February 1-5

With the Royals on the road and little else going on the weekend was quiet except for a lunch visit with Jenny on Saturday. Temperatures on Sunday reached into the 50s, a lot of the leftover dirty snow melted nicely. It all proved to be a cruel tease, overnight into Monday another round of that white stuff hit the area. It was still falling in early afternoon, word came down that the evening's game at McCaskey was postponed. Jenny was stuck at home as well, her transportation into town didn't run due to the weather. On Tuesday the newspaper said we got eight inches of snow, the total for the season is up to forty inches. The last few years we had remarkably little snowfall, we're certainly being punished for it now. In the evening we were at McCaskey for the game rescheduled from Monday, it was the final regular season home game. We had the usual Senior Night recognitions as Devyn Sloan, C.J. Gantz, Andre Dixon and Donovan Garcia were honored in pregame ceremonies. The boys had a chance to clinch a league playoff berth with a victory but visiting Cedar Crest ruined the party. JPM led by one after three quarters but in the fourth it was just about all CC as they outscored us 17-8 and won it 53-45. It was a great opportunity lost, after the game it was discussed at length in the locker room. The night's only good news came when Hempfield lost to Manheim Township, that result restored the three-way tie for first place in the division. Only the top two make the league playoffs, it all comes down to the final night when we play at Hempfield and Cedar Crest hosts Penn Manor. If we win and CC loses we'll finish first, if we win and CC wins we'll still qualify but play CC in a playoff game for first place. If we lose nothing else will matter because we'll be out. With a mark of 14-7 the club will almost assuredly be in the district tournament but the immediate concern is the league playoffs. Late Tuesday night freezing rain began to fall, by morning there were reports of downed power lines and tree limbs all around. By the time I went out the rain was over but the city streets were slushy, I saw a lot of the damage around town firsthand. Schools were closed once again, the game at Hempfield was likewise postponed and rescheduled for Thursday. The slate for this week was supposed to be Monday-Wednesday, now it's Tuesday-Thursday with the possibility of a Friday playoff game. The weather is not the only thing that is a mess. Take care, thanks for reading.