January 15-17

Jenny is usually in town on business on Tuesdays and Fridays, if circumstances allow we get together for lunch. This day was one of those occasions, when her business was completed in the afternoon I took her home and we had supper in Quarryville. After that we drove down the road to Solanco HS for the evening's basketball game. Jenny has been there before to see JPM play, although Helen has been in the gymnasium on occasion for graduation ceremonies involving the grandchildren this was her first time there for a game of any kind. The night started with a forty-point JV victory, the varsity game was another story altogether. All season long the coaching staff has stressed the point that no opponent can be taken lightly and there is no such thing as easy money. There have been a number of games so far where we got the W despite a less-than-impressive effort, on this night we finally got bit in the ass. We started slowly and trailed by five at the quarter but recovered to tie it at halftime. Solanco carried a six-point advantage into the final period, JPM battled back but just could not reach the top of the hill in a 67-64 loss. Every time we got within one or two Solanco would make a key shot or big defensive play, in the dying seconds Kobe Gantz had a good look at a game-tying three-pointer that missed the mark. Kobe finished with 25 and Randolph Speller had 20 but it all means little when you don't win the game. The league mark falls to 9-2 (11-4 overall) and drops us out of a tie for first place in the division. There are five league games left, all are within the division and the first of those is on the 19th at Cedar Crest. We beat CC the first time around in our gym but this one is on their floor where it is never an easy assignment. A victory there is imperative in order to have any shot at the division title, whether the loss to Solanco serves as a long-overdue wake-up call remains to be seen. When we came out after the game it was raining, that was somewhat appropriate considering the mood we were in (although Jenny and her mother live in Quarryville they support McCaskey all the way because Jenny graduated from JPM as did I). The rest of the weekend was uneventful, since the ladies and I had our Saturday lunch disguised as Friday supper I spent most of it at home save for a brief errand run on Saturday. The Royals played twice on the road over the weekend and went 1-1, we play at home on Monday afternoon against Adirondack. Take care, thanks for reading.