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.  

First of all, we have a very busy weekend coming up on Astound TV Network as we bring you our championships and more consolation basketball games than ever before! 

Here’s a look at the games we’ll be broadcasting this weekend… 

Friday, February 27th @ Allen High School 

LIVE at 6:00pm | 6A Girls’ Championship: Emmaus 20-6 vs Easton 24-3 

LIVE at 7:45 | 4A Boys’ Championship: Central 14-11 vs Northwestern 21-5 

Friday, February 27th @ Easton Middle School (consolation games) 

DELAY at 6:00pm | Nazareth 18-6 vs Parkland 18-6 

DELAY at 7:30pm | North Schuylkill 15-11 vs Salisbury 32-4 

Saturday, February 28th 

LIVE Stream at 1:15pm | 4A Girls’ Championship: #8 Blue Mountain vs. #1 Central Catholic 

LIVE at 3:00pm | 5A Girls’ Championship: #2 Southern Lehigh 12-12 vs #1 Bethlehem Catholic 22-3 

LIVE at 4:45 pm | 3A Boys Championship: #4 Executive Charter 15-6 vs #2 Notre Dame-GP 23-3 

LIVE at 8:00pm | 6A Boys Championship: #6 Liberty 17-8 vs #4 Parkland 21-6 

*Please refer to the broadcasting schedule on our website for information on original broadcast times and replay dates. 

Also, click here to check out this weekend’s local regional wrestling championships to be held at Liberty High School, the final local wrestling event of the season! 

Remember, copies of all sports events that ATVN broadcasts can be purchased (discounts are available for Astound video customers). Contact the ATVN studio offices for more information! 

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 major upset last Saturday, with the number one seed/Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys champion Northampton falling to eight-seeded Pocono Mountain East, most other games went pretty much as expected in high school basketball action last week.

Northampton had their season come to a premature exit and with it, lose several talented players who had played varsity basketball for several years to graduation.

Allentown Central Catholic also had a scare as Lehighton battled them for three quarters before the Vikings pulled away in the fourth quarter of their quarterfinal matchup to advance into the semifinals.

Liberty and Whitehall, after having some very tough losses back in December, have persevered and also technically pulled off upsets last week and will face each other on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. as part of Astound TV’s continuing coverage of the District 11 basketball playoffs.

With the top three boys seeds now out of the playoffs entirely, here’s a look at our broadcast schedule for the next several days on ATVN…

Tuesday, February 24th | 6A Girls’ District Semi-Finals at Whitehall

LIVE @ 6pm: Emmaus vs Parkland
LIVE @ 7pm: Nazareth vs Easton

Wednesday, February 25th | 6A Boys’ District Semi-Finals at Easton Middle School

LIVE @ 6pm: Whitehall vs Liberty
LIVE @ 7:30pm: Pocono Mountain East vs Parkland

Keep checking back to our website for changes to our broadcast schedule as they occur and also for our continuing coverage of the district and state playoffs over the next several weeks!

Now, here’s a look at highlights of recent basketball games and wrestling post-season action as seen on the Astound TV Network…

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

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Basketball – Northwestern vs. Notre Dame-GP (2/26)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys’ Wrestling – District XI Boys Finals (1/26)

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

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.

With the arrival of the post-season comes the time to honor some of the top individual performances from this past regular season.

While the Colonial League did away with a formal listing of All-Star teams a few years ago, the coaches in the area formed an association and does identify the top girls in boys basketball players who played during this past season.

Here’s a listing of the top girls’ and boys’ players from the league this year….

Colonial League Girls’ All-League Honors

First Team
Juliana Bonham, Wilson (SO)
Courtney Connell, Palmerton (SR)
Natalie Conner, Northwestern Lehigh (SO)
Hailey Jenkins, Catasauqua (SR)
Olivia Serfass, Lehighton (SR)
Tegan Simms, Northern Lehigh (JR)
Player of the Year: Hailey Jenkins, Catasauqua (SR)

Second Team
Brenna Hammerstone, Notre Dame GP (SR)
Eliana Marques, Southern Lehigh (JR)
Kendra Morgan, Salisbury (SR)
Ava Shonk, Notre Dame GP (SR)
Kaylin Stewart, Catasauqua (SO)
Ryleigh Trotman, Lehighton (SR)

Honorable Mentions
Leah Apostol, Pen Argyl (FR)
Hailey Barry, Palmerton (SR)
Riley Boyle, Notre Dame GP (JR)
Grace Donahue, Saucon Valley (FR)
Samantha Fontanez, Southern Lehigh (FR)
Hannah Gober, Northwestern Lehigh (SR)
Cate Morgan, Palmerton (SR)
Gianna Martini, Pen Argyl (SO)
Olivia Reinhart, Northwestern Lehigh (SR)
Sierra Skoda, Saucon Valley (FR)
Leah Uyvari, Lehighton (JR)

Colonial League Boys’ All-League Honors

First Team
Frankie Pujols, Catasauqua
Steven Lozada, Salisbury
Lafayette Acree, Wilson
Cole Dietz, Lehighton
Jason Marcantonis, Bangor
League MVP: Justin Manning, Notre Dame

Second Team
Kellen Bauer, Northern Lehigh
Pierce Gothard, Jim Thorpe
Brady Krimmel, Northwestern
Mason Bollinger, Northwestern
Drew Boyd, Notre Dame
Julian Makhoul, Salisbury

Honorable Mentions
Blake Roberts, Lehighton
Aalani Nix, Catasauqua
Reece Lopez, Catasauqua
Malachi Coleman, Northwestern
Hamaad Jenkins, Catasauqua
Thomas Cahill, Saucon Valley
Michael Bauer, Northern Lehigh
Tommy Murphy, Notre Dame
Cody Driscoll, Notre Dame
Cole Lazorick, Jim Thorpe
Brady Zimmerman, Northwestern
Bryan Gonzalez, Salisbury
Parker Spigelmyer, Southern Lehigh
Kaen Kaiser, Pen Argyl
Blake Ogliaroro, Palisades
Jack Trickel, Palisades
Sam Joseph, Moravian Academy

We invite local leagues representatives, school officials, and athletic directors in our coverage area to forward outstanding achievements and other all-conference honors to us to spotlight here at The SportsTalk Shop.

Please email that information to Chris.michael@astound.com and we can try to feature your information in an upcoming blog entry!

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.