Let citizens set nonpartisan election districts
Dieruff captures 1st district playoff win since 2007 by defeating Pleasant Valley
The Feb. 25 Morning Call article about reducing gerrymandering (“Opponents of gerrymandering are recruiting a citizen army as Pennsylvania’s 2022 redistricting approaches”) was quite entertaining. Anytime today’s politicians use computer software to decide voting districts it is probable they are scheming to gain favor for someone.
Why not select a group of people like we do for jury duty? Give them maps of the districts to be changed and the populations of each and make them equal.
You don’t need computer skills for this, because it was done without them for hundreds of years. The folks doing the work must be disinterested parties. In today’s partisan politics, this must be kept above board and as free from interference as possible.
After serious thought, I believe the only way to get real representation is term limits. It is service to the people, not a long-term career.
Andrew Lockwood
Marlon “J.T.” Randall has not been Dieruff ’s boys basketball coach for 14 seasons. He’s just in his first season at the east Allentown school.
But when the Huskies won their first District 11 tournament game since 2007 on Tuesday night in Dick Schmidt Gym, it may have felt as if 14 years had passed for Randall before he could celebrate a 49-45 win over Pleasant Valley.
Dieruff (6-8) jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed, but the Huskies couldn’t put away the pesky Bears either until George Gibbs made two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to send the No. 7 seed on to Thursday’s District 11 Class 6A quarterfinals at Northampton.
It was Dieruff ’s first postseason win since a 49-47 victory over Pocono Mountain East at Pleasant Valley in the first round of the 2007 tournament.
“I know these kids don’t know [about Dieruff ’s District 11 drought],” Randall said. “They don’t understand.
“We were beating them and it’s like ‘We’re good.’ But when you’re up like that against a team that has nothing to lose and they’re going all out, you still have to have the toughness to keep doing the same thing you’re doing.”
Dieruff led by as much as 32-17 in the first half and was still ahead 42-30 after
three quarters.
But the Bears clawed back by scoring the first six points of the final stanza and got within 47-45 on a Jarrod Moore layup with 1 minute, 35 seconds left.
The Huskies squandered an offensive opportunity, giving Pleasant Valley a chance to either tie or go ahead with a 3-point basket after a timeout with 19.7 seconds to go.
“We ran a play for a 3-pointer and wanted to see what would be there off of that,” Bears coach Bobby Hahn said. “It was there. We were going to take a 3, but Dieruff did a good job of switching defenses and played a zone that really defended the 3-point line. Driving was the best option, and Marcus Arce had a really good look down the middle.”
Arce couldn’t convert on his drive, Dieruff rebounded and got the ball upcourt and ran down the clock until Gibbs was fouled with 2.7 ticks left.
Gibbs, a senior who had all seven of the Huskies’ points in the fourth quarter, made the two free throws that secured a berth in 6A’s version of the Elite Eight.
“It feels good because we haven’t done it for so long,” Gibbs said after Dieruff made its first postseason appearance since 2008. “But the job is not done.
“We want to keep going and beat the next opponent. We just have to play as a team.”
Gibbs had 18 points and eight rebounds. Jaden Castro added 14 points and Dalwin Catthouse chipped in six points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
But after scoring 18 points in the first quarter, Dieruff had just 17 in the second half.
“For about 4 ½ to 5 minutes we didn’t attack their trap on defense the way we did in the first half,” Randall said. “It’s a big learning curve and they got about 24 hours to get it together because Northampton is waiting.”
Randall said his team has proved it is good enough to beat virtually anyone left in the district field, but it’s also vulnerable enough to lose to anybody.
“That comes with being together, learning the system and the principles of this game. … things that maybe they didn’t know in the past,” he said. “It’s a game of runs and you’ve got to be tough enough to withstand a run and get it back.
“We finally found a little bit of an edge to get past that hump because this was playoff basketball in a nutshell and Pleasant Valley came hard in the fourth quarter. They never quit.”
While Dieruff would have made the tournament field even if hadn’t been an open tournament, Pleasant Valley would have not qualified in a normal season.
Hahn was pleased his Bears came close to registering the program’s first district win since 2006.
“Our defense in the second half came up big and all of the guys gave everything they had on every possession,” Hahn, completing his third season, said. “But it was too little too late.
“If we would have had that kind of energy at the beginning of the game, it would have been different. Our guys had never been in a playoff game before. Once they settled in and adapted, they got comfortable.”
Moore, a sophomore, paced PV with 15 points, all coming in the second half.
“He gave us incredible energy,” Hahn said. “He was a little timid in the first half and played trying not to make a mistake rather than playing his game.
But in the end, he did his thing and impressed a lot of people, especially me.”
Hahn admitted it has been a difficult year, but the opportunity to play in a playoff game was “great for the kids, great for the program.”
“This showed the younger guys coming up what it takes to win a playoff game,” he said. “We have a lot of kids coming back . ... So we’re very optimistic.”