10:44 P.M.

PREDICTIONS RECAP

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – We’ll get to which of our panelists had the most correct predictions in a moment, but first we must point out that in today’s five games, Jess Rini not only picked four of the winners correctly, but she had three by the exact margin.

Jess correctly had the Riverside girls to win by 6 over Western Wayne, the Holy Cross boys to win by 12 over Old Forge and the Scranton boys to win by 5 over Williamsport.

Doug Walsh and I each went 5-0 on today’s games to finish 10-1 in picking winners for the championship games. Doug also had an exact pick today with Abington Heights girls winning by 7 over Pittston Area, giving him two during the three days.

Kevin Clark went 4-1 on the final day and also went 10-1 for the three days combined.

The consensus was 4-0 today and 9-1 overall without a pick on the Riverside-Western Wayne girls game because the panelists were split evenly.

Ben Magnotta and Jason O’Malley joined Jess in going 4-1 today to finish at 9-2.

Brian Coyle had the exact margin of victory on the first and last games of the day, the Riverside girls and Scranton boys wins.

Brian, Chris Kucharski, Dave Maddock and Joe Sheehan all went 3-2 today to finish 9-2. Chris had an earlier exact margin.

Paul Gerrity was 4-1 today to finish 8-3.

Lamont Tillery was 2-3, but one of the wins was Scranton’s exact margin of five, to finish 7-4.

My picks for the district tournament as a whole finished up at 57-6 (90.5 percent). I’ll be back with more predictions on District 2 teams in the state tournament.

More to come: It’s about time to leave the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, but be sure to keep checking NEPABasketball.com and NEPASportsNation.com for much more wrapping up the weekend and looking ahead to Tuesday’s state openers.

10:10 P.M.

STATE PAIRINGS

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – District 2 is sending 11 girls teams and 10 boys teams into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, which has its first round scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Those first-round games are played on home courts instead of in home districts as one of the leftover adjustments for COVID-19 issues.

Holy Cross will likely be required to use an alternate home court because it does not mean the minimum seating capacity requirements for PIAA games.

Ben Magnotta, who assisted in various capacities reporting from courtside throughout the three days, has done the bulk of the work on the below list, putting together the matchups for District 2 teams in the first round of the state tournament.

Matchups for District 2 teams in the first round with teams listed by district and place finish, with records in parentheses:

9:53 P.M.

PHOTO GALLERY

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The Photo Gallery from the Scranton boys victory over Williamsport is posted at https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-class-6a-boys-photo-gallery/.

We’re not done from the arena yet.

More to come: Return to this page for more news related to the district championships.

9:23 P.M.

SUBREGIONAL CHAMPIONS

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Jason Shields scored 17 points as Scranton added the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional boys title to the district title it already possessed by beating Williamsport, 47-42, to wrap up 11 games and 3 days of championships at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Arvel Chandler added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

Kenon Brown and Xavier Taylor scored 12 each for Williamsport.

Scranton needed the win and subregional title to qualify for the state tournament.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

7:52 P.M.

MORE PHOTO GALLERIES

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – More photos from Tim Drewes from today’s games.

Class 5A girls: Abington Heights over Pittston Area. https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-class-5a-girls-photo-gallery/.

Class 4A boys: Dallas over Mid Valley. https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-class-4a-boys-photo-gallery/.

Class 2A boys: Holy Cross over Old Forge. https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-class-2a-boys-photo-gallery/.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

7:29 P.M.

6-FOR-7

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Allison Dammer had a strong, all-around game and Anna Scoblick joined her in the late stretch that pushed the Lady Comets over the top in a 38-31 victory over Pittston Area for the District 2 Class 5A girls championship.

Dammer shot 7-for-10 while scoring 18 points.

That was just the beginning.

The 6-foot-1 senior center also grabbed 16 rebounds, blocked 7 shots, made 3 steals and dished out 2 assists.

Pittston Area led, 20-16, late in the third quarter before Abington Heights went ahead to stay with a 10-0 run.

Dammer had six points in the run while Scoblick had four points and assisted two of Dammer’s three baskets.

Scoblick finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Freshman Daniella Ranieli led Pittston Area with 19 points.

The title is the sixth in the seven years of finals at the arena for Abington Heights. That ties the Scranton Prep boys and Susquehanna girls for the most.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

5:45 P.M.

DROUGHTS OVER

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Another long championship drought is over.

Michael Cumbo scored 18 points and Austin Finarelli turned in an inspiring performance while playing with a painful hand injury as Dallas defeated Mid Valley, 61-53, for the Class 4A boys title.

The title by Dallas, its first since 1984, came one night after Pittston Area’s boys won their first title since 1978.

Finarelli played with his right hand heavily wrapped after suffering an injury in the second quarter of the semifinal win over Nanticoke. He still managed to shoot 7-for-10, making all three of his fourth-quarter shots, and added one of the game’s biggest assists as Dallas protected a late lead.

Michael Bufalino added 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Danny Nemitz led Mid Valley with 24 points. Gabe Tanner battled foul trouble throughout and finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

3:40 P.M.

LOOKING BACK

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Between Games Two and Three of today’s five-game schedule, we’ll take a look back to Friday’s video recap from Bryson Eldridge and Jordan Eldridge.

It can be accessed at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaulKFHD7-X/

3:36 P.M.

FINARELLI TO PLAY

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Senior guard Austin Finarelli is entered in the book as a starter for Dallas for the upcoming 4 p.m. game against Mid Valley in the District 2 Class 4A boys final.

Finarelli left the semifinal game with an injury.

UPDATE: When Finarelli took the court with his team, his right hand and some fingers were heavily wrapped. He is right-handed.

For background on the injury issues for district finalists, see: https://nepasportsnation.com/injuries-could-factor-into-finals/.

3:31 P.M.

BACK IN THE GAME

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Logan Tierney scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, 9 of them offensive, to lead Holy Cross to a 39-27 victory over Old Forge in the Class 2A boys final.

Holy Cross won four straight titles before having to sit out last year’s tournament for COVID precautions.

Old Forge won that title and went all the way to the state semifinals.

Both teams will get a shot in this year’s state tournament.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

3:03 P.M.

EVERY SECOND COUNTS

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Holy Cross coach Al Callejas called timeout after the Crusaders gained possession with 3.5 seconds left in the third quarter, leading 25-17.

Hayden Hosie made the move pay off, dribbling the length of the floor and launching a 3-pointer from about 23 feet just in time to beat the buzzer and give Holy Cross an 11-point lead going to the fourth quarter.

Holy Cross added to the damage with a long first possession of the fourth quarter, resulting in Kaeden Carr's 3-pointer for a 31-17 lead with 6:50 left.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

2:35 P.M.

PHOTO GALLERY

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Photos from Tim Drewes from the Riverside-Western Wayne Class 3A girls final have been posted on our partner website at https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-class-3a-girls-photo-gallery/.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

1:22 P.M.

RIVERSIDE REPEAT

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Kylie Lavelle scored 25 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked 3 shots to lead Riverside to a repeat of its District 2 Class 3A girls title, 39-33, over top-seeded Western Wayne.

Lavelle’s last block came with 12 seconds left in a four-point game.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

12:39 P.M.

CLOSE GAME

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Riverside and Western Wayne spent the last 11:45 of the first half of their District 2 Class locked in a one-possession game.

Defending champion Riverside leads top-seeded Western Wayne, 25-24, at halftime.

Kylie Lavelle has 15 points and 8 rebounds for the Lady Vikes.

Kaeli Romanowski has six points, four steals and two assists for the Lady ‘Cats.

Lavelle’s record 30-point arena game from last year was broken by Kaci Kranson of Holy Cross with 33 Friday.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

12:15 P.M.

ROMANOWSKI IN ACTION

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Kaeli Romanowski did not start for Western Wayne, but she did enter the game just 1:08 in and played the rest of the first quarter.

Romanowski had missed the semifinal with an ankle injury.

Romanowski came in with Riverside ahead, 3-0, and the teams played on even terms the rest of the quarter.

Riverside leads, 15-12, after one quarter behind 10 points and 6 rebounds by Kylie Lavelle.

Lavelle, however, picked up her second foul with 1.6 seconds left in the first quarter. She is on the floor to start the second quarter.

Romanowski had two points and three steals in the first quarter, making one of two shots.

For background on the injury issues for district finalists, see: https://nepasportsnation.com/injuries-could-factor-into-finals/.

11:58 A.M.

INJURY UPDATE

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The starting lineups have just been introduced for the Class 3A girls game to start the day of District 2 championships at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Two-time Lackawanna League Division 2 Player of the Year Kaeli Romanowski, Western Wayne’s all-time leading scorer, was not in the starting lineup. She is in uniform and did warm up with the team.

Romanowski sat out the district semifinal after suffering an ankle injury.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day.

10:50 A.M.

RECORD BOOK

The Susquehanna girls tied two records held by the Scranton Prep boys when they won their sixth District 2 title at the arena and their sixth straight.

The Lady Sabers, who have won all their titles in Class A, opened the weekend with a Thursday afternoon win over Forest City.

Hazleton Area and Abington Heights girls teams are the only two to make it to the arena all seven seasons that the finals have been held there.

Abington Heights can’t match the six straight, but it can join Susquehanna’s girls and Scranton Prep’s boys in celebrating six total titles at the arena. The Lady Comets need to beat top-seeded Pittston Area in Class 5A at 6 p.m. to do that.

Individually, Kaci Kranson set an arena scoring record Friday with 33 points in the Class 2A win by Holy Cross over Elk Lake.

Information on how each team has done at the arena entering this year’s championships can be found at: https://nepabasketball.com/2018-19/history/ArenaRecords.

Pittston Area’s 59-26 victory over North Pocono was the third-largest victory margin ever in a District 2 final at the arena. Team scoring records entering this year’s finals can be found at: https://nepabasketball.com/2019-20/Articles/ArenaRecordsTeamScoring.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the five-game day.

10:14 A.M.

PREDICTIONS

Five of our 12 panelists, who predicted the outcome of the championship games at the arena, have perfect records so far.

Kevin Clark, Brian Coyle, Chris Kucharski, Dave Maddock and Joe Sheehan all hit all three games Friday and are currently 6-0.

Ben Magnotta, Jason O’Malley, Jess Rini, Lamont Tillery, Doug Walsh, the consensus and I went 2-1 Friday and are 5-1 overall.

Paul Gerrity was 1-2 Friday and is 4-2 overall.

My picks for the District 2 tournament as a whole are now 52-6 (89.7 percent).

Three of the first four games, our panel not only had the winner right, but was also close on the margin of victory – with Scranton Prep giving Dunmore a one-point game the exception.

Friday’s second and third games turning into Mercy Rule games was not anticipated. The Wilkes-Barre Area girls were picked as a six-point favorite before winning much bigger and the Pittston Area boys actually were regarded as a 1½-point underdog to North Pocono.

Our panel expects close games today. In fact, it is evenly split on who will win the opener between the Riverside and Western Wayne girls.

Holy Cross is picked by four over Old Forge and Dallas by three over Mid Valley in afternoon boys games. Abington Heights is a four-point choice over top-seeded Pittston Area girls at night with Scranton selected by six in the subregional boys title game with Scranton.

To see what each person picked, go to: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Predictions/ChampionshipPanel.

More to come: Return to this page for updates throughout the day, both news within the blog itself and links to other coverage on our websites and through our social media accounts.

8:18 A.M.

BIG DAY

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the last – and busiest – of the three days of District 2 Championships at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

There are five games scheduled for the day, beginning with a matchup of the two top Small School girls teams in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.

Top-ranked and top-seeded Western Wayne (19-4) takes on No. 2 Riverside (20-4) in the noon Class 3A girls game. Western Wayne is the two-time Lackawanna League Division 2 champion. Riverside is the defending district champion after beating Western Wayne in last year’s final.

For more on the Super Six, see: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Awards/SuperSixL.

The schedule continues with top-seeded Holy Cross (18-6) against defending champion Old Forge (15-8) in Class 2A boys at 2 p.m.

Top-seeded Dallas, the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and overall champion, is next, taking on Mid Valley (21-4) in Class 4A boys at 4 p.m. The Mountaineers are 23-3 and on a 17-game winning streak.

Top-seeded Pittston Area (24-3) faces defending champion Abington Heights (18-6) in the 6 p.m. Class 5A girls game.

The weekend concludes with top-seed and defending champion Scranton (20-2) facing District 4’s Williamsport (18-5) in the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional boys championship game. Scranton is already the District 2 champion, but needs the win to reach the state tournament.

If you missed any coverage from the first two days, why not get ready for the big day by reviewing the earlier blogs?

Friday’s Championship Blog: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Playoffs/BlogFriday.

Thursday’s Championship Blog: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Playoffs/BlogThursday.