Friday night hockey at the Arena, the Royals hosted the Norfolk Admirals for the third of the Ads' four visits. This was the front end of a home-and-away series, the clubs were scheduled to meet again in Virginia on Saturday night. On the surface it appeared to be a mismatch with the Royals having one of the league's better records thus far and Norfolk near the bottom, on this night the Royals ran out to a 3-0 second-period lead on scores by Alec Butcher, Mason Millman and Trey Bradley. After Norfolk got on the board Charlie Gerard lit the lamp putting the Royals up 4-1. The pesky Admirals didn't quit, a late score in the second and an early marker in the third made it a 4-3 game but Max Newton's empty-netter in the final minutes wrapped up the 5-3 Royals win. Nolan Meier was goaltender of record as the club reaches the midpoint of its home schedule at 13-5-0. On Saturday morning we were at it bright and early, the bus left McCaskey at 9:15 for a varsity-only game at Reading High. This was the annual showcase event we play in every year (at least in those years it happens, it's been postponed by weather and other circumstances five times in the past eight years). Tipoff was at 11:00 versus Central Dauphin East, a program that has become a regular non-league opponent in recent seasons. This game was the perfect end to a forgettable week of basketball, we lost 70-63. After the Tuesday loss at home to Unionville the boys played at Penn Manor on Friday and lost by twelve (to a team they had beaten by twenty-two at home in December), with the early start on this day neither team seemed to have a lot of energy and it showed. JPM finishes its nonleague schedule at 5-7, the overall record drops to .500 at 9-9. Four games remain, all in league play and the last three of them at home. The Royals won in Norfolk on Saturday night to reach the full season's midpoint at 24-11-1, the next home game is on Saturday the 28th. Take care, thanks for reading.
