January 12

The new week started with a steady rain that made the morning errand run largely miserable, in the evening we were at McCaskey. The boys played on Sunday in Steelton and lost to Cedar Cliff 53-41. Marty was there, he called on Sunday night and told me all about it. Over the years Mid-Penn Conference officiating crews have become notorious for insinuating themselves into games, he said this was a classic example. It wasn't about two teams competing, it was about three guys blowing whistles. I have witnessed ghastly examples of it myself so I can't say I was entirely surprised, it certainly isn't anything new. On this night Conestoga Valley was the opponent as we began the league season's second half. The JV game was spirited to the end before JPM prevailed to stay unbeaten in league play, in the varsity game the Red Tornado held serve with a 77-64 win. CV came in with a sub-.500 mark but they played well, they are a much better club than their record would indicate. Coach Powell used nine played and eight got into the scoring column: Kobe Gantz led with 23, Randolph Speller 21, Kyaire Bynum had eight, Tyler Owens added seven, Brandon Allen had six and La'Detrius Sibley, Elijah Brown and Daizon Reid had four apiece. The boys improve to 8-1 in the league and 10-4 overall. the week continues with crossover games on Wednesday in Lebanon (never a fun experience) and at home on Friday against Solanco. Take care, thanks for reading.