The last month of 2025 began somewhat appropriately on a Monday, the following evening was a basketball night at McCaskey. Dallastown (from York County) was the opponent for a non-league game, they were visiting for the first time since the 2022-23 season. Each of the last two years we played in their gym and both games were a calamity both on the injury front and our own performance, in that regard it was a relief to be the Home Team for a change. The JV club started the evening right with a seven-point win, the varsity followed suit with a 72-63 decision. Dustin used seven players and of them scored, six in double figures: DeMere Salisbery led with 25, Kyle Brown continued his emergence with 15 and Amir Thompson-Hanson had 14. EJ Abernathy, Buddy Patterson and Marrcus Laureano rounded out the book with six points each. Perhaps the best part of the evening was the atmosphere itself, the gym was close to full and the crowd was raucous, in many ways it took me back to days of yore. The boys are at home for another non-leaguer on Friday (I'm out for the Royals), on the 9th we're back on the bus. Wednesday night was a hockey night at the Arena, the Wheeling Nailers were in town for the fourth straight home date. Since winning in Wheeling on November 21 the Royals have lost four in a row including an unsightly 0-3 road trip, on this night the streak reached five with a spiritless 4-0 defeat. It's the third time in the last seven games the club has been shut out, Yaniv Perets took the loss and deserved a better fate. The record stands at 9-8-2 overall and 3-4 at home the Worcester Railers are in for a back-to-back on the 5th and 6th. Take care, thanks for reading.
