HS BASKETBALL: Scranton claims first Lackawanna Division I title since 2012

Mar. 3—S. ABINGTON TWP. — Arvel Chandler lined up a shot, launched it, and you could hear a faint call from a player on the court that it appeared short.

But it arrived right on target.

As it swished softly through the nylon, players on the bench leaped to their feet. The crafty guard, with a stealth-like presence on the court, delivered an important 3-pointer and helped spark No. 1 Scranton to its first Lackawanna League Division I championship since 2012 and sixth in program history.

Chandler scored 12 points and had five rebounds for the Knights, winners of 10 in a row, who posted a 51-40 victory over No. 2 Abington Heights on Tuesday night in a playoff game that broke the regular-season tie between the teams.

"My teammates found me in the open spots," Chandler said. "It was all because of my teammates. We really needed that 3-pointer.

"We worked hard all season long. We really wanted this since we were all freshmen. Every day at practice, we were talking about this and we got it."

Scranton (12-2) executed and played with confidence throughout the first half only to see Abington Heights, which won the previous three division titles, keep fighting back to within striking distance.

In the first quarter, the Knights built a 16-10 lead using a balanced attack. All five starters scored and Johnny Rose and Kevin Lazdowsky each had a 3-pointer.

Abington Heights (11-3) immediately knifed into the deficit with a quick 5-0 burst to start the second quarter that included a reverse layup from Jacob Anderson and a 3-pointer from Matt Show, whose outside shooting kept his team in the game.

Scranton answered as Chandler converted a fast break and Patrick McCormack drilled a 3-pointer.

"It was huge to control the speed of the game," said Rose, who had three of his seven assists in the second quarter.

"It's better for us to play that way. We needed to execute and finish and that's what we did."

From there, Scranton and Abington Heights kept trading baskets over the next 5 minutes. Another 3-pointer by Show, who had 15 points on five from beyond the arc, late in the half pulled the Comets to within 30-27.

Both teams struggled at the start of the third. They combined to misfire on six shots and had six turnovers in the opening four minutes of play.

Then, Chandler hit a layup under the basket, Lazdowsky converted a power move to the basket into a three-point play and McCormack knocked down a 3-pointer and the Knights built a 38-28 lead at 1:40 of the third.

"We just executed," Lazdowsky said. "We hit shots when we needed to and we came out and exploded at the end of the third quarter."

After a pair of free throws from Kyle Nealon, McCormack scored and Chandler made his 3-pointer to give him five points, two rebounds and a steal in the quarter as Scranton led, 43-30.

"We haven't scored all year," said Abington Heights coach Ken Bianchi, whose team is averaging 47 points a game. "Games we were winning, we were holding teams to 30-40 points. I thought we had a little something there in the third when they didn't score for the first 4 minutes, but we couldn't score either.

"They packed it in and they made it tough to score."

Scranton held onto a 49-35 lead when Lazdowsky, who led the team with 14 points and five rebounds, and Shields, who had 12 points and five assists, combined to answer any threat Abington Heights threw at them.

That combination slammed the door by scoring all eight points in the quarter.

The Knights, who are the No. 1 seed for the District 2 Class 6A playoffs, won their second straight meeting against Abington Heights to avenge a 45-27 loss on the opening night of the season.

"I can't describe the feeling," Lazdowsky said. "It's amazing. That team in that locker room put in a lot of work throughout the season. We knew this was an accomplishment that we wanted to make this year.

"But now we have to move on, enjoy this night and move on to districts."

Scranton 51, Abington Heights 40

Scranton (12-2) — K. Lazdowsky 5 3-3 14, J. Shields 5 2-4 12, A. Chandler 5 0-0 12, P. McCormack 3 0-0 8, J. Rose 1 0-0 3, M. Crofton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 5-7 51.

Abington Heights (11-3) — M. Show 5 0-0 15, H. Johnson 5 1-2 11, J. Anderson 3 1-2 7, R. Nealon 1 0-0 3, B. Florey 1 0-1 2, K. Nealon 0 2-2 2, D. Selvenis 0 0-0 0, J. Bessoir 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 4-7 40.

Scranton 16 14 13 8 — 51

Abington Heights 10 17 3 10 — 40

3-point shooting: SCR 6-14 (Chandler 2-4, McCormack 2-4, Rose 1-2, Lazdowsky 1-1, Shields 0-3), AH 6-17 (Show 5-10, R. Nealon 1-3, K. Nealon 0-4, Bessoir 0-4, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: SCR 19 (Chandler, Lazdowsky 5), AH 24 (Show 6). Assists: SCR 15 (Rose 7, Shields 5), AH 8 (K. Nealon, Johnson, Florey 2). Steals: SCR 11 (Rose 3), AH 3 (Johnson, Florey, Selvenis). Blocks: SCR 2 (Chandler 2), AH 3 (Florey 2). Turnovers: SCR 10, AH 13.

Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on Twitter