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District 2 sorts out confusing 4A bracket

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Lottery numbers for Monday, Feb. 15, 2016

There&#8217;s more to earning the No. 1 seed for the District 2 girls basketball postseason than simply a package of prestige.In Class 4A and 2A, it means a first-round bye.At the Class 3A level, it means opening the postseason with a smoother path to the final.And in all classes, it signifies a badge of honor.That&#8217;s why Holy Redeemer coach Chris Parker perked up when 22-1 Dunmore suffered its lone loss at the end of the regular season, allowing the 19-3 Royals to jump into the top spot for the Class 2A district playoffs. He got his biggest charge, though, out of the playoff bracketing.&#8220;It&#8217;s nice to get the number one seed,&#8221; Parker said. &#8220;It seems like the way we fell into the seedings, I like where we&#8217;re at and what side of the bracket we&#8217;re on.&#8221;Of course, being the top seed in Class 2A didn&#8217;t help the Royals win a district championship last season, or the two previous seasons when they played in Class 3A.But players insist there&#8217;s something special about being the team to beat.&#8220;I think having the number one seed is a big thing for us,&#8221; said Nanticoke Area&#8217;s top scorer Gianna Roberts, who helped pave the way for the Trojanettes&#8217; 20-2 season and top spot in the Class 3A district field. &#8220;I think it gives us a little advantage, to have a higher seeding over everyone else.&#8221;Yet, the sense of satisfaction and esteem that comes from being slotted No. 1 usually only helps teams in terms of confidence, not with their play on the court.&#8220;It&#8217;s nice to have the number one seed, after having a great regular season,&#8221; Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;But at the end of the day, if you get to be in the district title game, you&#8217;re going to have to win four games by playing well against good teams to win the championship.&#8221;Up in Class 4A, Hazleton Area is living in a different day and age.That bracket only includes seven District 2 teams, so its top-seeded team automatically draws a first-round bye. And for the second straight season, Hazleton Area received one by finishing with a 19-3 overall record and the WVC Division 1 championship. That differs from Class A, where five teams make up the district field with the lesser two &#8212; in this case, Old Forge and MMI Prep &#8212; squaring off in the quarterfinals for the right to advance to the four-team semifinals.Earning a free day at the start sends the Cougars straight into the Class 4A semifinal round with an extra day of rest than the rest of the field. So while Pittston Area battles Williamsport at 6 p.m. Tuesday followed by a showdown between Scranton and Wyoming Valley West at 7:30 p.m. &#8212; both at Holy Redeemer High School &#8212; Hazleton Area can scout both games while enjoying an off night and the spoils of its season success.&#8220;Then you&#8217;re one game away from the Arena,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said.For the first time, all District 2 championship games will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena next week, which is bringing a boost of excitement across the district as teams shoot to play in the home of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team.&#8220;That&#8217;s very important,&#8221; Hazleton Area&#8217;s leading scorer Mackenzie Yori said. &#8220;We&#8217;re shooting for the Arena. That would be one of our top goals.&#8221;Here&#8217;s a look at the District 2 teams planning to take their best shots at winning a title over the next two weeks.CLASS 4AOutlook: While Hazleton Area enjoys a bye on Tuesday as the top seed, a couple of intriguing matchups are on tap. Watch Wallenpaupack, a two-time district champion prior to last season, which has enough to cause any team problems.Dark Horse: No. 3 Pittston Area &#8212; they have a balanced scoring attack and play a complete team game.Upset Special: No. 5 Scranton over No. 4 Wyoming Valley West. The Spartans buckled a bit down the stretch of the regular season.Best Opening Game: No. 3 Pittston Area vs. No. 6 Williamsport. Defending district champion Pittston Area recovered nicely this season by playing as a group after losing its two star scorers to graduation after last season. Williamsport is an athletic team and lost out on the No. 5 seed to Scranton by a coin flip.Prediction: Hazleton Area easily handled Pittston Area twice in the regular season, and Wallenpaupack isn&#8217;t a whole lot better than the Patriots. Hazleton Area senior Mackenzie Yori is on a mission and she has plenty of scoring help around her. Look for the Cougars to claim their first District 2 title in five years.CLASS 3AOutlook: Perennial district power Scranton Prep hasn&#8217;t been overpowering this season and comes in seeded fourth. That&#8217;s right behind No. 3 Wyoming Area, a program on the rise even without inside force Katie Wolfgang sidelined by a late-season fracture in her wrist area. No. 9 Crestwood&#8217;s two-time All-Stater Maddie Ritsick altered her game this season to become more of an inside force and still averaged over 18 points, while No. 6 Dallas is still dangerous at 16-6 overall.Dark Horse: West Scranton. It finished with a better overall record than No. 3 Wyoming Area, but dropped to No. 5 because it went 6-3 against Class 3A teams this season and had one less win than No. 4 Scranton Prep.Upset Special: No. 10 Berwick over No. 7 North Pocono. The Bulldogs have risen to some big challenges at times this season, as evidenced by victories over Wyoming Valley West and Crestwood and North Pocono which enters the postseason with a 10-11 overall record.Best Opening Game: No. 6 Dallas vs. No. 11 Lake-Lehman. This battle of the Back Mountain always seems to be a dogfight, no matter what sport the schools are playing, and if Lehman&#8217;s outside shooters get hot, it could be a barn burner.Prediction: Nanticoke Area beat just about everyone, including some quality Class 4A schools, with a dominant game both inside and out. But the Trojanettes might have to go down to the final seconds to win a district title over Abington Heights. Look for Scranton Prep to best Dallas in the third-place game.CLASS 2AOutlook: The race for first place will most certainly come down to Holy Redeemer, Dunmore and Holy Cross &#8212; not necessarily in that order. But that doesn&#8217;t mean other teams won&#8217;t throw up a few roadblocks to the state playoffs along the way.Dark Horse: At 16-6, No. 6 Lakeland carries the fourth-best record into the bracket and may find itself playing for third place, if not for the title.Upset Special: No. 12 Wyoming Seminary over No. 5 Blue Ridge. The Blue Knights feature a true scorer in Maya Kornfeld and a nice cast around her, while Blue Ridge brings an 8-14 record into the tournament.Best Opening Game: No. 8 Northwest vs. No. 9 Carbondale. Northwest&#8217;s exciting freshman guard Brenna Babcock gets her first taste of the postseason and it&#8217;s the last for stellar senior Liz Gurzynski. The Rangers&#8217; physical style underneath could be troublesome for a Carbondale team that believes its 13-9 overall record should warrant a higher seeding.Prediction: Parker&#8217;s right, the top seed in this class has a clear path to the championship. But the Royals struggled with the league&#8217;s all-time leading scorer Alexis Lewis in last year&#8217;s final. Can Redeemer win the District title this time around? Expect Dunmore to successfully defend its title.CLASS AOutlook: At 14-10, No. 1 Forest City carries the only winning record in the class.Dark Horse: No. 2 Susquehanna. The team was just 6-15 overall, but went 5-7 in Lackawanna League play.Upset Special: No. 3 Lackawanna Trail over No. 2 Susquehanna, semifinal round. Trail accomplished all three of its wins this season in the Lackawanna League, finishing just two off the pace of Susquehanna.Best Opening Game: No. 5 MMI Prep vs. No. 4 Old Forge. It&#8217;s the only quarterfinal game and could be an interesting one.Prediction: No. 1 Forest City over No. 3 Lackawanna Trail for the district title, mainly because Forest City has shown the only signs of consistency among the five teams in the bracket.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke&#8217;s Area&#8217;s premier post player Gianna Roberts (No. 34) hopes to help the top-seeded Trojanettes take the District 2 Class 3A girls basketball championship, while defenders Addison Orzel (33) and Nicole Wright (44) want to help Wyoming Area reach its peak as the No. 3 seed in the same bracket, which opens Wednesday. District action begins tonight, with WVC teams Wyoming Valley West and Pittston Area playing in back-to-back Class 4A games at Holy Redeemer High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_nanticokewa02.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke&#8217;s Area&#8217;s premier post player Gianna Roberts (No. 34) hopes to help the top-seeded Trojanettes take the District 2 Class 3A girls basketball championship, while defenders Addison Orzel (33) and Nicole Wright (44) want to help Wyoming Area reach its peak as the No. 3 seed in the same bracket, which opens Wednesday. District action begins tonight, with WVC teams Wyoming Valley West and Pittston Area playing in back-to-back Class 4A games at Holy Redeemer High School. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Top-seeded girls basketball teams hoping to remain No. 1 by end of District 2 playoffs