Reality Check-Winter ’18 Edition
People who know me well will readily admit that I am not an “I told you so” type of guy. I try not to be too outspoken and limit my opinions and predictions on the “SportsTalk” show to a minimum. And, despite playing the trumpet for 15 years, I rarely blow my own horn.
But every once in a while, as a representative of our TV sports show and the one responsible for creating the blog entry here each week, I do feel a certain obligation to speak up, point out facts and predictions and defend some of the hard work by the many people we are blessed to have work with us on the “SportsTalk” panels.
In recent weeks, I’ve heard one too many “boy, who would have thought Central Catholic would be this good” and “I don’t know anyone who predicted Catty’s success this winter” to just sit by and not speak up. Our production team members who get the stories, our guests that are kind enough to give of their time and their opinions, and even a blind squirrel (aka, me) work too hard to NOT say anything.
So for those of who are not active readers or don’t follow RCN Sports on a regular basis, here are ALL of our basketball predictions made between July and the start of this winter’s basketball season (early December, 2017), along with a quick update on the status of each one heading into the post-season. And if you don’t believe these were given on the TV show, our podcast and/or here on the blog, I invite you to go back and prove me wrong.
Go ahead, I DOUBLE dog dare you! (It’s never too late in the winter for a “Christmas Story” reference).
Becahi boys team will be the top dog this winter
Bethlehem Catholic finished the year with the best record in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and among all District XI 4A teams. Many now expect the Golden Hawks to make a long run in the state playoffs.
Central Catholic’s boys team will be right behind them
Central Catholic held off an impressive Northampton squad and a late surge by Parkland to take the top spot in the EPC Skyline Division and also ranked first in the District XI Class 5A rankings by accumulating the most power points. Some might be surprised if we don’t see Becahi and Central playing for this Friday’s EPC Championship (which you can see Friday, live at 7:30pm on RCN-TV).
Central’s girls teams will also be improved and not need an expanded format to make the playoffs this year
The Vikettes not only improved on their record this year but enter the post-season with the third highest power point total among all District XI 4A girls schools. They’ll probably face Bethlehem Catholic in the final, and as Easton proved last week, it is possible for a Lehigh Valley team to beat the Hawks.
Whitehall and Parkland will not have the success they’ve had in recent years, but will play better by the end of the season
I think many would agree that Whitehall did improve and will be a force to be reckoned with again next year. They were in a lot of ball games and posted some impressive wins, including victories over Parkland, Dieruff and Boyertown.
Parkland defeated Nazareth in mid-January and ended up winning 8 of their last 11 games. Their furious finish just edged out the Blue Eagles (who were 9-3 at once point) for the final spot in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs. While some fans thought that this might be the year Parkland didn’t qualify for the league and district playoffs, they enter the post-season as one of the most dangerous 6A teams in the Valley.
Catasauqua boys AND girls teams, after struggling the last few years, will both be improved and capture more wins this season and the boys Rough Rider team will make the playoffs this year (we even predicted Catty’s boys would struggle from the free throw line this winter)
Catty’s boys team did qualify for both the league playoffs (a number-four seed) and the 3A District playoffs (a number-three seed) after having their best regular season in years. The Roughies were one of the few Colonial League teams that hung with Bangor until later in the fourth quarter. A few people (including myself) thought the Roughies might give the recently depleted Bangor team a run in Tuesday’s semifinals (which you can also see live on RCN-TV) and make it to the championship. Instead, Catasauqua will have to shake off a disappointing 21-point loss from Saturday’s opening round playoff game against Wilson to have success in the district round of the post-season.
Catty girls did register two Colonial League victories this year including a win over Saucon Valley and an 11 point contest versus Pen Argyl. It certainly appeared like the Rough Riders girls program were moving in the right direction by the end of 2018.
Freedom and Easton (both boys and girls) will be major players in both the league and district playoff races
Easton’s girls team defeated Becahi, won the Rotary Tournament (which included Southern Lehigh this year) and held the best overall record of any team in the EPC entering the playoffs. They look to build on their success and have a very good chance of making a nice run in the PIAAs.
Easton boys clinched both the EPC and District XI playoffs for the first time in a number of years. The Rovers posted some strong wins (including Nazareth, Emmaus and Central Catholic—all on consecutive games) and also played powerhouse Bethlehem Catholic tight for three quarters in BOTH meetings.
While the Freedom girls team did have their best season in years and could make some noise in districts, Freedom’s boys did not make the playoffs—missing by three games—although there were in the hunt until the final 10 days of the regular season.
On a side note, the Patriots also had some impressive “upsets” this year, including perhaps our best finish of an RCN game to-date—a buzzer beating, game-winning three point shot in overtime against the Blue Eagles in the first of several “must win” games Freedom faced during the final two weeks of the regular season.
Bangor will again dominate the Colonial League
The Slaters barely had any competition in the league again this year and only had a couple losses overall (one of them to Easton, which made both the EPC & District Playoffs this year). Furthermore, they only had three regular season league games decided by less than 11 points all year in completing their second straight undefeated Colonial League season.
We’ll got a first-hand impression of the Bangor boys basketball team when Head Coach Bron Holland and his players visited our studio last week (you can see their “SportsTalk” show through RCN On-Demand and hear the podcast here on the RCN-TV website.)
East Stroudsburg North will struggle this year after its magical District Championship Title run last season
It was a disappointing year for ESN as they failed to make the playoffs—even with the expanded formats—for both the league and district post-season.
Becahi’s boys & girls team, along with Central’s and Bangor’s boys and Southern Lehigh’s girls team will not lose 10 league games combined this regular season
Becahi boys lost 1
Becahi girls lost 2
Central boys lost 2
Solehi girls lost 0
Bangor boys lost 0
Again, apologies for the braggadocios tone this week, but really, if you’re not following us at RCN each week, please don’t ask me if I’m surprised that our predictions came true — especially when some of these predictions were made months before the current basketball season got underway!
And, if you don’t want to stay in the dark for the upcoming high school basketball playoff season, make sure you tune into our show on Thursday, February 15th when local coaches and media members will give analysis and insights (and predictions) for the postseason.
