Scranton Prep’s Jimmy Doherty (23) drives past Scranton’s Alex Ludovici (13) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Brady Hopkins (34) shoots a layup as Scranton Prep’s Brody Martin (2) attempts to block it during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) takes a three-point during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Brody Martin (2) drives down the court during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Michael Chalk (1) looks for an open lane during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Alex Ludovici (13) drives toward the basket during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Justin Mayers (52) drives into Scranton Prep’s Packy Doherty (20) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Packy Doherty observes the court during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Max DePietro (3) looks for a way pasy Scranton Prep’s Brody Martin (2) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) drives toward the basket during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Jack Pavuk (20) looks for a way around Scranton’s Justin Mayers (52) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Deondre Dickey (11) takes a three-point shot during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Alex Scanlon (5) drives past Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Brody Martin (2) drives through defenders during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton Prep’s Jimmy Doherty (23) drives past Scranton’s Alex Ludovici (13) during the 74th annual Lynett Memorial Tournament semifinal round on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — Packy Doherty had never been to a Lynett Memorial Boys Basketball Tournament final during his career.
A perfect start by the senior and his teammates helped Scranton Prep change that.
Doherty didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter, going 6 for 6 and scoring 16 of his 20 points, and the Cavaliers rolled from there to a 73-37 victory over Scranton in the first semifinal Saturday night at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
“Since he was a sophomore, he’s a kid who, when he gets going, the whole gym tends to know pretty quickly,” Scranton Prep coach Larry Reagan said. “So it was a nice performance. I know this was a game he really wanted to play well in. Obviously he got off to a great start, which allowed us to get off to a great start.”
Scranton Prep was 12 for 13 from the field in the first quarter and scored the game’s first 13 points on its way to reaching the championship game for the first time since 2022.
There, the Cavaliers will face Dunmore. The Bucks put on an equally impressive offensive display in the second semifinal and beat Holy Cross, 96-54.
Five players scored in double figures for Dunmore, led by Brayden Canavan’s 35 points. Jimmy Clark added 22 points, Carter Sload followed with 15 points, Nate Aviles chipped in 11 points and Jacob Costanzo finished with 10 points. The Bucks shot 66.7 percent from the field (36 for 54), including 17 of 28 (60.7 percent) from 3-point range to advance to the final for the first time since 2017.
Canavan also grabbed 10 rebounds, Sload dished out seven assists and Aviles had six assists.
“Our goal is to have four guys in double figures,” Dunmore coach Mark Finan said. “We feel if we can get four guys in double figures, we’re going to be difficult to beat. Tonight, we obviously shot the ball extremely well. We put a lot of pressure on them defensively. You put up that many points, it’s going to be a long night for a lot of teams if we shoot like that.”
On Monday, Scranton Prep (4-2) and Dunmore (8-0) play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Scranton (3-4) and Holy Cross (4-4) meet in the consolation game at 2:30 p.m.
With Doherty leading the way, Scranton Prep hit its first four shots and last eight in the first quarter to build a 30-7 lead. Doherty hit a 3-pointer to make it 11-0 with 5:07 left in the first. He hit another three at the 3:05 mark, followed by a layup with 2:36 left. He converted a steal into a layup at 1:29 before back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute capped his perfect start.
“We had great energy to start,” Doherty said. “We’ve been looking forward to this tournament for a long time. We haven’t been back to a championship (game) since I’ve been playing, so that was definitely one of my goals to succeed in it. The guys played really hard.
“The first (three) I made was pretty deep. The confidence kept growing after each shot and my teammates made shots, too. I was just shooting open ones, shooting shots I’m comfortable taking and shots that I thought were best for the team to get that first-half lead.”
Meanwhile, Scranton missed its first four shots and committed two turnovers before Tony Battaglia’s baseline jumper with 3:50 left in the first finally got the Knights on the scoreboard.
“When you give a team that’s very good to begin with a hot start, they just don’t look back,” Scranton coach Tony Battaglia said. “There’s no pressure on them, it becomes much easier. We were kind of forced to score points and we got out of our game and started to play at their pace. It kind of went sideways from there.”
In the second quarter, three consecutive 3-pointers by Michael Chalk got Scranton within 31-16 with 5:48 left. Chalk led the Knights with nine points.
But a 3-pointer by Charlie Skoff sparked a 12-5 run to end the quarter and give Scranton Prep a 43-21 halftime lead. Doherty capped the run with a reverse layup with 6.3 seconds remaining.
Max DePietro opened the third quarter for Scranton with a basket, but Scranton Prep reeled off the next nine points to make it 52-23 with four minutes left and enable Reagan to rest the starters the rest of the way. Doherty had his final basket during that run. He finished 8 for 10 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Max McGrath added 11 points for the Cavaliers, whose largest lead was the final margin.
“I’m so excited to play in the championship game. I haven’t played in one in my high school career,” Doherty said. “We just have to go in with the same mindset we did for this game and not be satisfied with this win (Saturday).”
Dunmore 96, Holy Cross 54: In the second semifinal, Dunmore scored the final 12 points of the first quarter to lead after eight minutes, 20-4.
While the Bucks couldn’t seem to miss, Holy Cross couldn’t seem to buy a basket. The Crusaders missed 22 of their first 25 shots before heating up somewhat. A Jack Alpert 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the second quarter capped a 13-5 spurt that cut the deficit to 35-21.
However, Canavan hit a 3-pointer, then a three-point play and Clark fed Sload for a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to give the Bucks a 44-21 halftime advantage.
“We were able to get out in transition, run all over them and they weren’t able to stop us in transition,” Canavan said. “That’s where we were getting most of our buckets. We were finding people open in transition, in the corner for three and open down the court for layups. That was the key to it.”
To open the third quarter, Dunmore hit its first 11 shots — five of which were 3-pointers — and wound up 13 for 17 from the field in the quarter to increase its lead to 77-42 heading to the fourth.
“Credit Dunmore. They have a senior-laden team and great leadership. That showed with the way they played,” Holy Cross coach Al Callejas Jr. said. “They got the ball out in transition, they were willing to give it up to the open guy and they hit shots. They played the absolute right way, a way we would like to play.”
Dunmore’s largest margin was 95-52 on a basket by Felix Vinas Bautista with 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
C.J. Thompson led Holy Cross with 19 points. Alpert and Colin Farrell each chipped in 10 points.
With two high-powered offenses meeting in Monday’s final, both Finan and Reagan know defense is going to be the difference.
“They have so many weapons, it’s just a matter of who can get stops when they need to,” Finan said. “We’re going to have to continue to get our game, which is playing in transition and getting easy baskets.”
Added Reagan: “It’s all going to be determined on the defensive end of the floor. Dunmore has five or six guys who can go out and get 20 points on any given night. So it’s going to be determined on the defensive end for us.”
Lackawanna Trail 59, Forest City 20: At Riverside, Logan Seigle had 20 points to lead the Lions to a victory in the semifinals of the Taylor Lions Tournament.
Ashton Thiel added 14 points for Lackawanna Trail (6-1).
Enazer Jenkins had five points for the Foresters (0-8).
Riverside 73, North Pocono 25: At Riverside, Brayden Rose had 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Vikings to a win in the Taylor Lions Tournament.
Nico Antoniacci added 19 points for Riverside (8-0), which will face Lackawanna Trail in the final Monday.
Dylan O’Neill had 11 points to lead the Trojans (2-5).
Old Forge 67, Wyoming Area 54: At Old Forge, the Blue Devils led by 18 at halftime as Old Forge handed Wyoming Area its first loss of the season to advance to the championship of the Anthony D. Badger Marseco Memorial Tournament.
Old Forge will play Pittston Area in the final. Wyoming Area takes on Northwest Area in the consolations.
Cameron Parker hit three 3-pointers and finished with a game-best 25 points. Logan Fanning added 16, and Cameron Krushnowski netted 11.
For Wyoming Area, Shane Pepe hit five 3-pointers for a team-high 16 points. Luke Kopetchny added 15 — also hitting three 3-pointers — as the Warriors hit 11 as a team.
Wallenpaupack 45, East Stroudsburg South 37: At Honesdale, Joseph Yeo had 11 points to lead the Buckhorns to a victory in the semifinals of the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament.
Diego Adames tacked on nine points for Wallenpaupack (2-4).
Marcel Stapler had 16 points for East Stroudsburg South (1-6).
Honesdale 56, Western Wayne 39: At Honesdale, Levi Martin had 14 points to lead the Hornets to a win at the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament.
Jacob Ramos added 11 points for Honesdale (4-4), which will play Wallenpaupack in the final Monday.
Jacob Lawlor and Xavier James each had nine points for the Wildcats (2-5).
Montrose 58, Susquehanna 52: At Montrose, Jai Herman had 19 points to lead the Meteors to a win in the semifinals of the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.
Jude Adams added 14 points and Sawyer Brown tacked on 10 for Montrose (2-6).
Mason Keyes had 25 points for the Sabers (4-2).
Elk Lake 73, Blue Ridge 57: At Montrose, John Heitsman had 23 points to lead the Warriors to a win in the semifinals of the Susquehanna County Christmas Tournament.
Chase Pond had 19 points, and Kendel Jones added nine points for Elk Lake (7-1), which will play Montrose in the final Sunday.
Paxton Pingarelli had 16 points for the Raiders (3-3).
Girls
Cora Castellani had 19 points, five steals, five assists and four blocks to lead Valley View to a 54-27 win over Lakeland in the semifinals of the Lou Camoni Girls Basketball Tournament at Valley View.
Ava Gazoo added 12 points and six rebounds, Sadie Cardoni tacked on 10 points and Ashlan Palickar chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Cougars (7-1).
Naomi Rude had 11 points for the Lady Chiefs (3-5).
Mid Valley 53, Carbondale Area 11: At Valley View, Mackenzie Richards scored 13 points — all in the first half — to lead Mid Valley to victory in the Lou Camoni Tournament semifinals.
Richards had 10 of her points in the first quarter when the Spartanettes raced to an 18-4 lead.
Parker Bennett, Madison Tully and Julie Prisco finished with nine points apiece for Mid Valley (3-5), which will face Valley View in the final Monday.
Alexis Nykaza’s four points led Carbondale Area (2-6).
Wallenpaupack 50, Western Wayne 30: At Honesdale, Fiona Shanaberger had 11 points to lead the Lady Buckhorns to a win in the semifinals of the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament.
Lily Williams and Ashley Vanderputten each added eight points for Wallenpaupack (5-3).
Khloe Mistishin had 15 points to lead the Lady ‘Cats (4-4).
Honesdale 55, Forest City 30: At Honesdale, Ruby Martin had 19 points to lead the Lady Hornets to a win in the semifinals of the Honesdale Jaycees Tournament.
Lily Murray added 13 points for Honesdale (6-2), which will play Wallenpaupack in the final Monday.
Claire Lombardi had eight points for the Lady Foresters (1-5).