W-b Area Adds Probation Officer To Staff 
The Goal Is To Prevent Students On Probation From Getting Into Lives Of Crime, 
Says A County Official

Alma Sidonis 
Jan. 15, 1994 
Alma P. Sidonis, 81, Of East Spring Street, Nanticoke, Formerly Of 
Wilkes-barre, Died Saturday In Mercy Hospital, Wilkes-barre.

Tuesday, January 18, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Road to Division II crown runs through Mohawk country &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This was all about establishing dominance Friday nightIt doesn't take much
to get Wilkes-Barre fired up over Meyers and GAR meeting face to face, in any
sporting event. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But Meyers is new to the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference boys'
basketball world. GAR has been there forever. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II is not big enough for both of
them to share, and both want it for themselves just the same. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So the two tough teams from different neighborhoods of the same town went
flying around in a first quarter that kept seat edges very warm. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then GAR went away, maybe for the winter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before long, Meyers was coasting to a 72-49 victory that wasn't even that
close. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This is not a GAR team that has a 6-foot-8 guy like Greg Skrepenak stacked
in the middle anymore. Bob Sura left three seasons ago for Florida State, so
the Grenadiers don't have the man that will beat you all by himself, if that's
what it takes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But they did have a nice preseason, and knocked off Meyers in the process.
That was the only loss in 12 games for Meyers, which may soon become to the
1990s what GAR was to the 1980s. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So there was this pride thing going on at Meyers Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We felt we were the team to beat from the beginning," said the Mohawks'
Steve Brominski, whose game-high 25 points allowed him to be smug afterward. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If that was not true before, it is now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trees wearing Mohawk uniforms keep falling off the bench and wind up on the
court for Meyers. Gary Nealon, the 6-foot-7 forward who flows down the court
like water from a tap, wasn't around when Meyers lost its only game of the
season. He's back from a broken wrist now, and that makes every team Meyers
plays an underdog. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Brominski, at 6-4, is tough inside. Julius Perry, at 6-3, is a bull of a
freshman and Tom Wright, at the same height, can change a game the second he
takes hold of a basketball, and neither of those two get to the floor until a
starter gets tired or gets in foul trouble. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Meyers is very good," GAR coach John Hopkins said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 GAR is not in the same league, with talent or depth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Grenadiers do have speed, but it quickly burned out after a run-and-gun
first quarter. GAR rattled Meyers early with a press, took a 14-12 lead after
the opening period, then went to sleep. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The press disappeared. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The scoring stopped. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And the Mohawks coasted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While Meyers was unloading for 36 points, GAR made seven field goals during
the middle quarters and was out of the game by the start of the fourth, 48-31. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This year we're like a Dow Jones team," Hopkins said. "Up and down." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Added Brominski, "To only give up 49 points to an explosive team like GAR
is a credit to our defense. When we came out after halftime, we had to really
get after it." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And when Meyers gets after something, nothing GAR or anybody else does is
going to matter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Back to the drawing board," Hopkins sighed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "All the preseason expectations and with everything written about them, I
think they're starting to deal with it a little more confidently," Meyers
coach Joe Caffrey said of his players. "There's nothing they can do to be in
the underdog role." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caffrey was saying before the season the road to the title runs through
GAR. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nah, that path was closed Friday night. These days, the championship
route's running through South Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 * * * &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On the rebound: Already, Wyoming Valley West has won as many regular-season
games as the team did all of last season. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But where the Spartans and rookie head coach Gary Mack are concerned,
that's no reason to celebrate. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Spartans are looking for a lot more from this season, and if they keep
playing the way they did Saturday, Valley West just may rediscover basketball
glory before this season is out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We are looking for a goal of making the playoffs," Mack said. "At 2-3,
we're not out of that goal." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Valley West threw a scare into Bishop Hoban for awhile Saturday, staying
within 38-33 at halftime before stumbling to a 70-57 loss during a poor third
quarter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That may not be much, but for a team that finished at or near the bottom of
the Wyoming Valley Conference for the past four seasons, it was quite an
accomplishment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think we can compete with anybody," Mack said, "at home or on the road." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Valley West is 7-6 overall, and its resurgence is due in part to the return
of power center Tom Wasley, who is back in the lineup after suffering a
fractured left ankle when the Spartans hosted the Crossin Tournament in late
December. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If nothing else, this Valley West team will fight opponents to the end, no
matter what the score. That fire and drive is led by Mike MacNeely, who had 13
points and 14 rebounds against Bishop Hoban. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He's the hardest-working kid I've seen in the league," Mack said. "I get
the feeling we know now there isn't anybody we can't compete with." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 * * * &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Back with vengeance: When GAR defeated Meyers in the first round of the
Robert McGrane Basketball Tournament, the Mohawks were probably without their
best player -- and maybe the best in the league. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since returning from his broken wrist, Nealon is averaging 17.7 points in
Meyers' four WVC league games. Now, you'd probably expect him to dominate the
paint, where at 6-7 he's been in control. It doesn't pay to foul him, because
he's 10-for-12 from the free throw line. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And the Mohawk senior also has uncanny touch, for a big man or little man.
He can stop and pop from the 3-point line with the best of them, as he showed
GAR Friday night. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Nealon is a big difference," said Hopkins, whose Grenadiers beat Meyers
without Nealon and were pounded when he played against them. "He's 6-7, he's
able to shoot outside, he drives, he passes well. He's certainly a
difference."

Road To Division Ii Crown Runs Through Mohawk Country This Was All About Establishing Dominance Friday Night.