FROM KEITH GROLLER
idn't put anything on the blog on Thursday. Sorry.
Was a bit under the weather. I feel like I'm keeping my local CVS in business again by trying to combat my misery with these over-the-counter cold remedies that never seem to do squat.
It's off to the doctor on Friday and the mission is simple, I need an antibiotic to get rid of this thing. Next week is a huge week, obviously, and I don't want to be sniffling and hacking right through it.
I did fit in a visit to Saucon Valley's Eric Frans on Thursday -- keeping my distance so as to not hurt Saucon's playoff chances -- and what a tremendous young man he is. This kid is going places, not necessarily because he's tall and talented, but because he is as bright a young man as I've covered in at least 15 years, maybe 30. I really believe this kid is something special.
He considers himself lucky to have landed here and the truth is we were lucky to get him around here for the last four years.
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Before we look ahead to the weekend, here's a short look back on Wednesday.
I've got to say both Nazareth and Pocono Mountain East were impressive. The Blue Eagles shook off some early slugishness and never let Stroudsburg even think about an upset. I was impressed with how they took care of buisness.
Pocono East impressed in a different way, showing resiliency in rallying past Emmaus.
People should learn from the Green Hornets' mistake. At this time of year, you've got to execute the game plan for 32 minutes. Emmaus did it for about 28 and wore down over the final four minutes. Everything was set up for the Green Hornets to get their first distict win in several years, but they let up for just a few possessions and it proved costly. Seen it happen to a lot of teams at playoff time.
Bangor, won, too, narrowly over Pleasant Valley. Not surprised they won, but shocked at the low score. Good for the Slaters to at least validate their season with one postseason win.
Now, it's on to this weekend and we've got a few appetizers tonight before we really get to the main course on Saturday.
Class A
Pius 56, Moravian Academy 49 -- These two seem to play every other week. They have met three times this season with the Royals winnning the first two and Moravian Academy the last one. Both teams have some nice individual talent. I'd love to see John Donmoyer get back in a district final or the state tournament. But the Royals are just a little more seasoned, a little more battle-tested.
Class 3A
Central Catholic 62, Blue Mountain 53 -- It's amazing to me that I am still getting e-mails telling me Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman is not special because he really should be a junior and not a freshman. At this point, does it matter? The kid is talented. He was a Lehigh Valley Conference all-star selection in his first season in the league. The kid can play and he'll have to deal with the tenacious defense of Blue Mountain as these two renew a rivalry that extends back a lot of years in districts. From 1994-2006, they met nine times in districts with CCHS winning six. Blue Mountain is a decent team, good enough to beat Northern Lehigh, and lose by one to Salisbury. The Eagles play tough defense like all of those Schuylkill League teams do, and that could keep this one close.
Class 4A
Pocono Mt. East 66, Pocono Mt. West 63 -- Before leaving Emmaus on Wednesday night, Cardinals coach Patrick Heaton promised me he'd be seeing me next week. And, no, he didn't mean as a fan. He intends to be coaching. He believes his team is going to win. This will be meeting No. 4 and shapes up as another war. Since West won the last two, the averages favor East this time.
Nazareth 59, Pottsville 55 -- Weave is going with the Blue Eagles 57-52 and I think he's on the right track. Anybody who thinks this is a walkover for Nazareth doesn't have any idea how good Nick Schlitzer is for Pottsville. He is one of the best players in the district and state and Nazareth will have to play very well to win this one.
Liberty 60, Bangor 50 -- The Slaters outside shooting may pose a few problems for the Hurricanes and the LVC champs better be ready to extend defensively beyond the arc. But ultimately Liberty's toughness and athleticism will prove to be a little too much for Bangor, which has had a terrific year even without a league title to show for it.
Easton 44, Allen 42 -- It's on the Allen guards to execute. The Canaries will likely be going against another zone defense, probably a 1-3-1 hybrid and Allen has to prove it can play smart basketball and avoid the turnovers that led to its demise against Nazareth in the semis. A few outside shots would help Allen as well. The Canaries held the ball a few Saturdays ago to beat Easton. They may have to do it again. Neither is a great shooting team. Easton, though, is probably due to hit a few more from the outside.
2A
Shenandoah Valley 58, Notre Dame 53 -- Tough quarterfinal-round draw for the Crusaders, who could have benefitted by qualifying for the Colonial League tourney.
Hopefully the stormy weather will not affect travel too badly and fans will be able to get to the games this weekend. Enjoy.
http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
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