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Another prize awaits the winners of Tuesday’s Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball Division 1 and Division 2 championship games. There’s the new WVC Championships later in the week.
But first up is a doubleheader at King’s College.
GAR (12-5 Div. 2, 15-7) plays Nanticoke Area (12-5 Div. 2, 17-5) plays at 6:30 p.m. to determine the Division 2 champion. Then at 8 p.m., rivals Crestwood (14-2 Div. 2, 18-4) and Hazleton Area (14-2 Div. 2, 15-6) play for the Division 1 crown.
The weather looks iffy Tuesday, so the WVC already has a contingency plan if the games are postponed.
If that’s the case, then GAR and Nanticoke Area will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pittston Area. Crestwood and Hazleton Area would be moved to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Berwick Middle School, which is adjacent to the high school. King’s is unavailable on Wednesday.
First the collateral implications of Tuesday night’s games. The winners will join Division 3 champion Wyoming Seminary in a four-team WVC Championships, which start Friday with semifinal games at Dallas High School.
The last team will be a wild-card selection based on the District 2 Power Ratings System. Here’s where the outside rooting interest comes in.
The GAR-Nanticoke Area winner is in and the loser is out of the WVC Championships. Hazleton Area is in with a victory, but out with a loss. Crestwood will make it as either the Division 1 champion with a win or the wild card if it loses. If Crestwood wins, then Holy Redeemer gets the wild-card spot.
The current Power Ratings for the five teams vying for the three remaining spots are Crestwood (.717), Redeemer (.708), Hazleton Area (.682), Nanticoke Area (.663) and GAR (.624).
The idea was to use the Power Ratings based on the entire schedule. However, WVC officials elected to cut off the Power Ratings on Sunday to determine the wild card because there are too many games left to play this week.
For example, Nanticoke Area defeated West Scranton on Dec. 17. West Scranton, though, has three games remaining and doesn’t finish its season until Friday. That would make it impossible to get the WVC Championships in before the District 2 tournaments begin early next week.
Now for Tuesday’s games, which are rematches from the WVC season.
Nanticoke Area defeated GAR 74-65 on Feb. 5. It was a one-possession game with three minutes left before the Trojans outscored the Grenadiers 13-7 down the stretch. Nanticoke Area scored 11 of those points from the foul line, with GAR aiding the cause with two technical fouls.
Senior point guard Nate Kreitzer led Nanticoke Area with 23 points, scoring 15 after halftime. Sophomore Jake Krupinski had one of his best games of the season with 19 points. Likewise, junior Colby Butczynski was sharp with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
GAR senior point guard Will Johnson scored 22, but didn’t get going until the second half. Senior guards Jared O’Day and Tyler Young helped out with their 3-point shooting and have been extremely accurate from beyond the arc in recent games.
The victory gave Nanticoke Area a one-game lead, but the Trojans were upset 44-43 by Tunkhannock two days later before routing Wyoming Area to finish off their WVC season. GAR held on for a 58-56 in overtime against rival Meyers for its 12th WVC win.
Crestwood defeated Hazleton Area 66-51 on Jan. 18. Hazleton Area won the rematch 56-50 on Feb. 5.
In the first game, Crestwood hit its first three baskets of the third quarter to take a 27-23 and never trailed the rest of the way. Senior guard Sean Murphy had 24 points for Crestwood, which finished off the win on the foul line.
Crestwood took over first place with the win only to have Dallas gum things up by defeating the Comets 55-47 a week later. Hazleton Area seized the opening and closed the gap with its win against Crestwood. Senior forward Da’Mir Faison had 47 points in the two games vs. Crestwood.
The win is part of Hazleton Area’s current five-game winning streak where opponents are averaging just 42 points.