Warriors, Raiders, Sabers open with league wins

12-31-25

By Corey Gesford
With the Christmas holiday looming county teams kicked off their quest for the Lackawanna
League Division III title with a slate of games Dec. 19.
In the pre-holiday Lackawanna League opener, visiting Susquehanna out scored Montrose
every quarter including an 18-7 advantage in the fourth period to pull away for a 76-51 victory.
Griffin Fisk and Mason Keyes scored 50 of those 76 points with Fisk pumping in 31 and Keyes
connecting for 19. Hudson Stengel added 12 and Jaxon Downton finished with nine for the
Sabers.
Sawyer Brown led Montrose with 13 points while Jude Adams added nine and Evan McComb
and Jai Herman each chipped in with eight.
In Kingsley Blue Ridge used the momentum from a strong second quarter finish to pull away
and upend Mountain View 71-57.
Will Hobart scored eight points as the Raiders outscored the Eagles 18-13 to take a 28-26 lead
into halftime. Paxton Pingarelli then scored 11 of his team-high 16 during the third quarter as the Raiders pulled away, outshooting the Eagles 23-12. Brendan Marvin added eight.
Hudson Bain scored 11 points in the final quarter as Mountain View mounted a rally and closed
within 10, but another Raider run put the game away.
Backing Pingarelli in the balanced Blue Ridge attack were Hobart and Jacek Motyka who each
finished with 12 points while Marvin and Travis Rutter added 10 and Landon Bishop finished
with nine.
Bain had a game-high 26 for the Eagles and was joined in double figures by Wyatt Thatcher
who finished with 16.
Elk Lake opened the game with a 23-4 advantage and rolled away with a 71-37 win over
Forest City.
Chase Pond led the way with 19 points, connecting from behind the arc for 12 of those points
while John Heitsman posted 17 while Connor Stephens chipped in with 12 and Kendel Jones
added 10.
TJ Collins finished with 13 to pace the Foresters and Jayden Carter added eight.
Elk Lake out scored Northeast Bradford 35-22 over the middle quarters to pull away for a 57-42
non-league win.
The Warriors led 13-12 after the opening quarter and took over beginning the second quarter.
Chase Pond finished with 19 points to lead Elk Lake while John Heitsman and Brayden Miller
each had 13 points.
Elk Lake nearly doubled their first half output to rally past Wyoming Valley West 59-56 behind 21
points from John Heitsman.
Heitsman scored nine of his points from the free throw line as the Warriors enjoyed an charity
strip advantage connecting on 31 of 47 shots. Brayden Miller added 18 points for Elk Lake while
Chase Pond finished with 10 points.
Linden Baker scored eight points and Susquehanna jumped out to a 24-5 lead in the opening
quarter in a cross border battle over Deposit NY 67-43.
Mason Keyes led the Sabers with 21 points while Baker finished with 16.
Sophomore sensation Nico Antonacci of Riverside scored 21 of Riverside’s 25 points in the
opening quarter as the Vikings steamrolled Montrose 67-35.
Riverside opened the game out scoring the Meteors 25-9 in the opening quarter. Sawyer Brown
had eight of the Meteors’ nine points. The Vikings extended the lead to 51-14 by intermission.
Montrose outpaced Riverside 21-16 in the second half as the Vikings rested their starters. Adam
Sorenson scored seven points in the final stanza and finished with 11 points to lead the Meteors
while Brown finished with nine points.
Wallenpaupack held Forest City to 14 points in the first half and kept the Foresters winless with
a 57-35 preseason win.
Jayden Carter had 11 points to lead the Foresters and Mike Beauford added eight.
Lake Lehman held Mountain View to three field goals in the final quarter and rallied from a
double-digit deficit in the third quarter to nip Mountain View 50-47 in a preseason tuneup before
the Eagles’ first league game.
The Eagles led 21-20 at intermission and extended the lead during the third quarter behind six
points from Hudson Bain. But the Black Knights outscored Mountain View 17-10 in the final
quarter to erase a four-point deficit for the win.
Bain finished with 16 points to lead the Eagles while Wyatt Thatcher added three three-pointers
to finish with nine points and Jordan Jagger added eight and Aidan McCloskey came off the
bench to score seven points.