December 8

The dreary weather was still around on Saturday morning as we boarded the bus for the start of my 25th year as PA voice/scorer for McCaskey basketball. The season got underway with an afternoon game in Harrisburg, JV tipoff was at noon. Coach Powell is carrying thirteen players on the varsity roster, we have the seven holdovers from last year and four moving up from the JV squad. We also have two players (Keyon Cowen and Trey Fletcher) who made the club despite not playing since they were freshmen in '09-10. Every year we always seem to have at least one player who returns from absence, in '11-12 it was Deron Johnson who proved to be an invaluable part of that club. On this day in Harrisburg the Red Tornado fell in overtime 99-94. In thirty-six minutes of game play the officiating crew managed to call no less than SEVENTY-ONE fouls, there were one-hundred-and-four foul shots taken. Diante Cherry led JPM with 30 points (16-for-19 at the line), Devonne Pinkard added 22, Keyon Cowan scored 19 in his varsity debut and Luis Fuentes chipped in with 12. The club played without Aaron Swinton, he was away on a college recruiting trip and his absence was felt. The junior varsity lost 52-44, JV coach Mike Mitchell has fourteen players on his roster (two returnees from the undefeated '11-12 team). We'll be on the bus again on Tuesday the 11th as we head southeast to Chester and a game with Coach Powell's alma mater. Take care, thanks for reading.