By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
FORMAT: There are three rounds, with higher-seeded teams hosting the first two rounds before the championship game is played at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Both finalists advance to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, which has been returned to its earlier format of 32 teams.
2021 RECAP: Top-seeded Abington Heights defeated second-seeded Dallas, 63-58, in the final. Fifth-seeded Crestwood downed fourth-seeded Wyoming Valley West, 56-41, in the quarterfinals for the only upset, based on seeds.
HIGHEST SEEDS: 1. Pittston Area; 2. Abington Heights; 3. Dallas; 4. Wallenpaupack.
DIVISION CHAMPION: Pittston Area won its first Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title.
RANKED TEAMS: Abington Heights is fourth and Pittston Area fifth among Big School girls in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams. Dallas was ranked earlier in the season.
WINNING RECORDS: Pittston Area 22-3, Abington Heights 16-6, Wallenpaupack 12-9, Dallas 12-10.
BEST OPENER: Wyoming Valley West at Wallenpaupack. Wyoming Valley West is the lower seed and on the road, but the Lady Spartans have been playing their best basketball lately. Wyoming Valley West is 6-1 in its last seven games with just a seven-point road loss to division champion Pittston Area. Trinity Johnson, a 6-foot-2 senior center, is averaging 19.5 points over the last six games, including 26 points in a 58-37 romp over third-seeded Dallas. Wallenpaupack has won three of its last four.
KEY GAME: Pittston Area has the field’s best record, but the Lady Patriots will be trying to shake off a Mercy Rule loss to Lake-Lehman in the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament final. The state tournament hopes of a team that won just four games last season will rest on getting past a challenge from the Wyoming Valley West-Wallenpaupack survivor in the semifinals.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kallie Booth and Daniella Ranieli from Pittston Area; Allison Dammer and Anna Scoblick from Abington Heights; Elizabeth Viglone and Nadia Evanosky from Dallas; Megan Desmet and Devon Kiesendahl from Wallenpaupack; Johnson and Mackenzie Perluke from Wyoming Valley West; Julia Glowacki from Crestwood; Sam Polishan from North Pocono; Ollivia Dougher from West Scranton.
NOTEWORTHY: Abington Heights has played in District 2 championship games all six years they have been at the arena, winning five and losing, 37-33, to West Scranton in the 2020 final. … Pittston Area went from last place in WVC Division 1 to first place in one season, going from 1-11 to 12-2 plus a playoff victory. … Dallas started 5-0, struggled through the middle of the season, then won four of its last six, averaging 63.3 points in those wins. … Abington Heights opens the playoffs with North Pocono, a team it routed 53-12 in the Pink Game, an annual charity game that wrapped up its regular season. The Lady Comets have allowed just 22.3 points per game in their four-game winning streak. … The six Abington Heights losses have come to teams with a combined .848 winning percentage. The Lady Comets have lost to Souderton and West Chester Rustin, 2 of the top 6 teams out of 43 in District 1 Class 6A; Scranton Prep, the second-ranked Big School in the Super Six, twice; and Western Wayne and Riverside, the top two Small School teams in the Super Six. … Pittston Area has held 16 of 25 opponents to 32 points or less … The Lady Patriots’ 22 wins are the most by any team, boys or girls, in District 2.
COMPLETE PAIRINGS
Wednesday’s quarterfinals
8, West Scranton (3-19) at 1, Pittston Area (22-3), 7 p.m.
5, Wyoming Valley West (10-11) at 4, Wallenpaupack (12-9), 7 p.m.
6, Crestwood (8-13) at 3, Dallas (12-10), 7 p.m.
7, North Pocono (6-16) at 2, Abington Heights (16-6), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
West Scranton-Pittston Area winner vs. Wyoming Valley West-Wallenpaupack winner, 1 p.m.
Crestwood-Dallas winner vs. North Pocono-Abington Heights winner, 1 p.m.
March 4 final
Semifinal winners at Mohegan Sun Arena, 6 p.m.
