{"id":78351,"date":"2016-07-20T16:21:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T16:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78351"},"modified":"2023-04-13T21:15:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T21:15:03","slug":"sportstalk-shop-summer-hoops-2016-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-summer-hoops-2016-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop: Summer Hoops 2016 – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week here at \u201cThe Shop,\u201d we examined the biggest summer hoops teams<\/a>\u00a0and tournaments in the Washington, DC and Eastern Pennsylvania regions.\u00a0 This week, we focus on more of the underrated storylines to our local scholastic basketball action this summer.<\/p>\n

\"General<\/a><\/p>\n

\"General<\/a><\/p>\n

Northampton & \u00a0Pocono Mountain West<\/strong>
\nPerhaps no single game I’ve seen this summer was more physical than when these two EPC teams squared off against each other. \u00a0I counted at least four times when players went down hard on the concrete in order to secure a loose ball in a contest eventually won by PMW.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

Northampton got a lift this summer when Aiden Ellwood announced he was going to be returning to the Konkrete Kids after leaving Central Catholic, but he was not available for the local summer tournaments. \u00a0Nevertheless, Northampton has played well this year and should benefit from having some nice size upfront and, as they’ve shown both this summer and over the last year, a lot of gritty players.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

\"North<\/a><\/p>\n

Pocono Mountain West sometimes gets overshadowed by Lehigh Valley teams, but they are definitely on a short list of the top teams in the district. \u00a0They play with a brand of quickness and athleticism that not many other teams in the area can showcase. \u00a0They had some personnel issues at the end of last season, but if they can keep everyone focused, there’s no reason they can’t translate their summertime success (they’ve already one won summer tournament) into winter championship\u00a0titles<\/p>\n

\"PMW<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PMW<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PMW<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PMW<\/a><\/p>\n

Bangor & Freedom<\/strong>
\nThese two teams played each other last Saturday evening in an entertaining matchup and both schools have had some very impressive summers thus far.<\/p>\n

The Slaters\u2019 overall sports programs\u2019 successes in 2016 might just be THE Lehigh Valley\u2019s sport story of the year\u2014and a lion\u2019s share of their accomplishments belong to the boys basketball team.<\/p>\n

Bangor is proving that life without Michael Martino (the Slaters top scoring point guard in the school\u2019s history) won\u2019t be as tough a transition as some might have suspected.\u00a0 Bron Holland\u2019s teams have posted a number of impressive performances this summer, including over EPC foes, and players like Reece Jones (who had some stellar games last winter) are determined to carry on the Slaters\u2019 new tradition of excellence.<\/p>\n

As far as the Patriots, this summer\u2019s team might have been the most underrated group of kids I\u2019ve seen.\u00a0 They have not gotten deep into much \u201cfinal day\u201d of summer tournament action (so far) and they will most definitely be picked behind at least Liberty in their EPC division come late fall.\u00a0 However, the Freedom players really impressed me with their pose over the last few weekends and look like a scrappy bunch that can\u2019t be overlooked by anyone in their conference.<\/p>\n

I think if they can avoid some of the personnel issues that plagued them during key stretches of the 2015-16 scholastic season, they can make a run and qualify for at least a district playoff berth this winter.<\/p>\n

Allentown\u00a0Central Catholic<\/strong>
\nRumors of the Vikings going through a rebuilding year have been greatly overblown after Central Catholic lost Zay Jenning to graduation and a few more players due to transfers.<\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

Central Catholic not only had perhaps the biggest team I’ve seen this number (in terms of number of players–18 to be exact) but have a very nice blend of size, speed, ball handlers and outside shooters. \u00a0Plus, they have several returning players that have experience in big game situations and they’ve look to continue their ability to play lock-down defense–something that was very apparent in most of their second half games last winter.<\/p>\n

NOTRE DAME<\/strong>
\nIf Freedom is a dark horse in the EPC, then a team you should not underestimate is Notre Dame-Green Pond.\u00a0 They battled a few tough opponents over the last few weekends including Central Catholic.<\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Central<\/a><\/p>\n

From what I\u2019ve seen\u2014and I\u2019m speaking strictly on intensity\u2014they were second only to Bangor among the Colonial League teams I had the chance to watch this month.\u00a0 They\u2019re always on the pre-season list as a probable playoff team, despite not getting to the title game a year ago, but I wouldn\u2019t forget about them when looking to make prognostications for the 2017 campaign.<\/p>\n

Salisbury<\/strong>
\nI think if there\u2019s an award for coaches who yelled \u201cdefense\u201d this summer\u2014it would have to go to Salisbury Head Coach Jason Weaver.\u00a0 As usual, he had his team operating at a breakneck pace\u2014usually matched up against schools that have a much higher enrollment number\u2014and has kept the intensity on all month.<\/p>\n

It seems like they did have difficulty in the transition game against a few teams (including a surprisingly strong Souderton team), but if history is any indication (along with the talent they have returning this winter), the Falcons will once again get off to a great start in December and will be one of a handful of teams competing for a Colonial League championship.<\/p>\n

\"WHS<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"WHS<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Fans of girls hoops\u2026don\u2019t despair.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have news and insights on some of the top ladies\u2019 teams\u2019 performances in the next installment of the \u201cSportsTalk Shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can also hear more insights on summer league hoops and other sports issues by checking out last week\u2019s \u201cSportsTalk\u201d podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, be sure to come out to a special \u201cSportsTalk Gets Wild\u201d this Thursday at Whitehall\u2019s Buffalo Wild Wings<\/a> (on Grape Street in front of the Whitehall Mall)\u2014an event to raise money for the Miller Keystone Blood Center<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 The show will feature the State Champion Parkland Girls Volleyball team, along with a special guest to talk about an event Parkland football fans will want to know more about coming up this fall.\u00a0 You can learn more about this event, as well as going to http:\/\/rcn.com\/atvn\/bww-sportstalk-2016<\/a>, click on the \u201cMiller Keystone Blood Center\u201d link for the July 21st<\/sup> event.\u00a0 Then print the \u201cdine-and-donate\u201d flyer and bring it with you to the program to help raise money for our local charity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week here at \u201cThe Shop,\u201d we examined the biggest summer hoops teams\u00a0and tournaments in the Washington, DC and Eastern Pennsylvania regions.\u00a0 This week, we focus on more of the underrated storylines to our local scholastic basketball action this summer. Northampton & \u00a0Pocono Mountain West Perhaps no single game I’ve seen this summer was more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[702],"class_list":["post-78351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop","tag-summer-hoops"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe SportsTalk Shop: Summer Hoops 2016 - Part 2 - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The SportsTalk Shop: Summer Hoops 2016 - Part 2 - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week here at \u201cThe Shop,\u201d we examined the biggest summer hoops teams\u00a0and tournaments in the Washington, DC and Eastern Pennsylvania regions.\u00a0 This week, we focus on more of the underrated storylines to our local scholastic basketball action this summer. 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