Sunday, February 17, 2013
Tue DALLAS POST
PAGE 9
Sports
By TOM ROBINSON
For The Dallas Post
Dallas High School athletes
training in the field house next to
the school’s football field will
have new equipment with which
to work, possibly as early as next
week following the completion of
- one stage of an improvement pro-
ject.
The Dallas Foundation for Ex-
j cellence in Education has ordered
‘new equipment for the field
_ house weight room that is used by
the football, wrestling and track
teams as well as other athletes at
.the school.
Nearly $20,000 was raised to
obtain new equipment, replacing
outdated items in some cases and
adding to the available options in
others. A similar second stage
will attempt to raise close to the
same amount of funds for a fur-
ther update in the future.
Bonny Mannello, a Dallas resi-
dent who is a personal trainer and
a foundation board member, said
The Dallas Foundation was formed to provide support for the Dallas
School District, its faculty and students through scholarships, improved
facilities and support of educational, athletic and other extracurricular
activities. Donations, which are tax-deductible, can be sent to The Dal-
las Foundation for Excellence in Education, 1000 Wyoming Ave., Forty
Fort, Pa. 18704.
the fundraising went beyond the
standard items that booster clubs
for the teams tend to cover. She
said the donors included “people
who have graduated from the
school and those who have sons
or daughters who will use the
equipment.”
The foundation is attempting
to create “the best high school fit-
ness facility in Northeastern PA,”
according to a flyer it produced
seeking private donations. The
equipment can help students be
healthier and pursue their goals
in athletic competition.
Among the additions in the
first stage are new power-lifting
racks with adjustable benches,
Olympic bars and weights, a back
machine and a Kettlebell system
for core training. The equipment
was ordered through Fitness
Headquarters, which helped de-
sign the weight room.
ew equipment coming fo Dallas weight room
Much of the outdated equip-
ment is being removed from the
room. The existing leg extension,
curt, bicep and tricep machines
will be kept.
The first stage of the project
came together in less than a year.
Formal discussions began last
summer.
“We’re not finished yet,” Man-
nello said.
The second stage would in-
clude a cable cross machine, a
sound system and other items
like jump ropes and exercise balls.
basketball programs are
gearing up for action.
By TOM ROBINSON
For the Dallas Post
The school basketball sea-
sons are wrapping up, but those
most dedicated to the game are
: getting ready to move on to
the
their next season, playing Ama-
teur Athletic Union (AAU) bas-
ketball.
Rock Solid Basketball, host-
ed at the Rock Rec Sports Com-
plex in Trucksville, completed
tryouts in January and has put
together a series of boys and
girls teams to compete in tour-
naments this spring.
“We have kids that are above
average players ‘on the level’
they're playing in,” said Doug
Miller, the Dallas High School
head coach who is the director
of Rock Solid and coordinates
boys AAU program.
“They’re looking to get better
for junior high basketball or the
. junior high players are trying to
~ get ready for junior varsity and
~ varsity.
“Our older high school kids
are at the point where they are
trying to be seen by colleges.”
Rock Solid will have two
boys teams for freshmen and
- one each for eighth, seventh,
sixth, fifth and fourth grade.
Kathy Healey, the head coach
at Pittston Area, coordinates
. the girls program. It has a team
sophomores, plus others for
th, seventh, sixth and fifth
- grades.
Seventh grade and younger
- play in four tournaments while
. eighth grade and older play in
. SIX
“In the area we live in, within
a 4-5-hour drive, you can play in
' some of the more competitive
oi
tournaments in the country,”
Miller said.
Don Hopkins, ‘who has been
with Rock Solid since its debut
in 2006, and Nate Francis will
coach the separate ninth-grade
teams.
The team, coached by Fran-
cis, includes Dallas students
Spencer Bowanko, Tanner Gat-
tuso, Suk Mathon, Adam Niz-
nik and Ray Anthony Ostroski.
Miller coaches the eighth-
grade team and is assisted by
Misericordia University student
Jon Gimble.
The team includes Dallas
players Jason Anderson, Zach
ton Gattuso, Collin Tertl and
Ethan Szczecinski.
Dallas seventh-grade coach
Doug Chapman coaches the
seventh-grade team, which has
Jay Bittner, Alex Charlton, Da-
vid Chopyak, Mason Gattuso,
Nick Kocher, Andrew Kovalick,
Nate Maransky, Matthew Math-
ers, Ben OConnell, David
Schuster and Brody Strickland,
all from Dallas.
Mike Luksic and Scott An-
swini, Dallas Youth Basketball
coaches, guide the sixth-grade
team. Answini also coaches at
BILL TARUTIS FILE PHOTO/ FOR THE DLALAS POST
agers move on to next season
Amateur Athletic Union
Lake-Lehman's Cayle Spencer, left, is looking forward to playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)
basketball.
Good Shepherd, which has Mi-
chael Anderson, Derek Answi-
ni, Collin Cook, Justin Fell,
Hunter Landon, Michael Luk-
sic, Tyler Mozeleski, Ethan Za-
watski and Jack Ziemba on the
team.
Fred Berley, a Dallas Youth
Basketball coach, leads the
fifth-grade team. Eric Berley, a
Wyoming Seminary student
from Dallas, is on the squad;
along with Sean Boland, John
Cantando and Hunter Love
from Good Shepherd; and Luke
DelGaudio, Matthew Boland,
Jack Farrell, Lenny Kelley, Jack
Lukasavage and Brett Ostroski
from Dallas.
The fourth-grade team is still
being finalized.
Cayle Spencer and Emily Sut-
ton of Lake-Lehman, Talia Szat-
kowski of Dallas and Gabby
Volpetti, a Wyoming Seminary
player from Dallas, are part of
the sophomore girls team that
Healey coaches.
Dallas Youth Basketball
coach Chad Lojewski leads the
eighth-grade girls team. It in-
cludes Courtney Devens, Paige
Evans, Maddie Kelley and Sara
Lojewski from Dallas, as well as
BILL TARUTIS FILE PHOTO/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Ray Anthony Ostroski, left, and Tanner Gattuso, both of Dallas,
shown here during a Dallas Foundation Golf Tournament, are
members of an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) ninth-grade bas-
ketball team.
Sarah Sabaluski from Lake-Leh-
man.
Kelly Johnson, the Dallas
High School coach, leads the
seventh-grade team. Hannah
Johnson, Olivia Johnson and
Kendra Saba of Dallas are on
the team along with Makayla
Adams of Lake-Lehman.
Dallas freshman coach John-
na Schickram coaches the
sixth-grade girls. Her team in-
cludes Laura Golden, a Susque-
hanna Prep student from Dal-
See CAGERS, Page 10
AM a RE
Sh
Dallas, Lehman
oirls teams look
toward playoffs
By TOM ROBINSON
For The Dallas Post
The Dallas and Lake-Lehman
girls basketball teams have had
the look of title contenders dur-
ing successful seasons.
To contend for a championship
in the Class AAA girls playoffs,
however, they will have to make
it through the toughest and deep-
est of the eight District 2 basket-
ball tournaments that begin play
in the next week.
“We are loaded,” Dallas coach
Kelly Johnson said of the teams
in the Class AAA field.
Dallas handed likely top-seed
Scranton Prep its only loss in the
first 21 games.
Lake-Lehman, one of nine
Class AAA teams that entered
the final night of the regular sea-
son with wins in two-thirds or
more of its league games, has not
been as consistent as its rival. It
does, however, have wins to its
credit over Dallas and Crest-
wood, two of the top three teams
from Division 1 of the Wyoming
Valley Conference.
“Without a doubt, it should be
an extremely tough tourna-
ment,” said Lake-Lehman coach
Charlie Lavan. “There are some
quality, quality teams.
“It should definitely be a
tough, very challenging tourna-
ment.”
District 2’s return to open tour-
naments on the Class AAA and
AA levels this season leaves 18 el-
igible teams, 11 of which were at
.500 or better going into Thurs-
day as teams fought for final
seeding position. Abington
Heights, which has won three
straight district titles, including
the last two at Class AAAA before
dropping back down this season,
is looking at a first-round game
on the road with its .500 record.
Dallas beat two of the three
winning Lackawanna League
Class AAA opponents it faced,
topping Scranton Prep and West
Scranton and losing to defending
district champion Honesdale.
“There are such good teams,
even in the lower seeds, that you
have to come ready to play every
game or you could be knocked
back on your heels,” Johnson
said.
Dallas was scheduled to play
Pittston Area in a Friday division
playoff game as of presstime.
That game would determine the
Wyoming Valley Conference Di-
vision 1 title, as well as the likely
third seed in districts since divi-
sion champions are seeded above
other teams.
Scranton Prep appears headed
for the top seed. The winner of
the WVC Division 2 title in a play-
off between Holy Redeemer and
Nanticoke likely will be the sec-
See PLAYOFFS , Page 10
PETE G. WILCOX/ THE DALLAS POST
Emily Sutton, left, of Lake Lehman goes up for a lay up as Nanti-
coke's Deanna Thomas takes a swat at the ball during a Wyoming
Valley Conference high school girls basketball game in Nanticoke.