Downpour Fails to Mar Stellar Tourney

Becahi and Emmaus JVs

The Stellar "Catch A Rising Star" Basketball Tournament is billed as the nation's largest outdoor high school basketball tournament. But it's a good thing tournament organizers had a back-up plan. A sudden downpour at 7 pm made the courts at Allentown's Cedar Beach unplayable, and they had to be deserted for Parkland, William Allen, Whitehall and Salisbury High Schools, along with the East Side Youth Center.

When I arrived at Cedar Beach shortly before 6 pm, the skies looked menacing but no one was in a hurry to leave. Cedar Beach Park is simply beautiful, one of the nicest things about the Lehigh Valley and Allentown.

I watched Becahi's JV Boys Basketball team take on Emmaus in one of the most exciting games I've seen in a long time. Zach Sabol from Emmaus is a beast. If anyone could get the ball to him inside the paint, he'd put it in. The game went back and forth and even included a rare dunk at the JV level. When it was over, Emmaus was the better team by 2.

Incidentally, Becahi's JV Team includes Freshman Caden Giordano. I know him from CYO and his is a name to watch.

Viking Bezerkers

After the Beca loss, I went over to watch Central's opening game, which was starting at 7 pm on Court 1. My grandson has transferred there because it's closer to his home than Beca. Of course, he has dived right into summer league basketball, and seems to enjoy his teammates. Central was scheduled to play Governor Mifflin. But as the teams started to warm up, the skies began to cry, perhaps over Beca's loss.

The games were quickly scattered to the high schools, and an outdoor tournament suddenly became an indoor tournament. By this time, there were several thousand people at the park, most of them parked on the grass. And everyone was in a hurry to get to one of five locations. But no lives were lost getting out of there.

Central defeated Governor Mifflin by 19 points. They have a feverish defense and speed. In the winner's bracket, they will play Easton on Saturday.

The Morning Call's Keith Groller has a rundown on all the games played today.

What I love about basketball, a sport I barely noticed growing up, is the camaraderie among the players. Most of these kids know each other and have played against each other or with each other on AAU teams. Thanks to iPhones and all the chat devices, they get to know each other pretty well and most want to stick around after their game is over. It's a great melting pot for kids of many different backgrounds, united by their love of a strange game that wrestlers claim was invented for girls. .

If you've never gone to Cedar beach Park to watch these kids play, do yourself a favor and go watch them for an hour this weekend.I guarantee you'll leave with a smile.