Scranton Prep and Abington Heights captured Lackawanna Golf League titles with victories in the 18-hole medal-play finals at Elkview Country Club in Greenfield Twp. on a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon.
Cole Powell shot an even-par 72 to earn medalist honors as the Cavaliers won the Class 2A title, 291-335, over Riverside. It is the ninth consecutive league title for Scranton Prep.
Meanwhile, the Comets beat Honesdale, 303-345, as Robby Lucas shot 2-over-par 74 for medalist honors. It is the third straight league title for Abington Heights.
Both teams advance to the District 2 Team Championships on Friday at 9 a.m. at Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter. Scranton Prep faces Wyoming Seminary in the Class 2A final, while Abington Heights meets Pittston Area in the Class 3A final.
At the District 2 Championships on Monday at Elkview, Powell shot an 82. So the freshman was looking bounce back from that round.
“I definitely was fired up,” Powell said. “I just tried to keep my composure and play my game.”
A birdie on No. 1 got him off to a good start and boosted his confidence. He had a bogey on No. 3, but responded with a birdie on No. 4.
“I hit a pretty bad drive, just got over the road and into the rough. Then I pulled my second shot into the bunker,” Powell said. “But I chipped in from the bunker with very good pace. That really got me going for the round. I kind of got that spark.”
After that, Powell parred the rest of his holes except for a bogey on No. 11.
“I struggled with putting, but besides that I felt pretty good all day,” Powell said. “Obviously it was wet out and hard to hold the club a little bit. The putts were rolling nice, I had good pace. But I couldn’t get many to drop.”
Jack Pavuk, Brendan Bell and T.J. Stott each shot 73 to complete the scoring for Scranton Prep. Ben Walsh and Ben Boyanoski each had 75s to round out the Cavaliers lineup.
Bell had five birdies during his round on Nos. 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15. Stott had birdies on Nos. 1, 8, 14 and 18. Pavuk also had four birdies (Nos. 1, 7, 10, 11), while Walsh (1, 4, 14) and Boyanoski (8, 10, 14) had three birdies apiece.
Mason Rickert shot 79, including a birdie on No. 14, to lead Riverside. Ben Kulikowski added birdies on Nos. 1 and 11 and Kyle Connor had one on No. 1 for the Vikings.
Like Powell, Lucas looked to shake off a tough performance at districts Monday when he shot 79 to miss qualifying for states by two strokes.
“Monday, I played pretty good for 15 holes and three just kind of got away from me at the end,” Lucas said. “So I know I had a chance (Wednesday) to shoot a good score. You have to kind of let the bad rounds go and just move on. I think I did a good job of that.”
In the Class 3A final, Lucas got his round going with an eagle on No. 1.
“We came in excited, looking forward to this since it’s the first step in the postseason for the team,” Lucas said. “I came out, hit a good drive, good second shot and dropped a pretty long putt on the par 5.”
Lucas added a birdie on No. 8 to finish the front nine at 3-over. He had back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, but bogeyed No. 18 to shoot 1-under on the back nine.
Robert Munley shot 75, Robert Bingham and Phillip Matthews each had 77s to complete the scoring for Abington Heights. Rounding out the Comets lineup were Cade Kelleher (78) and Luke Swank (79).
Munley (Nos. 1,9,13), Matthews (11,17,18) and Bingham (1,7,8) each carded three birdies, while Swank (1,17) had two.
Reed Howell shot 81 and Lucas Stephens 82 to lead Honesdale. Both players birdied Nos. 5 and 12. Theo Motichka added a birdie on No. 7 for the Hornets.
LACKAWANNA GOLF LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Elkview CC (Par 72)
CLASS 2A FINAL
SP (291): Powell 72, Bell 73, Stott 73, Pavuk 73 (Walsh 75, Boyanoski 75); RIV (335): Rickert 79, Connor 82, Kulikowski 84, Posluszny 90 (O’Brien 92, Kimble 95); Records: SP 15-0, 16-2.
CLASS 3A FINAL
AH (303): Lucas 74, Munley 75, Bingham 77, Matthews 77 (Kelleher 78, Swank 79); HON (345): Howell 81, Stephens 82, Dahlgren 90, Schneider 92 (Johnson 94, Motichka 102); Records: AH 12-2, HON 7-7.
