Friday the 12th at McCaskey, the Red Tornado hosted Lebanon in the league opener. It was a Red-Letter occasion, on this night the playing floor in the gym was dedicated to the memory of the late Steve Powell. "Bird" (as he was best-known) was the program's head man from 1993 until his passing in 2018, along the way his teams went 468-235 (.656 winning percentage), won eleven division titles, nine league championships, two district titles (2000 and 2002) and recorded thirteen twenty-win seasons. The actual ceremony took place before the varsity game, former players and coaches were invited onto the floor for a group photo. Although I am neither I got in on it because I knew and worked with the man for thirty years, it's not something I might usually do (truth be known, I dislike being photographed) but I figured I had as much a right as anyone else. The gym has had a title sponsor for some time and that won't change, the entire facility is now officially Steve Powell Court at Shultz Transportation Gymnasium. In the games themselves the JV squad won by thirteen, the varsity was victorious 78-61. DeMere Salisbery had another monster night with 29 points, Amir Thompson-Hanson reached doubles withe 20. There was good support underneath, Jaloney Porter and EJ Abernathy had nine each, Kyle Brown scored five, Carsyn Haines added four and Marrcus Laureano had a field goal. The record improves to 3-2 overall and the road doesn't get any easier, Cedar Crest visits on Tuesday the 16th. Take care, thanks for reading.
