December 12-13

Saturday morning lunch with Jenny in Quarryville, in the evening we were back at JPM. Coach Powell is a 1968 graduate of Chester High School, when he became head coach at McCaskey in 1993 his alma mater became a regular non-league opponent thanks to his connections in that community. Chester is a perennially powerful program, over the years our victories against them can be counted on one hand but that's the point of playing a tough non-league schedule. We have Harrisburg and Reading High on the slate in January plus our holiday tournament features York, West York and Lower Merion (not an easy touch to be seen). Some teams play a bunch of nobodies and get six easy wins, at JPM the philosophy is different. This night began with an excellent JV game, the Red Tornado battled to the end but lost 66-61. The varsity game was playoff-caliber and one to remember as JPM scored a huge 74-70 victory. Chester led by four at the quarter but at halftime we held a five-point advantage. That margin grew to nine after the third quarter but Chester showed their quality by forging a tie in the final minute. Kobe Gantz hit the winning bucket with 20 seconds left, two Randolph Speller free throws in the final two seconds sealed the deal. Emotions ran high down the stretch, at one point the game was delayed because Chester claimed objects were being thrown at their bench (building security got it under control quickly). Kobe finished with 27, Ran had 17. Ricky Cruz, Greg Nunez, John Burnside and Skyler Davis each contributed a lucky seven and Izaiah Baratta's two points rounded out the scoring. The club improves to 2-1 overall, the league schedule resumes on Monday with a game at Garden Spot in New Holland. Take care, thanks for reading.