CHAPMAN LAKE – The same names tend to pop up at or near the top of the Lackawanna League basketball standings year after year.

The Lakeland boys proved this season that new faces can emerge.

A program that struggled through a combined 1-27 league record as a Division 2 member in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons developed into a Division 3 champion.

Lakeland arrived at the top with back-to-back key wins over defending champion Montrose in a span of four days this week.

First, the Chiefs avoided a second-half playoff by handling an injury-riddled Meteors team, 49-30, at home in Tuesday’s regular-season finale.

That victory meant Lakeland needed only one more win over first-half champion Montrose to take the all-season title.

The championship came Friday night at Mountain View in Lakeland’s 59-48 victory over the Meteors, who got two starters back in the lineup from ankle injuries.

“We’ve been kind of grooming these kids since their freshman year,” Lakeland coach Dave Rosenkrans said after Tuesday’s win, which he called “the culmination of a lot of hard work.”

Current juniors Kyle Kiehart, Eric Grabowski, and Tyler Brady stepped in as freshmen on the team that went 1-13 two years ago. They joined the current senior class of Alex Filarsky, Mike Striefsky, Ryan Nichols, and J.J. Rojenches in creating an athletic seven-man rotation.

That athleticism created a pressure defense that made six steals while scoring the final 16 points of the first half for a 28-15 lead at the break on Tuesday.

“We’ve been emphasizing to the kids all year: defense, defense, defense,” Rosenkrans said.

The Meteors were prepared to offer a bigger challenge Friday and the game was tied at halftime.

Kiehart led the way as the Chiefs broke the game open. He finished with 27 points.

Filarsky had two 3-pointers in the streak to end the first half Tuesday night and scored a team-high 15 points in that win. Grabowski contributed six steals and five assists.

Lakeland was just 6-8 in Division 3 last season.

All three divisions resulted in playoffs.

Scranton repeated as Division 1 champion with its 64-44 romp over Delaware Valley in the all-season title game Friday night.

First-half champion Holy Cross had two shots at winning the Division 2 title, either by winning the second-half in a three-way playoff or ultimately winning an all-season championship game.

The Crusaders started that process Thursday night when Josh Kosin scored 20 points to lead a rally to a 45-32 victory over Dunmore in a playoff game at Carbondale.

The win put Holy Cross in a Saturday night game with defending champion Riverside for the first of its two chances to knock off the defending champs.

John Rinaldi had seven of his 15 points in the first quarter to help Dunmore force a 12-12 tie.

The Bucks scored the first four points of the second half, using a Rinaldi dunk to extend their lead to 26-19.

Holy Cross recovered with the final 13 points of the third quarter and pulled away from there.

Scranton Prep tied Abington Heights at the top of the standings in Division 1 in both halves, but the Lady Comets produced the championship with a pair of one-point victories in playoff games at Carbondale.

The latest came Friday night when Breanna Toro blocked a shot with one second left to help Abington Heights hold on for a 30-29 victory in the second-half playoff game.

Tiffany O’Donnell had 11 points for the Lady Comets, who rallied to victory in the second half.

Jessica Genco hit a 3-pointer to end the first half and give Scranton Prep a 21-14 lead.

Genco, who did all her scoring in the first half, and Emily Pritchyk led the Classics with 14 points each.

Abington Heights and North Pocono had byes into the semifinals of the six-team tournament to determine the league’s two remaining qualifiers for the District 2 Class AAA playoffs.

Valley View and Honesdale joined them in that round with wins Thursday night. Saturday’s winners clinched district berths although they will still play each other to determine the order of seeds.

Eight teams were still alive for the remaining two Class AA berths going into Saturday’s action.

Mid Valley, a state semifinalist last season, was among the four teams to play their way into the district tournament Friday night.

The Spartanettes needed two wins to reach the District 2 Class AA playoffs and got them with a 56-30 romp over Mountain View, followed by a 56-38 victory over Lackawanna Trail.

Holy Cross also won twice to qualify in Class AA, following up a 58-16 rout of Elk Lake by rallying past Lakeland, 49-46.

Valley View and Honesdale had quarterfinal byes and each won once to advance in Class AAA. Valley View’s win came on the road at North Pocono, 42-32.

The District 2 tournaments begin Friday with quarterfinals in Class AAA boys and Class AAAA and AA girls. Those tournaments all have semifinals Feb. 28 and finals March 2 along with the four-team Class A boys’ event.

The Class AAAA and AA boys and Class AAA and A girls are scheduled to play Saturday, followed by Feb. 29 and March 3.