Three of Scranton Prep’s five winter athletic teams won championships with the help of contributions from athletes from the Abingtons.
Scranton Prep teams went a combined 39-9 in Lackawanna League competition during the winter and won District 2 championships in three of the five sports.
The Classics won both league and division titles in girls basketball and girls swimming.
The Cavaliers also won a district championship in boys basketball.
A look at how Scranton Prep students who reside in the Abington Heights and Lackawanna Trail School Districts did during the winter sports season:
Boys basketball
Junior guard Gavin Bednarz scored 21 points when Scranton Prep defeated Valley View, 58-52, in the District 2 Class 4A championship game to make the Cavaliers the only program, boys or girls, to win district titles in all five years they have been decided at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
“Gavin Bednarz is a tough guy to guard because he has athletic ability and speed,” said Scranton Prep coach Andrew Kettel, a Clarks Green resident and the former Lackawanna Trail coach. “He’s scrappy. He plays bigger than he is. He’s a tough match-up for people.”
Bednarz brought Scranton Prep back from an early, 14-2 deficit.
“We tried to get him going to the rim,” Kettel said. “He’s got that great mid-range jumper.”
Bednarz and sophomore guard Andrew Ferguson were both starters.
On the season, Bednarz was the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.0 points per game while ranking second in steals (1.3), fourth in assists (1.3) and fourth in rebounds (4.1).
Ferguson was the team’s third-leading 3-point shooter while ranking second in assists with 1.9 per game. He averaged 4.9 points.
Andrew Stark, a junior, was a big part of Scranton Prep’s deep rotation. He played in all 26 games and averaged 3.0 points.
Sophomore Matt Cobb appeared in four games and senior Jake Kosierowski appeared in three. They each scored two points.
Kosierowski, who survived leukemia as a youngster, had his senior season cut short by surgery to remove a brain tumor. He was able to be with the team during Senior Night and Coaches vs. Cancer ceremonies where he addressed the crowd.
“Coaches and teammates have been so supportive of me that I feel like I was still a part of the team even when I was gone,” Kosierowski said during the speech.
Girls basketball
Two of the three seniors, Elisa Kopicki and Grace Stampien, on District 2’s only undefeated team are from the Abingtons.
Stampien has been with the team through much of the season while going through treatment for leukemia and was able to make a ceremonial start, being on the court with her teammates for the tip off on Senior Night. Her presence has been cited as a source of inspiration for the Classics throughout the season.
Coach Bob Beviglia describes his seniors as “the ultimate in team players and the glue to our program.”
Kopicki and junior Maggie Kosierowski come off the bench. They are among the 10 players contributing at least a point per game for a team that has steamrolled opponents by an average of 62.0-30.3.
Scranton Prep is one of eight Class 4A teams left in the state tournament, which has been suspended during efforts to contain the coronavirus. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association held a Board of Directors meeting by conference call Monday and decided to leave the tournament status unchanged for now while awaiting further developments.
The Classics won Division 1 of the Lackawanna League with a 13-0 league record and are 27-0 overall.
Girls swimming
The Class 2A portion of the PIAA Swimming Championships is also on hold, along with the remainder of the basketball tournament and all spring sports competition.
Junior Lauren Schofield, an Abingtons resident, is seeded second in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke and third in the 200 individual medley after winning District 2 titles in both.
The Classics were unbeaten Lackawanna League champions and won District 2 Class 2A. They were set up to try to improve upon last season’s fourth-place finish on the state level.
Lauren Schofield was a four-event gold medalist at the district meet, also winning titles in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
Freshman Carly Schofield was part of the silver medalist 400 freestyle relay team.
Wrestling
The Scranton Prep wrestling team, which went 3-3 in Division 2 of the Lackawanna League and 9-10 overall, had seven members from the Abington Heights district and two from Lackawanna Trail.
Junior Oliver Egan and sophomore Matthew Evans from the Abingtons and junior Bradyn Genello from Lackawanna Trail’s district all had winning records while finishing in double figures in wins.
Egan went 13-6 at 145 and 152 pounds. He has a 56-26 career record after placing third in the district Class 2A tournament as a freshman and fourth as a junior.
Evans was 15-11 at 182 and 195.
Genello went 14-9 and placed fifth in the district at 106 pounds.
Sophomore Luca Dennis added seven wins. Fellow sophomores Ethan Gumula, Patrick Robinson and Jacob Dennis are others from the Abingtons who made varsity appearances.
Andrew Bell, a sophomore who resides in the Lackawanna Trail district, posted two wins.
