We’ve reached the end of the winter high school sports season for the 2024-25 season!

Now we take a look back at some of the best highlights featuring teams in our coverage area from the past season (Check back next week for “part two” of our list)…

Astound TV Network Sports: Parkland vs. Emmaus Girls (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Parkland vs. Imhotep  (3/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Allen vs. Parkland (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Freedom vs. Wilson (1/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys Wrestling; Freedom vs. Liberty (1/25)

Copies of the above events plus all our local sports productions can be obtained by contacting the ATVN studio.

As we transition from the winter to the spring sports seasons, tune into this Thursday’s ATVN SportsTalk show as our special guests will be the defending District XI 5A girls softball champions from Whitehall and the District XI 3A boys lacrosse champions from Easton – both with unique storylines to talk about.

Catch the show live at 7pm and email comments/questions to us at chris.michael@astound.com and we might read/respond to your emails live on the air!

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

While the ATVN broadcast season is now over for this winter, it wasn’t without a ton of great moments by boys and girls teams in the PIAA state playoffs!

Among our highlights include:

• A magical run by the Catty basketball team, falling just short of advancing to the quarters with a last second shot attempt
• A buzzer beating basket made by Parkland sophomore Black Nassry in the second round
• A dominating performance by Archbishop Wood’s girls team at “The Geigle” in Reading (you won’t believe how many three pointers they made)
• A number of other great plays during this winter’s post-season
• Two impressive defensive-minded teams (sparking a TON of offense) from Scranton Prep and Hazelton
• A great comeback attempt from the Liberty Lady Canes falling just short

 Here’s a look at “part two” of the top plays and players from this month’s PIAA playoffs…

Astound TV Network Sports:  Bethlehem Catholic vs. Archbishop Wood  (3/25)

Astound TV Network Sports:  Parkland vs. Scranton  (3/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Lancaster Mennonite vs. Catasauqua (3/25)

Astound TV Network Sports:  Allentown Central Catholic vs. Scranton Preparatory (3/25)

Astound TV Network Sports:  Liberty vs. Hazelton (3/25)

Copies of the above events plus all our local sports productions can be obtained by contacting the ATVN studio.

Keep checking back to The SportsTalk Shop for more great plays and notes on this winter’s basketball post-season.

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

We had ANOTHER overtime (actually DOUBLE overtime) game on Tuesday night as Astound TV Network broadcast the Freedom vs. Nazareth matchup, which officially kicked off district playoff season (video highlights of that game is below).

Before we talk more about districts, here’s part two of our highlights from the EPC basketball playoffs, including the Emmaus girls and the Northampton boys teams (more on them below) winning their championship games and an overtime victory by Pocono Mountain West over Whitehall in the semifinals…

Astound TV Network Sports:  Emmaus vs. Bethlehem Catholic (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Pocono Mountain West vs. Northampton (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Pocono Mountain West vs. Whitehall (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Bethlehem Catholic vs. Nazareth (2/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Nazareth vs. Freedom  (2/25)

A reminder that our special guests will be Northampton Head Coach Matt Scholl and members of the Konkrete Kids on this Thursday’s live ATVN SportsTalk show at 7pm to talk about their magical playoff run and the road ahead in the District XI playoffs.

The program featuring Northampton will air live on the Astound TV Network and will be live-streamed for free on our YouTube channel (type in “Astound TV Network” in the “search,” then click on our live links) or subscribe to get free alerts when we go “LIVE” with our local sports programming!

Coming up on Friday, we’ll have a quadruple header featuring District XI girls and boys basketball playoffs.

Join us on Saturday night as longtime ATVN wrestling announcer Scott Barr will make his final broadcast calling this year’s District XI Individual Wrestling finals at 10pm.  Scott has been with us for over 40-years and decided to step down following this broadcast, so please join us for a few “surprises” to honor Scott during this event.

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

Things are heating up for high school sports early in 2025!

Tuesday on ATVN we’ll have two great boys basketball matchups as Liberty plays Freedom and Allentown Central Catholic plays Whitehall–all four teams have had impressive starts to the year to date!

Then on Wednesday, a rematch of one of the biggest wrestling matches in the NATION from last year as Bethlehem Catholic plays Easton – this will be broadcast on Astound TV and streamed for free on our YouTube channel: YouTube.com/AstoundTVNetwork

Speaking of outstanding wrestling action, here’s some of the top highlights so far this year from teams at Nazareth, Northampton and Easton…

Astound TV Network Sports: Girls Wrestling – Northampton vs. Nazareth (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys Wrestling – Nazareth vs. Easton (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys Wrestling – Northampton vs. Nazareth (12/24)

Additionally, we’d like to showcase basketball highlights from Emmaus, Freedom and Dieruff at “The Shop” this week…

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys Basketball – Emmaus vs. Dieruff (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Boys Basketball – Freedom vs. Emmaus (12/24)

We’ll also have more highlights from local boys and girls basketball and wrestling action…check back next week to the “SportsTalk Shop” to see more of your favorite teams and players!

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

First of all, we want to wish a wonderful start to the new year to all our viewers/readers here at The SportsTalk Shop and look forward to another great year of covering local sports in our coverage areas in 2025!

We start off our first blog of the New Year with a look at some of the top plays and players from our high school basketball broadcasts from games played at the end of 2024, featuring impressive individual and team performances from Allen, Bangor, Freedom, Easton, Nazareth, Whitehall, Saucon Valley, Salisbury and Catasauqua through the first few weeks of the basketball season…

Astound TV Network Sports: Bangor vs. Salisbury (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Nazareth vs. Allentown (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Freedom vs. Easton (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Saucon Valley vs. Catasauqua (12/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Parkland vs. Whitehall (12/24)

We jump right into doubleheader HS sports coverage early in 2025 as we’ll bring you a girls/boys basketball doubleheader this Friday, followed by a girls basketball/boys wrestling doubleheader on Saturday.  Check the “Sports on ATVN” webpage here on our website for the latest game details.

We’ll also have more highlights from local boys and girls basketball and wrestling action…Check back next week to The SportsTalk Shop to see more of your favorite teams and players!

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

This week here at “The SportsTalk Shop”, we start honoring the top teams and individual accomplishments as designated by the local leagues and districts in the ATVN viewing area and salute the fall sports “All Stars.”

These are determined by the given league or district’s criteria and are posted as we receive them from the respective organizations.  If you have a listing that you would like us to include in upcoming posts, please send them to me at: chris.michael@astound.com

(If you don’t see your favorite sports/athletes mentioned, you may want to send a friendly reminder to the person who handles this at your local school.  Also, each league has different “rules” and not all leagues in our coverage area “host” all-star listings – that’s not Astound’s decision).

We start our list of honorees with the EPC boys and girls golf “all conference teams” …

Regular Season Champion: Nazareth Area High School

Tournament Champion: Nazareth Area High School

EPC Most Valuable Player (Male): Hunter Probst – Stroudsburg

EPC Most Valuable Player (Female): Camryn Hoff – Nazareth

EPC Golf First Team All-Conference:
Gavin Pychinka – Northampton
Zachary Miller – Nazareth
Evan Walters – Emmaus
Lydon Patascher – Pleasant Valley
Landon Benner – Parkland

EPC Golf Second Team All-Conference:
Holden Sparks – Nazareth
Evan Martz – Pocono Mountain East
Allie Tarreto – Nazareth
Matt Rader – Central Catholic
Charlie Gold – Parkland

EPC Golf Third Team All-Conference:
Kohler Strohl – Northampton
Kyan DeLong – Emmaus
Derek Moyer – Northampton
Jeff Snyder – Pocono Mountain East
Jayden Bleiler – Northampton

Next, it’s the Eastern Pennsylvania Conferences girls tennis “all conference” listings…

EPC Most Valuable Player: Alexandria Warsing – Parkland

EPC Girls Tennis (Singles) First Team All-Conference:
Alexandria Warsing – Parkland
Helena Lynn – Liberty
Ellyana Jacobs – Easton

EPC Girls Tennis (Singles) Second Team All-Conference:
Elizabeth Trott – Pocono Mt East
Malka Parker – East Stroudsburg South
Maddie Groff – Allentown Central Catholic

EPC Girls Tennis (Singles) Third Team All-Conference:
Sophia DiGiacinto – Nazareth
Bernadette Gasser – Allentown Central Catholic
Stephanie Zheng – Liberty

EPC Girls Tennis (Doubles) First Team All-Conference:
Aarohi Vaze/Kiana Miles – Parkland
Abigail Mayes/Katie Bruno – Liberty
Malena Stetz / Gabriela Tranguch- Emmaus

EPC Girls Tennis (Doubles) Second Team All-Conference:
Sonia Lee/Kate Gilchrist – Parkland
Brooke DiGiacomo / Natalie Hillegass – Emmaus
Lydia Moyer/Danielle Barnes – Nazareth

EPC Girls Tennis (Doubles) Third Team All-Conference:
Sarah Wang/Paulina Veraschaga – Liberty
Berlin Ulmer/Madison Noonan – Stroudsburg
Belle Mattson/Riley Zangari – Parkland

Last but not least, this fall’s EPC high school football “all stars” for both the league’s “all conference” and “all division” players…

2024 All-Conference All-Stars: Offense
Peyton Falzone – Nazareth
Jerek Cooper – Emmaus
Aaron Beete – Freedom
Dorian Thomas – Easton
Reilly Bechtel – Emmaus
Charles Capers – East Stroudsburg South
Shacre Colwell – Freedom
Caleb Newsome – Nazareth
Jake Pukzsyn – Liberty
Leo Dauberman – Parkland
Xzavier Pusateri – East Stroudsburg South
Kamari Coleman – Stroudsburg
Kurtis Crossman – Easton
Samuel Stephan – Emmaus
Algee Macon – Easton
Tanner Wheeler – Freedom
Brody McHugh – Emmaus
Evan Saylor – Parkland
Ryan Ellis – Freedom
Jackson Fuhrer – Easton
Matt Dorsey – Parkland
Aiden Joyce – Allentown Central Catholic
Dan Shiffert – Freedom
Mason Marcks – Parkland
Will Buck – Emmaus
Nate Stannard – Freedom
Will Day – Easton

2024 All-Conference All-Stars: Defense
Robert Edwards – Emmaus
Kurtis Crossman – Easton
Mehki Kirkland – Stroudsburg
Dylan Hill – Freedom
Tanner Wheeler – Freedom
Marquis Labossiere – Easton
Braheem Battles- Allentown Central Catholic
Adam Youwakim – Whitehall
Reilly Bechtel – Emmaus
Mekhi Grant – Easton
Jayden Macon – Freedom
Carlos Perez – Bethlehem Catholic
Jasir Frutchey – Easton
Ryan Roeder – Freedom
Marcel Burden – Parkland
Kehmahni Wimberly- William Allen
Shacre Colwell – Freedom
Marquez Wimberly – Nazareth
Jah’Khi Daves – Emmaus
Daniel Duggan – Emmaus
Aaron Beete- Freedom
Will Day – Easton
Aiden Sorrentino – Allentown Central Catholic
Leo Dauberman – Parkland
Dom Martrich – Parkland

2024 All-Conference All-Stars: Specials
Chris Ward – Pleasant Valley
Joseph Geipel – Liberty
Marquez Wimberly – Nazareth
Kamari Coleman – Stroudsburg

All-Conference Offensive MVP: Peyton Falzone – Nazareth

All-Conference Defensive MVP: Robert Edwards – Emmaus 

2024 All-Divisions All-Stars: Offense
Peyton Falzone – Nazareth
Dorian Thomas – Easton
Aaron Beete – Freedom
Shacre Colwell – Freedom
Jake Pukzsyn- Liberty
Caleb Newsome – Nazareth
Kurtis Crossman – Easton
Algee Macon – Easton
Tanner Wheeler – Freedom
Jackson Fuhrer- Easton
Ryan Ellis- Freedom
Gavin Crosson – Easton
Dan Schiffert – Freedom
Nate Stannard – Freedom
Will Day – Easton

2024 All-Divisions All-Stars: Defense
Kurtis Crossman- Easton
Dylan Hill – Freedom
Marquis Labossiere – Easton
Tanner Wheeler – Freedom
Carlos Perez- Bethlehem Catholic
Mekhi Grant – Easton
Jayden Macon – Freedom
Jasir Frutchey – Easton
Ryan Roeder- Freedom
Shacre Colwell – Freedom
Marquez Wimberly- Nazareth
Will Day – Easton
Aaron Beete – Freedom
Joseph Geipel – Liberty
Marquez Wimberly – Nazareth
Ben Bartholomew- Liberty

All-Division Offensive MVP:
*Peyton Falzone – Nazareth
*Aaron Beete – Freedom
*Denotes Co-Winner

All-Conference Defensive MVP: Mekhi Grant – Easton

Keep checking back to “The Shop” and the ATVN SportsTalk show on Thursday evenings on the Astound TV Network as we continue to spotlight local athletes in our coverage areas!

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

 First of all, it was another historic day for our Network as ATVN broadcast for the first time in our history the District XI boys – and girls – soccer championship live!

The student-athletes did not disappoint with the Northampton girls winning their first ever title (more on this team in a moment) and the Parkland boys team outlasting the K-Kids through 2 overtimes and a sudden death shootout.

It was yet another example of a continuing theme for us at the Astound Television Network as we continue to broadcast more high school sports to our viewers than ever before once again this year!

If you missed the outstanding efforts by both playoff teams, here’s highlights of both the girls and boys 4A championship games…

Astound TV Network Sports: Northampton vs. Emmaus (11/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Parkland vs. Northampton (11/24)

Northampton girls Head Coach Mike Missmer shared a story with me which I retold on a recent edition of “SportsTalk” prior to the soccer playoffs commencing and I wanted to highlight the accomplishment of his team from earlier in the year, here in an email he shared with me…

My 2007 Western Lehigh United girls, probably the smallest club to ever earn a spot at the US Soccer National Presidents Cup, finished 5th in the Country.

1st time in our club history since 1989 for any team to make the National Championship.

Our entire goal this season was to compete for our first PA State Championship. We achieved that goal after 120 minutes of overtime and a PK shootout in Philadelphia.  After winning the State title we went to WV for the US Regional Championships where we went undefeated against other State champions until the final, losing 1-0 to WV.  With 4 US Soccer regions in the country they take the finalists from each to create the 8 team National Championship tournament in KS.

After flying to Kansas (our first time we flew anywhere as a team) we went 1-1-1 beating the US Southern regional champions and earning a draw with the very talented US Far West Regional Champions (Who are in the final being played as I write this)

The teams we faced were all academy and ECNL kids – all stacked with high level college commits…  we have no kids committed to college yet and only a few even looking to play after HS.  We are just a bunch of HS players, some who have yet to, and some who didn’t even make their HS teams.

Through the entire State, Regional, and National tournaments we lost a total of TWO games.

Congratulations to both the Northampton girls and Parkland boys programs on an outstanding year!

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

Congratulations to East Stroudsburg South and Northwestern for already capturing District XI championships in their respective classifications last weekend.  Also, best of luck to those going after the 4A and 6A titles coming up this week (both championship games will be broadcast LIVE on ATVN this week!)

Before we unveil our second last edition of the “Astounding 10” football teams in our Lehigh Valley coverage area, here’s a look back at highlights of games recently broadcast on the Astound TV Network…

Astound TV Network Sports: Freedom vs. Parkland (11/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Whitehall vs. East Stroudsburg South (11/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Liberty vs. Parkland (11/24)

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Emmaus (10)
2. Parkland (9)
3. Easton (7.2)
4. Northwestern (7)
5. Freedom (6.6)
6. East Stroudsburg South (2.6)
7. Nazareth (2.4)
8. Liberty (2.2)
9. So. Lehigh (1.2)
10. Becahi (.6)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: (none)

Coming up this week we’ll have live coverage of our poll’s #1 versus #2 teams as they play for the district 11 6a championship on Friday. We’ll also have the number 9 and 10 teams facing off against each other for the 4A title game – which we will also broadcast live on Thursday.  Last but not least we’ll have our number four ranked team, Northwestern, play their first state playoff game against Conwell Egan.Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters.  And, be sure to check out the FINAL poll of the season next week, right here at “The SportsTalk Shop!”

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

First, we’d like to welcome three additional personalities to the ATVN Sports Team!

Mason Smith
Mason has been covering District XI high school sports for several years now and is particularly tuned-in to the local basketball scene.  He will be writing a bi-weekly blog on local hoops action for us this winter here on our website and, in addition, will be making regular appearances throughout the year on our “ATVN SportsTalk” program, which airs live on Thursday evenings at 7pm on the Astound TV Network and is also streamed for free on our YouTube channel.

Aziz Atiyeh
Aziz was a three sport standout at Whitehall HS (soccer, football, volleyball) and excelled at both soccer and volleyball at East Stroudsburg University.

While he will be able to contribute to Astound TV as a commentator for all three sports, he will be making his debut with his ‘favorite’ sport this Thursday as he provides analysis for the District XI girls and boys soccer championships.

Ben Childs
A former head basketball coach at Easton HS and a stellar baseball player at Lafayette College, Ben will be providing color analysis for both sports coming up for this winter and spring sports seasons.

Please join me in welcoming these new personalities to the Astound TV Network family!

Next, we want to honor this fall’s student-athletes identified as the best of the best in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference for girls tennis…

Regular Season Champions:  Parkland High School

EPC Tournament Team Champions: Parkland High School

EPC Tournament Champions by Bracket:
1st Singles: Helena Lynn – Liberty High School
2nd Singles: Maddie Groff – Allentown Central Catholic High School
3rd Singles: Valentina Munoz – Allentown Central Catholic High School
2nd Doubles: Aarohi Vaze / Kiana Miles – Parkland High School
3rd Doubles: Brooke DiGiacomo / Nat Hillegass – Emmaus High School
4th Doubles: Kylie Gleason/ Anahi Kanani – Emmaus High School

Congratulations to these athletes for these honors and keep checking back to the “SportsTalk Shop” for more accomplishments for student-athletes in our coverage areas!

Last but not least, we have four high school football playoff games (and the District XI girls and boys soccer championship) coming your way this week on the Astound TV Network!  Be sure to bookmark and check out our “broadcasting schedule” page here on our website for our fall sports postseason coverage!

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

After another exciting weekend of football games on the Astound TV Network, we’re ready for more this week!

The playoff races are heading up and both the race for the final playoff spots – as well as the battle to try to secure home field advantages – will come down to the final two weeks of the regular season.

Among this weekend’s broadcasts on ATVN include two of the top Eastern Pennsylvania Conference teams – Easton (7-1) and Freedom (8-0) – squaring off against each other.  

Then on Saturday, we’ll have NCAA football as Lafayette hosts Sacred Heart at 12:30pm.

We’ll also have four more games NEXT weekend – the final week of high school football regular season action.  Check back to our broadcast schedule page here on our website early next week to see the teams and air times of those contests.

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (10)
2. Parkland (9)
3. Easton (7.8)
4. Nazareth (5.4)
5. Northwestern (5.2)
6. Emmaus (4.8)
7. Liberty (4.2)
8. Notre Dame (2.8)
9. Southern Lehigh (2.6)
10. Saucon Valley (.06)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: (none)

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

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