PLAINS TWP. — Hazleton Area’s Jeff Planutis, Meyers’ Jawane Buckner and Wyoming Seminary’s Jeremy Callahan were selected divisional MVP by the Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball coaches on Sunday afternoon.

Planutis, a junior, was chosen the top player in Division 1. Bucker, a junior, was picked the top player in Division 2. Callahan made it a clean sweep for underclassmen as the freshman gained Division 3 honors.

Planutis’ brother, Bobby, was named the Division 1 MVP last season. Not to be outdone, the 6-foot-4 wing player averaged 15.6 points in leading Hazleton Area to its second consecutive divisional title. The Cougars gained the second seed in the District 2/4 Class 6A playoffs and will face Scranton on Saturday at a site and time to be announced.

Buckner averaged 14.7 points in WVC play. The 5-9 guard demonstrated his MVP ability this past week, averaging 20.3 points as Meyers swept three road games to win the Division 2 title. He also hit a game-winning 3-pointer in a 56-55 win over Hazleton Area on Friday as the Mohawks rallied from a 13-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Callahan provided Seminary a much-needed boost offensively after the Blue Knights graduated their top two scorers. The 5-11 guard led Seminary with a 13.8 scoring average and a team-leading 35 3-pointers in conference play.

Joining Planutis on the Division 1 first team were Hazleton Area junior Josh Samec, Crestwood seniors Kyle Gegaris and Kyle Richards and Wyoming Valley West junior Draig Ruff and senior Sean Judge.

Besides Buckner, Meyers senior Matt Dessoye, GAR sophomore Will Johnson, Nanticoke senior Luke Butczynski, Wyoming Area junior Sam Greenfield and Berwick senior Jude Goddard were chosen to the Division 2 first team.

Forming the Division 3 first team were Callahan, Holy Redeemer sophomore Collin Cook, MMI Prep sophomore Phil Byriel, Northwest sophomore Jaxson Yaple and Lake-Lehman senior Cole Spencer.

Second-team choices were:

Division 1: Coughlin senior Charles Cobbs; Dallas juniors Alex Charlon and Joey Parsons; Pittston Area senior Chris Klein; and Wyoming Valley West senior Aaron Austin.

Division 2: GAR senior Keyshawn Palmer; Meyers seniors Ryan Gilgallon and Levaugn Soules; Nanticoke sophomore Nate Kreitzer; and Tunkhannock sophomore Tyler Faux.

Division 3: Hanover Area senior Tyler Diggs and junior Mike Piscotty; Holy Redeemer senior Jason Stachokus; Northwest sophomore Sam Saxe; and Wyoming Seminary sophomore Dimitri Gnall.

Senior all-game rosters set

The coaches also selected the seniors to play in the annual Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on March 31 at Holy Redeemer. The girls game starts at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. The preliminary round of the 3-point shooting contest will be March 27 at Coughlin.

The team names weren’t chosen. Crestwood’s Mark Atheron and Meyers’ Pat Toole will coach one team. Wyoming Seminary’s C.J. Kersey and Pittston Area’s Alan Keisinger will coach the other.

Selected to the Atherton/Toole team were: Lance Blass, Kyle Gegaris, Noah Jackson and Kyle Richards, Crestwood; Andrew Campbell and Keyshawn Palmer, GAR; Tyler Diggs and Luis Rivera, Hanover Area; Matt Dessoye, Ryan Gilgallon and Levaugn Soules, Meyers; Luke Butczynski and Cody Piestrak, Nanticoke; Mitchell Mazonkey, Northwest; and Avery Newhart, Tunkhannock.

Selected to the Kersey/Keisinger team were: Matt Champ and Jude Goddard, Berwick; Charles Cobbs, Coughlin; Michael Cusatis and Nolan Genasevich, Hazleton Area; James Kosik and Jason Stachokus, Holy Redeemer; Cole Spencer, Lake-Lehman; Kyle Williams, MMI Prep; Chris Klein and Pat Mitchell, Pittston Area; Anthony Nardell and Tony Saitta, Wyoming Area; Johnny Kehl, Wyoming Seminary; and Aaron Austin and Sean Judge, Wyoming Valley West.

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By John Erzar

jerzar@timesleader.com

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar