ILVGH Holiday Hoops Part 2: Milestones and Tournament Capsules

Christmas and the new year have already passed in a blur so let’s recap all the holiday tournament and other action!

Central Catholic Christmas Tournament

• In the opener of the holiday tournament at Rockne Hall, Notre Dame Green Pond closed the game on a 31-11 run to escape with a 41-36 victory. The Vikettes lost a 15 point lead in the second half, plagued by turnovers and being held to five points in the fourth quarter. Ava Shonk had her biggest game yet, knocking down four 3-pointers in the second half to notch a 19 point output. Brenna Hammerstone added ten points and the Crusaders hit seven times from beyond the arc. Conversely, Central Catholic missed ten free throws and scored five points over the final eight minutes, sending Notre Dame to the championship game and the Vikettes to the consolation contest.
• In the consi, Lake-Lehman led the Vikettes all the way through, coming out on top 62-54. Kinley Purdy was unstoppable, putting up 25 points and hitting all nine shots she took from the field. Morgan Seagreaves scored 16 and Shamiya Roberts 10 more for Central, with many of those coming in the fourth quarter as part of a comeback effort. The Vikettes missed another ten free throws and were a step off in many offensive sets down the stretch. Central dropped to 4-8 and will need to pick up some victories to ensure a district playoff berth.
• In the championship game, head coach Josh Kopp’s Crusaders met Gwynedd Mercy Academy for the second time on the season. It was a similar result, though, as GMA won 45-38. Bailey Balkir impressed throughout, hitting timely shots in the second half and going 6/8 from the charity stripe. Chloe McCarthy added seven points in the final frame, totaling 16 on the afternoon. Balkir scored five straight points to up the third quarter lead to 26-18 and provide separation. After their lead was cut to 31-29 after three quarters, GMA started the fourth on an 8-2 run. The Crusaders were led by Ava Shonk once again, this time with 11 points.

Lady Indian Holiday Classic

• Whitehall picked up its fourth victory of the season in the consolation contest at Lehighton, winning 52-35 over East Stroudsburg South. The Zephyrs built a 30-10 halftime lead and never looked back. Corynn Troxell scored all nine of her points in the first half. Llyneida Otanez racked up 16 points to lead Whitehall, scoring ten in the second half. Whitehall enjoyed one heck of a shooting day, knocking down nine triples. Coach Middleton’s squad will look to build on the momentum in the new year when they face Pocono Mountain East and East Stroudsburg North.
• In the championship game, Lehighton defeated Northern Lehigh 50-33, continuing their success as one of the top teams in the Colonial League this season and an unbeaten season that has now reached 9-0. A 21-point third quarter was the catalyst, with the Indians hitting four times from range. Two of those came from Brielle Parliman. Leah Uyvari scored nine in the quarter and 12 on the game. The Indians were led by Ryleight Trotman’s 16 and Olivia Serfass was the third Lehighton player to reach double digits with 11. The Bulldogs kept it close through the first half and Tegan Simms was a standout as always, scoring 12 to lead her team. Keep reading to see how the rematch on Friday went at Northern Lehigh’s home court.

Easton Rotary Tournament

• Hampered by illness over the school break, Emmaus toughed through their tournament opener against a very powerful Executive Education squad. Eventual tournament MVP Kendall Medina put up 18 points as the Raptors led through three quarters. But Emmaus gutted out a 20-10 fourth quarter and relied on their sharp shooting from 3-point range to eke out the 57-51 victory. The Green Hornets knocked down nine from distance, including five from always dangerous Olive Whitney. She and Gabby DeVita combined for 36 points on the afternoon Gracie Ervin converted four of her six free throws, as the sophomore played a solid role in another big game. It was a full team effort by Executive as well; Nia Bush and Ashley Hunter-Ali hit double digits. You can find more coverage of this game on our X account(@LSVSports) with postgame interviews and plenty of video.
• Easton had no trouble on their home court against Phillipsburg in a 59-9 rout. The Red Rovers got out to a 20-2 first quarter and 41-5 halftime lead, allowing for ten players to get time on the court. Melina Cole led all scorers with 14 and was followed closely by Eva Jordan’s 13. Gabby Wismer added 11. Eva Jordan and Nat Amato hit for five of the Rovers’ seven treys.
• In the consolation round, Executive also had little trouble with the Stateliners, winning 53-21. Medina had another 18 point effort, blasting home four treys in the first quarter. Nia Bush(11), Maria Hargrove(7) and Hunter-Ali(8) all had solid contributions as per usual when the Raptors are clicking on all cylinders. After a long layoff, the Raptors will be back in action on January 8th against 7-1 Mahanoy Area.
• Easton and Emmaus met in the title game of the Easton Rotary tournament last year, with the Green Hornets winning it all. This time, Easton took the title back with huge efforts in the first and third quarters to win 52-40. Over those two frames, the Rovers outscored the Hornets 29-12. Despite a 21 point showing from Gabby DeVita, Emmaus would not come back in this one. Easton flipped the script with 3-point shooting, knocking down seven shots from range to just two for coach Avon Mack’s squad. Nat Amato scored 16, including four long balls. Gabby Wismer added ten and nine more came from Melina Cole in a total team effort that lifted Easton to 9-2 on the season and the current top spot in the 6A standings.

Parkland Holiday Tournament:

• Parkland’s 33 points over the first half against Liberty allowed them to withstand a 22-point game from Ava Kopetskie and win in convincing fashion, 57-32. The Lady Trojans showed off their depth, getting 35 points from the bench with huge contributions from Bella Hallal(13) and Katy Sammarco(8). Eleven players rotated through in the first quarter alone. For the Hurricanes, Kopetskie continued to impress, hitting 10 of 12 free throws and a couple of triples. Maddy Dickinson was the second leading scorer for the Hurricanes with five points.
• Liberty faced Abington Heights in the consolation contest. The Hurricanes got more balanced scoring in this contest, coming away with a 56-49 victory. Kopetskie again led the way with 22, but Emma Miller, Christina Ramos and Chloe Rummelhart added 9, 8, and 7 respectively to bolster the offense. Liberty had to overcome the Comets’ biggest weapon in Emma Coleman, who went off for 29 points. The Hurricanes hit 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter for 20 points in the frame and to hold on. Liberty will opens the new year with Central Catholic, Easton and Nazareth.
• Parkland took on Wilson West Lawn in the tournament title game. Defense was the name of the game for the Bulldogs, who held the Trojans to a season low 24 in a 53-24 blowout that was only 24-13 at the half. Aneri McGalla and Savannah Gonzalez combined for 15 of Parkland’s points, but they could not stop the inside game from Wilson, who scored 21 2-pointers from the field. Parkland has now dropped three of its last four to excellent competition in Red Lion, Emmaus and Wilson. They will look to get back on track with January openers against East Stroudsburg South and Pleasant Valley before facing Easton and Dieruff.

Perryman Holiday Tournament

• Palmerton was in action against host team Pocono Mountain West on Monday, coming away with a 32-28 victory over the 6A squad. Avery Barry has stepped into a larger role in the absence of Courtney Connell, and put together an 11 point effort, including scoring nine of the team’s 18 second half points. Zyairrah Lanier led the Panthers with 10 and hit twice from beyond the arc.
• In the other first round game, Nazareth overcame an 11-point first half deficit, coming back to defeat Dieruff 56-45. After three quarters, the game was tied at 36-36 before the strong finish by the Blue Eagles. Seventeen from Aniya Holder and 15 more from Jayla Rosario was not enough to lift the Huskies, who sputtered out late in the contest. Alexa Davis did the most damage for Nazareth with 14 points and Karly Leszcynski totaled 13. Carly Brown was also in double figures with ten points.
• In the consolation contest, the Huskies got back on track, dominating PM West 57-15. Dieruff held the Panthers to two points in the first half, outscoring them 35-2. Jayla Rosario scored seven times from the field and made 9 of her 11 free throws for 23 points. She is now just 20 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Justyce McChristian had a nice afternoon, adding 11 points. The Huskies are 8-4 and the current fifth seed in the 6A standings. Rosario will look to get 1,000 at home when Dieruff hosts Pleasant Valley Tuesday night.
• In the title game, Alexa Davis nearly matched the Palmerton total, as she scored 17 in Nazareth’s 48-19 triumph over the Blue Bombers. Palmerton is now 8-3 entering January, with Notre Dame Green Pond and Wilson Area up next on their schedule. Nazareth remains in the fourth spot in the DXI 6A standings, facing Northampton and Liberty next.

Non-tournament games:

• Panther Valley saw freshman Ace Aponte fire off an impressive 17 points in a 66-27 effort against Nativity BVM. Senior Caroline Breslin added 14 and Megan Orsulak poured in a team high 24, going 9/17 from the field. The Panthers can greatly improve their playoff hopes if they can topple Tamaqua or Dieruff in their next two contests.
• A 25-11 halftime deficit turned in to a 50-36 loss for Blue Mountain against non-conference opponent Middletown. Mila Fleagle led the Eagles with 12 points, but the team couldn’t overcome the early deficit. Middletown hit 22 field goals on the day to notch the victory. Blue Mountain has now lost three straight and will take on Northampton on Saturday.
• Pen Argyl continues to take care of business, this time conquering 6A opponent Stroudsburg 50-34. The Green Knights couldn’t totally contain Tegan Strunk, who scored 15, but they did contain much of the rest of the Mounties. For the Green Knights, it was a breakout performance by Kayla Gloth with 12 points to go along with 22 from Leah Apostol. Pen Argyl has Catasauqua, Saucon Valley and Southern Lehigh coming up and will look to improve on their 7-1 record.

Friday, 1/2:

• For the second time in four days, Lehighton squared off with the Bulldogs of Northern Lehigh. The result was the same, with the Indians winning 48-31, staying unbeaten. This time, Lehighton blasted home eight 3-pointers; three each came from Leah Uyvari and Brielle Parliman. Parliman’s all came in the first half, allowing the Indians to lead 21-17 at halftime. A 17-6 fourth quarter allowed the Indians to pull away and move to 10-0.
• Elena Marques came through big for Southern Lehigh, puttuing up 22 points in a 53-51 squeaker for the Spartans over Salisbury. Six fourth quarter points from Elena Druck were also pivotal in the win. For the Falcons, a tenacious effort by Izabella Gonzalez in the fourth nearly got Salisbury over the hump. She scored seven of her 15 in the final frame, joined by Kendra Morgan and her 19 points. Roxana Cardenas added 11. Southern Lehigh could have put the game away at the charity stripe, but went 1/6 in the fourth and 4/14 for the game. For Southern Lehigh, the win marks three in a row, moving closer to the .500 mark at 4-5.
• Wilson Area has also now won three in a row, defeating Saucon Valley 46-41 and surviving a late comeback bid from the Panthers. Saucon outscored the Warriors 14-5 over the final quarter to trim the deficit. However, 21 points and nine boards from Juliana Bonham led the charge for Wilson. Skoda and Donahue combined for 27 Panthers points. The Warriors are now 7-3 and will travel to Northwestern Lehigh Monday night for a Colonial showdown.

Saturday, 1/3:

• Ava Kopetskie’s second quarter step-back from the left wing connected and made her the all-time leading female scorer in school history. Liberty led a close game 26-23 in the third quarter and finished on a 24-6 run to dispatch Central Catholic 50-29. Kopetskie surpassed Bloomsburg University standout Dana Wieller for the accolade. She scored 21 on the day, moving her career total to 1,344. The victory also marked Liberty’s first over the Vikettes since 2007. See more on this game and an interview with Ava on our X (@LSVSports).
• After losing eight straight to open the year, Bangor won its second in a row over Palisades, 32-19. Kaylynn Figurski put up 15 points to lead the Slaters in the winning effort. The loss was the fifth straight for the Pirates.
• Blue Mountain snapped a three game losing streak with a solid non-conference victory against Northampton. Mila Fleagle put up another 20 points, along with nine from Hailey Place and eight from Callie Peel. The Eagles made it to the charity striple 26 times versus just ten for the Konkrete Kids. This game was knotted at 16-16 at halftime before Blue Mountain pulled away on a 19-7 third quarter. Fleagle accounted for ten of those points. The victory moves Blue Mountain ahead of Central Catholic in the DXI 4A standings and the loss dropped Northampton out of the top eight in 6A.
• Hailey Jenkins single handedly outscored Pen Argyl with a career-high 36 in Catasauqua’s 59-35 win. Twenty-two of those points came in the first half, helping the Rough Riders build a 31-17 lead. Javaeha Lafond scored ten, with six of those coming in the second half. Catty is now 5-3 after a second consecutive win and sits in the middle of the pack in the DXI 3A power rankings. The loss was on the second for the Green Knights and snapped a four game win streak. Pen Argyl actually trails the Roughies now in the power rankings by .009.
• Northwestern Lehigh’s high-flying offense hasn’t been held down by a local team since Palmerton kept them to 31 and 29 two years ago. Notre Dame Green Pond did something similar on Saturday, winning 48-33 over the Tigers. It was a total team effort for the Crusaders, getting 15 from Riley Boyle and nine each from Ava Hobbie and Brenna Hammerstone. Boyle knocked down three triples. Defensively, Northwestern was held to eight made field goals. Natalie Conner led her team with 12. Currently, the Crusaders sit as the seventh seed in 3A, but could be the most dangerous seven seed in quite some time, as their losses have come to Lansdale Catholic, Gwynedd Mercy Academy(x2), and Lehighton. NDGP will look to keep the momentum going when they go to Palmerton Monday night. Northwestern Lehigh takes on WIlson Area.

Sunday, 1/4:

• Bethlehem Catholic traveled to Jefferson University to play in the Blue Star Invitational against Westtown School. The Golden Hawks were severely handicapped by injuries to Mariyah Arroyo, Alayla Davis, Aliyah Brame, Kam Gallis and Kendall Nickischer, contributing to a 62-35 defeat. Leah Ault carried the water for Beca, scoring 16. Westtown took a 30-15 halftime lead and never looked back. The loss marks the first of the season for the Golden Hawks, who still sit atop the District XI 5A power rankings and remain unbeaten in the EPC with Easton and Emmaus.