January 28-29

Met up at McCaskey on Thursday afternoon for the second half of the week's league schedule, the destination was Neffsville and Manheim Township HS. We were scheduled to play in a showcase event at Reading HS on the 23rd, when the snowstorm forced its postponement there was talk of it being reset for Sunday the 31st. With us already scheduled to play on the 28th, 30th and February 2nd Coach Powell was reluctant to agree to that, when the Penn Manor game was switched to Wednesday it killed the idea altogether (five games in seven days would have been insane, they don't even do that at the pro level). As a result we'll play one less game than usual but since it was a non-league contest it's not of great concern. On this night in Neffsville it was MT's Senior Night, they were looking to play spoiler and deny us a chance to clinch the division title. The evening started with a spirited JV game won by JPM 48-46 which featured (quite bluntly) some of the more atrocious officiating you may ever see. When the coaches from BOTH teams are upset that tells you about all you need to know. The varsity game was every bit the toe-to-toe battle we expected, MT came out strong and led by six at the quarter. At halftime the deficit for JPM was just one, entering the final stanza we were down by two. At that point the game turned on a dime, we outscored MT 23-5 and won it 58-42. Kobe Gantz led JPM with 21 (including 8-for-11 at the foul line in the fourth), Izaiah Baratta had a season-high 15 and Randolph Speller added 10 but the key to the win was a strong defensive effort turned in by reserve guard Jathan Gonzalez. Entering the last quarter MT's top player had scored 22 points, Coach Powell gave Jathan the defensive assignment and he kept his man off the board for the rest of the game. The victory clinched our first division title since 2013, it's the 11th for the program in Coach Powell's 24 years at the helm and insures a home game in the first round of the league playoffs. The league record stands at 13-2 and 15-4 overall, the boys are back on the floor on Saturday the 30th against Reading HS. That game is in Reading as part of a showcase event different from the one that was cancelled and it should a very stern test, RHS is one of the district's top-ranked teams. Jenny was in town on Friday for business that unlike Tuesday actually happened, we got together for lunch at the plaza. Take care, thanks for reading.