The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Here’s three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls…

1)  I mentioned back in early December that this year’s Colonial League campaign–with or without COVID related issues–was going to be one of the most competitive seasons over the past 20 years … and that turned out to be the case!

There were a number of games that went down to the final possession for both the girls and boys teams during its playoffs last week.  

The girls Notre Dame team – the tourney’s number one seed–was upset by Palmerton in the semifinals.  Last week’s games saw several ladies who will be playing Division-I college ball in the future.

For the championships that you saw on RCN-TV last week, we had two great ball games, starting with a back and forth battle between Northwestern and Palmerton girls in game one.

The Bombers, led by Junior Brianna Moore, held the lead early in the fourth quarter before she went down with an injury. The Tigers shortly thereafter took the lead and never relinquished it the rest of the way, although Palmerton tried to make it interesting again late.

The boys contest was also a seesaw battle and featured two of the very best players–not just in the conference–but in the entire region, in Brendan Boyle and CJ Miles. Defense was definitely not a factor as the teams combined for nearly 160 points with the second seeded Slaters taking the title this year.

Both star players scored over 75 points by themselves over the last three games (Boyle scored a school record 42 in the league semi-finals).  Expect to see more fireworks from them as the district playoffs get underway this week.  Both Boyle’s Notre Dame team, in 3A, and Miles’ Bangor team, in 5A, expect some stiff competition.  With this year’s districts being an open tournament and a “win or go home” atmosphere, it’ll be a very exciting next two weeks in the Lehigh Valley.

2)  As far as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, Nazareth wrestling already has captured the District 11 3A individual title, with the “Super Regional” tournament coming up this weekend.  Also, the Nazareth girls basketball team heads into their postseason action as the team to beat in 6A.

What drives these teams and what are their goals over the next several weeks?  Hopefully, you watched our “SportsTalk” show featuring both of these teams back in January so you already know what drives them and also heard some great stories about their close knit programs. 

Don’t forget, RCN customers can see all previous shows over the last two months for free through RCN on demand.

3)  Speaking of District XI basketball, their playoffs will have several new wrinkles this year as the pandemic has drastically changed the postseason requirements and formats. District Basketball Chair Ray Kinder will be on this week’s “SportsTalk” to breakdown all the changes and talk about what administrators went through to put this winter’s basketball tournament together.

And by the way, the perception that the Easton basketball teams willingly chose to “opt out” of this year’s district playoffs is not the case. More on that story in next week’s blog…

***********

It’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Easton

2) Northampton

3) Central Catholic

4) Parkland

5)  Allen

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5

1)  Bangor   

2)  Notre Dame

3)  Northwestern

4)  Palmerton

5)  Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently as there continues to be changes from day to day!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls…

1)  District 11 announced its schedule and sites for its upcoming postseason events for its individual wrestling tournaments coming up for the 2A and 3A classifications:

Regional Wrestling Tournaments (Feb. 27):
AA – Central Dauphin East HS
AAA – The Charles Chrin Community Center of Palmer Township

East Super Regional Wrestling Tournaments (March 6):
AA – Pottsville Area HS
AAA – Quakertown HS

The state tournament will once again be held at the Hershey Arena. In addition to this week’s regionals, last week’s 2A district championships were held at a unique location – the Charles Chrin Community Center. It certainly has been a strange winter sports season!

2) Before the basketball playoffs get underway later this week, we discussed many of the teams in the Lehigh Valley on the latest “SportsTalk” show.

Here’s a sample…

VIDEO: Keith’s Take on Top Lehigh Valley Teams

See the entire discussion this Thursday at 7pm and 9pm on RCN-TV to hear more from on the local hoops scene!

3)  Justin Paz gave one of the top performances by a point guard a few years ago at Bethlehem Catholic and is now having success at the next level at East Stroudsburg University. However, there’s another rising guard with the Golden Hawks, Edixson Gomez, who reminds me a lot of Paz in his junior year. Gomez sports an explosive first step, great court vision and is developing into an excellent passer. In a year where there’s a ton of outstanding guard play, keep an eye on Gomez for the remainder of this year and as one of the top returning guards for 2022.

***********
It’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

For this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

With no eastern Pennsylvania conference playoffs this winter, our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).

So below we have high school polls for both leagues, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Easton 

2) Central Catholic

3) Northampton

4) Parkland

5) Bethlehem Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5

1)   Northwestern

2)  Notre Dame

3)  Bangor

4)  Palmerton

5)  Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently. With several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Fans of “RCN SportsTalk” and of Lehigh Valley basketball know that SportsTalk co-host Keith Groller was diagnosed with COVID-19 in December and has had some difficulty overcoming that horrible illness.

No one had been more outspoken during the pandemic in promoting the high school games to continue over the last year.  Without delving into too much detail, it is pretty clear that he did NOT contract the disease by covering local sports events.  That being said, this awful sickness has been a significant setback for Keith and his recovery over the last few months has been much more drawn out than anyone would have liked.

This week, Keith makes his triumphant return to our program and talks for a segment about his ordeal over the last three months and also how his own experience now influences his thoughts on how high school sports should proceed going forward.

Yes, I’ll also be talking sports with him–getting his thoughts on this unusual winter scholastic season, some of the standout performances thus far and his players and teams to watch over the final two weeks of the regular season.

Tune in to hear more insights from Keith, along with our special guests from the Notre Dame basketball team on this week’s show.  The Crusaders posted some of the biggest wins so far this season, including a victory over the defending District XI 6A champions from Allen High School.

********

A few other news items for Lehigh Valley sports fans that we’ll talk about on this Thursday’s show…

After a plan was in place and was ALMOST approved, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference decided to scrap its plan for a basketball playoffs.

The fact that a few schools like Liberty and Freedom, who, at the time the EPC cancelled their post-season, had played just two games COMBINED, really tied the hands of the league officials to conduct a fair playoff format.  With some schools playing well over a dozen games so far while other schools from the Poconos have also been limited in terms of games played, the decision to cancel the tournament seems to make sense.  The decision allows the schools that have been severely sidelined the chance to make up some of those postponed games during the last two weeks of February.

Also, the District XI decision to have all other games completed by February 26 and in time for their tourney to begin at the beginning of March, made it even tougher for the EPC to try to squeeze in their own post-season event.

The Colonial League, meanwhile, has been adamant since Day One that they were going to conduct a post-season event for their teams.

What’s the latest on their plans?  Which might be the Colonial teams to keep an eye on over the next month?  And what are some of the top storylines to keep an eye on over the next several weeks?

Tune in to this Thursday’s show at 7pm to find out.  (RCN customers can also watch the show for free On-Demand or set their DVRs to catch the program).

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls:

1)  While a few schools have struggled to remain competitive in high school wrestling, and others are struggling just to stay healthy and get on the mats, this Wednesday could be one of the premiere regular season events of the season. Northampton has looked solid against some of the premier wrestlers in the area (and therefore, the state) this winter and their matchup with Parkland will be a great barometer for both teams.  Also, the Trojans are one of just a handful of teams in Pennsylvania that have added female wrestlers to their regular rotation. If you’re a wrestling fan, there’s a few outstanding talents to keep an eye for years to come as more schools adopt women into their wrestling programs.

2)  If you were watching RCN SportsTalk two weeks ago, you’re probably not surprised that the Dieruff boys basketball team posted some of the biggest and most impressive wins over the last 10 days.  New Head Coach Marlon Randall talked about his new strategy and reasons for optimism among the Huskies ball club – a vision that quickly came to fruition with a pair of wins over Whitehall and our previously number one ranked team, Central Catholic. Dieruff is for real and, for the first time in a couple years, the traditional Battle of Allentown between Allen and Dieruff should be a great one to watch as they play each other twice over the next week.

3)  Two other teams that really have been playing well and pulled off some impressive victories over the last couple days are Northampton and Northwestern (yes, we also had Tigers Head Coach Jerry Lloyd on Sports Talk last month as well).  There have been six or seven really outstanding games featuring Colonial League teams in the month of January.  Northwestern, along with Bangor, Notre Dame and Palmerton could make some major waves come league and district playoff time.

With a couple exceptions, most teams got at least two, if not more, games in last week. With that, it’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

Before we do, one more quick plug for our Thursday night show.  We mentioned in BOTH of our preseason high school basketball shows that the Lehigh County Division of the Eatern Pennsylvania Conference would be much further along in their development than the Northampton County teams. Therefore, it’s no surprise to our viewers that four of our top five teams in our EPC poll are all from schools west of the Lehigh River.

For this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area.  With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

While both local leagues are trying to press on with conference playoffs, the possibility of being able to crown league/district champions is still not 100-percent definite thanks to the pandemic.  Our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Allen 

2) Central Catholic

3) Dieruff

4) Parkland

5) Northampton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5

1) Notre Dame

2) Bangor

3) Northwestern

4) Palmerton

5) Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently.  With several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day!

FALL ‘20 ALL-STARS (Part 3)

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

This week here at “The Shop,” we take our final look at the fall sports teams in our RCN-TV viewing area by spotlighting the top boys and girls soccer players and their post-season honors.

If anyone else has “all-star” lists or other post-season honors or awards they would like us to recognize, please send that information to us and/or follow-up with your local school district’s athletic department to make sure they send out that information to me directly at: chris.michael@rcn.net for future seasons.

2020 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 1st Team Lehigh
Parkland – Jocelyn Fowler – Defender – Senior MVP
Emmaus – Isabella Ingato – Defender – Senior
Emmaus – Lindsey Aiken –  Defender – Senior
Parkland – Alex Marsteller  – Midfielder -Senior MVP
Allen – Grace Edinger – Midfielder – Senior
Parkland –  Mo Olewine –  Midfielder – Senior
Emmaus – Madison Brown – Forward – Senior
Parkland – Emma Shock – Forward – Senior
Allentown Central Catholic – Erica Dietz – Forward – Senior
Parkland – Maeve Leonzi – Defender – Senior
Parkland – Zuzu Mohmed – Forward –  Senior
Allentown Central Catholic – Julia Roth – Defender – Junior
Parkland – Teresa Gonzalez – Goal Keeper – Senior

2020 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 2nd Team Lehigh
Emmaus – Mya Cooper – Defender – Freshman
Parkland – Abby Lytle – Defender – Senior
Whitehall – Vivian Abigail – Defender – Senior
Allentown Central Catholic – Kaylen Spatzer – Defender – Soph0more
Whitehall – Alyssa Marsteller  – Midfielder – Junior
Emmaus – Madison Woodward – Midfielder – Sophomore
Parkland – Demi Olatilo – Midfielder – Junior
Allentown Central Catholic – Molly Driscoll – Midfielder – Freshman
Dieruff – Marilyn Arisa – Midfielder – Sophomore
Dieruff – Carrisa Tice – Goal Keeper – Sophomore
Allentown Central Catholic – Emily Vaughan – Goal Keeper – Senior

2020 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 1st Team Lehigh
Parkland – Jake Seed – Defender – Junior
Allentown Central Catholic – Brandon Quinn – Defender – Junior
Emmaus – Jaeden Amato – Defender – Junior
Parkland – Michael Li – Midfielder – Junior
Whitehall – Carlos Mendez – Midfielder – Junior
Emmaus – Patrick Walsh – Midfielder – Senior
Emmaus – Alexzander Toto – Midfielder – Senior
Whitehall – Jake Gier – Forward -Senior MVP
Emmaus – Hudson Peck – Forward – Senior
Parkland – Mustapha Salau – Forward – Senior
Whitehall – Nate Walker – Defender – Senior
William Allen – Steve Salibi – Goal Keeper – Senior

2020 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 2nd Team Lehigh
Emmaus – Josh Miller – Defender – Senior
Allentown Central Catholic – Benjamin Scandone – Defender – Junior
Emmaus – John Hanvey – Defender – Junior
William Allen – Isaac Hernandez – Midfielder – Senior
Dieruff – Christian Reyes – Midfielder – Senior
Whitehall – Elie Khalil – Midfielder – Junior
Parkland – Zach Morales – Forward – Junior
William Allen – Lester Castro-Romero – Forward – Senior
Dieruff – Jarius Sebro – Forward – Senior
Parkland – Victor Baran – Goal Keeper – Senior
Emmaus – Ty Bleiler – Goal Keeper – Junior

Congratulations to all of this past fall’s sports all-stars that we have saluted here at “The Shop” over the last few weeks!

Next week, the return of your high school basketball polls and thoughts on the first month of an unusual winter sports season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

John Leone and I have been working basketball and football games together for over 20 years. John loves sports – pretty much, all sports. Some, as you will see, however, more than others.

John REALLY loves the Cleveland Browns.  He is an avid, fanatical, zealous, intense, passionate (get the picture) fan of the Cleveland Browns.  He is part of a Leone “cult” that, though separated each NFL Sunday geographically, they are as close as each other’s living room, den, and man cave as they text and talk to one another through four quarters.  Until this past Sunday, it had been 6,581 days since the Browns’ last played in an NFL playoff game.  This Steelers-Browns game was special.  I’ll let John tell the story:

SEE YOU SUNDAY
John Leone

What does a lifetime look like? What does it feel like? Watershed moments bring perspective. Ask a Millennial how long ago they graduated, when they got their first job, or the first time they voted. Now ask them to name the year The Cleveland Browns last appeared in an NFL Playoff game. Like that familiar warning on our side view mirrors, past events often appear closer than the numbered years.

If you happen to be a loyal fan of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (is there another kind?), a football lifetime for anyone under 40 began, arguably, during the 2002 season. It was the team’s last appearance in a playoff game. But for those of us of a different vintage, the roots and memories run far deeper, and last Sunday’s playoff win brought a visceral sense of relief, joy, and even vindication. You see, I’ll be 69 years old this year, and my football fandom history with my beloved Browns traces back to my hometown of Syracuse, its college football team, and watching the likes of Jim Brown and Ernie Davis. For those of you counting, that would be circa 1957-1960. Like I said, deep roots.

Christmas Eve dinner was always a big event in my first-generation Italian family. Attendance was compulsory, and as the son of a Syracuse cop, rules were to be followed – especially those involving Grandma and Grandpa. On December 24, 1967, the Browns lost in the Divisional round to the Dallas Cowboys, 52-14. Look it up. It was the late game that afternoon, and its outcome was decided by the beginning of the 4th quarter. Dinnertime drew near. But I stayed to watch with tear-filled eyes as every final second ticked away. Where is John? I was 15. Was that old enough to know better? I don’t recall the punishment for being late for dinner, but nothing could have hurt more than the thrashing we took from Dallas that day.

The ‘80s brought a hint of past successes. The 1980 “Kardiac Kids” and Brian Sipe’s MVP season gave us promise, but a play called “Red Right 88” derailed our hopes. That final play still lives in Cleveland football infamy. Later that decade, Bernie Kosar took us to the very threshold of three Super Bowls, only to be thwarted by John Elway, “The Drive,” and “The Fumble.” Since then, there has been this dark and morbid tendency by Browns fans to attach various names to our collective agony. “The Helmet Toss” and “Bottlegate” come to mind. Then, of course, the ultimate betrayal – “The Move.”

The slings and arrows and jokes and insults suffered by today’s Browns fans have hurt us old timers especially hard. There really was a different lifetime, you see, one in which this NFL cornerstone franchise was a perennial winner. And when the owner left the city in 1995 and tried to take the team with him, well, the fan base revolted and held on to the name, the colors, the records, and the culture that was so deeply woven into the fabric of the region and beyond. We effectively “traded” away our owner. In retrospect, that was pretty cool. But that was a lifetime ago, and lifetimes are different for everyone.

My younger brother, Ed, a lawyer and a much smarter man than I, inexplicably picked up the mantle of “Die Hard” from me. He, in turn, has passed it along to my nieces and nephews, and by now, grandnieces and grandnephews. My own children have no choice – like DNA, it can’t be denied. If I leave nothing else behind, at least there is that. There is no accounting for real loyalty. So you might imagine what the phone calls, text messages, and video chats were like on Sunday. Euphoria, disbelief, shock. From that very first snap that sailed over Big Ben’s head through the wee hours of the next morning, we listened to post-game reactions and savored the feeling that had eluded us for decades. We were there, and there we stayed.

I don’t pretend that Browns fans have cornered the market on the joys and heartbreaks that come with an allegiance to an NFL team. There are similar stories that run through every fan base of every franchise. And that is a good thing. Anything that brings family and friends and communities together is, indeed, a good thing. Andrew Malcom is a former New York Times correspondent, a columnist, and author of Huddle: Fathers, Sons, and Football. When the franchise owners tried to leave Cleveland in 1995, his op-ed in The Times said it all, and said it as well as can be said – regardless of your own allegiance. It is an absolute must-read – a testament to the notion of fidelity and trust and a strong rebuke to the notion of “franchise free agency” and the corporate element of the NFL.

For us Browns fans, staying the course and holding on to hope through the gauntlet that has defined the recent history of this franchise has been an especially daunting task. Yet through it all – the dark and darker and darkest days – there has always been one constant. It’s a refrain that has endured and withstood all manner of adversity over years and years of sadness and frustration. And it will remain.

P.S.  The Browns lost to the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday.  Their season is over.

Just some of the out-of-town fans on a typical Sunday afternoon.

John’s daughter, Amanda, at age 3 – still indoctrinated at 33!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Alabama’s win over Ohio State on Monday night was the seventh national championship for head coach Nick Saban. He now has won more national championships than any coach in college football history.  He was tied with Alabama’s former head coach Bear Bryant, who had won six.  Four college coaches have won four national titles – Minnesota’s Bernie Bierman, Ohio State’s Woody Hayes, Notre Dame’s Frank Leahy, and USC’s John McCay.

2. I mentioned last week that Jeffrie Lurie (Eagles’ owner) and Doug Pederson (Eagles’ ex-head coach) may not be seeing eye-to-eye. Pederson was fired this week.  I believe the next Eagles’ coach will be Eric Bieniemy, the offense coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs.  He is again part of the Andy Reid tree of coaches.  That’s just my guess.

3. The NFC title game ironically will feature two old-style NFL quarterback types – Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady – two veterans who use their heads much more than they use their legs and speed. They are throwbacks to what quarterbacks used to be.

4. Speaking of NFL quarterbacks, the Chiefs may have to play the AFC championship without Patrick Mahomes. He suffered a concussion this past Sunday.  If he can’t play, Chad Henne would be forced to take on the Buffalo Bills defense and they are outstanding.  Bills win if the Chiefs are without Mahomes; it’s a toss-up with him.

5. Our first high school basketball game (Parkland at Central) and our first wrestling match (Nazareth at Bethlehem Catholic) have both been postponed. The Lafayette women’s basketball games this past weekend and next weekend have also been postponed.  We will, hopefully, bring you some basketball this week starting on Tuesday with Central at Parkland.

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 3-1; OVERALL- 168-95-1 – 64%) 

Conference Championships

Green Bay

Buffalo

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Programming notes: Coming up on this week’s “SportsTalk” show we will have Lafayette Head Basketball Coach Fran O’Hanlon and members of his team along with Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel to talk about a very interesting winter sports college season.

Also, be sure to catch our first two high school basketball games of the season: this Friday, we will have Parkland at Central Catholic live at 7:00 p.m. and on Tuesday night we’ll have Central Catholic playing at Parkland.

Tune in for our season premieres!

************

Last week here at “The Shop” we started our seasonal tradition of saluting the top fall sports athletes from the Lehigh Valley area.

This week we reveal the “All-Star” lists for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s girls volleyball and then, the boys and girls golf teams.

Regular Season Divisional Champions:

Parkland High School (Lehigh County)

Bethlehem Catholic High School (Northampton County)

Pocono Mountain West High School (Monroe County)

Tournament Champion:
N/A (cancelled due to COVID-19)

EPC Most Valuable Player:

Lehigh Division Co-MVP

Jaya Bhagat – Emmaus High School

Brynn Dreisbach – Parkland High School

Northampton Division:

MacKenzy Ruggiero – Bethlehem Catholic High School

Monroe Division:

Cristina Montanez – East Stroudsburg North High School

Lehigh County:

Reilly Blair – Central Catholic High School

Honorable Mention/Lehigh:

Alexa Crum – Whitehall High School

Jaya Bhagat – Emmaus High School

Allison Gerancher – Whitehall High School

Leah Brunnabend – Parkland High School

Ava Holden – Emmaus High School

Brynn Dreisbach – Parkland High School

Kalliyana Long – Allen High School

Kassidy Hallman – Emmaus High School

Maren McGuire – Central Catholic High School

Scarlett Jago – Parkland High School

Mia Pickering – Emmaus High School

Jackie Malitzki – Parkland High School

Amber Rosario – Dieruff High School

Monica Vargo – Central Catholic High School

Northampton County:

Alex Barowski – Northampton High School

Rileigh Cummings – Bethlehem Catholic High School

Kyleigh Brown – Bethlehem Catholic High School

Sydney Houchens – Liberty High School

Jenna Deagan – Easton High School

Avery Lynn – Freedom High School

Elizabeth Flynn – Liberty High School

Jaiden Martellucci – Easton High School

Lindsey Nemeth – Northampton High School

Emma Maskiell – Bethlehem Catholic High School

Maddie Orth – Nazareth High School

Alaina Roman – Freedom High School

MacKenzy Ruggiero – Bethlehem Catholic High School

Monroe County:

Bella Beautz – Pocono Mountain West High School

Jalen Andino – East Stroudsburg North High School

Charli Cordoves – Pocono Mountain West High School

Alivia Kipp – Pocono Mountain West High School

Andrea Crilley – Pleasant Valley High School

Christine Marin – Pocono Mountain East High School

Cristina Montanez – East Stroudsburg North High School

Katia McNab – East Stroudsburg North High School

Madison Moore – Pocono Mountain West High School

Vendela Moyer – East Stroudsburg South High School

Alexis Womack – Pleasant Valley High School

Stephanie Zaso – Stroudsburg High School

Kiana Young – Stroudsburg High School

And for local golf teams…

Regular Season Divisional Champions:

Liberty High School (Lehigh County)

Nazareth Area High School (Northampton County)

Stroudsburg High School (Monroe County)

Tournament Champion: N/A (cancelled due to COVID-19)

EPC Most Valuable Player (Male):
Jordan Barker – Liberty High School

EPC Most Valuable Player (Female):
Michelle Cox – Emmaus High School

Lehigh County:
Jordan Barker – Liberty High School

Jase Barker – Liberty High School

Michelle Cox – Emmaus High School

Ryan Evans – Liberty High School

Nathan Myers – Central Catholic High School

James Kelly – Parkland High School

Matthew Vital – Liberty High School

Michael Vital – Liberty High School

Matt Zerfass, Emmaus High School

Evelyn Wong – Emmaus High School

Northampton County:

T.J. Bohl – Nazareth High School

Owen Fahs – Nazareth High School

Jake Haberstumpf – Freedom High School

Aiden Greenberg – Nazareth High School

Ethan Honsel – Nazareth High School

Ryan Kovach – Northampton High School

Matt Ronca – Freedom High School

Jacob Noone – Easton High School

Chase Skrapits – Nazareth High School

Trevor Schubert – Easton High School

Monroe County:

Pierce Argot – Pocono Mountain East High School

Ashlyn McCormick – Pocono Mountain West High School

Will Eberz – Stroudsburg High School

Steve Ottman – Pleasant Valley High School

Josh Jasionowicz – Stroudsburg High School

Mary Scully – Pleasant Valley High School

Jason Koch – Stroudsburg High School

Nicholas Taborelli – Pocono Mountain East High School

Xavier Rodriguez – Stroudsburg High School

Paul Wildrick – East Stroudsburg South High School

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we take a look back at some of the significant accomplishments by local high school athletes, let’s take a quick look ahead to this week.

On Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show we will have our second high school basketball preview show – more interviews, predictions and insights on the revamped winter sports schedule, which will now officially kick off next Friday.

Be sure to tune in to hear how coaches are adjusting to the truncated season and also hear possible changes yet to come as local administrators try to find a way to get through this winter sports campaign.

******

Not many things went “normally” this fall but one traditional occurrence that did happen recently was the local administrators’ naming stand out performers from the shortened, yet-completed autumn sports season.

I’d like to thank the local athletic directors for sending their “all-star” lists to me for the District XI and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  As I mentioned last year the Colonial League officially did away with these recognitions.  If there are some unofficial awards that are announced and sent to us, I’d be happy to mention those names if and when they are sent.

So here are the honored players from the EPC’s high school football season…

LEHIGH COUNTY OFFENSIVE MVP – (12th grade) Brandon Camire (Emmaus)

LEHIGH COUNTY DEFENSIVE MVP – (11) Lavon Johnson (Allentown Central Catholic)

MONROE COUNTY OFFENSIVE MVP – (12) Christian Sapp (East Stroudsburg South)

MONROE COUNTY DEFENSIVE MVP – (12) Jace Tutty (Stroudsburg)

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY OFFENSIVE MVP – (12) Matt Bugbee (Nazareth)

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY DEFENSIVE MVP – (11) Braelin Moore (Freedom)

2020 EPC ALL-STAR RECIPIENTS (LEHIGH COUNTY DIVISION) 

OFFENSE 

Tight End: 

1st Team – Christian Spugnardi (Allentown Central Catholic) #81 – Senior 2nd Team – Chad Newhard (Emmaus) #10 – Senior 

Wide Receiver: 

1st Team – Jack McGorry (Allentown Central Catholic) #3 – Senior 

 Jayden Booth (Dieruff) #1 – Senior 

 Jameel Sanders (Emmaus) #8 – Senior 

2nd Team – Tommy Buskirk (Whitehall) #2 – Junior 

 Bryce Bashore (Whitehall) #4 – Junior 

 John Siggins (Parkland) #15 – Senior 

Tackle: 

1st Team – Michael McCambridge (Allentown Central Catholic) #74 – Senior  Justin Roman (Emmaus) #79 – Senior 

2nd Team – Anthony Saed (Whitehall) #75 – Junior 

 Ivan Nieves (William Allen) #77 – Senior 

Guard: 

1st Team – Carter Hudak (Whitehall) #55 – Sophomore 

 Tyler Keller (Emmaus) #78 – Senior 

2nd Team – Garrett Fitzgerald (Parkland) #56 – Senior 

 Brock Boyer (Parkland) #54 – Junior 

Center: 

1st Team – Jakob Koren (Parkland) #65 – Senior 

2nd Team – AJ Colon (Allentown Central Catholic) #72 – Senior 

 Nick Davidson (Emmaus) #71 – Junior 

Quarterback: 

1st Team – Quinn Wentling (Whitehall) #3 – Junior 

2nd Team – Jake Fotta (Emmaus) #17 – Sophomore 

 Matt Rauscher (Allentown Central Catholic) #2 – Senior 

 Ty Trema (Parkland) #12 – Junior 

Running Back: 

1st Team – Brandon Camire (Emmaus) #3 – Senior 

 Jayden Williams (Allentown Central Catholic) #24 – Senior 

2nd Team – Nigel Linton (Whitehall) #6 – Sophomore 

 Isiah Rico (Parkland) #26 – Senior

Offensive Athlete: 

1st Team – Matt Rauscher (Allentown Central Catholic) #2 – Senior 

Placekicker: 

1st Team – Connor Fenstermaker (Whitehall) #82 – Senior  Alex Orlando (Emmaus) #84 – Senior 

DEFENSE 

Defensive End: 

1st Team – Dylan McHugh (Emmaus) #56 – Junior 

 Garrett Fitzgerald (Parkland) #56 – Senior 

2nd Team – Brock Boyer (Parkland) #54 – Junior 

 Christian Spugnardi (Allentown Central Catholic) #81 – Senior 

Defensive Lineman: 

1st Team – Lavon Johnson (Allentown Central Catholic) #52 – Junior  Justin Roman (Emmaus) #79 – Senior 

2nd Team – Marcus Loch (Parkland) – Senior 

 Anthony Saed (Whitehall) #75 – Junior 

Inside Linebacker: 

1st Team – Leroy Johnson (Allentown Central Catholic) #1 – Senior  Jared Groller (Emmaus) #26 – Junior 

 Connor Neith (Parkland) #1 – Senior 

2nd Team – Connor Carter (Emmaus) #47 – Senior 

Outside Linebacker: 

1st Team – Jayden Sanchez (Parkland) #4 – Senior 

 Mason Maxsim (Allentown Central Catholic) #23 – Senior 2nd Team – Jaden Delgado (Emmaus) #22 – Junior 

 Tommy Buskirk (Whitehall) #2 – Junior 

Cornerback: 

1st Team – Jameel Sanders (Emmaus) #8 – Senior 

 Tanner Ritter (Emmaus) #15 – Senior 

2nd Team – John Siggins (Parkland) #15 – Senior 

 Bryce Bashore (Whitehall) #4 – Junior 

 Josh Carrion (William Allen) #5 – Senior 

Safety:

1st Team – Chad Newhard (Emmaus) #10 – Senior 

 Isiah Rico (Parkland) #26 – Senior 

2nd Team – Quinn Wentling (Whitehall) #3 – Junior 

 Jayden Booth (Dieruff) #1 – Senior 

Defensive Athlete: 

1st Team – Josh Carrion (William Allen) #5 – Senior 

Punter: 

1st Team – Ty Tremba (Parkland) #12 – Junior 

2nd Team – Alex Orlando (Emmaus) #84 – Senior 

Special Teams Player: 

1st Team – Brandon Camire (Emmaus) #3 – Senior 

2nd Team – Jayden Booth (Dieruff) #1 – Senior 

Congratulations to the following E.P.C. County Champions (there was no divisional or conference championship this fall):

Lehigh – Emmaus High School

Monroe – East Stroudsburg South High School

Northampton – Nazareth Area School District

We’ll have more “all-star” recognitions next week here at “The Shop.”

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

I have driven on my share of bumpy roads on my way to games and events at some remote locations in my lifetime, but nothing was as bumpy as this past fall’s high school football season.

As the pandemic case numbers rose and fell throughout the last few months, players, coaches, administrators, fans and those of us in the media all had our hands full getting through the autumn sports campaign.

Once again, a big hats off and salute to the RCN crew members for bringing you as many scholastic football broadcasts as we could while also staying within Covid protocols and keeping everyone in our local community safe.  It was certainly an unusual experience doing the games remotely, but our crew members did a fantastic job bringing you all of the action over the last several months.

Here are highlights of most of our broadcasts from this past fall season. Some of these games can still be seen for free for RCN customers by visiting our on-demand services.

You can also purchase DVDs of our entire broadcast of these games by calling 610-443-2909.

Enjoy!

VIDEOS:

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

A few weeks back on both our “SportsTalk” television show and here at “The Shop,” I asked our audience if they might be interested in a high school basketball poll for teams in our PIAA District XI coverage area–similar to what we do each fall.

I’m not really surprised that I did receive comments from a number of local hoops fans saying that they would really like to see a scholastic basketball poll or two this winter.

The only debate was in how to set up the poll.

We had almost an equal amount of people voting for each of the different ways we could “lay out” the polls, including the interesting and somewhat controversial “boundary vs. non-boundary” idea.  I think in light of the restrictions/limitations of local schools scheduling during this unusual winter season, it’s best this year if we do things similarly to the way we ran our polls for this past fall football season.

The only difference between the fall and winter is that we may not be doing the poll each week.  Most of our local teams are taking the holidays “off” because of the pandemic (the EPC now won’t have any “official” league games until January).  Also, both local leagues have ordered certain “off periods” during the season set aside in which teams will not be playing…thus, on those week’s we won’t be doing our polls.

So for this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area.  With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

Like football, there will not be any league playoffs for basketball.  Without the crowning of official Colonial League and EPC champions, our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).

So below we have high school polls for both leagues, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Central Catholic 

2) Allen

3) Bethlehem Catholic

4) Parkland

5) Whitehall

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5

1) Southern Lehigh

2) Notre Dame

3) Palmerton

4) Bangor

5) Wilson

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

Tune in to this week’s SportsTalk show as RCN Commentator Tom Stoudt will join us to break down the upcoming high school basketball season, which commences this week for the Colonial League.  In addition to discussing the EPC’s decision to postpone the start of their season until after New Year’s Day, we’ll also be highlighting the top players and teams to watch this winter, intriguing matchups and giving predictions for the new season.

We’ll also be joined by former Parkland High School and current University of Virginia football standout De’Vante Cross, who’s making an impact at the Division I level.  Like his Cavaliers teammate (and former Easton star Shane Simpson, who was on our show last year), Cross has excelled at the next level and has pro football aspirations.  Among the topics of conversation will be discussing the steps he has been taking in making himself eligible for the NFL Draft next spring.