mountain View 31
Krista Jones had 25 points, 9 rebounds and 7 steals to lead Elk Lake to the win in its Lackawanna Division 4 opener.
The Lady Warriors had lost their opener in non-league play.
Mountain View slipped to 0-2 in the division.
Wilkes-Barre Area 58, Wyoming Valley West 46
Vanessa Luna scored 13 of her 17 points and Gloria Adjayi 12 of her 14 while Wilkes-Barre Area was overcoming a halftime deficit in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 road win.
Claudia Seigfried hit two of her three 3-pointers in the first quarter, then Brandy Varner scored seven points in the second quarter to give Wyoming Valley West a 23-21 halftime lead.
Varner finished with a team-high 13 points.
Wyoming Seminary 57, Hanover Area 11
Wyoming Seminary shut out host Hanover Area in the second half of the WVC Division 2 game between winless teams.
The Blue Knights had led 31-11 at halftime.
Dunmore 55, Blue Ridge 26
Dunmore built a 41-0 halftime lead in the WVC Division 3-4 crossover that is not part of the Lackawanna League standings.
MORE: Find coverage of the Riverside-Old Forge game at ... https://nepabasketball.prestosports.com/2020-21/articles/RiverOFGGame.
