January 20-21

Made what would have been the normal Monday errand run on Tuesday morning, between that and the afternoon hockey game the day before the entire day had a weird feel to it. In the evening we were at McCaskey as the second round of divisional games got underway. In December we played at Cedar Crest, on this night it was their turn to travel south into Lancaster County. CC does not have a history of huge success but in recent years the culture has changed. In 2013 they made to the league title game (losing to JPM) and in 2014 they won the championship, they beat us twice during the regular season and in a divisional playoff game along the way. On this night it was an opportunity for the Red Tornado to end that four-game losing streak to CC and pull even in the league standings, the mission was accomplished but it wasn't easy. Crest took an early 5-0 lead but JPM rallied to lead by three at the quarter. At halftime CC led 25-23 but in the third quarter McCaskey outscored Crest 20-8 and led by ten at the buzzer. In the final period JPM would score just one field goal but make twelve-of-sixteen from the line as they held on for the tough 58-54 win. La'Detrius Sibley led the Red Tornado with 16, Kobe Gantz added 14 (eleven of them from the foul line) and Tyler Owens had 11. The overall mark improves to 13-4 and we're tied with CC in the league at 11-1. It's a huge win but it's only one win and it needs to be kept in perspective, a third meeting with CC somewhere down the line wouldn't be the least bit surprising. The boys are back in action on Thursday the 22nd at Warwick, on the 24th we play our final non-league game against Great Valley at Reading HS. When I came out after the game it was misting lightly and the car windshield was icy. Snow was the forecast for Wednesday, in the morning nothing had happened so I went to Jenny's house for a visit and lunch. It began to flurry as I was leaving to return home, by mid-afternoon it was coming in earnest. The evening news had reports of icy conditions and accidents all around, I had no plans so it was a perfect night to stay in and stay warm. Take care, thanks for reading.