The SportsTalk Shop will be joining the ATVN sports crew working on special projects and staying busy getting ready for the final few games of the regular sports season and our expanded coverage this year of the spring post-season.

As we do that, Astound TV Network will be running some of the most requested recent ATVN SportsTalk programs over the next few Thursdays. Be sure to tune in to see which of your favorite episodes pop up before our high school post-season coverage gets underway!

In the meantime, we would like to present the top girls and boys basketball players from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference as those lists were released, honoring all of our standout student athletes from our coverage area.

2025-2026 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Boys Basketball All-Stars

1^st Team

KJ Coles – Senior – Pocono Mountain West (MVP)

Blake Nassry – Junior – Parkland

Jake Pukszyn – Senior – Liberty

Noah Walakovits – Senior – Northampton

Tiheed Wise, Jr. – William Allen

2^nd Team

Alphy Deris  – Senior – Dieruff

Yariel Gonzalez – Junior – Allentown Central Catholic

Logan Hahn – Senior – Nazareth

Seth Hoderewski – Senior – Whitehall

Gavin Kershner – Senior – Nazareth

3^rd Team

Tyler Beck – Senior – Parkland

Tae El-Bassiouni – Sophomore – Stroudsburg

Parker McClary – Senior – Bethlehem Catholic

Jacob Ross – Junior – Emmaus

Brady Simock – Senior – Northampton

Teddy Stiehler – Sophomore – Pocono Mountain West

Girls Basketball All-Stars 

1st Team 

Aliyah Brame – Senior – Bethlehem Catholic

 Alexa Davis – Senior – Nazareth

Gabby DeVita – Senior – Emmaus

Ava Kopetskie – Senior – Liberty (MVP)

Jayla Rosario – Senior – Dieruff

2nd Team 

Leah Ault – Senior – Bethlehem Catholic

Kam Gallis – Freshman – Bethlehem Catholic

Aniya Holder – Senior – Dieruff

Karly Leszcynski – Sophomore – Nazareth

Gabby Wismer – Junior – Easton

3rd Team 

Natalie Amato – Senior – Easton

Isabella Hallal – Senior – Parkland

Sara Kokolus – Senior – Freedom

Aneri McGalla – Senior – Parkland

Olive Whitney – Senior – Emmaus

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 

With the weather warming up, it is appropriate that we’ll be talking local baseball and other spring sports on this week’s ATVN SportsTalk show.

Our special in-studio guests will be the defending District 4A baseball champions from Northwestern Lehigh. We’ll look back at last year’s unique championship run along with thoughts and insights on their current season and fight for a Colonial League crown.

We will also have features on other spring sport teams and recaps of games currently going on in our coverage area, including local lacrosse and volleyball features.

Be sure to tune in!

Next, we have our final look back at highlights from our final few basketball broadcasts this season on Astound TV Network, along with the recent segment from ATVN SportsTalk addressing issues concerning girls basketball. Copies of these games and all of our other productions and studio programming can be purchased by contacting our studio.

Enjoy!

Declining Girls Basketball Participants

Astound TV Network Sports: Wrestling – District IX Individual Wrestling Final (2/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Pocono Mountain East vs. Northampton (2/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Liberty vs. Emmaus (2/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls Basketball – Freedom vs. Parkland (2/26)

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 

The sport of swimming does not get much media coverage in Pennsylvania (for one reason, most high definition cameras can’t stand the humidity of being in a natatorium for more than a few minutes), and divers probably receive even less attention.  

We’re going to try to change that this Thursday on ATVN‘s SportsTalk show as we feature two outstanding young athletes from Freedom High School who captured state championships this past sports season in diving. 

If you want to hear more about the sport and these young athletes’ amazing careers, or have a young person that would like to know more about participating in this sport, tune into this Thursday’s show live at 7:00pm EST on Astound TV Network. 

The program will also be live stream for free on our YouTube channel. 

Now, we continue our countdown of the top games, matches and individual highlights from the past season as seen on Astound TV Network… 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Liberty vs. Whitehall (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Emmaus vs. Parkland (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Nazareth vs. Easton (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Allen vs. Parkland (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Liberty vs. Nazareth (2/26) 

We have begun one of the more interesting times of year as we are wrapping up all the winter sports activities, honors and recaps.

At the same time, we’re also already underway with spring sports activities.

We will have a mix of both of the above coming up over the next several weeks on ATVN‘s SportsTalk on Thursday nights, featuring both guests and features on local sports teams from the winter season (those that played deep into the postseason) and a look ahead at all of the activities that are going on with the spring sports season underway.

On this week’s program, we will feature Head Coach Andrew Oswald the ladies from the Catasauqua powder Puff team to talk about their new sport, how popular it’s been in the area and also about their big rivalry with Northampton. A few of these platers also were a big part of this year’s Catty girls basketball team and we’ll talk about their successes on the hardwood as well on this week’s show. If you miss the live airing Thursday at 7:00 p.m., you can catch the replay Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.

Now, here’s a look at some of the top highlights from recent sports featured on the Astound Television Network…

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – West Catholic vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Imhotep (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Bethlehem Catholic vs. Archbishop Wood (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Liberty vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Delaware Valley (3/26)

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, company or subsidiary.

The Astound TV Network Sports winter season officially came to an end on Tuesday night with the loss of Notre Dame Green pond in the PIAA semi-final round, was the last remaining team standing in the ATVN – Lehigh Valley viewing area. 

Although we had a lot of great games, exciting moments and some everlasting individual performances throughout the winter, the state playoff did remind us of a perennial issue with sports in the state of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia basketball is King! 

A number of teams from our Delaware Valley viewing area will be playing for state championships this weekend. Astound TV customers can watch these games on the Pennsylvania Cable Network as they hold the rights to broadcasting the state finals. 

Coach Marlon Randall who joined me for ATVN’s final broadcast of the season pointed out on the air during our last telecast that a major reason why Philly is so good in basketball is their leagues allow for many more non-league competition opportunities. While a few teams did schedule schools from the Delaware Valley market as part of their non-league schedule, he pointed out that it is tough for Lehigh Valley teams to add many of those schools to their schedule since our local leagues only allow for a small handful of games to be played outside of their league and the District 11 region. 

Conversely, a team like Philadelphia West Catholic, who will be playing in the state finals this weekend, got to play some of the best teams from New York, Washington. DC, Maryland and Virginia in addition to the top teams in Pennsylvania. 

Supporting his argument is the fact that many of those teams that went out to seek the best competition outside of the area will be playing for state championships this weekend and many of them ended up mercy ruling their competition during the PIAA playoffs. 

Of course, another reason the teams still remaining are where they are is because of their ability to recruit and bring in players from different regions. This has been a hotly debated topic for decades and arguments about this usually pop up around this time of year.  

Still, many of those “non-boundary” teams defeated other non-boundary teams in the state playoffs…a few rather significantly. 

There’s always numerous discussions with people bringing up different ideas on how the state playoffs “should” be laid out. I think one of the best “newest” ideas I’ve heard during the last few weeks includes going back to a four classification format the way it had been for many years but expanding the number of teams involved.   

Will this be the year where action is taken and the PIAA playoffs get revamped? /enhanced to try to ensure better competition going forward?  

We’ll have to wait and see what the powers that be decide as there are quite a few high school sports issues up for debate over the next few months. 

Now, here’s a look at the top plays from some of our recent broadcasts on ATVN….

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Executive Education vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Blue Mountain vs. Allentown Central Catholic (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Emmaus vs. Easton (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Nazareth (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Pocono Mountain East (2/24) 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, company or subsidiary.

We’ve reached the final week of the PIAA State playoffs for high school basketball and we still have one team remaining entering the final week: Notre Dame- Green Pond boys basketball!

Astound TV Network will have live coverage of the Crusaders game against District 12 champion Philadelphia West Catholic on Tuesday, live at 7:00 p.m. from the Geigle Complex at Reading High School.

Join the rest of our ATVN audience as we cheer on the final remaining team from our Lehigh Valley coverage area as the winner will move on to the state championship later this week.

For our other remaining teams, it was a tough week last week as the parkland boys and girls teams, along with the Bethlehem Catholic girls team all got mercy-ruled in their state playoff games. Despite strong seasons, Salisbury boys and Easton and Emmaus’s girls teams went down to defeat last week as well, ending their postseason runs.

As indicated throughout the 2025-26 season, most of these top teams will return a good portion of their talent for next year, so expect to see most of these teams alive and fighting for state championships 11 months from now!

Before settling in to watch tonight’s Notre Dame state playoff game, here’s a look at highlights of recent games as seen on ATVN…

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Emmaus vs. Central Bucks East (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Easton vs. Neshaminy (3/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Wilson vs. Bangor (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Liberty vs. Parkland (2/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Southern Lehigh vs. Bethlehem Catholic (2/26)

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, company or subsidiary.

After a tough day of the PIAA playoffs this past Tuesday, in which all of the Lehigh Valley teams in our coverage area lost their second round state playoff games, we had a “bounce back” day Wednesday, with three teams advancing to the quarterfinal round this weekend.  

Before we look ahead to Saturday’s broadcast schedule on ATVN, here’s a recap of recent games as seen on Astound TV Network…  

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Northampton vs. Allentown Central Catholic (1/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Easton vs. Bethlehem Catholic (1/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Wilson vs. Bangor (12/25) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Pocono Mountain West (12/25) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Nazareth vs. Emmaus (12/25) 

Now, for the next round of states, the Astound TV Network will be broadcasting two games from Pottstown High School LIVE on Saturday 3/14, starting at 1pm: 

District 12 5A Girls’ Champions:
Archbishop Wood vs. Bethlehem Catholic

District 12 6A Boys’ Champions:
Parkland vs. Imhotep 

A reminder that the PIAA does not allow us to stream these playoff games on our YouTube page, so the games can only be seen exclusively on TV for Astound TV costumers.  

Copies of these broadcasts can also be purchased by contacting the ATVN studio offices. 

Best of luck to all of the teams still alive in the state playoffs! 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, company or subsidiary.

While a good number of last weekend’s district championship playoff games were exciting, in the end it was a lot of the “same ol’ story.”  

The Parkland boys won their fifth consecutive title and 9th in the last 13 years. Bethlehem Catholic girls won their 10th straight district title. The Allentown Central Catholic girls won their 26th district championship, all their boys team won their 24th. Even Notre Dame – Green Pond boys win their third title in 9 years and 9th since 2000. 

That being said, those teams, and others from our coverage area, now embark on the state playoffs that will start this Friday. 

Here’s a look at which games ATVN will cover this weekend… 

Friday, March 6 at 7:00pm LIVE | Central Bucks East @ Emmaus
Friday, March 6 at 9:30pm Delay | PIAA First Round: Neshaminy @ Easton

Saturday, March 7 at 2:30pm LIVE | Wilkes-Barre @ Liberty, 2:30pm
Saturday, March 7 at 4:30pm Delay | Conestoga @ Parkland

Keep checking back to our website for changes and our continuing schedule going forward through the entire pia playoffs, as long as the local teams in our coverage area continue to win in advance.  

Now, here’s a look at recent highlights of games seen on the Astound Television Network… 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Catasauqua vs. Northwestern Lehigh (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Notre Dame Green Pond vs Lehighton (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Northampton vs. Parkland (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Easton vs. Bethlehem Catholic (2/26) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls’ Basketball – Parkland vs. Easton (2/26) 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, company or subsidiary.