By Steve Svetovich
Holy Cross junior point guard Michael Hughes leads Lackawanna League Division III boys’ in scoring average…Dunmore junior point guard Sophia Talutto leads Lackawanna League Division III girls’ in scoring average…Dunmore graduate Johnnie Occhipinti, who made cover of Amazon Prime Rugby movie, “The Nomads,” that won audience choice award at Napa Valley Film Festival and Philadelphia Film Festival, also plays baseball and basketball for Luzerne Community College and baseball in Tri-Valley Baseball League…Condolences to family of Dunmore’s beloved Ann Brunetti, former owner of long time Green Ridge establishment, Brunetti’s Pizza, who died last month at 91…Condolences to family of former Scranton Tribune sports editor Jack Seitzinger, Green Ridge, who died last month at 82…The local sports icon played semi pro football and basketball and minor league baseball in Detroit Tigers organization…Condolences to family of The Honorable Thomas J. Golden, former Dunmore Councilman, who died last month at 72…He served as magisterial district justice for the Dunmore borough and Lsckawanna County for 19 years, was sole proprieter of Thomas J. Golden Funeral Home, Dunmore, for 37 years and co-owner of Carlucci-Golden-DeSantis Funeral Home since 1995… Congratulations to Dunmore Bucks linemen Nathan Reuther and Chris Conte who earned prestigious annual Hookey Reap Awards for offense and defense, respectively…The linemen are the 18th and 19th recipients of the award recognizing the best linemen in Lackawanna County…Tim Ruddy and Mike Boland won multiple times..,Reuther was dominant blocker for Dunmore team that ran for 3,842 yards and averaged 330.7 total yards per game…Conte totaled 79 tackles, including 22 for losses, 17 sacks, three forced fumbles and one blocked punt…Any logical coach would go for a sure-fire field goal to,put your team up by three scores in a playoff game in the second half, but Detroit Lions football coach Dan Campbell had different ideas going for a first down instead and failing on fourth-and-two…Campbell’s poor decision changed momentum of game in San Francisco 49ers favor…And when Campbell had chance to tie score late in game with a field goal, he decided to go for it again on fourth down and failed…And running the ball on second and goal late in the game when they needed their three time outs to have any chance to get the ball back with a minute left conceded the game to 49ers…Isn’t the idea to win the game?,,,Campbell had several opportunities to and failed by blatant poor coaching decisions…Then he tells his team after the loss that this might have been their only shot to get to a Super Bowl…Poor Detroit fans…The Detroit Lions still have never been to a Super Bowl, but Taylor Swift will be there…Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gets another chance to build on his legacy in upcoming Super Bowl match against 49ers…Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, well publicized beau of Taylor Swift, caught 11 passes for 116 yards and touchdown in Chiefs win over Baltimore to send Kansas City to another Super Bowl…Kelce broke 49ers legend Jerry Rice’s career post season record of 154 catches…Kelce has 156 going into Super Bowl…Condolences to family of local businessman Sammy Bernardini, whose family owned Imperial,Bakery, who died this past December…Reagan Kearney and Catherine Gilhooley each won pair of individual events and were part of two winning relay teams to lead Dunmore to first win of season, 94-22, over West Scranton in Lackawanna League girls swim meet at Greater Scranton YMCA…LA Lakers star Lebron James, 39, on verge of becoming first NBA player with 40,000 career points…Congratulations to Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame…The trio will be enshrined in Cooperstown, NY, with former MLB manager Jim Leyland selected by Veteran’s Committee…But what about Gary Sheffield, Billy Wagner and Jimmy “J Roll” Rollins?…This marks Sheffield’s final time on writer’s ballot…With 509 career homers and 1,676 RBIs, Sheffield was one of baseball’s fiercest hitters…Did his short-lived ties working out with Barry Bonds hurt his chances?…Sheffield, a .292 career hitter and proud competititor, insists he was clean and always played the right way…Tristan Canavan scored 18 points and Sophia Talutto added 15 in Dunmore Lady Bucks 72-24 win over Susquehanna…Ryan Runco, who runs Runco Elite Quarterback Academy in Jessup, held youth football camp fundraiser to raise funds for Dunmore sophomore quarterback Sonny Crotti for the teenager who was stricken ill recently…Camp for a Cause was held this past January 27 at Riverfront Sports Complex, Scranton…Congratulations to Times-Tribune sports staffer Scott Walsh who earned three awards in Eastern Motorsports Press Association writer’s contest…Dunmore’s Vic Fangio parted ways with Miami Dolphins to become defensive coordinator with Philadelphia Eagles…Do you remember Tara Macciocco scoring career-high 40 points in Dunmore’s 73-21 win over Scranton 30 years ago to become school’s all-time leading scorer surpassing Tom Marchese’s mark of 1,933 points?…Sophia Talutto scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, and Tristan Canavan added 15 in Dunmore’s 63-54 win over Lake Lehman…Matt Lyons scored 18 points and Adam Badyrka added 13 in Holy Cross Crusaders double overtime win over Old Forge, 66-63…Mario Matrone of Holy Cross, who scored eight points, hit 3-pointer from top of key with three seconds left in regulation to send game into overtime…Do you remember Kayleigh Semion scoring 18 points and Maddie Martin adding 17 in Dunmore’s 54-51 win over Old Forge, ending Lady Devils’ 33-game regular season winning streak 10 years ago?…Do you remember Pat Burke scoring 17 points and Al Callejas adding 16, including 13 in fourth quarter, as Bishop O’Hara rallied from 15-point halftime deficit to defeat Scranton Prep, 67-65, three decades ago?…Abby Thompson putting together nice season for Holy Cross Lady Crusaders basketball team and is one of Lackawanna League Division III leading scorers…Congratulations to former Holy Cross basketball standout Abbey Lentowski, now junior with Immaculata University, named Offensive Player of Week in Atlantic East Conference…Cullen Smith scored 15 points for Dunmore in team’s 53-40 loss to Old Forge…Adam Badyrka led Holy Cross with 13 points in Crusaders 57-42 win over Carbondale Area…Matt Lyons added 12 and Michael Hughes and Mario Matrone scored 10 each for Holy Cross…Mario Matrone scored eight of his 16 points in fourth quarter to,lead Holy Cross to 59-53 win over Dunmore.,,Michael Hughes scored six of his 14 points in fourth quarter for Crusaders…Adam Badyrka and Matt Lyons scored 10 each for Holy Cross..,Cullen Smith led Dunmore with 13 points…Sophia Talutto scored 20 points and Leona Conte added 12 to lead Dunmore to 55-17 win over Holy Cross…Peyton Graboske led Holy Cross with 12 points…Abby Thompson scored 20 points to lead Holy Cross Lady Crusaders to 45-22 win over Carbondale Area…Peyton Graboske added 11 for Holy Cross…Sophia Talutto scored 19 points and Tristan Canavan added 13 in Dunmore’s 66-13 win over Old Forge…Dunmore’s Brian McGurl put on quite a show with his band Q Ball at Drafts Bar and Grill in Lake Ariel last month…Get well wishes to Bishop Hannan graduate Tom “Ace” Shea of Green Ridge who is recuperating in hospital due to recent illness…Do you remember Brian “Fudge” Fidatti?…Whatever became of Jose “Can You See” Cruz?…