December 16-17

Saw where this blog recently surpassed 81,000 pageviews since its inception in 2010, I don't know who actually reads the drivel and minutiae I write about but I thank you for your patronage. Monday signaled the start of what should be a very busy week, in the evening I was at Stevens College on East King Street. Jerry Johnson's La Academia Charter School played the first of three straight home dates, whenever they can arrange to play a "home " game (which isn't often) Jerry asks me if I'm available to work the PA. The opponent on this night was Steelton-Highspire from suburban Harrisburg, La Academia won the game 68-61. On Tuesday I was at McCaskey for the team's bus ride north into Lebanon County, the second for the team in five days. On Friday the boys played in Lebanon and lost, on this night we ventured to Cedar Crest. The JV squad lost to fall to 2-5, the varsity game was your typical fifteen-round middle-of-the-ring slugfest to the finish. In 2023 we won at CC by two points when a last-second shot rolled around the rim and fell out at the buzzer, on this night the ending was almost exactly the same. The teams combined to utilize six timeouts in the last fifty-one seconds, when it all shook out at the end Cedar Crest had an inbounds play down by three with 0.4 seconds on the clock. They got it inbounded before the buzzer sounded, the desperation three-ball from the corner rimmed around and out as JPM held on for a huge 65-62 win. Only four players scored for JPM but it was enough, Jaloney Porter continued his emergence with a career-high 35 points, Deandre Jones scored 18, Eddie Bencosme added eight and Chris Hernandez scored four key points. Over the years Cedar Crest has been one difficult place to play, there is nothing inherently inhospitable about the gym itself, it's just an environment where you simply never feel comfortable. Coming home with a big win to improve to 2-5 was one thing but more importantly we've done our time in Lebanon County for the season, the boys continue the gauntlet against Manheim Township on Thursday the 19th. Take care, thanks for reading.