web1_HighmarkHlth4c.jpg

Highmark puts tighter restrictions on prescription opioids

web1_Blotter.jpg

Wyoming woman accused of assaulting paramedics in ambulance

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The usual prize &#8212; a possible Wyoming Valley Conference divisional title &#8212; wasn&#8217;t available Thursday night.That didn&#8217;t stop Meyers and GAR from continuing their city rivalry with the same fervor as in the past.In front of a full house in a sweltering Coughlin High School gym, Meyers possibly put GAR&#8217;s season to an end with a 61-52 overtime victory.Possibly because District 2 uses a mathematical power ratings formula where all games and opponents&#8217; win-loss records are used to determine postseason berths. GAR (8-9 Div. 2, 10-12 overall) held the eighth and final spot in Class 4A, but the Grenadiers&#8217; rating (0.4986) was barely above ninth-place Honesdale (0.4937), which completed its season Tuesday.&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it puts us in a good spot from what I understand,&#8221; GAR coach Jerry Altavilla said of the loss. &#8220;That&#8217;s what I got &#8212; a loss would have knocked us out.&#8221;Meyers (10-7 Div.2, 11-11) believed it was in the D2-4A playoffs after Tuesday&#8217;s win at Berwick. The victory over GAR ended any speculation.&#8220;The biggest game of the night was played by two teams that don&#8217;t have winning records,&#8221; Meyers coach Pat Toole said. &#8220;We both came in here basically fighting for a playoff spot. Jerry and his kids, as always, just played hard right to the last minute. They made big shots to send the game into overtime.&#8221;GAR&#8217;s Anthony Hawk, who was strong on the boards until fouling out in overtime, hit a pair of free throws with 9.6 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Will Johnson then hit a 3-pointer to start the extra four-minute period, but GAR didn&#8217;t score again until 20 seconds left.During the GAR drought, Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner hit four free throws, Cole Walker added two more and Keegan Brewster essentially sealed the game with a layup for a 58-50 lead with 28 ticks left.Buckner returned to the lineup after a two-game absence and led the Mohawks with 26 points. Walker and Kendall Brewster scored 11 each. Najese Hood had just two points, but ripped down a game-high 14 points.Buckner&#8217;s 3-pointer at 6:55 of the third quarter gave Meyers a lead that lasted until a rebound basket by Hawk and a pair of buckets by Johnson rallied GAR ahead 46-43 with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter.Kendall Brewster, though, then came up big with two baskets and a free throw that gave Meyers the lead until Hawk&#8217;s free throws to send the game into overtime.Johnson finished with 16 points. Hawk and Tyler Young added 14 each for GAR, with Hawk finishing a rebound short of a double-double.NOTES: The game was played at Coughlin because of the expected large crowd and an issue with an emergency exit at Meyers. &#8230; Updated District 2 playoff ratings will be available Friday at piaad2.org.Crestwood 54, Coughlin 29The Coments buried seven 3-pointers, including a game-high four from Sean Murphy, in a win over Coughlin.Mike Palmiero scored a game-high 14 points for Crestwood, followed by 12 from Ryan Petrosky and Murphy.Coughlin&#8217;s Jahsim Hall scored a team-high seven points. The Crusaders ended their season at 2-20 overall.Pittston Area 65, Wyoming Valley West 55Naseem Guillaume (22 points) and Brian Miller (18) combined to score 40 points in a 10-point win over the Spartans. Pittston Area&#8217;s Matt McGlynn scored 10 points to round out the Patriots who scored in the double-figures.Draig Ruff scored a team-high 22 points for the Spartans.Tunkhannock 68, Berwick 55Tunkhannock drilled nine triples, including seven from Tyler Faux, who scored a game-high 28 points.Evan Turner scored 13 while Sean Harder added 11 in a winning effort.Damong Beckhorn scored 21 point to pace Berwick, while Alec Markle added 19 points. The Dawgs were eliminated from D2-4A playoff contention and finished 9-13 overall.Hanover Area 54, Wyoming Seminary 49Asad Whitehead scored a game-high 21 points as Hanover Area held off a surge from the Blue Knights in the fourth quarter.Mike Piscotty and Tyler Evans each scored 11 points in a winning effort.Dimitri Gnall scored a team-high 18 points for Wyoming Seminary.Nanticoke 51, Wyoming Area 37Jake Krupinski led three Trojans with double figures in scoring with 15 points.Sam Greenfield had 17 points for Wyoming Area.Northwest 40, MMI Prep 37Sam Saxe paced Northwest with 15 points.Philip Byriel scored 18 points for MMI Prep in his first game back since a wrist injury suffered over the Christmas break.Holy Redeemer 73, Lake-Lehman 45Collin Cook led four Royals in double figures with 17 points.CJ Cercone had 16 points for Lake-Lehman, which ended its season at 2-20.Hazleton Area 66, Dallas 62Josh Samec knocked down five three-pointers to lead Hazleton Area with 23 points.Jay Bittner had 16 points for the Mountaineers.Meyers 61, GAR 52 OTGAR (52) &#8212; Anthony Hawk 4 6-6 14, Will Johnson 6 3-3 16, Jared O&#8217;Day 0 0-0 0, Tyler Young 7 0-1 14, Kahlil White 1 0-0 3, Mufee Burney 0 0-0 0, Simon Peter 1 2-2 5. Totals 19 11-12 52.MEYERS (61) &#8212; Kendall Brewster 4 1-2 11, Keegan Brewster 4 1-1 9, Cole Walker 3 4-5 11, Jawane Buckner 6 9-16 26, Najese Hood 0 2-2 2, Tanner Nilon 0 0-0 0, David Kasper 0 0-0 0, Blake Masker 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 17-26 61.GAR`9`16`8`14`5 &#8212; 52Meyers`14`12`8`13`14 &#8212; xThree-point goals &#8212; GAR 3 (Johnson, Peter 2); MEY 8 (Ken.Brewster 2, Walker, Buckner 5).Crestwood 54, Coughlin 29COUGHLIN (29) &#8212; Jahsim Hall 3 0-1 7, Tony Egidio 3 0-1 6, Najeeb Bilal 2 0-0 5, Matt Egido 2 0-0 4, Trent Zavada 2 0-0 4, Aaron Bennett 1 0-0 3, Jesus Perdomo 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 0-2 29.CRESTWOOD (54) &#8212; Mike Palmiero 7 0-0 14, Ryan Petrosky 4 4-4 12, Sean Murphy 4 0-0 12, Evan Knapp 3 0-0 7, Camden Boris 2 0-0 6, Adam Gegaris 0 2-2 2, Jimmy Curry 0 1-2 1, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0, Brandon Niemenski 0 0-0 0, Marcus Vieney 0 0-0 0, Connor Olenginski 0 0-0 0, Mike Wyda 0 0-0 0, Jake Antosh 0 0-0 0, Corey Chalk 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-8 54.Coughlin`5`13`6`5 &#8212; 29Crestwood`14`12`17`11 &#8212; 54Three-point goals &#8212; COU 3 (Bennett 1, Hall 1, Bilal 1); CRE 7 (Sean Murphy 4, Boris 2, Knapp 1).Pittston Area 65, Wyoming Valley West 55WYOMING VALLEY WEST (55) &#8212; Draig Ruff 7 6-7 22, Mason Mendygral 4 0-0 10, Austin Sinkewicz 3 0-0 8, Justus Simpson 3 0-0 7, Samuel Solomon 3 1-1 7, Devin Rhodes 0 1-2 1, Ricky Leon 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-10 55.PITTSTON AREA (65) &#8212; Naseem Guillaume 7 6-8 22, Brian Miller 9 0-0 18, Matt McGlynn 3 2-4 10, Andrew Krawczyk 2 0-4 5, Logan Booth 2 0-6 4, Trevor Tigue 1 0-0 2, Shamique Stevens 1 0-0 2, Ryan Hartigan 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 8-21 65.Wyo. Valley West`16`6`11`22 &#8212; 55Pittston Area`13`10`22`20 &#8212; 65Three-point goals &#8212; WVW 7 (Ruff 2, Mendygral 2, Sinkewicz 2, Simpson 1); PIT 5 (Guillaume 2, McGlynn 2, Krawczyk 1).Tunkhannock 68, Berwick 55BERWICK (55) &#8212; Damon Beckhorn 5 7-8 21, Alec Markle 7 4-6 19, Denver Knorr 3 4-4 11, Jarret Groshek 1 0-0 3, Jore Norce 0 1-2 1, Connor Hanson 0 0-0 0, Blane Cleaver 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 16-21 55.TUNKHANNOCK (68) &#8212; Tyler Faux 9 3-4 28, Evan Turner 6 1-1 13, Sean Harder 4 2-3 11, Matt Goodwin 3 2-2 9, Avery Billings 1 1-2 3, Ryan Harder 0 2-2 2, Jack Chilson 1 0-0 2, Paul DeMarco 0 0-0 0, David Baltrusaitis 0 0-0 0, Vittorio Sica 0 0-0 0, Logan Helsel 0 0-0 0, CJ Wright 0 0-0 0, Jaren Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-14 68.Berwick`7`16`11`21 &#8212; 55Tunkhannock`14`24`13`17&#8212; 68Three-point goals &#8212; BER 7 (Beckhorn 4, Markle 1, Groshek 1, Knorr 1); TUN 9 (Faux 7, Harder 1, Goodwin 1).Hanover Area 54, Wyoming Seminary 49WYOMING SEMINARY (49) &#8212; Dimitri Gnall 8 2-4 18, Jeremy Callahan 3 2-2 10, Nicholas Ganter 2 4-4 8, Todd Phillips 2 2-4 7, Jake Koretz 2 0-0 6, Tyler Maddock 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-14 49.HANOVER AREA (54) &#8212; Asad Whitehead 6 9-12 21, Mike Piscotty 1 9-12 11, Tyler Thomas 5 1-3 11, Evan Materna 3 0-0 6, Desmond Cannon 1 2-2 5. Totals 16 21-27 54.Wyoming Seminary`11`6`16`16 &#8212; 49Hanover Area`17`9`13`14 &#8212; 54Three-point goals &#8212; WS 5 (Koretz 2, Callahan 2, Phillips 1); HAN 1 Cannon 1).Nanticoke 51, Wyoming Area 37WYOMING AREA (37) &#8212; Sam Greenfield 6 2-2 17, Dylan Melberger 3 0-0 9, Aaron Zezza 3 0-0 6, Justin Alder 1 0-0 3, Kyre Zielinski 0 2-2 2, Matt Wright 0 0-0 0, Dom Deluca 0 0-0 0, Dan Wiedl 0 0-0 0, Cole Coolbaugh 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-4 37.NANTICOKE (51) &#8212; Jake Krupinski 6 1-4 15, Colby Butczynski 5 0-2 12, Nate Kreitzer 3 3-4 11, Luke Myers 2 1-2 6, Dylan Szychowski 2 0-0 4, Collin Brown 1 0-0 3, Joe Bielecki 0 0-0 0, Andy Kozlofski 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-12 51.Wyoming Area`9`8`11`9 &#8212; 37Nanticoke`8`12`15`16 &#8212; 51Three-point goals &#8212; WA 7 (Adler, S. Greenfield 3, Melberger 3); NAN 8 (Brown, Myers, Butczynski 2, Kreitzer 2, J. Krupinski 2).Crestwood 54, Coughlin 29COUGHLIN (29) &#8212; Jahsim Hall 3 0-1 7, Tony Egidio 3 0-1 6, Najeeb Bilal 2 0-0 5, Trent Zavada 2 0-0 4, Matt Egido 2 0-0 4, Aaron Bennett 1 0-0 3, Jesus Perdomo 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 0-2 29.CRESTWOOD (54) &#8212; Mike Palmiero 7 0-0 14, Ryan Petrosky 4 4-4 12, Sean Murphy 4 0-0 12, Evan Knapp 3 0-0 7, Camden Boris 2 0-0 6, Adam Gegaris 0 2-2 2, Jimmy Curry 0 1-2 1, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0, Brandon Niemski 0 0-0 0, Marcus Vieney 0 0-0 0, Connor Olenginski 0 0-0 0, Mike Wyda 0 0-0 0, Jake Antosh 0 0-0 0, Corey Chalk 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-8 54.Coughlin`5`13`6`5 &#8212; 29Crestwood`14`12`17`11 &#8212; 54Three-point goals &#8212; COU 3 (Bennett, Egido, Egidio); CRE 7 (Knapp, Boris 2, Murphy 4).Northwest 40, MMI Prep 37NORTHWEST (40) &#8212; Sam Saxe 3 6-7 15, Jaxson Yaple 5 0-1 11, Matt Saxe 3 2-2 9, Tyler Stevens 3-4 3, Bryce Kosak 1 0-0 2, Matt Pierontoni 0 0-0 0, Walker Yaple 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-14 40.MMI PREP (37) &#8212; Philip Byriel 8 0-0 18, Matt Marchetti 2 2-2 7, Marcus Kassick 2 3-6 7, George Palermo 1 3-4 5, Mike Badamo 0 0-0 0, Keefer Hoover 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 8-12 37.Northwest`4`12`13`11 &#8212; 40MMI Prep`13`9`6`9 &#8212; 37Three-point goals &#8212; NW 5 (J. Yaple, M. Saxe, S. Saxe 3); MMI 3 (Marchetti, Byriel 2).Holy Redeemer 73, Lake-Lehman 45HOLY REDEEMER (73) &#8212; Collin Cook 7 1-2 17, JD Turosky 6 1-2 13, Derek Answini 4 0-0 11, Jake Adonizio 4 0-1 10, Bryce Yencha 4 0-0 8, Joey Judge 2 3-3 7, Tucker Ell 1 1-2 3, Gavin Claherty 0 2-2 2, Josh Andrejko 0 0-0 0, Jordan Diggs 0 0-0 0, Jacob Kester 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 8-12 73.LAKE-LEHMAN (45) &#8212; CJ Cercone 6 2-5 16, Alex Magdalinski 3 0-0 8, Nate Salus 2 3-3 8, Donald Thompson 3 0-0 6, Danny Kutz 0 1-2 0, Max Paczweski 1 0-0 2, Nate O&#8217;Donnell 1 0-0 2, Andrew Martin 0 0-0 0, Bryan Morio 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-11 45.Holy Redeemer`14`18`23`18 &#8212; 73Lake-Lehman`11`8`14`12 &#8212; 45Three-point goals &#8212; HR 7 (Cook 2, Adonizio 2, Answini 3); LL 4 (Sabaluski, Salus, Magdalinski 2).Hazleton Area 66, Dallas 62DALLAS (62) &#8212; Jay Bittner 2 12-13 16, Joey Parsons 6 3-3 16, Brody Strickland 3 0-0 8, Alex Charlton 2 4-6 8, Matt Mathers 4 0-0 8, Nick Kocher 2 1-1 6, Ben O&#8217;Connell 0 0-0 0, Jack Farrell 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 20-23 62.HAZLETON AREA (66) &#8212; Josh Samec 7 4-4 23, Da&#8217;Mir Faison 5 6-11 17, Joey Grula 6 1-4 14, Jeffrey Planutis 5 1-2 12, Andrew Vayda 0 0-0 0, Sparky Wolk 0 0-0 0m Adrian Otero 0 0-0 0, Scotty Shamany 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-23 66.Dallas`16`10`12`24 &#8212; 62Hazleton Area`26`12`10`18 &#8212; 66Three-point goals &#8212; DAL 4 (Parsons, Kocher, Strickland 2); HAZ 8 ( Faison, Grula, Planutis, Samec 5).<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/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner, left, and Kendall Brewster walk off the court after defeating GAR 61-52 in overtime at Coughlin High Schoolon Thursday night. GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson drives past Meyers&#8217; Kendall Brewster Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner, left, and Kendall Brewster walk off the court after defeating GAR 61-52 in overtime at Coughlin High Schoolon Thursday night. GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson drives past Meyers&#8217; Kendall Brewster Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Najese Hood grabs an offensive rebound ahead of GAR&#8217;s Anthony Hawk in WVC boys basketball action at Coughlin High School on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Meyers&#8217; Najese Hood grabs an offensive rebound ahead of GAR&#8217;s Anthony Hawk in WVC boys basketball action at Coughlin High School on Thursday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner drives to the hoop as GAR&#8217;s Jared O&#8217;Day goes for the steal Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner drives to the hoop as GAR&#8217;s Jared O&#8217;Day goes for the steal Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Cole Walker shoots between GAR defenders Kahlil White, left, and Simon Peter Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Meyers&#8217; Cole Walker shoots between GAR defenders Kahlil White, left, and Simon Peter Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Tyler Young shoots in the lane against Meyers in WVC boys basketball action Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_5.jpg</photo4><caption4>GAR&#8217;s Tyler Young shoots in the lane against Meyers in WVC boys basketball action Thursday night at Coughlin High School. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR's Will Johnson, right, drives past Meyers' Kendall Brewster Thursday night at Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL021618HSBB-Meyers-GAR_6.jpg</photo5><caption5>GAR's Will Johnson, right, drives past Meyers' Kendall Brewster Thursday night at Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></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>

Boys Basketball: Meyers tops GAR in OT