HS BASKETBALL: Lakeland's Caleb Vigil hoping for one final shot
Mar. 3—Caleb Vigil just wants one more moment.
Lakeland's senior leader is separated from his teammates during a time when, under normal conditions, they would be together getting ready for the playoffs.
Instead, he maintains hope.
His team is on pause while it goes through the quarantine protocol established by the state Department of Health as it deals with a COVID-19 situation. He and the Chiefs have tests in the coming days, and if enough of them are negative, Vigil will have at least one more basketball game in his career.
Lakeland, the fifth seed, is scheduled to play at
No. 4 Dunmore, which is also on a pause, Sunday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the District 2 Class 3A playoffs in a game pushed back to accommodate the two teams in quarantine.
"It's definitely a tough situation," Vigil said. "I was just getting ready to walk out the door for my game Monday and my dad got the message and told me. My heart kind of dropped, thinking the season was over. The team has been doing well and there was a lot of excitement about how we were playing heading into the playoffs.
"At first, I was discouraged because I thought we weren't going to be able to play. But, we still have a shot."
----In his four seasons, Vigil has helped bring attention to the basketball program at Lakeland.
His crafty ball-handling skills, and smooth shooting stroke, has made him one of the standout players in the Lackawanna League.
As a sophomore, Vigil piloted the offense for the Chiefs, who started to make waves in Division III, and had two tight battles with eventual champion Holy Cross. He scored 271 points and a team-high 40 3-pointers and the Chiefs reached the District 2 Class 3A semifinals where they lost to champion Wyoming Seminary.
"We had a lot of young talent on that team," Vigil said. "Near the end of the season, we really saw the potential the group had. It was really fun being a part of that team."
A year later, Vigil again commanded an offense that had size and skill.
Lakeland won its first Peter Turonis/NBT Classic since 2006. He made the all-tournament team after scoring 23 points in a double-overtime win over Valley View in the final.
"Winning that was a great feeling," Vigil said. "It was in double overtime and we were huge underdogs. We played Valley View early in the season and got blown out, 59-29, so nobody thought we could win. It's great to earn something you worked so hard for, especially when nobody thought you could."
Again, the Chiefs gave eventual Division III champion Holy Cross all it could handle, losing the first meeting, 52-47, and the second, 76-72, in double overtime. In the two matchups, Vigil scored 49 points, including 38 in the double-overtime heartbreaker.
Lakeland reached the District 2 Class 3A playoffs, but fell to another Wyoming Valley Conference power and eventual champion, Holy Redeemer in the semifinals. He had 22 points and the Chiefs finished with an 18-6 record.
"I think the key was how close and how much chemistry we had," said Vigil, who coaches honored on the Lackawanna Division III all-star team. "That group had been playing together since seventh grade. We had that tight friendship and it showed on the court."
This season, with several of the standout players from the previous two years graduated, Vigil remained the poised leader as the inexperienced team navigated through an uncertain start.
Lakeland, which endured an early pause, started the season 1-8. He kept the team focused, then pressed on the gas as he saw the finish to his career closing in on him.
He scored 19 points in a 20-point win over Old Forge, 34 in a win over Carbondale Area, 21 in a win over Tunkhannock and 26 in a loss to Valley View.
"It's been a completely different year because we had a bunch of new guys and we had to go through a learning process," Vigil said. "In normal years, you have a lot of games before the league and you can build that chemistry and gain experience. We kind of just got thrown into the season and then we had the shut down and lost all of our conditioning.
"As the season went on we clearly improved and we found our stride."
The scoring rush by Vigil put him at 947 career points and Lakeland still had two nonleague games against Wallenpaupack and Western Wayne to play before the district playoffs.
Then came word the Chiefs had to quarantine.
Now he waits as patiently as he can for a playoff game.
"This whole year, it's been in my sight understanding that I could get it," Vigil said. "Once I found out it was going to be a shortened season, the realization came early that I might not achieve that. So, I haven't thought about it. I am just going out to win.
"I don't care about points, I care about wins. At the end of the day, this is a team sport."
----Regardless of how this season ends, Vigil, who hopes to play in college, has left a lasting impression on the program.
This season, he is the team's leader in rebounds as a guard. In his career, Vigil has more than 200 steals and is a distributor, and led the team in assists for three straight years.
"He is one of those few players that you are fortunate to have the opportunity to coach in your career," Lakeland coach Trevor Tellip said. "He is a program-builder, a type of player that can sustain a program for many years, constantly using him as an example to the younger kids. In four years, Caleb has never dogged a sprint or taken a play off. His intangibles overmatch his basketball skills.
"His commitment to the game, work ethic and will to win is like no other player we have coached."
Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on Twitter
