We had some great analysis and insights for this week’s NFL Draft on the most recent “RCN SportsTalk presented by The Morning Call” which you can see on RCN On-Demand or hear the podcast: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk.

Here are a few more insights/observations that either didn’t make it to air or should be emphasized as we approach this week’s Draft:

1.  Neither the Eagles nor the Redskins should be picky: take the best available player!
Both teams have multiple holes to fill and are not any one position player away for making a major jump to becoming a Super Bowl contender. Take the best option / most talented player at the spot you pick — whether you move up or down — and find a place for him to utilize his talents!

2.  Stay away from Christian McCaffrey.
Unless you move down later into the first round he’s not going to be your best available player. Durable running backs can be found much later in the draft and NFL beat writers are mixed as far as how well McCaffrey will hold up as a between-the-tackles rusher. He’s a great talent and will be a great compliment player to a team that is already close to Super Bowl contention but neither the Redskins nor Eagles find themselves in that position right now and, although he’d be a great storyline for us in the media, avoid people that encourage picking up this Stanford back.

Our beat writers on this week’s “SportsTalk” discussed in more detail some areas that should concern fans that are going “all-in” for McCaffrey that you need to hear.

3.  Although not necessarily all flashy names, there are some outstanding talents both the Redskins and/or Eagles could pick up throughout the draft who could go a long way in helping each organization. 
Some of my top names for round one who could be available “mid-round” include:

• CB Tre-Davious White,  LSU        

• LB Reuben Foster, Alabama  (although he’s MY pick, word is Arizona is heavily in on him) 

• WR John Ross, Washington 

• DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee 

• RB  Dalvin Cook, Florida State 

• DE Demarcus Walker, Florida State 

• DE Charles Walker, Oklahoma

On our program, Al Thompson and Rock Hoffman also had an interesting rumor regarding a certain team’s interest in the controversial but ultra-talented running back Joe Mixon, along with some great insights on “diamonds in the rough” among later round draft picks that you can hear on the podcast.
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In addition to our pro sports coverage, our “SportsTalk” cameras have also been busy keeping up with local high school sports, including this past weekend’s Colonial League “Play Day” tournament…

We’d also like to thank Lehigh Valley track-and-field Chairs Bob Hartman and Brian Geist (EPC & Colonial League, respectively) for sending me the updated “performance list” for us to highlight the top male and female track athletes and their performances to date:

4-21-17 girls top 60
4-21-17 girls relay
4-21-17 girls frosh
4-21-17 boys top 60
4-21-17 boys relay
4-21-17 boys frosh

Colonial League Boys Week 4 Link: http://www.colonialleague.org/sports/boys/boys-track-field/
Colonial League Girls Week 4 Link : http://www.colonialleague.org/sports/girls/girls-track-field/

You can catch high school sports videos and interviews on this Thursday’s program, live at 7pm on RCN-TV, including a feature on the Saucon Valley track team that posted a major tri-meet win for both its girls and boys teams last week.  We’ll also have coverage a big girls lacrosse battle—tune in for details!

It’s been a rough first month for local athletes, coaches and athletic directors with rain/melting snow making it impossible for many spring sports to start on schedule. Nearly every team in our Pennsylvania viewing area has had massive rescheduling with a ton of make-up games coming up over the next few weeks.

With the end of the school year and most sports playoffs scheduled to begin in less than a month, some sports have already pushed back the start of their post-season to a later date.

That being said, there have been some very good games and some excellent individual performances—here is a small clip of just one of the recent games we covered at the “SportsTalk Shop” (catch more videos and interviews on our Thursday program, live at 7pm on RCN-TV or On-Demand).

A few weeks back we asked local athletic directors in the RCN viewing area to pass along special accomplishments and honors for young student-athletes.  We’re happy to report that we received the list of top swimming/diving performers in District XI and would like to recognize them here.

2016-17 EPC Swimming-Diving Allstars

Also, I wanted to take a moment to highlight this year’s top basketball performers in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference this past season.  Here is a rundown of this year’s boys and girls EPC All-League team members:

1 st Team
Tyrese Martin – William Allen – Senior (League MVP)
David Kachelries – Emmaus – Senior
Sam Iorio – Parkland – Senior
Jalen Vaughn – Pocono Mountain West – Senior
Talek Williams – William Allen – Senior

2 nd Team
Isaiah Wiggins – Pocono Mountain West – Senior
Matt Kachelries – Emmaus – Senior
Kevin Wagner – Nazareth – Senior
Mikey Esquilin – Whitehall – Junior
Ryan Young – Bethlehem Catholic – Junior
Nick King – Freedom – Senior

3 rd Team
Logan McGinley – Whitehall – Senior
Lance Singh – Pocono Mountain West – Senior
Arnel Lewis – Easton – Senior
Dyony Bueno – Stroudsburg – Senior
Jeremy Johnson – Liberty – Senior

Once again, I’d like to encourage even more athletic directors, coaches and parents to pass along outstanding achievements by the student-athletes in the RCN viewing area by emailing me awards, honors or other special accomplishments at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we’ll try to highlight those young people both here on our blog and on the “SportsTalk” television show!

We had an opportunity on last week’s “SportsTalk” show to get insights and predictions for both the Washington Nationals…

…as well as interviews with some of the Phillies top prospects on spring training performances and their thoughts on opening the season in Triple-A…

For more of these interviews and videos on both of these teams, be sure to watch last week’s “SportTalk” through RCN On-Demand or check out our podcast: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk

A few more points/observations about both the Nationals and Phillies’ 2017 expectations…

*  Like last year, there are completely different expectations for both teams.  As I predicted (correctly, I might add) at this time last year, I will once again predict the Nationals will win the NL East and the Phillies will improve their win total from last year (I’m looking at 73 victories for 2017).

*  I think both the Phillies and the Nationals have greatly improved their bullpen staff.  After a few years of various question marks, Washington has about as solid a 7-reliever set as anyone in the National League—with both flame throwers and guys who have really good stuff.  Joe Blanton’s addition during spring training gave the Nats a veteran presence who can pitch multiple innings.

The Phillies also increased their depth this offseason with the additions of proven, late-inning guys Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit to join youngsters Edubray Ramos and Hector Neris.  While neither Blake Treinen nor Jeanmar Gomez has a solid track record as a closer, both teams have options (and neither team’s pen has the “Papelbon-esque” ego) which could allow for a rather seamless transition if needed.

*  While the rest of the NL East is improved, I think both organizations front offices made solid moves that will keep the Phillies and National ahead of the curve overall in the division.  The Nats should outlast the Mets thanks to Washington’s deeper pitching and more offensive weapons (and New York has more injuries to content with).  Meanwhile, the Phillies’ offseason improvements should give them an opportunity to pass the Marlins this year and give the team a decent shot at finishing third in the division—even if they don’t play .500 ball.

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Finally, after a slow start for the spring sports teams (for the ones that play outdoors, anyway), local high school baseball and softball teams finally got a few games in under their belt this past week.  Our cameras recently stopped by the Dieruff/Northampton girls softball game for their thoughts on the season thus far…

You can catch more local sports interviews on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” program.

One note for our scholastic sports readers:   I’d like to encourage athletic directors, coaches or parents to pass along outstanding achievements by the student-athletes in the RCN viewing area by emailing me awards, honors or other special accomplishments at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we’ll try to highlight those young people both here on our blog and on the television show!

As promised in last week’s blog, I did want to share a few of my reflections on the high school basketball season before we jump full force into our Lehigh Valley spring sports coverage.

Let’s start with the “good” things:

• The District Semifinal contest at the PPL Center may have been a once in a lifetime experience for many associated with the event. Perhaps the biggest crowd we’ll ever see at a Lehigh Valley basketball playoff game was enhanced by two great games and many of the participating schools’ best players of all time converging at the same time. You could argue that the teams featured the four largest fan bases of any team in the region, which certainly make for a truly special night for many fans, athletes, parents and administrators.

• The 6A boys and girls brackets were very competitive. Both Easton and Nazareth (in my opinion) were two of the best large school teams in the state entering the PIAAs, and both were eliminated in the first round.  The boys’ matchups were almost always entertaining as well in the league, district and state levels.  While there were a few blowouts and quite a few ‘lower seeds’ advancing deeper into the state playoffs than normal, these teams were usually quite talented and the contests were very competitive.

• The nice-sized crowds at many of the larger schools featuring girls’ games as well as for both boys and girls teams at some of the smaller schools were encouraging. While not getting the media attention the EPC does, the Colonial League has some great crowds at most of their playoff games.   Bangor is an area that always supports its sports programs that followed its team well. Notre Dame fans were out in full force for both their boys and girls playoff runs.

Also, the Becahi girls had a nice turnout for many of their playoff games—most of them very one-sided with their Hawks dominating the opposition, and we already talked about the four schools (Allen, Emmaus, Parkland, Pocono Mountain West) who showed up in droves at the PPL Center.

• Last and certainly not least, congratulations to the Nazareth wrestling squad and the Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball team for their dominating seasons, culminating with raising the state championship trophy. The Blue Eagles and Golden Hawks are two of a handful of teams from the Lehigh Valley that have state titles so far this school year.  We’ll be honoring Nazareth’s program on this week’s “SportsTalk” show (live, Thursday at 7pm) and we will be featuring more of this year’s PIAA champions (and hopefully we’ll add a few more title winners this spring) to upcoming editions of our Thursday night program—so keep checking back to the RCN-TV website for the dates and more details on when we’ll feature more championship teams.

And now…a few areas of concern:

• As I predicted several weeks ago, the level of competition in many of the classifications below 6A was not nearly as strong as in years past. While I applaud the idea to get more schools involved and to try to create a “winning atmosphere” for as many kids as possible, it certainly diluted the overall quality of playoff games.  There were some very close—and very competitive–games overall, but there were also more blowout games in which the outcome of the game was never in question.  In 20 years of watching high school games as a media member and as a fan, I had only seen one “mercy rule” game in my life (many fans didn’t even know this rule existed for basketball until this year).  This year I sat through three games (including one state game) in which the contest’s clock just continued to run in order to let the losing team ‘off the hook.’  The combined margin of victory in the last four playoff games I broadcast was 108. Looking over the statewide brackets, there were many more games that were either “mercy games” or came close to invoking this dubious “rule” in league, district and state rounds.  To combat this, there is talk that the PIAA is putting together a “competitive committee” to balance the playing field for some schools.  Considering the state’s governing body just revamped their entire system and it resulted in more lopsided victories than ever before, I am very skeptical that things will change any time soon.

• The attendance at a number of the mid-sized and smaller schools was not good (and, for some games, I’m being kind with that term) for premiere playoff games. I can understand smaller turnouts for mid-week games played in the afternoon and/or schools that have a far distance to travel.  But when the fans from Jim Thorpe outnumber three other Lehigh Valley schools for a district semifinal game, followed by a similar scene for the title game—and both were at sites in the heart of the Lehigh Valley—it did not represent the area very well.  One of the mid-sized classification’s championship games featured–at best–half-capacity and was not played at a gym that has a huge bleacher sections.

Granted, the overwhelming support at the bigger school games I’m sure made up for the games featuring lower turnouts.  Also, by having many more playoff games and inviting more teams in, I don’t think there’ll be any question that the final numbers of total playoff tickets will (and should) be higher than in years past.

I think overall it was a very good season for high school basketball.  With the graduation of many talented people this June, the summer basketball leagues will be even more intriguing as coaches look for people to step up and fill in some gaping holes.  Check back to the “SportsTalk Shop” in the coming weeks and months as we feature interviews and video of your local teams participating in spring and summer events.

I was disappointed to hear of Georgetown University’s decision to part ways with John Thompson III as the head coach of their men’s basketball season last week.   On our “SportsTalk” program, we had a chance to talk with the Washington Post’s Gene Wang, who covered the press conference announcing the change and had very comprehensive coverage of this big news in the DMV as well as the latest on the Hoyas’ search for a new head coach…

I first met Coach Thompson while announcing basketball games at Princeton University, before John left to follow in his legendary father’s footsteps as the head coach of the Hoyas program.  Coach Thompson was incredibly nice and always insightful each time I had the opportunity to speak with him and it was a tremendous experience to spend time with the son of a legend—who clearly learned a great deal from his father and was putting it to good use during his time while with the Tigers.

John Thompson Jr. put Georgetown basketball on a national stage for decades, and, initially, his son also had great success.  Among John Thompson III’s achievements during the first nine seasons as head coach:

• Georgetown has been selected to the NCAA Tournament eight times
• In six of the team’s eight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Blue & Gray have been seeded among the top four teams, earning three No. 2 seeds (2007, 2008, 2013), two No. 3 seeds (2010, 2012) and a No. 4 seed (2015).
• In 2006-07, Thompson led the program to a 30-7 record as the Hoyas won the BIG EAST Tournament Championship, the NCAA East Regional and advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1985.
• In 2007-08, the Hoyas won back-to-back BIG EAST Regular Season titles (2006-07, 2007-08), posting a two-year record of 28-6 against conference opponents.
• In 2012-13, Georgetown won the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship, winning 11-straight games at one point, and Thompson was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year.
• He had led the Hoyas to three appearances in the BIG EAST Tournament Championship game

As we talked about in the interview (which you can check out through RCN On-Demand), things soured greatly for Thompson during the last few years, with even some of his former players calling the program “a mess” and calling for “fresh air” for the program.

While it became a necessary change for Georgetown, I believe John Thompson III to be a great collegiate basketball coach, and I’m hoping he finds another big time coaching opportunity very soon.
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Also in this week’s blog, it will be our last time showcasing HS hoops videos until the summer leagues get underway in just a few months (and if you hate the cold weather like I do—this is a very pleasant notion).  We’ll already be turning the best on this Thursday’s live “SportsTalk” show, as we look ahead to the upcoming Major League Baseball Season with a live report from Florida with an update from spring training and a look at the National League East (you can hear the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk).

After taking some time to reflect on the new basketball classifications, the new expanded playoff seeding and a realigned format for the games, I’m going to be giving my reflections on this winter’s high school basketball season and all the changes in an upcoming blog entry.  Keith Groller and myself discussed our thoughts briefly on the most recent “SportsTalk” program, but I want to take some time to “digest” all the changes and the new expanded formats and to also take some time to get feedback from local coaches and administrators—the ones that are directly involved and affected by the new policies.

Now, here’s the last round of video highlights from this winter’s high school basketball coverage on RCN-TV:

We’ll gather more thoughts from the winter sports season as well as look ahead to the upcoming Major League Baseball season, with a live report from Florida with MLB Beat Writer Steven Gross, on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk presented by the Morning Call” at 7pm on RCN-TV.

Last but not least, a big shout-out to my colleagues at RCN once again for their involvement in the local community.  RCN will be participating in the Pediatric Cancer Foundation 5K/8K Run held at one of my own stomping grounds—the Ironton Rail Trail in Coplay (there’s a nearby little league field in which the event benefits the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley and we would encourage people to participate and also support this very worthwhile local organization.  More information about this weekend’s event can be found here: https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Coplay/RunToLive2017

We are heading down the home stretch of the scholastic basketball playoff action in Pennsylvania as we approach the semifinal round of the State PIAA Tournament.

A part of the statewide attention now focuses on the Bethlehem Catholic girls, who will now play Gwynedd Mercy Academy in the Class 4A semifinals this Tuesday at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford.  Click here for our broadcast schedule.

The Golden Hawks have looked dominant in all three of its previous state playoff contests.  The state’s second-ranked team has not trailed in any of its recent games over the last few weeks.  Becahi has won by rather significant margins in nearly every game played since the local EPC playoffs concluded, including jumping out to a 16-1 lead early in last Saturday’s game against a very young but talented Lower Moreland squad that was probably a year away from being a state championship contender.

We’ll be talking about the basketball playoffs and other local sports issues, but also include a unique twist as our in-studio guests will be those who are also very involved in their school’s spring play productions.  Both student-athletes and performance-students individually are working hard this time of year, but those who do both truly have a hectic schedule this month—and we’ll address that on Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk presented by The Morning Call,” live at 7pm on RCN-TV.

Also, since last week’s show was postponed due to the weather altering our basketball productions schedule, Phillies Play-by-play Announcer Scott Franzke was kind enough to reschedule and will chat with us this week to talk about the National League East and Major League Baseball spring training news and issues.

To get you caught up on the recent sports action on RCN-TV and get you set for the final week of the high school basketball season, here are clips of our recent broadcasts of PIAA playoff action:

While the PIAA wresting season has come to its conclusion, the state basketball playoff tournament continues for the teams still alive in this year’s state playoffs (make sure you check out our broadcast schedule this week here on the RCN-TV website!)

Due to this week’s winter storm and the highly likely possibility that our state playoff basketball broadcast of the Emmaus’s boys team will be moved to this Thursday evening, this week’s “SportsTalk” show will be preempted.  We are in the process of trying to reschedule this week’s guests for an upcoming program and hope you enjoy RCN’s PIAA coverage in its place this week.

You can also watch the show through RCN On-Demand or hear the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk.

Now, check out a sampling of video highlights from our recent playoff basketball games, along with our final wrestling broadcasts of 2017:

Don’t forget, RCN customers can see all of these games in their entirety for free through RCN On-Demand.  Also, be sure to check out RCN-TV’s broadcast schedule right here on our website for the best high school state basketball games on the air this week!

The PIAA basketball playoffs are almost upon us and RCN-TV is gearing up for outstanding coverage of your local teams!

To get you ready for the state playoffs, here are some storylines to follow as the schools in the RCN coverage area embark on facing teams from across Pennsylvania over the next several weeks.

“And the Winner Is…”
No “La La Land/Moonlight” moments here, there was no doubt who the Cinderella team was in this year’s EPC & District XI playoffs—the East Stroudsburg North boys basketball team.

While many fans in the Valley incorrectly assumed a game against ESN would be a cakewalk, a few local coaches warned me before the regular season ended that opponents should not take ESN lightly.

The Timberwolves are a scrappy team that’s fun to watch in each of their playoff games, which included wins over Emmaus (EPC’s #1 seed), Whitehall (a higher seeded district team) and a Central Catholic team that also was playing really well entering the post-season.  ESN defeated a very good Pottsville team in the district final, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do in the state playoffs.

Expanded Playoffs = (Some) Weaker Competition
It isn’t enough that 2017 has been widely regarded as a “down year” for a number of the District 12 power house boys’ schools, but by allowing more teams into the PIAA playoffs, it will almost certainly guarantee a weaker-than-normal first (and possibly second) round of states.

With the exception of the 6A boys and girls classifications, there have been quite of bit of complaints by local fans (and less than tremendous turnouts) as many of the district playoff games were less than spectacular, with several blowouts (especially in the 4A boys classification) and frequent sloppy play.  That trend probably won’t change much in the opening round of the PIAAs, with many of Pennsylvania’s top programs squaring off against sub-500 squads and teams that barely qualified for states—even with more spots available—especially outside of the biggest school categories.

Watch the Women’s Teams
While they may not get the attention the boys teams do (but still outnumbered a couple of the routing sections than at the boys’ games), there are a plethora of tremendous girls high school teams in Pennsylvania and several of them are from the Lehigh Valley

Archbishop Carroll is one of the “super teams” across Pennsylvania and are certainly heavy favorites to win a state trophy and, unless your team is playing them, are definitely an entertaining squad to watch.

I predicted on last winter’s “SportsTalk” that the 2016-2017 Lehigh Valley girls basketball teams will combine for are one of the best overall years in terms of the number of talent and competitive teams.  The play of the girls’ games over the last few weeks has only strengthened that contention.  Entering the state playoffs, Bethlehem Catholic, Southern Lehigh, Easton and Nazareth all have strong chances at going deep in the PIAAs and I wouldn’t count out Northampton, Central Catholic, Parkland or Notre Dame-Green Pond from pulling an upset in the opening round.

With the possible exception of the Allen and/or the Becahi boys teams, I think the Lehigh Valley’s best chances of seeing state gold lies with one of the areas girls programs.

Keep An Eye On Allen
Speaking of the Canaries of William Allen high school, Doug Snyder’s team had been ranked number one in the state since early January and, until this week, had not fallen from the top spot, even after their one and only regular season loss to Bethlehem Catholic (also ranked statewide).

Allen was certainly disappointed by its District XI semifinal loss to Parkland (more on them below) last Wednesday, but I still believe that—on paper—the Canaries are one of the best and most complete team in Pennsylvania.

Perhaps the lost to the Trojans will refocus the team as it gears up for the state playoffs and enter what is probably the most competitive of the six boys classifications in this year’s PIAAs.

“Notable By Their Absence…”
I feel it appropriate to borrow an often-used term by RCN Basketball Announcer and Former Head College Basketball Coach John Leone to talk about a few teams that will NOT be in the state tournament.

When the new classifications were released and Whitehall was placed in a category away from tradition rivals like Allen, Parkland, Emmaus and others, many basketball fans in the Lehigh Valley practically guaranteed a spot in the PIAAs for the Zephyrs.

A number of fans within the township thought this year’s team was one of the best Whitehall teams they had ever seen—a statement that I never agreed with.  They definitely had many talented players on the roster and owned one of the best records of any team in the Valley through the first two months of the season.  However, their up-tempo style of offense overshadowed a suspect defense, and the team struggled anytime an opponent forced them to play a half court style of play—a fact that haunted them as they couldn’t protect a lead in their final game again East Stroudsburg North in the first round of Districts.

The Zephyrs ended the year by losing 5 of its last 6 games, leaving many fans in the Whitehall community stunned and disappointed.

Bangor was a more underrated team all year long, despite the fact that I was touting them before the season even started.  They graduate four of their five starters, who captured three consecutive Colonial League titles. I was surprised to see the Slaters fall to Pottsville in the district semifinals.  With only two state playoff spots available in the 5A classification, I knew it would be interesting to see which of a number of talented teams (including Whitehall, Allentown Central Catholic, East Stroudsburg North, Southern Lehigh, Pottsville and Blue Mountain) would qualify.  But I have to admit I though Bangor would definitely be one of those two teams, and am disappointed I won’t get to see Dylan Benton and company play one more time.

Both Whitehall and Bangor can be very proud of their season’s overall, but it will be strange to open the state playoff race without a Lehigh Valley representative in one of Pennsylvania’s largest playoff classifications.

A Record Setting Appearance
Lastly, the Parkland boys’ basketball team (who’ll open their state playoff run against Archbishop Ryan—Saturday, 6pm LIVE on RCN-TV) capped off a phenomenal and historic night for high school basketball in the Valley.   In the first of what will probably be many future games at Allentown’s PPL Center Arena, the Trojans win over the state’s previously number-one ranked team Allen (in front of a record setting crowd of over 7,600 attendees) will be something people will be talking about for months, if not years to come.

We’ll talk more about the state playoffs and get in-depth with our previews, insights and predictions involving teams within the RCN-TV viewing area on Thursday’s “SportsTalk” program!  Email your sports opinions and questions to us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we’ll read and respond on this week’s show.

We are right in the middle of some great District XI playoff basketball action that we hope you are enjoying on RCN-TV.

First of all, I wanted to take a moment to salute our local girls and boys basketball players who were recently named to this year’s Colonial League All-Star team.

2016-17 Colonial League Boys Basketball All-League Team
2016-17 Colonial League Girls Basketball All-League Team

I think it was a great year in both the girls and boys classifications in terms of outstanding individual play (and as I’ve said for some time on our “SportsTalk” programs, this year has featured some of the deepest teams in terms of number of outstanding players on a given squad in quite some time).

Secondly, because of the expanded post-season format (and games being played this Thursday night), “SportsTalk” will be off until next week.  In the meantime, we invite you to share your playoff comments/questions/opinions with us via email (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) at any time, and join us on March 9^th as we read and respond to your emails.  Also, tune in for a full recap of all the district playoff games, and previews of the state playoff tournament, which will commence the following day.

Also, be sure to check out our broadcast schedule here on the RCN-TV website for the full rundown of which teams’ games we’ll broadcast, along with airtimes.  Remember, RCN video customers can watch all of our sports productions for free at any time through RCN On-Demand.

Here are just a sample of video highlights from our recent playoff basketball games and wrestling matches, along with interviews featuring one of our local teams in the post-season:

With the expanded playoff formats for both girls and boys basketball teams this year, it is nearly impossible to break down every single team in our coverage area along with insights for every game in a single blog posting—especially since there are more “sub-regionals” featuring many teams that are outside of the RCN viewing area that we haven’t had a chance to see.

Instead, I wanted to focus on four teams inside our coverage area with interesting storylines that you can follow as you watch this winter’s playoff coverage on RCN-TV (and be sure to check out our broadcast schedule each day this week for details on which teams we’ll be announcing, along with our airtimes).

ALLEN BOYS BASKETBALL
Yes, they did drop the regular season finale to a Class 4-A team…but when you look at the team that Doug Snyder can roll out there—and the depth to this year’s team, I don’t think you can realistically argue there is a better team in District XI.

The way Tyrese Martin is playing—he has to be the area’s “MVP” in a very crowded field of talented players (among them David Kachelries, Jalen Vaughns, Jeremy Johnson, Nick King and others).  Martin can play (and score) from any position on the floor.

The Canaries have a host of great ball handlers (Bless Jones, Malik Gordan, Jvon Winslow, Carlos Gutierrez, Diyel Steward) and an imposing front court (Rahmel Johnson, Brandon Moya, Tyrese Stewart, Orion Obade, A’quele Adderlay) that are very underrated in terms of their rebounding and defensive abilities.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention the popular preseason MVP choice, Talek Williams, too.

I heard a rumor that some people in Allentown were hoping the Canaries would lose a game during the regular season—so that they wouldn’t go into the playoffs with an undefeated record, and maybe help them refocus while not being too overconfident for the post-season—thereby firing them up for what they hope will be a long run through the state tournament.

Well, if that rumor was true (and it was), they got their wish.

EASTON GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Red Rovers did lose the EPC Championship to an incredibly talented Bethlehem Catholic squad—beating Easton in all three meetings between these two schools.  The Rovers are also not the favorite in the 6A playoff classification, as both Nazareth and Parkland finished with more “power points,” pushing Easton to the #3 seed.

However, the Rovers will not have to face the Golden Hawks again since they are in a different classification bracket, and I think Easton will thrive in the District XI and PIAA playoffs.  They continue to be loaded with talent led by Gabby Bloshuk (team high 13 points vs. Becahi in the EPC title game), Shelby Stocker (8 points) and are a very deep team (Mackenzie Miers, contrary to reports did play last Friday, as I had predicted on last week’s “SportsTalk” show).

Allen has made great strides and has had a fine season, but I don’t see any way the Rovers get tripped up in their opener versus the Canaries this Wednesday, which will fuel them through districts and into the state playoffs.  They’ll most probably have to face another scrappy Parkland team in the semifinals, and then, yet another showdown with Nazareth for the championship.

SALISBURY BOYS BASKETBALL
I have to admit, I am fast becoming a big-time Falcons fan—again–this winter, and for several reasons.

While Head Coach Jason Weaver has always had post-season success, he usually features an up-tempo team that loves to push the ball up-and-down the floor regardless of other team’s approach.

This year, for the first time in Jason’s tenure with Salisbury, he features a more half court oriented team, yet they are still fun to watch.

Big men Jaxon Costello and Ryan Slutsky have had numerous big-time games over the last month—both can bring the ball up effectively, shoot from the perimeter and have great hands.  Salisbury’s front court will create a tough matchup for their opponent—Octorara, a team with just two players over 6’1 and none taller than 6’3”—in their opening round playoff game (which will be seen on RCN-TV live, Friday at 6pm).

Jack Reichenbach and Blake Jones are lethal guards who are also very good ball-handlers.  Reichenbach in particular is extremely flashy and effective in scoring both from the outside and from penetration off his own dribble.

But perhaps the most underrated guard in the Colonial League this year was sophomore Sean Snyder, who’s been receiving praise with two great efforts in recent weeks.

In Salisbury’s regular season finale against Southern Lehigh, Snyder was quiet in terms of his point production, but impressed me with his savvy and maturity out in the court during some key moments in the second half to secure the Falcons’ win.

In Salisbury’s Colonial League playoff game last week, Snyder stepped up when teams were keying on other guys and came up big offensively to keep his team at arm’s length and continued to show poise during heated exchanges with the Spartans.  A number of other Colonial League coaches remarked to me after that game what a talent Snyder is—and will continue to be for the next two seasons.

I feel comfortable in putting both Reichenbach and Snyder on a short list of the top guards for next winter and both will be prominently featured in next season’s “player to watch” when we get to December to preview the 2017-18 basketball campaign.

NOTRE DAME GIRLS BASKETBALL
On paper, they were severely overmatched with Southern Lehigh in last Friday’s Colonial League championship, but I was thoroughly impressed by the way the Crusaders hung with one of the most dominant teams in the region throughout its most recent contest.

Leading their hard-fought, never-say-die approach last week were seniors Tori Esposito, Cailee Murphy, Cassie Kelly, Amy Small and Kelsey Gorman.  They played tenacious defense against Solehi and contested every possession. Also, keep an eye on Murphy as she will be playing college ball locally next year for a great collegiate program and will probably be returning to post-season play often at the next level.

As far as the road ahead for Notre Dame, they have a very tough match-up in facing North Schuylkill this Friday in their sub-regional opener.  Even though they are the #6 seed, “North” is a very athletic team that knocked the Crusaders out of District XI play a year ago and will be tough to beat.  But if the ladies from Notre Dame play with the same passion (and can get a few more shots to fall than they did against Solehi), I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the Crusaders advance into the next round to face the winner of the Jim Thorpe/New Hope-Solebury faceoff.

By the way, Notre Dame fans won’t have to worry about attending that next game at New Hope’s gym.  While the school is beautiful and I love the area, the New Hope-Solebury gymnasium is by far the smallest gym for high school basketball I have ever seen and would clearly not be large enough to hold Notre Dame’s loyal fan base.  Instead, that game will be played at a neutral—and definitely larger—facility.

One more playoff note:  Southern Lehigh needs to make sure it provides a luxury limo for LehighValleyLive.com’s Kyle Craig for their playoff games.  While they (and Becahi) clearly have the most talented girls basketball team in the region, its key player (and daughter of a local officiating great) Avery Bennett always has her best games when Kyle is in the house.  The Spartans could have a long run in the PIAA playoffs but I don’t think it should take any chances and so make sure that Mr. Craig is properly cared for during Solehi’s post-season.

Enjoy your high school playoff basketball action this week!