BASKETBALL RECAP

From Keith Groller

There was a playoff atmosphere at Freedom on Friday night where I was for the Patriots game against Parkland.

Just three weeks remain in the regular season and teams, at least the good ones, are starting to feel a sense of urgency.

While Parkland needs every game to qualify for districts and to be able to defend its district title, Freedom needs to keep winning to prove this is just not another typical Patriots season in which they win a lot of games but can't get it done when it matters most.



By Joe Stellato's own admission, Freedom didn't play its best on Friday night but he was happy that his guys overcame adversity and a seven-point deficit and found a way to win against an undermanned, but still determined Parkland team.

"These guys are fun to coach," Stellato said later. "They're an emotional group. I don't want to jinx anything. We're just going to keep playing our [uptempo] style and see what happens. It has been a fun year so far."

It has been anything but fun for Parkland, which began the year having to replace four starters including last year's player of the year Jaleel Clark and 6-9 Jon Ward. Then the team lost point guard Nick Miller to injury in the second game of the season and later to a disciplinary action.

Miller, so valuable to the team, is set to return today, Saturday, against Pleasant Valley, along with Dom Posocco who also was also part of the disciplinary punishment. But still Parkland won't be at full strength because Ryan Carlon, another starter, went out with a shoulder injury against Freedom and may be sidelined for awhile.

At 5-8 overall, and 3-5 in the LVC, Parkland's quest to get to .500 still remains a long shot.

After today, Parkland has Becahi on Tuesday and then a brutal weekend in which they play Allen on Friday, at Lower Merion on Saturday and Chester on Sunday in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase.

Give coach Andy Stephens credit for staying upbeat and optimistic.

Other coaches would be crying about that trio of back-to-back-to-back games next weekend, but he said: "We're looking forward to it. It'll be fun. You want to play those kind of teams and in these kind of events."

After that stretch, Parkland still has to play Central Catholic, Nazareth, Northampton and Whitehall -- all good teams.

If the Trojans do get into districts, no one will accuse them of backing in.

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Elsewhere on Friday night, the LVC offered some interesting results. Dieruff played Liberty tough, but the Hurricanes, getting used to life without Anthony Gonzalez, prevailed.

Big win for Allen over Nazareth to snap a three-game losing streak.

Just when Easton got back to .500, the Rovers managed just 35 against Emmaus and lost.

Whitehall scores just two points in the fourth quarter, but finds a way to beat Becahi. Al Blount was held without a field goal in that game and to just eight points.

In the Colonial League, big wins by Southern Lehigh, Wilson, Catty and Northwestern.

The playoff picture is really tightening in that league.


North
W - L
South
W - L

Bangor
7 - 3 Wilson
9 - 1
Northern Lehigh

6 - 4 Notre Dame GP
8 - 2
Catasauqua
5 - 5 Southern Lehigh
7 - 3
Northwestern
5 - 5 Saucon Valley
6 - 4
Pen Argyl

1 - 9 Salisbury
3 - 6
Palmerton

0 - 9 Palisades
2 - 8


Remember the division winners and the next two best records go, so if the season ended today you'd have Wilson, Notre Dame, Bangor and Southern Lehigh in the tournament with Northern Lehigh and Saucon just a game back.

Interesting stuff.

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I'm heading to Emmaus today to see Mountain Valley Conference frontrunner Pocono Mt. West play the Green Hornets, who could get back to .500 and bolster their chances of qualifying for districts.

Keith Groller