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<p>After nearly a month of games &#8212; call them non-conference or exhibition, whatever &#8212; Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball finally began its regular season.</p><p>And despite some team putting up impressive records in December, one things seems clear &#8212; all three divisions look like two-horse races.</p><p>Defending Division 1 champion Crestwood will be hard-pressed to hold off rival Hazleton Area, which is considered the best team in the entire WVC.</p><p>&#8220;I think the team to beat is Hazleton with (Bobby Planutis) back and the surrounding guys,&#8221; Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. &#8220;They have some size and I assume the best player in the league and some shooters.&#8221;</p><p>Hazleton Area won 20 games last season with a bunch of unknowns to start the season. Many of those guys are back.</p><p>&#8220;Last year, we had zero expectations going into the season,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph said. &#8220;Not one single player on my roster last year had started or played much in a varsity game before. The fact we went 20-6 speaks volumes for what those guys were able to accomplish. This year, we have a lot of expectations.&#8221;</p><p>Then comes the rest of Division 1.</p><p>Berwick, Coughlin, Dallas, Pittston Area, Tunkhannock and Wyoming Valley West all have some solid pieces. Yet, none of them have enough to be considered legitimate contenders for the division. Of course, that could change, but it&#8217;s unlikely.</p><p>Still, this will be a competitive group as an argument could be made for any of those teams to finish in third or last or somewhere in between. Last season, there was a two-way tie for third and a three-way tie for fifth.</p><p>GAR edged Nanticoke for the Division 2 crown last season. Many of the coaches see it the other way around, with Nanticoke having the upper hand.</p><p>Hanover Area, Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Area should fall in place behind Nanticoke and GAR. As for the order of those three, it&#8217;s like Division 1 where predicting how they will line up is anybody&#8217;s guess.</p><p>The Division 2 coaching rankings underwent big changes. Lehman&#8217;s Ed Grant and GAR&#8217;s Paul Brown resigned while Hanover Area&#8217;s Steve Harnischfeger was fired a few games into the season. The veteran of the bunch is Nanticoke&#8217;s John Beggs, who is in his third season.</p><p>Division 3 is a bit different. Defending champ Holy Redeemer and runner-up Meyers are expected to duke it out for the top spot. MMI Prep and Wyoming Seminary, though, could make things interesting because both return plenty of players. As for Northwest, it&#8217;s young and coming off an 0-23 season. The Rangers should be improved if their young players mature quicker than expected.</p><p>&#8220;I told my kids that Redeemer is the champ until you knock them off,&#8221; Meyers coach Pat Toole said.</p><p><strong>District Playoffs</strong></p><p>The format is the same as last season &#8212; everybody&#8217;s invited including District 4&#8217;s Williamsport in Class 4A. The championships, though, for both boys and girls will move to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township. The games will be played Feb. 26 and 27.</p><p>After some dreadful first-round games, things heated up as 13 of 23 next games were decided by 10 points or less. Two went to overtime.</p><p>Next season, though, the PIAA will go to six classifications and it will end some great district rivalries, mainly those Holy Cross had with WVC teams such as Holy Redeemer and Meyers.</p><p><strong>Circle on the Calendar</strong></p><p>Some big games worth the price of admission.</p><p>Crestwood at Hazleton Area, Feb. 2: The teams play Saturday at Crestwood and that winner should be in control for the Division 1 championship when February rolls around. Both games went to overtime last year with the home team ending up disappointed.</p><p>GAR at Meyers, Feb. 9: Sisyphus &#8212; aka GAR &#8212; finally got that boulder to stay at the top of the mountain when it ended an eight-game losing streak to its city rival. The victory also eventually gave the Grenadiers the Division 2 championship and knocked Meyers out of first place in Division 3.</p><p>Since it&#8217;s the only time they&#8217;ll meet this season, the game falls into the can&#8217;t-miss category.</p><p>Holy Redeemer at Meyers, Feb. 11: This should be a hot one &#8230; literally. Meyers&#8217; tiny gym is like a sauna and makes for a definite home-court advantage for the Mohawks. The game could also determine the WVC Division 3 title and seeding in the D2-2A playoffs. The teams play Friday in the more comfortable Redeemer gym.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke&#8217;s Brent Piontkowski goes for a layup last season against Berwick. Nanticoke is favored to win Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_ber_nan3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke&#8217;s Brent Piontkowski goes for a layup last season against Berwick. Nanticoke is favored to win Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WVC boys basketball preview: New season but don’t expect much change at the top