| Sunday, February 26, 2006 Tue POST PAGE 7 Sports Week | Dallas diver going for state title Eby preparing £ By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor DALLAS TWP. - Four years ago, he was diving into the water at Moon Lake Park. Now, Alaric Eby is attempting to dive into history — and the re- cord books. The Dallas High School senior is hoping to become the first div- er in the history of the Wyoming Valley Conference to win back- to-back state diving champion- ships when he competes at the PIAA Class 2A championships Saturday, March 18 at Bucknell University. At press time, Eby was prepar- ing to compete in the District 2 Class 2A diving championships at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre. The son of Barry and Judy Eby of Dallas Township — who will com- pete for the diving team at Cor- nell University next season — en- _tered the event as the over- whelming favorite, having cap- tured the championship in each | of the past three years. | After that competition, he fi- | nally gets to focus on making his- | tory at Bucknell. { “It would mean a lot,” said | Eby, referring to the possibility of winning a second state cham- pionship. “I try hard not to think about it. All year long I've been | taking it one meet at a time.” | The 18-year-old has already _ taken his place among local div- ®:: history. In addition to win- | ning the district championship | each year, Eby has also broken | most records at many WVC ~ pools. He certainly would have “broken more, but not all local =~high schools keep diving re- |. cords. It’s been a long time since a lo- cal diver defeated Eby in compe- tition. He hasn’t been defeated in WVC competition since his i sophomore year. And he can TT aE See EBY, Page 8 to take place en, 20 oll diving history .....— completing a dive during a recent meet. TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTOS/S. JOHN WILKIN Dallas diver Alaric Eby hopes to win his second consecutive state diving championship. Ben Thomas looks to pass the ball to a teammate during a playoff game _ against Pittston Area. | Dallas players Ben Thomas (14) and Mike Race (5) battle for a loose ball. PHOTOS FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Jake Simon goes up for a basket during a Dallas Youth Basketball playoff game. Top seed survives to play another day Dallas Youth Basketball tipped off its annual play- off action last weekend at Wycallis Elementary School. In the seventh/eighth grade boys division, semifinal action will take place this weekend, while the championship game is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at Wycallis. In the semifinals, Dr. Jack Ellis will face Bishop Photo, and Offset Paperback plays Dig- ital Print Services. Here’s a look at last week’s action: e Ryan McAndrew scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as top-seeded Dr. Jack Ellis sur- vived a quarterfinal scare by edging D.J. Charlie Hayes, 39-37. Taylor Dunn added six points for the See PLAYOFFS, Page 8 Tv FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Ryan McAndrew attempts to keep possession of the ball while Mark Noyalis defends. Mountaineers continue District 2 playoff run The Dallas boys basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the District 2 Class 3A playoffs earlier this week with an easy 72-46 win against Pittston Ar- ea. At press time, the third-seeded Mountaineers were getting ready to take the court against No. 6 seed Val- ley View. The playoff road for the Lake-Lehman boys came to an end, but not without a fierce battle. The Black Knights played toe-to-toe with Blue Ridge be- fore suffering a 65-54 loss in a Class 2A game. In girls action, Dallas and Lake-Lehman were preparing to take the court in their respective first-round games. Nick Samanas of Dallas at- tempts to block the shot of Pittston Area's Joe Lanza.
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