January 30-31

Friday night basketball at McCaskey for the regular season's final home game, the Red Tornado hosted Manheim Township. The JPM junior varsity continued their winning ways, keeping the league record spotless with a 71-59 victory. Before the varsity game we had the requisite Senior Night recognitions as La'Detrius Sibley, Brandon Allen, Tyler Owens, Kyaire Bynum, Elijah Brown, Marquan Dixon, Daizon Reid and Carlos Ramirez were honored. In the game itself JPM led by thirteen at the quarter and twenty at the half, that would prove to be the final margin in a 69-49 win. Randolph Speller had 16, Sibley added 13 and Kobe Gantz rounded out the double-figures club with 10. The overall record moves to 16-5, 13-2 within the league. Shortly after the game ended we got word that Cedar Crest had lost to Warwick in Lititz (that sounds mighty familiar), a result that pulls us even once again with CC in the division race. The season ends on February 3, we play at Hempfield while CC hosts Penn Manor. We could finish anywhere from first to third but only the top two make league playoffs so needless to say it's an important night all the way around. We had a similar situation in 2014 so it's a road most of the team has traveled before. Saturday was quiet except for lunch and a visit with Jenny, in the evening the Royals played the final game of a five-stop road trip. The club won all five to run the overall win streak to seven, the club's record stands at 28-13-2. The Royals return home on the 4th against Wheeling, the Florida Everblades visit for a three-in-three on the weekend. The ECHL schedule is always a strange animal: between January 19 and February 27 the Royals have only those four home dates, after the Florida series the club embarks on another five-game road swing. It all balances out eventually, in March the Royals play seven games at the Arena plus another three in April. Take care, thanks for reading.