Pittston Area and Wyoming Area will square off in basketball rivalry games Monday.
The games were originally scheduled to be played at the same time in the two gyms.
School officials moved the girls game up to the afternoon to make it possible for fans to attend both.
Wyoming Area female players requested the move be reconsidered, unsuccessfully taking their cause to social media, because of concerns that family and fans working in the day would be unable to attend their game.
As of early Saturday morning, both schools’ athletic scheduling websites were still listing the girls game as an afternoon start.
The junior varsity girls game will start at 12:30 p.m. Monday at Pittston Area, with the varsity to follow. The official listed starting time is 2 p.m., but varsity games often start less than 90 minutes after the start of the JV contest, making 1:45 p.m. a possibility for the fourth annual Tigue-Denisco Trophy Game.
The championship cup and MVP awards in the memories of Tony Denisco, the West Pittston mayor, and Tom Tigue, a state representative from Hughestown, were created following their deaths in 2016.
The Wyoming Area Most Valuable Player receives the Denisco Award. The Pittston Area MVP receives the Tigue Award.
The boys play Monday night at Wyoming Area at 7:15 in the 15th annual Eugene R. DeMinico II Game.
The game honors the memory of DeMinico, a 2000 Seton Catholic graduate who earned the Army’s Commendation Medal for Valor for his service in Iraq. The police officer died in a Jenkins Township motor vehicle accident early on Thanksgiving morning 2005.
Pittston Area and Seton Catholic met in the game until Seton Catholic’s closing in 2007. Wyoming Area-Pittston Area games have taken over since with last year’s win the first by Wyoming Area during that time.
Proceeds from the game benefit the Pittston City and Pittston Twp. K-9 Units.
Following Christmas, the Pittston Area and Wyoming Area wrestling and boys basketball teams compete in holiday tournaments.
Both schools are part of the Kiwanis Wrestling Tournament.
Pittston Area plays in the McGrane Tournament while Wyoming Area plays in the Milford-Matamoras Rotary Tournament at Delaware Valley in boys basketball.
Pittston Area, Wyoming Area varsity athletic schedules for week of Dec. 22, 2019
MONDAY, DEC. 23
Wrestling
Wyoming Area at Valley View (NL), noon
Girls basketball
Wyoming Area at Pittston Area (NL), 1:45 p.m.
Boys basketball
Pittston Area at Wyoming Area (NL), 7:15 p.m.
THURSDAY, DEC. 26
Boys basketball
Pittston Area vs. Holy Redeemer, Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center, McGrane Memorial Tournament, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 27
Boys basketball
Wyoming Area vs. East Stroudsburg Notre Dame, at Delaware Valley, Milford-Matamoras Rotary Tournament, 5 p.m.
Pittston Area vs. Crestwood or Hanover Area, Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center, McGrane Memorial Tournament
Wrestling
Pittston Area, Wyoming Area at Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament, 9 a.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 28
Wrestling
Pittston Area, Wyoming Area at Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament, 10 a.m.
Boys basketball
Wyoming Area at Delaware Valley, Milford-Matamoras Rotary Tournament, 7 p.m.
