Well, the sun came out — if only for a few hours on Saturday — and the always exciting rivalry match between Scranton Prep and Abington Heights was finally held.
Due to three straight days of being postponed, I was unable to attend the clash for the first time in a long time. In a recap, Scranton Prep won the match, 4-1, taking all three singles matches, which included a couple of grueling battles, and the No. 1 doubles match to surge to the top of the Lackawanna League standings.
Scranton Prep 4, Abington Heights 1
Habeeb
Singles: Jack Habeeb (SP) over Timmy Christman, 6-4, 6-2; Rhys Kelly (SP) defeats Owen Holland 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5); Matt Tressler (SP) over Rory Harris, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Doubles: Jesse Farley-Daniel Zych (SP) over Chris Hobbie-Sam Weis, 6-4, 7-6 (6); Arjun Iyengar-Varun Iyengar (AH) over Harrison Oven-Addi Singh, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Records: SP 12-1, AH 11-2.
Now, Abington Heights, barring a monumental upset when Scranton Prep plays at Riverside on Monday, has been eliminated from contention for the Lackawanna League championship.
That means another streak has come to an end in this year of change.
From 2010 to , the Lackawanna League crowned two champions in tennis. Then, coaches voted to make this a one champion league and to be honest, that is not only admirable, but refreshing. There is something to be said about that in this era of what essentially amounts to conference realignment to reward for participation. That’s a discussion for another post. But, the tennis coaches should be applauded for making their regular season mean something.
This will be the first season since 2009 that Abington Heights will not be a league champion in boys tennis.
Here is a list of the champions since 2010:
|
Division I |
Division II |
|
|
2010 |
Abington Heights (10-0) |
Scranton Prep (8-0) |
|
2011 |
Abington Heights (12-0) |
Scranton Prep (11-0) |
|
2012 |
Abington Heights (12-0) |
Scranton Prep (11-0) |
|
2013 |
Abington Heights (14-0) |
|
2014 |
Abington Heights (14-0) |
|
2015 |
Abington Heights (14-0) |
|
2016 |
Abington Heights (14-0) |
|
2017 |
Abington Heights (14-0) |
Chase for the Championship
Scranton Prep is still in the hunt for the title. The Cavaliers, as mentioned earlier, finish the season at Riverside. Delaware Valley, which outlasted Western Wayne, 3-2, still has a rescheduled match to play at North Pocono on Monday, and will also play Monday at Valley View.
That’s a doubleheader for the Road Warriors, who have to travel at least an hour into Archbald for the 4 p.m. match against the Cougars, then on the way home will have a layover in Moscow (ours not Russia’s) and play the Trojans on the way home.
Here is a look at the Lackawanna League standings before Saturday’s outcomes:
If both teams finish 13-1 there will likely be a playoff match for the Lackawanna League title. That will probably have to be shoehorned in. Why?
The expanded District 2 team playoffs begin May 2. Mike Ognosky, the tennis guru, still has his work cut out for him in terms of seeding especially because earning a league championship also locks down a top seed for the team tournament.
Here is a look at the District 2 standings before Saturday’s outcomes:
RANKINGS
It was a frantic week with a lot of league matches being played, several others still postponed and needed to be rescheduled and another shift in the Top 5 teams.
There is a new No. 1, again. Take a look.
TOP 5 TEAMS
|
No. |
Team |
Record |
Pvs |
|
 |
1 |
Delaware Valley |
11—1 |
1 |
 |
2 |
Scranton Prep |
12—1 |
4 |
 |
3 |
Holy Cross |
11—2 |
5 |
 |
4 |
Abington Heights |
11—2 |
2 |
 |
5 |
Valley View |
10—3 |
1 |
Others: Western Wayne (7-6).
Lenny Maiocco
TOP 5 PLAYERS
Western Wayne’s Lenny Maiocco takes over at No. 1 after a straight-sets win over Delaware Valley’s Tomas Reese. Maiocco is still undefeated at No. 1 singles in the Lackawanna League and appears headed to the top seed for the District 2 Class 2A singles tournament.
Scranton Prep’s Jack Habeeb is getting back into a groove after a straight-sets win over No. 2 Timmy Christman last week.
NOTE: SEEDING MEETING – Singles & Doubles 7 P.M. Thursday, May 3rd @ Dunmore High School
|
No. |
Name |
School |
Record |
|
 |
1 |
Lenny Maiocco |
Western Wayne |
13—0 |
 |
2 |
Tomas Reese |
Delaware Valley |
9—1 |
|
3 |
Jack Habeeb |
Scranton Prep |
10–3 |
 |
4 |
Timmy Christman |
Abington Heights |
10–3 |
 |
5 |
Logan Gregory |
Holy Cross |
10—3 |
Others: Rhys Kelly (Scranton Prep, 13-0 at No. 2); Alex Riccio (Dunmore, 7-5 at No. 1); Camus Howie (Holy Cross, 11-2 at No. 2); Curry Chang (Holy Cross, 13-0 at No. 3).
LEAGUE RECORDS
Here are the singles records for players in the Lackawanna League through April 29.
CLASS 3A
| Abington Heights | Delaware Valley | North Pocono | |||
| Timmy Christman |
10–3 |
Tomas Reese |
9–1 |
Tim Pickarski |
1–9 |
| Owen Holland |
11–2 |
Ivan Vorobyev |
0–1 |
Josh Danna |
1–9 |
| Rory Harris |
9–2 |
Joe Norieka |
8–3 |
Nikhil Patel |
1–3 |
| Sam Weis |
2–0 |
Pete Wilson |
4–0 |
Eric Wolfe |
2–5 |
| Abhay Byadgi |
5–2 |
Vince Cianfichi |
0–1 |
||
| Andrew Zero |
0–1 |
||||
| Scranton | Wallenpaupack | West Scranton | |||
| Naitik Butani |
1–8 |
Simon Altizio |
2–4 |
Alex Sophabmixay |
3–8 |
| Harsh S. Patel |
5–5 |
John Squatrito |
2–8 |
Blake Sophabmixay |
2–8 |
| Punjan Patel |
0–3 |
Charlie Washburn |
3–8 |
Nico Pugliese |
4–7 |
| Mit Patel |
6–2 |
Matt Katz |
2–4 |
Tony Pugliese |
0-1 |
CLASS 2A
| Dunmore | Holy Cross | Honesdale | |||
| Alex Riccio |
7–5 |
Logan Gregory |
10–3 |
Jason Demers |
7–5 |
| Seth Reyes |
6–6 |
Camus Howie |
11–2 |
Nick Theobald |
2–9 |
| Max Burke |
5–7 |
Curry Chang |
13–0 |
Ethan Rickard |
3–9 |
| Shea Stanton |
1–0 |
||||
| Mid Valley | Montrose | Riverside | |||
| Demitri Reece |
3–8 |
Bill Hotaling |
0–11 |
Noah Jennings |
2–10 |
| Christian Reece |
8–3 |
Steven Vetri |
3–8 |
Kyle Creedon |
3–9 |
| Jason Kline |
2–4 |
Jackson Griffiths |
0–3 |
Hunter Talipski |
3–7 |
| Matt Fedorka |
0–3 |
Kyle McGranaghan |
1–8 |
Charles Ponas |
1–1 |
| Mike Melesky |
0–2 |
Tracy Kerr |
0–1 |
||
| Seth Bulkley |
0–1 |
||||
| Scranton Prep | Valley View | Western Wayne | |||
| Jack Habeeb |
10–3 |
Carlo Possanza |
9–4 |
Lenny Maiocco |
13–0 |
| Rhys Kelly |
13–0 |
Ryan Carrotto |
8–5 |
Dominic Corma |
6–7 |
| Matt Tressler |
11–2 |
Kevin Duffy |
10–3 |
Matthew Leslie |
5–8 |
SCHEDULE
MONDAY
Scranton at Montrose
Scranton Prep at Riverside
Wallenpaupack at North Pocono
Western Wayne at Honesdale
West Scranton at Mid Valley
Holy Cross at Dunmore
Abington Heights at Riverside
Delaware Valley at Valley View
Delaware Valley at North Pocono, 6:30
TUESDAY
Wallenpaupack at Scranton
WEDNESDAY
Scranton at North Pocono
