web1_Kareem-Owens.-8-7-15.jpg

Sherman Hills shooter who laughed at victim’s screams pleads guilty to gun, assault charges

H.S. basketball: Meyers boys clinch WVC Division 3 crown

Meyers has run away from the Division 3 field. Division 2 looks like it&#8217;s going to be either GAR or Nanticoke winning the title. And Hazleton Area holds a two-game lead over second-place Crestwood in Division 1, an advantage that appears insurmountable based on what&#8217;s happened so far.So what do the other Wyoming Valley Conference teams have left to play for? Simple &#8212; district seeding. Finish in the upper half of the district standings and a home game awaits.&#8220;Last year, we had a chance for a home game and we didn&#8217;t follow through toward the end of the season,&#8221; Coughlin coach Mike Day said. &#8220;We ended up a lower seed and had to go to Honesdale. It was very, very difficult. Triple-A is one of the toughest brackets. So if we can get a home game, that would be huge for us.&#8221;Coughlin went 2-4 over its last six games last season, losing three by three points or less and pushing powerful Hazleton Area to the limit before falling 82-76. Had the Crusaders won those three close games, they would have been the sixth seed and played at home. Instead, they dropped to the 13th seed.Coughlin was tied with Honesdale for the eighth seed in Class 3A entering Thursday&#8217;s games. The top eight teams get home games in the first round.Berwick is another team needing a home game in districts. Five of the Dawgs&#8217; seven losses have come on the road, including a key setback to Coughlin last week.&#8220;We have to get a district playoff game in Berwick because we&#8217;re tough in Berwick,&#8221; said Berwick coach Jason Kingery, whose team was tied for sixth in the D2-3A standings entering Thursday. &#8220;We still have our opportunities, but we&#8217;ve got to take care of business.&#8221;Crestwood likely lost a chance at the top seed in 3A with a loss to Hazleton Area on Tuesday. The Comets were two games behind Hazleton Area in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference as the teams took the court Thursday night.Divisional champions are seeded the highest, meaning either GAR or Nanticoke will be seeded first or second. Those two teams are the only legitimate contenders for the WVC Division 2 crown. If Scranton Prep holds on to first place in Division 1 of the Lackawanna League, it will be seeded either first or second.So Crestwood probably won&#8217;t finish higher than the third seed, which would be its worst seeding since the 2012-13 season.&#8220;They&#8217;re not going to lose two games,&#8221; Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said of Hazleton Area. &#8220;It&#8217;s all about seeding for districts and finishing strong and getting better each game.&#8221;The season in both leagues wraps up Thursday, barring any weather issues or special playoff games.POWER SYSTEM COMING?District 2 chairman Frank Majikes mentioned last week the possibility of basketball and other sports using a power rating system to determine district playoff seeds.Under the current system, league records are used to set seedings for teams in the WVC and Lackawanna League, with divisional champs getting the highest seeds. The problem is an imbalance in schedules, which is quite obvious in Class 3A of the WVC. WVC Class 3A teams like Berwick, Coughlin, Crestwood, Dallas, Pittston Area and Tunkhannock all have to play each other twice as well as perennial 4A power Hazleton Area twice. Plus, they play Class 4A Wyoming Valley West twice.The WVC&#8217;s other 3A teams &#8212; GAR, Lake-Lehman, Nanticoke and Wyoming Area &#8212; don&#8217;t play any of the aforementioned teams during the season. Their 13-game schedules have seven games against opponents in lower classifications.The Lackawanna League has a similar problem, and it&#8217;s part of the reason for an open tournament. Officials from both leagues couldn&#8217;t find a way to make sure the most-deserving teams made the playoffs.&#8220;Football will stay the same,&#8221; Majikes said last week. &#8220;There is discussion between the two conferences to going to a power rating in the other sports. But that hasn&#8217;t been decided yet. They&#8217;re in discussion and that will probably be brought up at our spring meeting in April.&#8221;The power rating system not only gives credit for a victory but also weighs in losses to quality opponents. District 11 uses it, and in its Class 3A boys basketball ratings Schuylkill Haven has the fifth-best record but is currently the ninth seed out of 11 teams.SATURDAY&#8217;S SCHEDULEThere have been some changes to Saturday&#8217;s schedule.Wyoming Seminary at Northwest will start at 11 a.m. with no junior varsity game. Berwick at Crestwood is a 2 p.m. start. MMI Prep at Lake-Lehman begins at 4:15 p.m.Also, the Hanover Area at Holy Redeemer game was played last Saturday. Redeemer will host Trinity at 5:30 p.m. in a non-conference game. The time was changed from the original schedule.All other games start at 7:15 p.m.DISTRICT SCHEDULEHere are the play dates for the four brackets. All championship games are at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township. All first-round games will be played at the home of the higher seed. All other games are at neutral sites.Class A: Quarterfinals &#8212; Tuesday, Feb. 16; Semifinals &#8212; Thursday, Feb. 18; Championship &#8212; Saturday, Feb. 27, 2 p.m.Class 2A: First Round &#8212; Wednesday, Feb. 17; Quarterfinals &#8212; Friday, Feb. 19; Semifinals &#8212; Monday, Feb. 22; Third-place game &#8212; Wednesday, Feb. 24; Championship &#8212; Saturday, Feb. 27, 6 p.m.Class 3A: First Round &#8212; Tuesday, Feb. 16; Quarterfinals &#8212; Thursday, Feb. 18; Semifinals &#8212; Monday, Feb. 22; Third-place game &#8212; Wednesday, Feb. 24; Championship &#8212; Friday, Feb. 26, 8:30 p.m.Class 4A: Quarterfinals &#8212; Wednesday, Feb. 17; Semifinals &#8212; Friday, Feb. 19; Championship &#8212; Saturday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m.As it has in the past, District 2 Class 4A is in a subregional with District 4, whose only 4A team is Williamsport. If Williamsport wins the subregionals championship, the D2 teams which lost to Williamsport in the semifinals and championship game will play Sunday, Feb. 28, for the D2-4A championship.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_j_kingery3_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick coach Jason Kingery talks to his players during a timeout against Coughlin last Friday. The Dawgs are hoping to secure a home game in the upcoming District 2 Class 3A playoffs. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_j_kingery3_faa-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick coach Jason Kingery talks to his players during a timeout against Coughlin last Friday. The Dawgs are hoping to secure a home game in the upcoming District 2 Class 3A playoffs. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Valley Conference races pretty much over, but District 2 seedings races still going strong