Five things we learned from Saturday night's boys games

FROM KEITH GROLLER

1. If you didn't know it before, now you know. Pottsville is legit. If last year's win over Central Catholic in the district 3A title game didn't get your attention or if an earlier 18-point win over Emmaus didn't catch your eye, then maybe beating Nazareth finally did. This is a very good team. Nick Schlitzer is one of the best players in the state. Liberty had better not over look them. In talking to Chad Landis after the game tonight, he said he had a mature bunch that will play will with intensity and not take anybody for granted. That kind of attitude will be needed on Weds. night.

2. Allen's guards continue to be the key. They outplayed Easton's guards tonight and that was the difference in the Canaries' win. You know Allen will be better than most teams inside. Jalen Cannon continues to dominate offensively and Daquan Holiday has become a shot-blocking machine defensively. The key -- as it has been all season is for the guards to take care of the ball, hit some outside shots to loosen up defenses, and also to apply pressure out front defensively. Robert Rodriguez, Eric Ayers, and Branden Harrington all delivered against the Rovers.

3. The talent disparity between the LVC and Colonial League in still quite obvious. I know Saucon Valley is your league champion in the Colonial League this year, but that league's best team most of the season was Bangor and they had absolutely no shot against Liberty's superior strength and quickness tonight. The Slaters can shoot, but made just one of 12 shots in the first quarter and were 1-for-14 at one point. I know that Central Catholic is not as good as Liberty, but after seeing how Bangor-Liberty unfolded tonight, I see Central as a clearcut favorite in the 3A semis. I get the feeling they will be too physical and strong for the Panthers.

4. It's not easy coming up with locations for these games. With four schools located a fair distance from each other -- Pottsville, Pocono Mountain West, Liberty and Allen -- the District 11 committee didn't have an easy time in deciding where to play the 4A semis on Wednesday. If you looked on a map, perhaps Lehighton would be the perfect meeting place for this foursome, but this is the 4A semis and you'd think there will be a crowd of at least 2500 to 2800 there, so you need a big facility and I don't think there's one in the Lehighton area that could accomodate that many people.

5. Pocono Mountain West's Tynell Fortune does more than shoot the ball. He controls games. Note that the dazzling point guard was just 3-for-17 from the field, but was 12-for-15 at the foul line in his team's win over East. Chances are, no one else touched the ball when it mattered most for West. Brad Pensyl is no dummy. You keep the ball in the hands of your best player and Fortune has proven he's the MVC's best. And he won't shoot that poorly again in this tournament.

PS: Notre Dame showed it can still win 2A games. The Crusaders' foe Shenandoah Valley must love the 3-point line and not have been interested in establishing an inside game. SV made six 3-point attempts, but got to the foul line just four total times. The Crusaders just might be on a collision course with Salisbury for the 2A championship.

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