Special events mixed with boys basketball games this weekend

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It is perhaps the biggest weekend of the high school boys basketball regular season.

Besides games pertinent to determining who makes the league and District 11 tournaments, there are numerous specialty events attached to the games themselves.

For example:

•Catasauqua will introduce its new Hall of Fame inductees — Andrew Skvoretz, James Murtaugh, Lee Bolmer, Lori James Schweizer and Jerome Maiatico — prior to tonight's varsity game against Palmerton.

•Nazareth and Liberty are doing their annual Rothrock-Kehoe Night tonight at Memorial Gym, remembering Todd Rothrock, the Nazareth-area native and Liberty coach and Derek Kehoe, the former Blue Eagles' standout. Both men, who were friends, died much too soon.

Proceeds from a raffle that will feature some nice prizes will be split between the Todd Rothrock Memorial Scholarship Fund and LMS research, in memory of Kehoe.

•Easton High School will salute its 1971-72 boys basketball team between games of a girl-boy doubleheader with Phillipsburg on Saturday. The first game is at noon. Rovers coach Jim Hutnik was a junior guard on that team which went 25-7, finished second in the District 11 3A tournament advanced to the state semis before losing to Chester.

And then you have perhaps the biggest event of the weekend on Sunday when the 17th annual Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase takes place at Parkland with four games that will bring some of the best teams and players from the East Coast to the Lehigh Valley for one day.

Kyle Griffin, the former Central Catholic player who helped put the schedule together for the Hoop Group along with Zak Boisvert, believes this four-game package may be one of the best cards the organization has ever assembled here.

"These are strong teams with a lot of talented players," said Griffin, who is in his first year as a director of team tournaments for the Hoop Group. "You've got a lot of guys who are committed to Division I schools and you have teams that are top ranked in either Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York City."

The schedule:

Council Rock North vs. Central Catholic,1 p.m,

South Shore, Brooklyn vs. Neumann-Goretti, 2:40 p.m.

St. Benedict's, Newark vs. Constitution, 4:20 p.m.

Scranton vs. Parkland, 6 p.m.

As for the rankings, Parkland is No. 1 in the latest Morning Call poll and No. 8 in the state in the latest Harrisburg Patriot-News 4A rankings. Scranton, which was 12-2 at last glance with its only losses coming against very strong Lower Merion and Central Dauphin teams, had been ranked in the top-10 in 4A earlier this season.

Council Rock was 11-3 and had won 10 in a row at last glance.

Neumann-Goretti is No. 1 among 3A teams and ranked No.11 in the country by the National Prep Poll, and Constitution is No. 1 in 1A in the most recent state rankings.

St. Benedict's was ranked eighth in country by both USA Today and the National Prep Poll, and was rated No. 2 (behind St. Anthony's, of course) by NJHoops.com.


South Shore was ranked No.8 in New York City by NYCHoops.net.

In terms of individual talent, every game figures to feature someone special.

Just like the Big 33 Classic always brags about there never being a Super Bowl played without a Big 33 alumnus (there are nine in this year's game,by the way), the Hoop Group can make a similar game about every Lehigh Valley Showcase featuring at least one future NBA or Division I standout.

Super Bowl Among the players committed so far are St. Benedict's Melvin Johnson, who is headed to the University of Miami. Neumann-Goretti's Derrick Stewart is going to Rider and Council Rock North's Arron Goodman is set for Philadelphia University.


Also, Savon Goodman of Constitution is one of the top uncommitted seniors in the country.

Junior Tyler Ennis and freshman Isiah Briscoe of St. Benedict's are both ranked in the top 25 in their class nationally.

Of course, not be overlooked is Central's Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who is considered to be one of the top prospects in the country, even though he is only a sophomore.

Vikings coach Rich Fatzinger said that it was because of Abdur-Rahkman's high profile that CCHS was invited to participate this year. He said his team is looking forward to it.

"It's always a great opportunity to play some good competition and gain valuable exposure for your kids," said Fatzinger, who was always involved in the event when he was coaching at Parkland. "Our kids are looking forward to playing in the first game and then watching the other games."

For tickets, go to any of the participating schools, or go to at hoopgroup.com or call 732-502-2255.

MILESTONES

•Notre Dame's Pat Boyle won the 300th game of his career earlier this week. The Central Catholic graduate is in his 16th season at Green Pond and has lost just 130 games.

•Pennridge's Tim Abruzzo went over the 1,000-point mark with a flurry last Friday night. He scored 39 points, making nine 3-pointers, in a 85-79 loss to Central Bucks South. Abruzzo needs just 101 points over his team's last seven games to become the school's all-time leading scorer.

•Southern Lehigh senior Alex Anderson had a career-high 34 points, making six 3-pointers, in a 57-52 loss to Bangor.

DID YOU KNOW?

Allen will hold its second annual alumni game. It's set for a week from Saturday, Feb. 4, and will follow the Canaries nonleague game against Pocono Mountain East, which is set for a 1 p.m. start. The alumni contest is expected to begin at 3. Coach Doug Snyder is hoping to have the alumni players meet this year's varsity team and the alumni group will have a get-together at Stooges later that night.

Alumni should contact Dan Freed at dfeed20@gmail.com if interested.

BEST OF THE WEEK

The best new venue is Stroudsburg High School's sparkling, new 2,400-seat gymnasium which offers seating on all four sides of the court, six locker rooms complete with offices, and four full-length courts for practice.

Considering its proximity to Interstate 80 and Routes 209 and 33, expect Stroudsburg to become a District 11 playoff destination, at least once all construction is done. Right now, the only negative is limited parking





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