BECAHI-LIBERTY PLAYED FRIDAY NIGHT

From Keith Groller

I realize it's better to err on the side of caution, but sometimes our local schools flabbergast me with their urge to hit the panic button when it comes to a weather forecast.

All games could have been played tonight and probably even at the regularly scheduled times. Of course, it was hard to go ahead and justify playing games when there was a rush to send the kids home early today at several area school districts without a single snow flake yet falling.

At least at my end of the Valley, nothing significant began to fall until about 9:30 when most games would have been over. Even now, as I type away at 11:30, there's not more than an inch on the ground here.

Now everybody better hope we don't get another storm next week because most teams will already have to cram in three games to get done in time to set the stage for the league tournaments.

Anyway, here are the four games we got tonight in local boys basketball and you'll note there were no surprises and Becahi is now on the verge of elimination as a potential District 11 entry.

Liberty 76, Bethlehem Catholic 53

BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC (53)

Blount 5 7-11 19, Hungarter 6 1-2 17, Trunzo 3 0-0 6, Carguilo 1 1-2 3, Casey 2 0-0 5, Husek 1 1-2 3, Deiter 0 0-0 0, Lesson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 10-17 53.

LIBERTY (76)

Cann 1 0-0 2, Lasko 0 1-2 1, Holmes 7 3-4 17, Holland 3 2-2 10, West 3 3-9 9, Akabogu 1 4-4 6, Hilliard 5 14-17 25, Carlstrom 2 0-0 4, Horwath 0 2-2 2, Donnelly 0 0-0 0, Rivera 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 29-40 76.

Bethlehem Catholic 22 11 9 11 — 53

Liberty 17 15 27 17 — 76

3-pointers: BC: 7 (Hungarter 4, Blount 2, Casey). L: 3 (Holland 2, Hilliard). Notes: Darrun Hilliard led Liberty (15-4, 10-2) with 25 points. Dante Holmes had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Hurricanes. Al Blount scored 19 points for Bethlehem Catholic.



PM West 66, Pleasant Valley 55

PM WEST (66)

Bryant 5 0-0 11, Fortune 8 0-0 20, G. Scott 0 0-0 0, Howard 2 0-1 4, Boyle 3 0-0 9, Brice 1 0-0 2, Anema 3 2-4 8, DuClair 0 0-0 0, Dixon 1 0-0 2, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Halsey 0 0-0 0, Amoroso 0 0-0 0, K. Scott 4 2-3 10. Totals: 27 4-8 66.

PLEASANT VALLEY (55)

McQuay 3 0-1 8, Castner 0 0-0 0, Conklin 1 0-0 3, Sharpe 9 2-3 21, Biney 1 0-0 3, Kregeloh 3 3-4 9, Irving 2 1-2 5, Garcia 0 1-2 1, Stanovick 1 0-0 3, Knudsen 0 0-0 0, Wild 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 7-12 55.

PM West 13 16 18 19 — 66

Pleasant Valley 8 17 19 11 — 55

3-pointers: PMW: 8 (Fortune 4, Boyle 3, Bryant). PV: 6 (McQuay 2, Conklin, Sharpe, Biney). Notes: Tyrell Fortune led PM West with 20 points and JaQuan Bryant followed with 11. Mike Sharpe scored 21 points to lead Pleasant Valley.



PM East 60, ES North 52

PM EAST (60)

Garcia 1 0-0 2, Tillery 7 3-5 18, Escobay 3 1-2 7, Hall 5 9-14 20, Bursis 1 0-0 2, Pacheco 5 0-0 11. Totals: 22 13-21 60.

ES NORTH (52)

Williams 6 2-2 14, Baker 3 0-0 6, Samuels 3 0-1 6, Ladipo 3 1-2 7, Lamont 0 2-3 2, John 8 0-0 17, Fort 0 0-0 0, Adkins 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 5-8 52.

PM East 13 16 15 16 — 60

ES North 19 8 15 10 — 52

3-pointers: PME: 3 (Pacheco, Hall, Tillery); ESN: 1 (John). Notes: Kyheim Hall scored a game high 20 points and Lamont Tillery added 18 as the Cardinals outscored the Timberwolves 16-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.


ES South 76, Lehighton 66

LEHIGHTON (66)

Hill 4 0-4 8, Keer 7 3-3 21, Rossino 4 0-0 8, Kresge 2 3-4 9, Markley 5 3-4 15, Matika 1 0-0 2, Ozacska 1 0-0 3. Totals: 24 9-15 66.

ES SOUTH (76)

Howell 0 0-0 0, McLaughlin 1 0-0 2, Cason 8 4-6 20, Harp 1 0-0 2, Caldera 0 0-0 0, Franklin 8 0-1 16, Gumbs 9 6-8 29, Coscin 2 0-0 4, Lane 0 0-0 0, Clarke 1 1-2 3. Totals: 30 11-17 76.

Lehighton 19 8 18 21 — 66

ES South 12 25 18 21 — 76

3-pointers: L: 9 (Keer 4, Kresge 2, Markley 2, Ozacska). ESS: 5 (Gumbs). JV score: ESS 69-37. Notes: Marvin Gumbs scored a game-high 29 points and Dan Cason followed with 20 for ES So

Keith Groller