Brad Pensyl may be the best coach in District 11 with the least amount of respect. Year after year, Pensyl does a great job keeping an often difficul

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Brad Pensyl may be the best coach in District 11 with the least amount of respect.

Year after year, Pensyl does a great job keeping an often difficult, challenging collection of kids on track. He's tough on the kids, won't take any bull, and it seems as though the kids respond to him because they know he cares and wants to do more than just win games with his basketball program.

Teaching and coaching at Pocono West offers the same difficulties and challenges as coaching at inner city schools. It's about saving lives more than winning championships.

Pensyl not only keeps the kids in line, but he wins. In 23 seasons as a coach at Pocono Mountain and now Pocono West, his teams have never not qualfied for districts.Pensyl

But his team has never won a district title. And that's the one piece he needs to get the respect he deserves.

Oh, they've come close several times.

His Pocono Mountain Cardinals made it to the finals in 1995. but were routed by Liberty. They made it to the 2001 and 2002 semis, but lost to Emmaus both times.

Then at Pocono West in 2005, it was Emmaus again that ended the championship dream in the semis.

In 2007, it was Easton spoiling things in the semis and then in 2008 the Panthers reached the finals but fell to Liberty. Last year, it was another semifinal loss, this time to Allen.

Someone always came up with a great performance to beat Pensyl and Pocono, whether it was Joey Orlando's 18 first-half points for Liberty in the first half of that 2008 championship game or D.J. Brown erupting for 22 points for the Canaries in last year's semis.

Will someone stick it to Pensyl again or is this finally Pocono West's best chance at gold?

Pocono West played several LVC teams during the regular season, and has beaten Whitehall and Easton in this tournament. This is not your typical MVC team. They have the talent, the depth and the discipline.

I think they match up very well with Parkland on Saturday night. The Panthers will have the best player on the floor in Quindell Brice. They have an edge in quickness, but still you wonder -- can they match up with the intensity of Rob Dvoracek and Daulton Charles inside.

It's going to be a great battle and no one is more battle-tested than the Trojans, who are coming off the closest thing to war that you'll get on a basketball cort with that incredibly intense struggle with Emmaus. And that was coming off an equally grueling battle with Freedom.

All I know is that this one, much like the LVC tournament and what we saw earlier this week, should be a lot of fun.

See you at Liberty at 7 p.m. Saturday.


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