Ryan Ruddy scored 16 points and Chris Walsh led a fourth-quarter surge Monday night to carry North Pocono past visiting Mid Valley, 56-40, in a meeting of highly regarded Lackawanna League Big Schools.
North Pocono (2-0) is the defending Lackawanna Division 2 champion and the favorite to repeat that title. Mid Valley, the Lackawanna Division 3 favorite and the No. 3 Big School in the preseason My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams, fell to 1-1.
The teams traded the lead for most of the third quarter before North Pocono outscored Mid Valley, 25-8, over the last 9½ minutes.
Ruddy scored 16 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and made 4 steals.
Walsh hit two early 3-pointers to join Ruddy in scoring eight points each in a 22-8 fourth quarter. Walsh finished 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Billy Pabst joined them in double figures with 12 points while A.J. Nemitz had 7 points and a game-high 7 assists.
Sophomores Gabe Tanner and Ricky Vinansky led the way for Mid Valley.
Tanner had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Vinansky went 6-for-10 from the floor while scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds.
Pabst had seven points and Walsh had five, with each hitting a 3-pointer to help North Pocono to a 15-8 lead after one quarter.
The Trojans stretched that advantage to 21-11 when Walsh found Noah West wide open cutting to the basket with 3:42 left in the half.
Mid Valley raced right back up the floor to score on a Danny Nemitz drive in transition.
That response began a 12-point streak that put Mid Valley in front and started a series of eight third-quarter lead changes.
Vinansky scored eight points and Danny Nemitz four while the Spartans were holding the Trojans scoreless for 6:23.
A.J. Nemitz ended the drought and put North Pocono up, 24-23, when he buried a 3-pointer after Ruddy drew the defense and kicked it to him open in the left corner.
Danny Nemitz answered with a 3-pointer for Mid Valley and the Spartans kept moving back in front until Tanner’s drive down the middle for a 32-31 advantage with 1:41 left in the third quarter produced their last lead.
A.J. Nemitz got the attention of three defenders before zipping a pass across the lane to Pabst for a layup and three-point play with 51 seconds left to give North Pocono a 34-32 lead after three quarters.
Walsh worked the left wing for his 3-pointers from 21 feet on the opening possession of the fourth, then again from 25 feet 51 seconds into the quarter and the Trojans were off and running with a 40-34 lead.
Tanner scored between Walsh’s 3-pointers on Mid Valley’s first possession of the quarter, but the Trojans then held the Spartans scoreless for more than five minutes while running off 11 points to break the game open, 48-34.
