Big week this week in sports and a bit of an odd week. Did a flooring job for 2 days and also did my last grass cutting of the year, which is more of a de-leafing then actual grass cutting.
Hell froze over on Wednesday when I went over to York College to willingly watch women’s basketball. Juniata was playing so that is why. I think the last women’s game I willingly watched start to finish was an NCAA Tournament game played at York and that was because the power was out in my house following the ice storm a few years ago. It was warm in the gym and cold in my house but when I got home the power was back on after 4 days of it being off. 50 degrees never felt so warm. Does this attitude make me sexist? Probably, might as well throw in the other ists that are in vogue right now too.
Well the coach is a local from Eastern and she was my RD my freshman year in Sherwood. Then you read that she has been the head coach for 16 years. Where does the time go? It started well for Juniata hitting 2 3’s to start the game and it went downhill from there. They turned the ball over 32 times and it got ugly. If Juniata didn’t have the 6’4 girl in the middle this would have been even more ugly. York won 75-58.
The men’s game followed against Scranton. This one was over about a minute in. Scranton was bigger, faster, stronger and played as a team. York’s worked for every basket and Scranton made it look easy. The bench players got in late and made it slightly more respectable but Scranton won 87-68. It could have been worse too but Scranton it a young team and made quite a few unforced turnovers. They could be really good next year. I mean really good.
Friday began the high school basketball season. Reading played Williamsport and Overbrook took on York High in their tip off tourney. Yes, Overbrook, the alma mater of one Wilt Chamberlain. Reading and Williamsport was a back and forth affair. Reading was missing 4 starters but it was tied down to the wire. A Williamsport player hit a 3 from the corner at the buzzer to win it 65-62.
York High followed against Overbrook. York led wire-to-wire but Overbrook did not go away. Overbrook was a state qualifier last year and the played hard but they had no answer for Clovis Gallon Jr. who I think dropped 30. York opened a large lead late and that was all she wrote. York won 74-64.
Saturday took me down to Baltimore for the Charm City Classic. Made a stop in at Waverly first for a beer. Got to the arena and I was told I couldn’t bring my iPad in. Never saw that. Since I rode the Light Rail I couldn’t take it back to my car easily so I had to rent a locker for $15. Things got better since when I got up to my seat I was told that due to the electronics up there everyone who had tickets there would be upgraded to the lower level. My guess is that they wanted to make it look like more people were in the arena then there actually were but whatever.
First up was Morgan State against Towson State. The two teams have a combined 5 wins for the year and one of those was Towson beating Division 3 Wesley. When I walked in Towson was up big but Morgan began to chip away. I think I saw Towson score 2 whole baskets while I was there in the first half. The second half was a back and forth game but Morgan took control and won 74-69.
Following that was Loyola of Chicago against Maryland. I follow the Terps and regretted not going down last year to see them there. It is much cheaper seeing them in Baltimore then down in College Park. Heck it’s cheaper for me to go to State College to see them then to go down to College Park. I used to be asked why Maryland? Well, I live pretty close to the Maryland line and back when I was in high school the Terps were on WBAL and you could get the last bits of the game when I left York High’s game. Johnny Holliday is still there but even that won’t last forever. I met him once at a Nationals game, I was going out of the bathroom and he was going in. The first half was just one of them halves. It was hard to watch at times. Both of Maryland’s big men got in quick foul trouble and they couldn’t buy a shot. When the shots started falling Maryland got the lead and would not relinquish it for the rest of the game. Loyola played tough D but Anthony Cowan, Aaron Wiggins and Bruno Fernando hit enough shots to keep the Ramblers at arm’s length. Maryland wins 55-41.
Didn’t make it back to York High. Didn’t think I would make it on time (I might actually have but oh well). Stopped in at Gunpowder Falls in Shrewsbury for a beer and a brat and headed home. York High wound up beating Williamsport 74-47. Reading won their game 74-43.
Sunday took me up to the Bears game against their arch-rival WBS Penguins. Stopped first in Carlisle for a stop at Market Cross. This one started well for the Bears picking up 2 goals in each of the first two periods. But at the end of the second period things started to unravel. The Bears gave up a goal to make it 4-3 with about 5 seconds left in the second and the Penguins tied it with about 40 seconds left in the third. Wilkes-Barre won it in a shootout 5-4.
