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<p>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Bobby Planutis, GAR&#8217;s Dajon Rush and Meyers&#8217; Omar Kelly were selected as divisional MVPs by the Wyoming Valley Conference Boys Basketball Coaches Association on Sunday afternoon.</p><p>The Times Leader will select an All-WVC team which will include players from all divisions at a later date.</p><p>Planutis, a 6-foot-6 senior wing player, was chosen Division 1 MVP after leading the Cougars with 18.0 points-per-game average and helping the team to the divisional championship.</p><p>Rush was one of only four letter winners returning to the team. The 6-1 senior guard was named the Division 2 MVP after leading the division with 16.1 scoring averaging. GAR won the divisional title and will play in the District 2 Class 3A semifinals on Monday night against Berwick.</p><p>Kelly, a 5-10 sophomore guard, has started for two seasons for Meyers, which won the Division 3 championship. He averaged 9.5 points, but is known as one of the best perimeter defenders in the WVC. Meyers will play Riverside on Monday in the D2-2A semifinals.</p><p>Joining Planutis on the Division 1 first-team were Berwick senior Tyler Evans, Crestwood senior Robbie Hopkins, Tunkhannock senior Tony Maloney, Coughlin senior Devin Rajza and Hazleton Area sophomore Josh Samec.</p><p>Evans led the entire WVC with a 22.0 scoring average and became the school&#8217;s all-time leading scorer during the D2-3A playoffs. Hopkins has been a steady point guard for Crestwood over the past few seasons. He led the Comets with a 12.5 scoring average and 28 3-pointers.</p><p>Maloney led the entire WVC with 46 3-pointers and averaged 17.4 points. Rajza was an excellent combo guard, scoring a team-high 14.9 points per game while also running the offense at times. Despite being 6-6, Samec showed the ability to hit from the outside with a team-high 17 3-pointers in WVC play. He averaged 10.2 points.</p><p>Besides Rush, also named to the Division 2 first-team were Nanticoke seniors Scott Stout and Brent Piontkowski and junior Luke Butczynski, GAR junior Keyshawn Palmer and Wyoming Area sophomore Sam Greenfield.</p><p>Stout proved to be one of the top guards throughout his career and finished with a 13.3 scoring average. Piontkowski showed the ability to score anywhere on the court even though at 6-6 he was often the biggest player on the court. Butczynski improved throughout the season and led the Trojans with 20 3-pointers.</p><p>Palmer quickly established himself as a dominant rebounder and averaged 12.8 points. Greenfield was part of a very young Wyoming Area team and paced the Warriors with a 9.8 scoring average.</p><p>Joining Kelly on the Division 3 first-team were MMI senior Ed Herbener, Wyoming Seminary seniors Patrick Ganter and Jeff Bevacqua and Holy Redeemer senior John Carr and junior Jason Stachokus.</p><p>Herbener ran MMI&#8217;s offense and paced the Preppers with a 13.3 scoring average. Ganter battled a foot injury early in the season, but came back to average a division-leading 15.4 points. Bevacqua was Seminary&#8217;s tallest player at 6-3, but showed the ability to hit from mid-range and averaged 12.1 points.</p><p>Carr, the division&#8217;s tallest player at 6-8, often had to battle waves of big men from opposing teams. He averaged 12.2 points. Stachokus, a Coughlin transfer, became a much-needed perimeter threat as the season progressed. He paced the Royals with 13.6 points and 27 3-pointers.</p><p>Berwick&#8217;s Jason Kingery was named the Division 1 Coach of the Year. The fifth-year coach has the Dawgs in the D2-3A semifinals for the first time since the 1998-99 season. GAR&#8217;s Jerry Altavilla was the Division 2 Coach of the Year and Meyers&#8217; Pat Toole was the Division 3 Coach of the Year. Their teams were divisional champions.</p><p>The Division 1 second-team consisted of Pittston Area&#8217;s Jordan Black, Crestwood&#8217;s Josh Malkemes, Dallas&#8217; Tanner Gattuso and Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Aaron Austin and Tyler Yankosky. Selected honorable mention were Berwick&#8217;s Josh Goodard and Max Melito, Coughlin&#8217;s Jose Rivera, Crestwood&#8217;s Jason Klusewitz and Dallas&#8217; Jay Bittner.</p><p>The Division 2 second-team was GAR&#8217;s Tino Altavilla and Will Johnson, Hanover Area&#8217;s Tyler Diggs and Nick Minich, Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Jacob Corey and Wyoming Area&#8217;s Tony Saitta.</p><p>The Division 3 second-team was Meyers&#8217; Matt Dessoye, Ryan Gilgallon Raheem Twyman and Ryan Wasley and MMI&#8217;s John Stish.</p><p>The Division 2 and Division 3 coaches did not select honorable mention players.</p><p><strong>SENIOR ALL-STAR GAME</strong></p><p>The coaches also selected the seniors to play in the annual Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic. The charity game will be played Friday, April 1, at 8 p.m. at Holy Redeemer High School. The girls game will be at 6 p.m.</p><p>Dallas&#8217; Mark Belenski will coach the Division 2 team. GAR&#8217;s Jerry Altavilla and his assistant Len Martin will coach the Division 2/3 all-stars.</p><p>Selected to the Division 1 team were: Berwick &#8212; Tyler Evans, Kyle McMillan, Max Melito; Coughlin &#8212; Eli McAllister, Devin Rajza, Jose Rivera; Crestwood &#8212; Mendell Foreman, Robbie Hopkins, Jason Klusewitz, Josh Malkemes; Dallas &#8212; Tanner Gattuso; Hazleton Area &#8212; Dante Biasi, Bobby Planutis; Pittston Area &#8212; Jordan Black, Dylan Osticco; Tunkhannock &#8212; Tony Maloney; Wyoming Valley West &#8212; Marquise Anderscavage, Tyler Yankosky.</p><p>Selected to the Division 2/3 team were: GAR &#8212; Tino Altavilla, Marquan Kemp, Dajon Rush; Hanover Area &#8212; Nick Minich; Holy Redeemer &#8212; Zach Brennan, John Carr; Lake-Lehman &#8212; Jacob Corey; Meyers &#8212; Raheem Twyman, Ryan Wasley; MMI Prep &#8212; Ed Herbener, John Stish; Nanticoke &#8212; Ed Lukowski, Brent Piontkowski, Scott Stout; Wyoming Area &#8212; Anthony Shaver; Wyoming Seminary &#8212; Jeff Bevacqua, Patrick Ganter.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Bobby Planutis, right, drives past Abington Heights&#8217; Tim Toro in a District 2/4 Class 4A subregional semifinal in Berwick on Friday night. Planutis was named Division 1 MVP by Wyoming Valley Conference coaches on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Hazleton-AH_BB_2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Bobby Planutis, right, drives past Abington Heights&#8217; Tim Toro in a District 2/4 Class 4A subregional semifinal in Berwick on Friday night. Planutis was named Division 1 MVP by Wyoming Valley Conference coaches on Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Planutis, Rush, Kelly select divisional MVPs</subheadMeta></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 coaches select all-stars