OLD FORGE – Old Forge won its debut on the District 2 Class 3A level in boys basketball, but he Blue Devils had their season end in the semifinals with a loss Friday night.
Old Forge finishes the season at 17-7, including a loss imposed by the District 2 committee last week when it deemed that the school had ignored Blue Ridge’s repeated requests to make up a postponed game.
Mid Valley 48, Old Forge 31
Mid Valley limited Old Forge to seven points in the first half while avenging a crushing loss late in the regular season.
The Blue Devils defeated the Spartans to prevent them from finishing in a first-place tie and having a playoff with Holy Cross for the Lackawanna League Division 3 title.
The Spartans showed that they were ready for the rematch after being burned for a career-high 42 points by Joey Macciocco in the previous meeting.
Macciocco finished with 13 points this time, 10 of them after host Mid Valley took a 21-7 halftime lead in Friday night’s semifinal.
Danny Nemitz scored 14 points and Ricky Vinansky had 13 for the Spartans.
Old Forge 63, Lakeland 36
Anthony Mucciolo scored 22 points for Old Forge, which was already in control of Tuesday night’s quarterfinal before closing with a 25-3 run over the final 5:05.
The Blue Devils got the running game going late with a series of steals.
“It all starts with defense,” Mucciolo said.
Tyler Pepsin made six steals while Mucciolo and Joey Macciocco had four each.
Matt Kuckla started the closing run with six points in 20 seconds on a pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around a blocked shot.
Mucciolo added four points in 12 seconds soon after on two drives to the basket with a steal in between.
Macciocco scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Billy Hazelton led the Chiefs (11-12) with nine points.
