J ¥ Sunday, December 25, 2005 Tue POST PAGE 9 Sports Week i 4 ah “Lyndsay Ellis will be the starting point guard for Dallas this season. % TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO/FRED ADAMS o]allas hopes to overcome tall obstacle 3: By DAVE KONOPKI k 11 Post Editor j 3 j nc DALLAS TWP. - Joe Noon has been blessed with ul pmany good athletes since he took over the Dallas {girls basketball program seven years ago. f+" He has several this season. ¢ po ~ #' Noon has been fortunate to have many good shoo- ters during his time with the Mountaineers. He has several of those this season, as well. t+ And Noon has had his share of tall players who ‘have given his teams an intimidating inside pres- ig: | 8) : by | ence. =» This season? Well, that’s another story. | Despite not having a starting player taller than 5- 8 ~foot-8, Dallas is expected to be among the conten- ; sders in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II this season. Cassie Snider (3) - is one of the top players returning for the Dallas girls basketball team. - “This is the smallest team I've ever coached,” said Noon. “Cassie Snider is about 5-7 or 5-8 and that’s ‘pushing it. But we have a winning attitude. We feel ‘we can beat anyone on any night. I know we’re young and we're not big, but I really feel we can make a good showing.” (forward). ' Senior Robin Razawich, juniors Brittany Allen, Lindsay McCabe, Devin Lacey and Stephanie Ko- ‘necke, along with sophomore Ally Evans will also see The Mountaineers are led by returning starters ‘Snider, a senior guard, and sophomore guard Melissa i ‘Gorski. They will be joined in the starting lineup by a io ‘trio of sophomores, including Lyndsay Ellis (point i ‘guard), Erin Delaney (guard) and Danielle Krawetz significant playing time. Noon says his team will have make up for its lack of size with solid shooting and mistake-free basketball. “We have to use our speed and our shooting. So far, we've been shooting the ball pretty good. Fundamen- tals are important. We have to limit our turnovers. We can’t make stupid mistakes because we won’t get second changes.” . Dallas will face a very tough regular season sched- ule. Joining the Mountaineers in Division II are state- ranked Nanticoke Area and Bishop O'Reilly. Nanti- coke is considered by many to possess a team good enough to make a run at a Class 3A state champion- ship. Lake-Lehman has excellent senior leadership, GAR is improving and Meyers could be the dark- horse to win the division title. Dallas defeated Meyers in the opening game of the regular season. The Mountaineers play in the Bishop O'Reilly holi- day tournament at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 26 at the Kingston school. They will play either Bishop Hoban or North Schuylkill on Dec. 28. Dallas returns to the regular season against GAR on Jan. 3 and a possible play.” showdown at Nanticoke Area is set for Jan. 5. “As far as I'm concerned, we play in the toughest division in the Wyoming Valley,” said Noon. “It’s go- ing to be tough. But I feel our girls will be ready to Black Knights shooting for success By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor LEHMAN TWP. - Jim Spencer knows basketball is a simple sport. Put the ball in the basket more times than your oppo- nent and you'll likely have success. And if the Lake-Lehman girls basket- ball team can perform that still up to their potential, the Black Knights should have a very successful season. “This is best shooting team I've had,” said Spencer, who enters his third year as head coach at Lake-Lehman. “We have some girls who can really put the ball in the net.” The Black Knights are led by returning starters Sheree Horvath, Jill Chocallo and Tina Watkins. Horvath is one of the top players in the Wyoming Valley Confer- ence Division II and is closing in on the 1,000 career point mark. The senior will play forward, while Chocallo, a senior, and Watkins, a junior, will start at the guard position. They’ll be joined in the starting lineup by junior center Marissa Harrison and ju- nior guard Joscelyn Mahon. Juniors Carol Manzoni and Lauren Spencer, along with sophomore Audriana Lippnik will also see playing time. Junior forward Emily Duebler has been out with an injury, but is expected to return after the holidays. “We expect to be really competitive in our division,” said Spencer, whose team plays Bishop O’Hara in the Meyers Tour- nament at 6 p.m. Dec. 26. The Black Knights will play either Meyers or Blue Ridge on Dec. 28. “We're in a very tough division. All of the teams had a winning record during the preseason. It’s going to be tough, but we expect to finish over .500 in our division.” Spencer says his team’s ability to shoot well is only one of its strong points. “We have a strong inside game,” he said. “And we’re very athletic. These girls have a lot of athletic ability. Our teams are usually big or they're athletic. This year, we're big and athletic.” Lake-Lehman, which has only two se- niors, is also a very solid group away from the game, says its head coach. “We have a great group of young la- dies,” said Spencer, whose team posted a 3-1 record during the preseason. “They’re great kids off the court. They recently adopted a local family for Thanksgiving. Our two seniors (Horvath and Chocallo) provide great leadership and they lead by example. When our younger players see the older kids diving on the floor, they want to give the same kind of effort.” LAKE-LEHMAN CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP | Members of " Lake-Lehman's 1981 state ¥ - championship i wrestling team who attended a ceremony Wednesday . night, from left, first row are Mike Les- kowsky, trainer Jeff Pace, Scott Oakley, | Que Walczak and Rocky ; Bonomo. Sec- | ond row: John | Zaleskas, Mark . Harshbarger, Ricky Bonomo, . Rusty Cool- | baugh, Fred Appenzeller, Mr. and Mrs. i Cliff Hontz, ! parents of Brad - Hontz. © : @: Lake-Lehman wrestling gram held a ceremony Wednesday night to honor the 1981 state championship wres- tling team. The ceremony took A place before the Black Knights’ match against Back Mountain rival Dallas. Under head coach Floyd “Shorty” Hitchcock, Lake-Leh- man produced three individual state champions en route to cap- turing the PIAA Class 2A title. Twin brothers Ricky and Rocky Bonomo joined teammate Mike FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Leskowsky on the gold medal stand in Hershey. The Bonomos “went on to become outstanding college wrestlers at Blooms- burg University. Leskowsky al- Mike Leskowsky , a member of the 1981 state chanpionship team at Lake-Lehman, has some playful encouragement for this year's team members Wally Simko, Brandon Higgins and Josh Arnold. so continued his athletic career in college, playing linebacker for head coach Joe Paterno at Penn State University. Stories about this year’s Lake- Lehman and Dallas wrestling teams, as well as more informa- tion about Wednesday's cere- mony, will appear in next week’s edition of The Post.
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