FROM KEITH GROLLER: Coaches, get me your all-area selections by Monday night please

FROM KEITH GROLLER

I love high school basketball, but even I could use a break on this sunny Sunday after four games in a span of about 26 hours.

I know we get a lot more in the summer time at the Stellar and SportsFest tournaments at Cedar Beach, but we don't have to write about all of those games. That's more of a buffet line of basketball with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. What happened Friday night and all day Saturday was the main course.

What is it about the third quarter?

All three boys games I covered on Saturday were determined in the third quarter. A lot of games were throughout the district tournament.

Nazareth, Notre Dame and Liberty all came on strong in that period and took charge of their respective games on Saturday.



I thought Liberty and Notre Dame were the best teams in their league from Day 1 -- they did have the best league records -- and I thought it would have been a shame for them not to get a championship this season.

Both came through with flying colors on Saturday and Brandon Holland showed again why high school sports can be so special. Here's a solid kid and player who doesn't get a lot of attention on his team because he's surrounded by stars. And yet, on the biggest stage of the season, he delivered a game of a lifetime -- a magical night he will be able to tell his grandkids about.

How great was that? Well, not so great for Whitehall for sure, but it was still a great story to have unfold.

I was also happy for Nazareth, which has been a remarkable story and made basketball important again in a town better known for racers and wrestlers.

It would have been a downer for the Blue Eagles to go out with two consecutive losses, but for them to rally back and beat a talented Pocono Mountain East and get to states really reinforced how far they have come and what they have accomplished this season. They have a tough draw next week in the first round of states -- Hempfield. And let's face it, every state playoff game is a difficult challenge and our teams can feel good if they win one or two games.



But no matter what happens, Nazareth established something this year and they deserved to take a bow on Saturday along with district champs Liberty and Notre Dame.

Before I sign off for a few hours, coaches, here's one last reminder to get your all-area votes to me in the day or two.

Please send your top 10 players -- and put them in order of how you like them -- and send to keith.groller@mcall.com

And, also select a coach of the year.

Thanks for your help.

We will have a Stellar Construction/Frantz Trophies all-area basketball radio show on March 20 and the Morning Call's All-Area team will be revealed sometime late in the month as well.

FROM KEITH GROLLER