Tuesday afternoon on the bus at McCaskey for the start of what figured to be a tough week of basketball. The club has three games on the docket, the first two on the road against divisional opponents. On this night we traveled west on route 283 for a date with division-favorite Hempfield and the only good thing about it was the JV squad winning its game. The varsity contest was an exercise in abject frustration, we started slowly and never recovered in an 81-55 defeat. Give our opponent full credit, they played about as well as they could have but for JPM it was almost polar-opposite. We trailed by sixteen at halftime, got as close as nine in the third quarter but in the fourth the gas tank ran dry. Johnathan Byrd had a big night with 26 points but there was little support otherwise and it all means very little when you don't Win The Game. On Thursday the gauntlet continued with a ride north into Lebanon County and the annual visit to Cedar Crest. This is another place within our league where you simply never feel comfortable, over the years we've had some knock-down drag-out battles there and this night was no different. The JV squad continued its run with a third straight win, the varsity game was in many ways a mirror-image of Tuesday. We trailed by twelve at halftime and by five entering the final quarter, when the buzzer sounded JPM prevailed in a nail-biter 51-49. CC had the last possession with four seconds left, a jump shot was missed and the rebound-layup rolled around the rim for what seemed like an eternity before it finally dropped off and out at the buzzer. Eight players appeared for JPM, only five scored but four hit double figures: Markelle Caine led with 13, Byrd and DeShaun McFadden had 12 each and Eric Centeno scored ten, Anthony Henson rounded out the book with four key points. It was a huge TEAM win which helps to wash away some of the vile taste of Tuesday's effort. The first half of divisional play is in the books, the club's mark is 4-1 with the overall record at 8-6. The boys play a non-league game at home on Saturday the 14th but I'm out of the mix, the Royals are at home on Friday AND Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading.
