SPORTS
Sunday, December 22, 2013
THE DALLAS POST
Page 9
Christmas
@ eck action
preps teams for
conference play
Tom ROBINSON
For The Dallas Post
High school basketball
and wrestling teams from
the Back Mountain will
use the week between
Christmas and New Year’s
to prepare for Wyoming
Valley Conference com-
petition in tournament
action.
The Lake-Lehman wres-
Lady Black Knights can be dangerous
Lehman
overpowers
®.. 06-47 to
win Black & Blue
Trophy Game
TOM ROBINSON
For The Dallas Post
Cayle Spencers scoring
ability is quite evident to the
Dallas girls basketball team.
The Lake-Lehman junior
has scored 32 points in
the Black and Blue Rivalry
Trophy Game each of the
past two seasons.
The Black Knights also
made it clear Monday night
how dangerous they can be
when providing offensive
support for Spencer while
they broke away early in
their 66-47, home-court vic-
tory.
Lake-Lehman used the
rivalry game to win its third
straight since falling to pow-
erful Scranton Prep in the
opener. Spencer put up her
season-high in scoring, but
the Black Knights also got
their most productive night
of the season from the rest
of the lineup.
“Emily Sutton’s all over
the place; she’s doing a great
job for wus,” Lake-Lehman
coach Charlie Lavan said.
“The other kids are hitting
shots. Danae Sutliff is play-
ing a real solid brand of bas-
ketball with her defense, hit-
ting some nice shots for us
and running the open floor.
“We're a work in progress.
We're coming along.”
é Sutliff hit two 3-point-
ers in the first 2:05 to get
the Black Knights off to a
fast start. Sutton made her
first five shots while leading
Lake-Lehman to an advan-
tage on the boards. Miranda
Pace helped make sure the
Black Knights stayed com-
fortably in front by hitting
her last four shots.
“It’s Dallas, so we just
came out hard,” said
Spencer, who is averaging
23.0 points per game, up
almost five from a year ago
when she led Wyoming
Valley Conference Division
2 players in scoring. “We
got to the rim early, which
we've been having trouble
doing lately,”
Spencer was a consis-
tent force, scoring at least
seven points in every quar-
ter while also producing
nine rebounds and three
steals. Sutton finished with
11 points, 16 rebounds and
five assists. Sutliff had 12
points and two steals. Pace
contributed nine points and
eight rebounds.
Dallas had held the edge
over Lake-Lehman in recent
years.
When the Black and Blue
Rivalry Trophy was created
last season, however, Lake-
Lehman pulled off an upset
over a Dallas team that
was on its way to the WVC
Division 1 title.
“Usually, in the past,
we haven't beaten them,”
Sutton said. “In the last
two years when we've had
the Black and Blue Trophy,
we've got the win and these
tling team, which won its
only conference match,
is the only one of those
teams to have started
WVC action.
The rest will be transi-
tioning from non-league
play to the tournaments as
the last step before league
games begin the first week
of January.
The Lake-Lehman boys
basketball team and Dallas
girls basketball team will
actually play in their sec-
ond tournament.
BOYS BASKETBALL
After reaching the
final of the Cal King
Memorial Tournament
at Lackawanna Trail,
Lake-Lehman will try to
go a step further when it
her Lake-Lehman opponent.
are my last two years at
Lehman, so that’s really
great.”
Monday’s win could not
be characterized as another
upset.
Lake-Lehman showed off
its veteran team and likely
WVC Division 2 contender
against a Dallas squad that
is young and still looking for
its first win of the season.
There were times during
the night that the promise
of those young Dallas play-
ers showed. Dallas won the
junior varsity game, 50-17,
then got valuable bench
contributions from some
younger players while keep-
ing Lake-Lehman from
breaking away further after
opening a 19-1 lead in the
first quarter.
“Dallas is an up-and-
coming team,” Lavan said.
“They’re going to be a good
basketball team.
“They have some solid
players and when their
young players start to come
around, theyre going to be
good. We had a little more
experience on the floor
tonight and that definitely
worked to our advantage.”
High school basketball and wrestling teams from the Back Mountain will use the
week between Christmas and New Year's to prepare for Wyoming Valley Conference
competition in tournament action.
competes in the McGrane
Tournament at the Wilkes-
Barre CYC Thursday and
Friday.
Pete Borum and Adam
Dizbon will look for their
second all-tournament
selection of the season.
Borum scored 36
points and grabbed 21
rebounds while Dizbon
had 12 points and 10
rebounds Dec. 13 when
Lake-Lehman beat host
Lackawanna Trail, 70-65,
in the King Memorial.
The Black Knights ral-
lied from a 30-22 halftime
deficit. Cody Paraschak
finished with 13 points.
Borum had 10 first-
quarter points before get-
ting into foul trouble in
the final when Mid Valley
rolled over Lake-Lehman,
81-37. He finished with 18
points and 13 rebounds.
Dizbon had nine points
and five assists before
fouling out early in the
fourth quarter.
The same field
returns to the McGrane
Tournament. Dizbon
made the all-tournament
team last season.
BE br
oil i
Dallas player Katie Kavitsky (No. 23) provides good block against
The boys Black and Blue Rivalry Trophy Game will be
_ decided Monday night when Lake-Lehman plays at
las. 0
Lake-Lehman established
control early.
Sutliff’s 3-pointers 33
seconds apart made it 7-0.
Sutton added the next two
baskets to make it 11-0 and
Lake-Lehman held Dallas
without a field goal until the
last 20 seconds of the first
quarter while building the
19-1 lead.
“We tried to attack their
defense and get them in
foul trouble,” Spencer said.
“Overall, we played hard
man defense and pressured
their ball handlers. They
have a lot of good shoot-
ers, but we got in their face
tonight.”
Samantha Missal, who
led Dallas with 18 points,
scored six straight to cut
the deficit to 25-12 midway
through the second quarter.
Sutton and Spencer
scored four points and Pace
added a three-point play in
an 11-1 response that put
Lake-Lehman in command
for good, 36-13.
The Black Knights
opened the second half with
three straight 3-pointers —
two by Spencer and one by
Sutton — for a 45-17 lead.
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK | FOR THE DLALAS POST
The Black Knights,
who finished fourth a
year ago, will play Holy
Redeemer Thursday at
6 p.m. Defending cham-
pion Hanover Area plays
Pittston Area at 7:30 p.m.
The consolation and
finals are set for Friday
night.
Dallas returns to the
Wyoming Area Holiday
Tournament where it fin-
ished third last year.
The tournament also
brings back the same field
for games Thursday and
Friday.
Lake-Lehman’s Emily Sutton (No. 10) passes around Lady
Mountaineer Stef Cybulski (No. 25).
a
Lake-Lehman’s Danae Sutliff (No. 33) and Katy Comitz (No. 15)
of Dallas spar in the annual Dallas vs. Lake-Lehman basketball
contest.
Lady Black Knight Cayle Spencer (No. 32) gets under and around
Dallas defenders Maggie Michael (No. 41) and Stef Cybulski (No.
25).
“Lately I haven't been
shooting well, but tonight I
was on,” Sutton said.
Lindsay Jacobs came
off the Dallas bench to hit
two 3-pointers. Sophomore
also as substitutes
Nikki Wren scored six
points and grabbed a team-
high 10 rebounds and fresh-
man Sara Lojewski added
five points and two assists,
off to William & Mary in
The Mountaineers open
with the host Warriors.
Defending champion
Wyoming Valley West
will play Old Forge in a
rematch of last season’s
final.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Dallas will play Central
Columbia Friday in the
first game of the Judy
Knorr Tournament at
Berwick. Selinsgrove will
play Berwick in the sec-
ond game of the tourna-
ment, which continues
Saturday.
The Mountaineers
finished last out of four
teams at the season-
opening tournament at
Wyoming Valley West.
Maggie Michael made the
>
Cage, wrestling teams look forward to tournament action
all-tournament team there.
WRESTLING
The largest local high
school wrestling tourna-
ment each season is the
Tunkhannock Kiwanis
Tournament.
Tunkhannock placed
sixth and Lake-Lehman
seventh out of 20 teams
last year.
Among the individual
champions expected back
to defend their titles
are Tunkhannock’s Ben
Siegel and Lake-Lehman’s
Austin Harry. Brady
Butler finished second for
Lake-Lehman last season
while Jake Richards and
Dalton Ray are back for
Tunkhannock after finish-
ing third.
Nic
Dallas High School cross country standout Regan Rome recently
competed in the national championship.
Rome takes talent to
national competition
Dallas runner
finishes 28th in
Cross country
national race in
San Diego
TOM ROBINSON
For The Dallas Post
Regan Rome complet-
ed her high school cross
country career running
with the best competition
in the country.
The Dallas senior made
a return trip to the Foot
Locker Cross Country
National Finals in San
Diego where she placed
28th Dec. 14.
A season spent over-
coming illness and injury
may have caught up with
Rome a bit on the national
level, but she still finished
with a surge to move up in
the ranks among 40 run-
ners, who had qualified by
finishing in the top 10 in
one of four regionals.
“I was a little behind at
the two-mile and I caught
some more girls,” Rome
said, “so, I didn’t give up.
I kept going and caught
some girls in that last mile
so I was happy with that.”
Rome arrived in San
Diego healthier than
she had been earlier in
the fall. The four-time
District 2 champion,
state Class AA runnerup
and leader of the Dallas
state championship team,
however, did not have the
same training behind her
as when she finished 19th
in the national race as a
junior.
“I'm healthy, but cer-
tainly not trained right,”
said Rome, who still
has her senior track and
field season ahead at
Dallas before heading
Lb
Virginia to compete on
the NCAA Division I level
in cross country as well
as indoor and outdoor
track. “I was only able to
do a little bit leading up
to the races compared to
the other girls and how I
would usually train.
“It’s a little disappoint-
ing knowing I could have
done better but it’s just
great to be out there and
I'm so excited that I made
it out here with these
amazing girls, so I can’t
complain.”
Rome was part of a
Northeast Region team
that won the team title,
led by Penn State recruit
and Abington Heights
senior Tessa Barrett win-
ning the individual cham-
pionship.
The Northeast posted a
team score of 26 to defeat
the West (49), South (66)
and Midwest (70).
“We knew our region
was really competitive
this year. We had a lot
of really good girls so we
knew we had a chance of
winning. That was really
cool.”
Rome finished the 3.1-
mile course at Morley
Field in Balboa Park in
18:22, 18 seconds off of
her time from last year.
The trip to San Diego
with her parents, younger
sister and teammate Ally
and Dallas coach Matt
Samuel included several
other activities.
“It was a real fun expe-
rience,” Rome said. “We
got to meet a bunch of pro
athletes who ran this race.
Ten or 15 years ago, they
were in the same spot.”
Among those Rome was
most excited to meet was
Olympian Molly Huddle,
the world record-holder
at 12,000 meters and
national champion and
record-holder at 5,000
meters, the distance of
high school cross country
races