Warriors off to hot season

BY JOBY FAWCETT
Times-Shamrock Writer

The Elk Lake basketball team rolled to a 92-38 win against Forest City at home on Saturday after winning 66-28 against Mountain View at Lackawanna College’s Student Union on New Year’s Eve.

Elk Lake’s Matt Woolcock continued his torrid shooting of late, nailing eight 3-pointers en route to 37 points against the Foresters. Tanner Reyan also chipped in with 20 points for the Warriors, who improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in Division IV.

The Warriors shot lights out en route to a 47-27 lead at halftime, and scored 18 or more points in each quarter while limiting the Foresters to just 11 points in the second half.

Against Mountain View in a Coaches vs. Cancer tripleheader, Woolcock played inspired, leading the team with 20 points.

“It just really hits home,” said Woolcock, whose grandmother, Gladys, is a cancer survivor. “It doesn’t really change much once the game starts, you just play. But you really want to keep those who are battling cancer in your thoughts.”

Elk Lake’s five senior starters played with focus, determination and intensity at both ends of the floor, most likely because each has had to cope with someone close to them who has battled cancer.

As they have all season, the close-knit Warriors, who have been teammates since third grade, executed and seized the opportunity to showcase their skills on the big floor at the cavernous gymnasium with a storied tradition and past of hosting marquee events.

Wasting little time, Woolcock hit five of his first seven shots, which included two 3-pointers, and had 13 points in the blink of an eye as Elk Lake built a 21-10 advantage.

“I felt inspired and confident in the work we have done as a team this year,” Woolcock said.

In the second, Nick Dudock took command of the game, hitting all four of his shots from in close. He was also like a jackrabbit off the floor, outleaping his opponents for five of his game-high 10 rebounds, as the lead ballooned to 42-14.

“It felt great to play on the college court and that is something you don’t always get a chance to do in high school,” said Dudock, who finished with 13 points and three assists. “It was really fun.”

All proceeds raised at the tripleheader, which included Scranton Prep playing Crestwood and the University of Scranton playing Keystone College, will help fund the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery initiative, according to former Lackawanna Trail coach and Scranton Prep first-year coach Andrew Kettel, who has been at the forefront of building the Coaches vs. Cancer campaign in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Staff writer John Lund also contributed to the story.