Sabers claim Class A crown

BY MICHAEL IORFINO

Times-Shamrock Writer

Andrzej Tomczyk and Cole Mallery listened to the doubters all week.

Susquehanna’s two star juniors heard whispers of how their team was too slow and not talented enough to compete with the five-time defending District 2 Class A champion Old Forge.

But none of that phased them; it just made them crave a victory even more.

Motivated to halt Old Forge’s streak, Tomczyk and Mallery combined for 29 points to lead top-seeded Susquehanna to a 53-45 win over the second-seeded Blue Devils on Friday night in the District 2 Class A championship game atScrantonHigh School.

“We were the No.1 seed, but everyone was discounting us, saying that we had no chance against Old Forge,” Mallery said. “But we played smart basketball and our fans provided us with great support.”

Susquehanna won its first boys basketball title in District 2 and will play Faith Christian on Friday in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Old Forge will square off againstAntietamin a play-in game on Tuesday.

“Our goal coming into the night was to play 32 minutes of the hardest basketball we could play,” Susquehanna first-year coach Lawrence Tompkins said. “I told our guys that if we did that, we would be satisfied with the end result.”

Old Forge opened the game hot from the field, connecting on three of its first six shots en route to an early 10-4 lead.

Susquehanna responded by feeding the ball inside to Mallery, who rewarded them by scoring on three consecutive possessions to cut the Blue Devils lead to 13-10 at the end of the first.

Despite Susquehanna’s solid play, its fortunes seemed to be slipping away as Mallery picked up his second foul with4:20left in the half.

“When they pulled Mallery we thought we were in good shape,” Old Forge coach Al Semenza said. “At that point, we were really playing well on offense and the momentum was on our side.”

It turns out the Sabers were just fine.

With five points in the final four minutes of the half, Tomczyk keyed a 12-0 Susquehanna run. Brandon Soden capped with a 3-point buzzer-beater from the top of the arc to extend Susquehanna’s lead to 25-20.

“That sequence was really important for us,” Tomczyk said. “Cole (Mallery) played so well for us early, so when he went to the bench, we all knew we had to step up.”

After a low-scoring third-quarter that had both defense’s tighten up, a basket by Susquehanna’s Mark Zappe extended Susquehanna’s lead to 39-28 with5:28left.

But the defending champions weren’t finished yet.

Led by Jake Manetti and Brian Tomasetti, who combined for 22 points, Old Forge mounted a 10-1 run to cut the gap to 40-38 with2:54remaining.

That’s as close as they would get to defending the title.

Preserving their coveted gold medals, Tomczyk and Austin Cowperthwait combined to hit 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch.

“At the beginning of the year, coach Tompkins brought us into a room and told us that we were going to end Old Forge’s streak,” Tomczyk said. “We believed from day one we could do it.”