Tuesday evening in Neffsville for the division tiebreaker game and a night of abject frustration. At halftime JPM led 29-24 but from there the offense went as flat as a pancake, had we been playing in a hockey arena you could say we were as cold as the ice under the floor. We scored just twenty-two points after the break and only ten of those were from the field, it all added up to a disappointing 62-51 loss. Because of The Circumstances the league recognizes both teams as division co-champions but it seems very hollow because the fact is our opponent advanced and we did not. The result effectively ended the season, the only matter was how many of the leftover crossover games would be played. The game at Elizabethtown had already gone into the trash can, on Tuesday Jon Mitchell told me the outstanding home game against Lebanon was also being canceled. That left the game at Conestoga Valley on the 27th as the last game of the season, it was originally on the 17th but was bumped to make room for a divisional makeup game. We met at 11:30 for the short trip into the eastern suburbs, the JV game tipped at 1:00. The JPM JV concluded a very difficult season with a mark of 3-12, between what I call The Three "I"s the team never had its full roster together at any point after the first game and it was a struggle all the way. The varsity game was simply a matter of pride, for CV it was their last game as well and for us it was an opportunity to finish with a .500 record. The mission was accomplished with a 74-63 win bringing the varsity's final mark home at 8-8. Had you told me at the start of the season that we'd be at .500 or right around it with this group I would have gladly taken it given the inexperience we had. Our returnees had a combined fifty-four games played and one-hundred-eight points scored at the varsity level, twenty-six of the games and sixty-nine of the points belonged to one player and he was a sophomore. There was a lot of opportunity available and for the most part the guys were able to seize the moment. The team's eight wins were by an average margin of 14.8 points, the eight losses by 8.9. We played nine home games and were 4-5, on the road (including the playoff game) we were 4-3. Hasan Williams led the club with 271 points and a 16.9 average, Jonathan Byrd averaged in double figures at 10.6 and Sam Hershey just missed the cut at 9.9ppg. Jon and Haz are eligible to return in '21-22 for Freddy Ramos' fourth year as head coach, Freddy's three year mark at the helm is 35-29 (.547). It's always disappointing to see a season end but the mere fact that we got through it given the extraneous BS we've lived with over the last year is a victory in and of itself. Take care, thanks for reading.
