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Lake-Lehman’s R.J. Driscoll wins in final bout, leads win over Hanover Area

Local sports: Wilkes fell to DeSales, 76-52

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Finally, the 18th lead change was enough.Freshman Jason Kenny&#8217;s two foul shots late in the final two minutes of overtime broke one last tie. And King&#8217;s last-gasp 3-pointer was off the mark.Misericordia shot an impressive 55 percent from the floor, and the Cougars needed every bit of it to outmuscle the Monarchs 91-88 on Wednesday at Scandlon Gymnasium.Kenny, already one of the Freedom Conference&#8217;s top scorers, set a new career best with 33 points, including a 13 for 15 showing from the foul line that helped seal the victory.&#8220;He played very well today,&#8221; Misericordia coach Willie Chandler said. &#8220;Defensively, he&#8217;s still getting better. But hey &#8212; I give him the ball and he makes things happen. That&#8217;s all I could ask for out of a freshman.&#8220;He&#8217;s mature beyond his years. The guys really look up to him. He&#8217;s a freshman, and he carried us at the end there.&#8221;Not that King&#8217;s made it easy.The Monarchs had two chances to tie in the closing seconds of overtime, going to the line for three shots, hitting two of them to pull within 89-88. Two more foul shots by Kenny put it away. Erik Kerns (15 points, seven rebounds) drained a jumper a bit earlier as well.&#8220;I thought the played great. They shot the ball extremely well,&#8221; said King&#8217;s coach J.P. Andrejko, whose own team finished right at 50 percent from the field. &#8220;They did a nice job of getting down the floor and spreading us out in transition.&#8221;King&#8217;s had taken the lead with 35 seconds left in regulation on a Dan Rutecki mid-range jumper. But Kenny calmly hit two free throws to tie it up at 80-80.The Monarchs had 10 seconds left for a final play, but the Cougars (9-7, 3-2) clamped down and forced an off-balance shot to send the game to overtime.King&#8217;s (8-8, 2-3) was led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Tom Heston. Chris Fazzini and Connor Hughes each had 17 points while John Fazzini added 14.James Hawk (11 points) and Griffin Sponaugle (10) also finished in double figures for Misericordia.Seely lifts MU womenMisericordia hadn&#8217;t led all game. Justine Seely played just six minutes in the first half.The Cougars&#8217; leading scorer came through when it counted.Seely connected on a layup in the paint off a nice dish from Rachel Carmody with three seconds left to stun King&#8217;s 62-61 in the first half of the doubleheader.After a Cougars offensive rebound, King&#8217;s forced a held ball and then knocked one away out of bounds with just 6.2 seconds left before Misericordia came up with the winning bucket.&#8220;I thought our team did a really good job of executing a play, getting the right look,&#8221; Cougars coach Allison Kern said. &#8220;Getting an opportunity and then not panicking when we didn&#8217;t have it.&#8220;Our kids are really prepared for those situations.&#8221;King&#8217;s had a chance to steal the win back in the final second thanks to a shooting foul just before the buzzer, but the Lady Monarchs missed both shots to end the game.For the Lady Monarchs, the most glaring issue was on the boards.Misericordia (6-10, 2-3 Freedom Conference) held a dominating 57-37 edge in rebounding, finishing with 18 on the offensive glass.&#8220;You can&#8217;t be minus-20,&#8221; King&#8217;s coach Brian Donoghue said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t get the ball, we don&#8217;t get out in transition, we don&#8217;t take care of our defensive glass and we give up layups, putbacks.&#8221;Making her first start of the season, Shannon Croasdale led the Cougars with 10 rebounds. Two freshmen came off the bench to deliver strong performances as Pittston Area&#8217;s Liz Waleski (18 points, nine rebounds) and Western Wayne&#8217;s Carmody (14 and eight) fueled the rally.Seely finished with 13 points, six assists and three blocks.&#8220;She&#8217;s always there,&#8221; Kern said. &#8220;She&#8217;s showing up in every facet of the game, every game.&#8221;Despite the absence of injured starting point guard Kasey Seitz, the Lady Monarchs (10-6, 3-2) knocked down five of their first seven shots to open a quick double-digit lead at 12-2.Waleski helped the Cougars claw back into the game, however, hitting four of her first five from behind the arc. With the help of some improved defense, Misericordia cut a 14-point deficit in half, trailing 34-27 at the break.Things opened up considerably in the third quarter and the Cougars were in position to tie or take the lead until a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Jennifer Fabian kept them at bay.Kayla Feairheller led four King&#8217;s players in double figures with 12 points. Cayle Spencer scored 11 while Fabian and Olivia Hoffman each had 10 points and eight rebounds.MENMisericordia 91, King&#8217;s 88MISERICORDIA (91) &#8212; Alec Rodway 4-7 0-2 9, Jason Kenny 9-19 13-15 33, Griffin Sponaugle 3-6 1-2 10, James Hawk 5-6 1-2 11, Erik Kerns 6-11 2-2 15, Jamie Egan 1-3 0-2 3, Stone McCreary 1-1 0-0 3, Darren Davy 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler McGarry 1-2 0-0 3, John Murphy 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 32-58 17-25 91.KING&#8217;S (88) &#8212; Connor Hughes 5-9 3-5 17, John Fazzini 5-9 2-2 14, Chris Fazzini 6-9 5-8 17, Tom Heston 7-13 7-10 21, Dan Rutecki 3-11 1-1 7, Dan Angelo 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Barber 2-4 2-2 6, John Dini 0-1 0-0 0, Derek Wilkins 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 31-62 20-28 88.Misericordia`37`43`11`&#8212;`91King&#8217;s`40`40`8`&#8212;`883-point goals &#8212; MU 10-23 (Sponaugle 3-4, Kenny 2-8, McCreary 1-1, Rodway 1-2, Egan 1-2, McGarry 1-2, Kerns 1-4); KC 6-13 (Hughes 4-7, J. Fazzini 2-4, C. Fazzini 0-1, Barber 0-1)WOMENMisericordia 62, King&#8217;s 61MISERICORDIA (62) &#8212; Japriya Carroll 2-5 2-2 7, Leanne Forsyth 0-4 0-0 0, Shannon Croasdale 2-6 1-2 5, Justine Seely 6-11 1-1 13, Nikki Baro 0-4 0-0 0, Lena Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Liz Waleski 6-16 0-0 18, Jaclyn Hajec 2-5 0-0 5, Rachel Carmody 7-15 0-2 14, Haley Fitzpatrick 0-0 0-0 0, Alexa Plitt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-69 4-7 62.KING&#8217;S (61) &#8212; Alexis Steeber 3-6 0-0 6, Olivia Hoffman 4-12 2-6 10, Sara Krupinski 3-6 0-0 6, Jennifer Fabian 3-10 3-4 10, Kayla Feairheller 6-16 0-0 12, Erin Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Cayle Spencer 4-7 0-0 11, Tara Zdancewicz 1-9 0-0 2, Rachael DeTore 2-6 0-0 4, Maggie Michael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 5-10 61.Misericordia`13`14`18`17`&#8212;`62King&#8217;s`24`10`16`11`&#8212;`613-point goals &#8212; MU 8-21 (Waleski 6-13, Hajec 1-1, Carroll 1-2, Plitt 0-1, Croasdale 0-2, Carmody 0-2); KC 4-17 (Spencer 3-6, Fabian 1-4, Steeber 0-1, Schmidt 0-1, Zdancewicz 0-1, Feairheller 0-4)<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Misericordia&#8217;s Alec Rodway (left) drives for a shot against King&#8217;s on Wednesday night. The Cougars shot 55 percent from the floor in the overtime win. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012116Basketball1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Misericordia&#8217;s Alec Rodway (left) drives for a shot against King&#8217;s on Wednesday night. The Cougars shot 55 percent from the floor in the overtime win. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012116Basketball2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">King&#8217;s forward Dan Rutecki (34) tries to get off a shot against Misericordia&#8217;s Griffin Sponaugle in Wednesday night&#8217;s Freedom Conference game at Scandlon Gymnasium. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL012116Basketball2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>King&#8217;s forward Dan Rutecki (34) tries to get off a shot against Misericordia&#8217;s Griffin Sponaugle in Wednesday night&#8217;s Freedom Conference game at Scandlon Gymnasium. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia hoops teams win two nailbiters against King’s