NEW NIGHTS
The Lackawanna League begins a new routine with boys playing primarily on Mondays and Thursdays after decades of playing mainly on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The boys have reversed regular dates with the girls schedule in the Lackawanna.
OPENERS
The 12-game Lackawanna League Division 3 schedule begins Monday night with two games, Dunmore at Carbondale and Holy Cross at Mid Valley.
The Lakeland at Riverside opener has been moved to Tuesday.
Old Forge has the Opening Night bye and hosts Mid Valley Thursday in its opener.
FAVORITE
Mid Valley is considered the favorite.
Threats to the Spartans are most likely to come from defending champion Riverside, perennial power Holy Cross or Dunmore. Old Forge has also played well early in the season.
COVID IMPACT
Six Lackawanna Division 3 games were never played last season because of all the postponements and, eventually, cancellations caused by COVID. It was the most games unplayed in any of the six divisions in District 2 – four in the Lackawanna and two in the Wyoming Valley Conference.
Dunmore, a potential Class 3A contender, and Holy Cross, the Class 2A favorite, wound up being unable to compete in the postseason because of COVID cases.
2021 STANDINGS
Riverside finished first at 9-1, followed by Holy Cross 9-2, Dunmore 6-3, Mid Valley 5-3, Old Forge 4-8, Lakeland 3-7 and Carbondale 0-12.
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
Old Forge, one of two division members to win District 2 championships, advanced all the way to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state semifinals in Class 2A.
Riverside won the district title in Class 3A.
Mid Valley reached the final in Class 4A.
RANKINGS
One indication of how tightly packed the teams in the division could be is the Small School boys portion of the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
Four division members are ranked second through fifth. Riverside is second, followed, in succession by Holy Cross, Old Forge and Dunmore.
Mid Valley had been ranked among the top Big Schools earlier in the season.
CLASSIFICATIONS
Mid Valley is the only Big School in the division.
The Spartans are in Class 4A where they enter league play in the second position in the 10-team District 2 Power Rankings race for eight playoff berths.
Riverside, Dunmore and Lakeland are 2-3-4 while Carbondale is last among the seven teams in Class 3A where the battle is simply for seeding position with all teams guaranteed of postseason participation.
Holy Cross and Old Forge come out of December 1-2 in a similar seven-team race in Class 2A.
LATE START
Carbondale paused sports prior to the scheduled start of non-league play and just got in its first game during the holiday break, losing to Elk Lake in the Michael “Red” Wallace Memorial Scholarship Game.
That made the Chargers the last of District 2’s teams to begin the season.
Non-league records in December for the division’s teams are: Riverside (6-1), Mid Valley (5-2), Holy Cross (4-3), Old Forge (4-3), Dunmore (4-4), Lakeland (2-4), Carbondale (0-1).
RETURNING STARS
Last season’s division all-star selections by NEPABasketball.com help indicate why Mid Valley is favored.
Mid Valley junior Danny Nemitz is already a two-time, first-team, all-star. Spartans sophomore Gabe Tanner was a second-team pick last season.
Hayden Hosie from Holy Cross and Kevin Walsh from Dunmore also made the second team last season.
