Old Forge repeated as District 2 Class 2A boys basketball champion.
Tom Robinson | The Sunday Dispatch
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — The Old Forge Blue Devils are back against Class 2A competition and once again terrorizing opponents.
Susquehanna became the latest victim Feb. 28 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Cameron Parker and Logan Fanning combined for 22 points and 10 rebounds in the first quarter alone as the Blue Devils built a 22-point lead on the way to a 69-34 rout of the Sabers.
The Blue Devils, who spent the 2023 and 2024 postseasons in Class 3A, have won District 2 titles in three of their last four seasons as a Class 2A team and played in the other final. They proceeded to the 2021 and 2022 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association semifinals and made the state quarterfinals last season.
“This is a special group,” Blue Devils coach J.J. Thomas said, “the kind of group that comes along once every 20 years.”
Parker finished with 24 points and seven rebounds.
Fanning added 14 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots. He is a combined 13-for-16 from the floor in the last two district finals.
“Growing up, any kind of game they had here, like the Globetrotters, I was here,” said Fanning, a 6-foot-7 senior center. “I was always thinking about playing here.”
Nick Salerno made all six of his second-half shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to also finish with 14 points.
Last season, Old Forge took a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter against Lackawanna Trail.
The points piled up faster this time around.
The Blue Devils scored the first nine points, went up 15-2, and closed the first quarter with 11 more in a row for a 26-4 lead.
“All year, we’ve kind of struggled in the first four minutes,” Fanning said. “That was something we wanted to stress.”
Ryan DeMarco dished out eight assists as the Blue Devils, who played larger enrollment classification opponents in their first 21 games, improved to 18-6.
Griffin Fisk led Susquehanna with 15 points.
The win was tied for the third-biggest rout in the 11-year history of championship games at the arena.
The Hazleton Area girls defeated Pittston Area 70-32 in Class 4A in 2016.
Abington Heights beat West Scranton 77-41 in Class 5A boys in 2017.
Old Forge matched a 61-26 victory by Holy Cross over Blue Ridge in the 2023 Class 2A boys game.
