Dieruff Throws Scare Into Parkland

Dieruff Scares Parkland

Summer league basketball is more relaxed than the winter games.Usually, teams are missing a few guys, and coaches are more apt to experiment. In many ways, that makes the games a lot more fun to watch. They are usually played at Allentown's Cedar Beach, with 20-minute halves in which the clock keeps running. If it rains, the kids descend on one of the area high schools.

That's what happened on Tuesday night. When the skies briefly opened up, the games were sent to Parkland High School. I was there to see my grandson playing for Central Catholic against Freedom High School. But in the court next to me, something very strange was happening, and just about everyone soon had their eyes on the other game.

Parkland High School is the elite basketball team of the Lehigh Valley. But they had their hands full with Dante Rockmore and the Dieruff Huskies. The Trojans were getting beat, at times by as much as eight points.

In the final two minutes of the game, however, Parkland's Trojans erased their deficit and finally took the lead with just three seconds to go. The Trojan who took the bite out of the Huskies is a very physical Jake Bartholmew, who plays with my grandson on the LV Blue Chips 15U AAU team.

Kids from high schools all over the Lehigh Valley will descend on Cedar Beach tonight for summer basketball. If you like basketball, drop in some time. You're in for a treat.