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Season in review: DV Boys Basketball

| 23 Mar 2016 | 11:34
    At Scranton High School on Feb. 14, the Delaware Valley boys’ basketball team defeated North Pocono 43-41 on a Ryan Woolley buzzer beater to win the Lackawanna League Division 2 Championship. On March 3, the team received their championship T-shirts. In the front row (from left): Ryan Woolley, Nick Pampalone, Tom Oakley, Zach Cerberville, and Tyler Smith. Second row: Jared Odynsky, Zach Klapak, Matt Campbell, and Takun Li. Third row: Assistant Coach Al Holtzer, Shane Acoveno, Hassan Keys, and Clay Chelak. Fourth row: Superintendent Dr. John Bell, Tyler Magee, Anthony Plumley, and high school Principal Brian Blaum. Fifth row: Assistant Coach Jeff Rainear, Head Coach Kris Holtzer, and Athletic Director Chris Ross (Photo provided)
    At Scranton High School on Feb. 14, the Delaware Valley boys’ basketball team defeated North Pocono 43-41 on a Ryan Woolley buzzer beater to win the Lackawanna League Division 2 Championship. On March 3, the team received their championship T-shirts. In the front row (from left): Ryan Woolley, Nick Pampalone, Tom Oakley, Zach Cerberville, and Tyler Smith. Second row: Jared Odynsky, Zach Klapak, Matt Campbell, and Takun Li. Third row: Assistant Coach Al Holtzer, Shane Acoveno, Hassan Keys, and Clay Chelak. Fourth row: Superintendent Dr. John Bell, Tyler Magee, Anthony Plumley, and high school Principal Brian Blaum. Fifth row: Assistant Coach Jeff Rainear, Head Coach Kris Holtzer, and Athletic Director Chris Ross (Photo provided)
    The buzzer beater against North Pocono to win the division championship (Photo provided)
    The buzzer beater against North Pocono to win the division championship (Photo provided)

By Josh Lashley
MILFORD — There are several reasons why all involved with the Delaware Valley High School boy’s basketball program can hold their heads high now that the 2015-16 season is complete. At the top of the list: the Warriors were not only willing but prepared to take on the toughest competition anywhere in the area.

Del Val head coach Kris Holtzer oversaw a fine year for his team, which featured double-digits wins (11) and ultimately a Lackawanna League Division 2 championship.

What was most memorable about the season just past? “Coming from behind at home to beat Honesdale, beating Honesdale and GAR in overtime, and then of course beating North Pocono at the buzzer in the league championship," Holzer said.

“We played the toughest non-conference schedule in our area by far," he said. "Our District Tournament is an open format, and we are not afraid to go out and play good teams and challenge ourselves. The idea is that we will continue to grow and improve throughout the season and those games will prep us for a playoff run.”

Senior leadership was on full display for the Warriors, and their hard work paid off in major ways.

“Our seniors did a great job this season,” Holtzer said. “Zach Cerberville, Tom Oakley, Nick Pampalone, and Ryan Woolley — all of them were captains and did a great job with their leadership. They showed our younger guys how to work hard every day in practice. Some of them lead by example and others were more vocal, but they all genuinely like each other and were able to compliment themselves well.

“I wouldn't say they surprised us, but two of our sophomores Dylan Kelly and Zach Klapak were able to step right in and provide major varsity minutes from the very first game. That is not easy to do when the year before you were playing freshmen basketball. Another player that really stepped up, especially defensively, was Tyler Smith. He became our defensive go-to guy and rose to the challenge. He was asked to guard the other team’s best player on a nightly basis and did a great job.”

There are several reasons for optimism surrounding the 2016-16 version of the Warriors boy’s basketball program.

“We have two junior starters returning,” Holtzer said. “Shane Acoveno averaged 18.2 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game this past season. Tyler Smith, our defensive stopper, will be returning and will be asked to be more of an offensive threat and will continue to grow his game by investing time this summer. We have our two sophomores returning who play significant minutes in Kelly and Klapak. Dylan is a phenomenal athlete and Zach was our leading three-point shooter even though he missed a majority of games due to a broken hand.

“We have two other juniors, Cal Pepper, who is a great shooter, and Rory Matz, who missed the entire season due to an ACL tear. We have several sophomores who will push the guys ahead of them for minutes and possibly starting spots: Matt Campbell, Jared Odynsky, Hassan Keys, Clayton Chelak, Anthony Plumley, Ryan Bulkley and Tyler Magee."