It was another fun (and extremely hectic) District XI playoff season for us at RCN-TV.\u00a0 A huge \u201cTHANK YOU\u201d to all the representatives of the district, the athletic directors, coaches, statisticians (especially Bob & Pat Whirl!) and everyone involved in the tournament.\u00a0 The playoffs were not without their share of exciting moments, a few upsets and some great storylines involving the communities within RCN\u2019s Lehigh Valley coverage area.<\/p>\n
Here are a few thoughts and observations regarding this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n
1) \u00a0Parkland and Becahi Delivered<\/strong> 2) \u00a0The Nazareth Community<\/strong> Speaking of the Eagles\u2019 fan base, the people of Nazareth weren\u2019t the only area basketball fans who were rooting for the Eagles boys team, a unit that embodied the spirit of the \u2018Comeback Kids\u2019 over the last few weeks.\u00a0 Nazareth had to defeat Northampton (who was fighting for its league playoff life) just to qualify for the playoffs, then came back to beat Liberty (a team many pegged to play Parkland in the Championship) in the first round.\u00a0 Then, they overcame a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to beat a Stroudsburg squad that had come the closest local team to beat the Trojans.\u00a0 Finally, Nazareth bounced back from a 15-point third quarter deficit to force overtime against Whitehall in the semifinal, making for the most thrilling fourth quarter of the tournament.\u00a0 Although Nazareth would go on to lose to Allen on the playoff\u2019s final day, the Blue Eagles made for some lasting memories for many local basketball fans.\u00a0 The fact that the boys athletes showed up at the girls\u2019 games and vice versa was tremendous to see, and the entire town should be proud of its winter sports athletes.<\/p>\n 3) \u00a0The \u201cUltimate\u201d Underdogs<\/strong> And speaking of Salisbury, how about a shout-out to two of the top girls basketball performers in our area\u2014the Falcons\u2019 Meagan Eripret and also Palmerton\u2019s Jade Farquhar.\u00a0 Although we didn\u2019t broadcast any of their games, I had a chance to watch both of these standout stars in action.\u00a0 We interviewed Eripret for \u201cSportsTalk\u201d last year when her head coach Joe Mladosich won his 200th<\/sup> game and she was very well-spoken and unselfish when discussing her skills and abilities in relationship to the team\u2019s success during her career at Salisbury.\u00a0 She became the school\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points and has made her Falcons a perennial post-season contender over the last few seasons.<\/p>\n Farquhar was the Colonial League\u2019s MVP and she scored her 1,000th<\/sup> point in a game against Pleasant Valley earlier this season.\u00a0 I was also told that she contributes countless hours volunteering at local organizations and youth activities.\u00a0 I heard extremely wonderful things about both of these young ladies, both in terms of the performances on and off the court from people who follow girls basketball on a regular basis.<\/p>\n Another such individual I have had the good fortune of seeing often was Wilson\u2019s Phil Pierfy, who\u2019s tremendous scholastic basketball career came to an end in this year\u2019s district playoffs.\u00a0 He\u2019s a two-sport standout star in basketball and baseball, and I know a number of college coaches in both sports that would love to add him to their teams.\u00a0 Warrior\u2019s Head Coach Bob Frankenfield would commonly refer to Phil as a great \u201cSTUDENT-athlete,\u201d putting the emphasis on the first part of this term.\u00a0 \u00a0The high standard players like Eripret, Farquhar and Pierfy live up to are what true champions are made of, and should be celebrated just as much,\u00a0 and in many cases more, than the trophy that\u2019s raised at the end of the district tournament.<\/p>\n
\nComing into this season\u2014heck, even over a year ago\u2014the Parkland boys and Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball teams were the definitive teams-to-beat in the 2015 District XI tourney.\u00a0 On paper, they clearly had the best teams, but that doesn\u2019t always translate to winning a championship.\u00a0 No matter how dominating their regular season, one bad night could shatter all of their expectations\u2014especially with an early loss in the playoffs.\u00a0 However, these teams came out and played their best.\u00a0 What was more impressive was, if one player was having a rare off-night, others stepped up and delivered.\u00a0 The result?\u00a0 Neither of these teams needed a late-game, \u201csweat-it-out\u201d basket to win its game, and entered the state playoffs as #1 seeds.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to appear to be the best team, but there\u2019s something to be said for going out and executing each and every night.\u00a0 Through many months of hard work and dedication, they made their success \u201clook\u201d easy, and winning every single game against every area opponent is a tremendous accomplishment for both of these schools.<\/p>\n
\nOne example of the truly special communities within the RCN area is Nazareth.\u00a0 From its #1 fan (Andy Weaver) to its classy and professional head coaches (Joe Arndt, Rich Bickert), to its passionate fan base, it\u2019s always fun to broadcast a Blue Eagle game.\u00a0 Both teams took different routes to advance to the final day of the district playoffs.\u00a0 The Nazareth girls team has several seniors armed with experience earned during the Blue Eagles\u2019 2013 championship season, mixed with some of the most talented sophomores in the area.\u00a0 Many girls basketball experts thought Nazareth\u2019s experience would give them the advantage over the upstart Red Rovers, a team I don\u2019t think got as much attention as they deserved.\u00a0 Easton has a host of athletic underclassmen and no doubt will be competing for league and district titles for many years to come.\u00a0 But 2015 belong to the Eagles and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing them in action this Friday in their opening round state game against Mount St. Joseph\u2019s.\u00a0 Especially with the game conveniently located, I\u2019m expecting the people of Nazareth to take the short trip down Route 191 and continue to support their team as they embark on their playoff run.\u00a0 (Programming note: Coach Bickert and members of his District Championship team will be guests on the March 19th<\/sup> edition of \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d at 6pm).<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a more underrated boys basketball head coach in the area than Salisbury\u2019s Jason Weaver.\u00a0 Ever since he took over the Falcons basketball program seven year ago, all they\u2019ve done is win games.\u00a0 Every couple years he\u2019ll lose the entire starting lineup to graduation, and yet, by game one of the following season, the Falcons are right there, playing as well as anyone in the Colonial League\u2026and each February they\u2019re beating teams in the post season.\u00a0 When Salisbury lost its top scorer Dasheen Reid before districts started, they came back and posted one of the most impressive start-to-finish games I saw all year in their win over Wilson.\u00a0 They continued on and lost tough ball games to Central Catholic and Tamaqua to finish out their season, but, like Nazareth, I don\u2019t know how many local basketball fans thought they would preserve through some adversity as well as they did, and should be commended for their effort.<\/p>\n