March 7-8

Saturday lunch with Jenny and Helen, in the afternoon we were at my place when the phone rang. Marty had gone to the basketball game at Cheltenham, he called to report that McCaskey had won 71-66. He said the place was packed and was 99% Abington fans, when the game ended they just sat there in utter shock that they had lost. We were a eight-seed and they won their district title so it just goes to show what I've always said: there is no such thing as easy money. The win advances JPM into the second round of states for the first time since 2006 and insures another game on Wednesday the 11th. In the evening the ladies and I were back at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Toledo Walleye making the second of their three visits in the opener of a back-to-back (the Walleye won at the Arena back on December 4). The Royals fell behind early 1-0 but rallied to go up 3-1 in the second period, from there the Walleye staged their own comeback with four straight (the last into the empty net) to take a 5-3 decision. Matt Hatch, Brandon Alderson and Cam Reid scored for the Royals, Martin Ouellette (back from the Phantoms) suffered the loss in net. On Sunday we were back at it early, at 1:30 the annual Battle Of The Badges took center stage. This game was first played in 2006, it's hard to believe this is its tenth year already. The game is always lively and this year was no different, the Reading Fire Department beat the Reading Police 4-3 to extend their series lead to 6-3-1. At 5:00 the Royals and Walleye squared off once again, after two home ice losses to Toledo the home team got back on the winning side. Goals by Reid, Alderson and David Marshall gave the Royals a 3-0 advantage at the second intermission, the Walleye scored twice in the third but down the stretch Connor Knapp held the fort for the tough 3-2 win. The weekend split moves the Royals to 38-15-4 (19-9-2 at home),the boys play in Elmira on Friday the 13th before hosting Kalamazoo on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday night the PIAA announced the second-round game sites, JPM plays Methacton (the seven-seed from District I) on Wednesday night at Garden Spot HS in New Holland. That's a short trip for us (about fourteen miles) and it certainly is about time we had a game that wasn't in another county, the scheduling we got in the district tournament was of no advantage whatsoever. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 tip and it is the next major event on the calendar. Take care, thanks for reading.