BOYS BASKETBALL: Riverside’s Antoniacci selected as Class 3A POY; Old Forge’s Thomas shares Class 2A COY honor

Nico Antoniacci sent shockwaves across the state with a head-shaking performance on opening night of the season, then led Riverside to one of its most successful seasons ever.

Old Forge coach JJ Thomas put his team through a gauntlet of challenges in an unrelenting nonleague schedule in preparation for a grueling Lackawanna Division II slate and the postseason. His gamble paid off as the Blue Devils reached the PIAA Class 2A championship game, and their effort against mighty Sewickley Academy has fueled lawmakers to reshape the public vs. private school configuration.

Together, Antoniacci and Thomas were the faces with the greatest impact on an exciting high school boys’ basketball season in Northeast Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Sports Writers honored both when it released its all-state teams. Antoniacci earned the Class 3A Player of the Year award. Thomas shared the Class 2A Coach of the Year award with Sewickley Academy’s Mike Iuzzolino.

“I’m very proud of Nico as a player and a person, and seeing how he is maturing,” Riverside coach Josh Aniska said. “This was one of the goals that he wrote down four or five years ago that he wanted to achieve. He has worked tirelessly to get to this point.”

In that first game of the season, Antoniacci filled the scorebook with 53 points, making 19 of 25 shots in 14 minutes of action.

After that, the sophomore guard scored 30 or more points 14 times. He finished with 36 points in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal loss to West Catholic and averaged 30.0 points per game for the season. Not just a scorer, he also contributed 5.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 3.3 steals.

He led Riverside to a 25-2 record and the Lackawanna Division II and District 2 Class 3A championships this past season. In two seasons, Antoniacci has led the Vikings to a 50-5 overall record with 1,383 career points.

“The best part of his game is his decision-making,” Aniska said. “He is known as an outside shooter, but he really developed and identified when teams were double-teaming him; he didn’t force things. He always made the right play and passed to an open teammate.

“His explosiveness improved with his work in the weight room. It seemed like every game, he had a highlight-reel dunk. His best attribute is his competitiveness. He will stop at nothing to win.”

Antoniacci is a dynamic player and a major NCAA Division I prospect with scholarship offers from Syracuse, Penn State, Marquette and Manhattan.

“For me, he was tremendous as a freshman, but his development year-to-year was something you don’t see too often,” Thomas said. “Only being a sophomore and being able to dominate games where coaches draw up defenses to slow him, and he still drops 25-30 points, is incredible. He is special, and he is only going to get better. He is a tremendous player and has a real love and feel for the game.”

As the coach at Old Forge, Thomas motivated a team that returned four starters from a group that reached the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals in 2024-25.