Summer Hoops ‘19: What to Watch
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There were some interesting storylines during our winter high school basketball season in the RCN coverage area.
Fortunately, a number of those storylines are returning—and should make for an intriguing “off-season” as summer basketball action starts to get going this week.
If you will be heading out to see some of the late spring/summer basketball action over the next few months, here are the key things to watch for (and if you can’t make it out to your local playgrounds, we will once again be out and about in our local communities covering the action).
Watch to Watch #1: How Emmaus boys’ basketball responds
I think Steve Yoder has done a remarkable job turning this into a great and consistent program after decades of this team being less than relevant for more than any one-two year cycle.
That being said, there’s no sugar-coating this—the 2019 Emmaus boys basketball season ended in disappointment. They reached –and failed to win—four championship games over the previous nine months.
In districts, they lost their last three games and didn’t even win the District XI consolation game—a huge disappointment for a team that had eight graduating seniors and had great expectations…none of which were achieved.
That being said, the cupboard is not completely bare and it will be imperative for some players to step up this summer and show that they can fill in some of the many holes currently on the team, in order to keep this program just about the best in the Valley.
Watch to Watch #2: Can the Allen Boys Basketball Team Do it Again?
As opposed to Emmaus, virtually no one expected Allen to win a District XI title last winter. This includes Head Coach Doug Snyder, who admitted as much in a March appearance on our “RCN SportsTalk” show (if you missed it, you can check out the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk )
Now, with the target squarely placed upon a team that still features many underclassmen leading the way, can the Canaries handle the increased pressure and develop the consistency needed to take the squad to the next level? This summer’s play could be what may very well be a landmark campaign for the program—in more ways than one.
Watch to Watch #3: Can anyone catch Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball?
If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll probably remember back before the winter season started that I predicted a competitive girls basketball season but one that would see Bethlehem Catholic girls advancing further in the state playoffs.
Fresh off the Lady Hawks’ state championship victory (I guess I can brag that my prediction from last December came true?), it should be interesting to see which of a number of talented girls basketball programs—many of whom have most of their team members returning, steps up their game over the next few months and gives us a good indication of where Becahi’s top competition will come from as they look to defend their title.
Keep checking back to “The Shop” over the next few months as we keep an eye out on the happenings on the local courts this summer!
