Basketball preview: Chemistry benefits EL team

BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

The Elk Lake Warriors are the basketball team to beat this year in Susquehanna County. Head coach, John Warnero, and his team will benefit from the consistency and chemistry of the senior leadership on the Warriors’ roster.

Most of these players have been playing together every year since they were in fourth grade. Those eight years together give the team an advantage over the other teams in the county.

Warnero, who is in his 15th year coaching at Elk Lake will lead his team as the Warriors strive to improve on last season’s 10-13 record.

The Warriors will have returning starters Seth Tewksbury, Bailey Newhart, Hunter Watkins and Ben Woolcock to lead the rest of the team which consists of JJ Heft, Cole Tyler, Rierdan Reyan, Evan Debonis, Jason Vasquez, Griffin Bunnell, Alex Hewitt, and Kyle Oakes.

Warnero’s goal for the Warriors is “to focus on the things we can control- playing hard, playing smart, and playing together.”

His expectations should be met because his team has already met them at least half way. “I expect our team to show great effort and commitment to the program.”

There is no doubt the players have already shown their commitment to the program. If they can stay healthy and work hard they should be able to find success on the court. The Warriors have three wins under their belts in pre-season play action. Their closest game so far was a 63-56 win over Carbondale on Dec. 4. They defeated Northeast Bradford 90-54 on Dec. 7, and followed with another victory over Lake Lehman with a score of 68-39 on Dec. 10.

Newhart, who is known for being an excellent three-point shooter, leads the Warriors in scoring with 54 points so far.

The Warriors will face Wyalusing, Tunkhannock, and Wallenpaupack before taking on the other teams from Susquehanna County in the Christmas Tournament on December 28-29 at Susquehanna Community High School.

Montrose Meteors
The Montrose Meteors are being coached by second year coach, Tim Lopez. The Meteors biggest challenge on the court this year will be filling the shoes of their two big men from last year, Troy Ely and Jack Fruehan, who dominated under the basket.

The Meteors are coming off a 15-6 record last year. They were the Division Champions with a 12-0 League record.

There are two returning starters, Brendan Buck and Austin Smith. Other players on the Meteors’ roster are Brennan Gilhool, Andrew Bickford, Todd Lattimore, Chris Guyette, Mason Peck, and Travis Birchard.

Lopez’s goal is for his team to “Win one game at a time.”

The Meteors are off to a 1-2 start so far. They suffered defeats at the hands of Riverside 51-45 and Mid Valley 52-38 before earning their first victory on Dec. 11 with a 58-50 win over Tunkhannock.

Smith is leading his team significantly with 69 points scored. The Meteors will take on Towanda and Lakeland before facing Elk Lake in the first round of the County Christmas Tournament.

Mountain View Eagles
Spencer Lunger has returned as the coach for the Mt. View Eagles. It is Lunger’s third year coaching the Eagles.

Four starters are returning to the court for Mt. View; Matt Lavin, Jess Gerfin, Deon Faramelli, and Cody Hollister. The rest of the Eagles’ roster consists of Alex Showalter, Zeb Feduchak, Tyler Wakalowski, Cameron Hollister, Kyle Streich, Mikey Schermerhorn, Jake Andzulis, Brandon Griffin, Jordan Kochmer, Izzy Ficcaro, Josh Johnson, and Justin Roe.

The goal for the Eagles is “to be competitive in the league and hopefully compete for a division championship.”

Their record last year was 5-17 and they are looking to improve this year. Mt. View is 1-1 at the start of this season. They defeated Western Wayne 61-45 and lost to Wyoming Seminary 41-48.

Cody Hollister leads in scoring with 40 points.

The Eagles will face Northeast Bradford, Wyoming Area, and Old Forge before meeting their first foe from the county, the Susquehanna Sabers on December 21.

Susquehanna Sabers
The Sabers are being coached again by Lawrence Tompkins who is in his 5th year coaching at Susquehanna.

The Sabers have one returning starter, Tyler Williams, a junior who also leads in scoring so far this season with 62 points.

The Sabers are a young team and have no seniors on the roster. This will help them to be more competitive in the upcoming years as the underclassmen gain a lot of varsity experience.

Filling out the roster for Susquehanna are Garret Grausgruber, Travis Craig, Eric Lee, Alex McHugh, David Armitage, Adam Rockwell, Mason Deakin, Bryce Baldwin, and CJ Stone.

The underclassmen are enthusiastic and three freshman have already contributed with points in the double digits.

Coach Tompkins predicts “Our team will play with great energy, toughness, and enthusiasm.”

The Sabers have not won any games yet and are sitting on a 0-4 record. They have lost games to Sayre 41-38, Wyalusing 33-47, Riverside 23-57, and Wyoming Seminary 35-51.

They will be facing Freedom Village, and Mt. View before taking on Blue Ridge in the first round of the County Christmas Tournament, which they are hosting at the end of the mo