Jim Thorpe’s Hurley notches player of the week honors
Allen’s Ellis. Parkland’s Coval and Central Catholic’s Thomas share top-player honors
Jim Thorpe 5-foot-9 junior shooting guard Leila Hurley scored 20 points in back-to-back games to begin District 11 Class 4A play.
She shot 10-for-14 from the floor and had three steals in a 71-38 quarterfinal win over Wilson. Hurley followed that up by going 5-for-11 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range and 8-for-11 from the line, with three assists and three steals in a 62-41 victory over Colonial League champion Northwestern Lehigh in the semifinals.
“She’s a terrific shooter, and the last two games she played the best defense she’s played all season ... and that has helped the team tremendously in the postseason,” said Olympians coach Nadia Gauronsky.
“The defensive effort is key to the success of the program. Many know of her offensive attributes, but now she has turned it up on the other end, which has helped in the team’s success.”
Hurley was held to six points as the Olympians fell to Central Catholic in the 4A final Thursday afternoon.
Hurley, who passed the 1,000point career mark this season along with classmate Skyler Searfoss, made 45 3-pointers this season and has 138 for her career.
TOP 10
1. Nazareth 15-1
2. Central Catholic 15-3
3. Parkland 15-2
4. Jim Thorpe 19-5
5. Notre Dame 13-4
6. Easton 7-2
7. Bethlehem Catholic 8-7
8. Northwestern 17-2
9. Palmerton 14-6
10. Pocono Mountain West 12-3
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
(Overall, division) NORTHAMPTON DIVISION y-Nazareth 15-1, 8-1
Easton 7-2, 7-2
Northampton 8-7 5-5 Freedom 5-7, 4-6 x-Bethlehem Catholic 8-7, 3-7 Liberty 2-9, 1-8
LEHIGH DIVISION
y-Parkland 15-2, 9-1 z-Central Catholic 15-3, 9-1 Whitehall 10-9, 5-5 Emmaus 5-8, 4-6
Allen 2-12, 2-8
Dieruff 1-11, 1-9
MOUNTAIN DIVISION
Pocono Mountain West 2-3, 10-0 Pocono Mountain East 7-4, 7-3 Stroudsburg 6-4, 6-4
East Stroudsburg South 4-8, 3-7 Pleasant Valley 3-8, 3-7
East Stroudsburg North 1-10, 1-9
COLONIAL LEAGUE
(overall, league) v-Northwestern Lehigh 17-2, 9-1 w-Notre Dame 13-4, 8-1 Palmerton 14-6, 8-2
Bangor 11-5, 7-3
Wilson 7-5, 7-3
Palisades 9-9, 6-4
Southern Lehigh 6-8, 6-4 Salisbury 7-10, 5-5
Northern Lehigh 7-7, 4-5
Pen Argyl 5-12, 2-8
Moravian Academy 3-10, 2-8 Saucon Valley 1-13, 1-9 Catasauqua 0-17, 0-10
OTHER SCHOOLS z-Jim Thorpe 19-5
Tamaqua 12-10
Executive Education 7-8 Lehighton 9-12
Pennridge 5-7
Lincoln Leadership 3-9 Quakertown 3-13 v-Colonial League champion w-3A District 11 champion x-5A District 11 champion y-Playing for 6A championship z-Playing for 4A championship
TOP 25 SCORING
Emily Strunk, Stroudsburg Sr. 20.9 Trinity Williams, Palisades Sr. 20.8 Brianna Moore, Palmerton Jr. 16.9 Hailey Miller, Lehighton Jr. 16.48 Skyler Searfoss, Jim Thorpe Jr. 16.46
Brielle Reidinger, Wilson Jr. 16.3 Talya Brugler, Nazareth Sr. 16.1 Lindsay Berger, Parkland Sr. 15.6 Morgan Sterner, Northampton
Sr. 15.5
Leila Hurley, Jim Thorpe Jr. 15.13
Aubrey Pollard, Northern Lehigh Fr. 15.08
Kourtney Wilson, Bethlehem Catholic Jr. 14.9
Azahni Simmons, Pocono Mountain West Sr. 14.21
Emma Niebell, Northern Lehigh Jr. 14.17
Quinn Wittman, Salisbury Jr. 13.2 Antonia Bates, Notre Dame GP
Jr. 13.12
Paige Sevrain, Northwestern Lehigh So. 13.11
Layla Hernandez, East Stroudsburg South Fr. 13.0
Shanaiya Ellis, Allen Jr. 12.9 Vitajah Davis, Pocono Mountain West So. 12.3
Kailey Turpening, Freedom Jr.
12.0
Makayla Days, Wilson So. 11.7
Julia Roth, Central Catholic Jr. 11.6 Kendal Card, Stroudsburg So. 11.5 Kelly Leszcynski, Nazareth Jr. 11.4 (Stats and records heading into Thursday’s games)
Due to the coronvirus, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference basketball players were deprived of the opportunity to decide a champion during a postseason tournament, as has been the case in the past.
But the EPC’s best players weren’t stopped from receiving all-star recognition.
The league released its all-star teams Wednesday night, and the most interesting development came in the EPC’s Lehigh County Division, where coaches for voted three players as tri-MVPs. They are juniors Tyson Thomas of Central Catholic and Nate Ellis of Allen and Parkland’s remarkable freshman Nick Coval.
Each of them competed for a District 11 championship Thursday at PPL Center.
The other divisions settled on one MVP each: Easton’s Chris Hewey in the EPC Northampton County Division and Pocono Mountain West’s Christian Fermin in the Monroe County Division.
Here’s a look at the EPC’s elite:
Lehigh County Division Boys FIRST TEAM
Mel Copeland — Allen
Nick Coval — Parkland (Tri-MVP) Nate Ellis — Allen (Tri-MVP)
Liam Joyce — Central Catholic Tyson Thomas — Central Catholic (Tri-MVP)
SECOND TEAM
Danny Bohman — Emmaus Will Meeker — Parkland Manny Ozuna — Allen Daniel Quinones — Dieruff Trey Rolle - Parkland
Northampton County Division Boys FIRST TEAM
Nick Ellis — Freedom
Edixon Gomez — Bethlehem Catholic
Isaac Harris — Northampton Chris Hewey — Easton (MVP) Lucas Lesko - Northampton
SECOND TEAM
Joseph Barnes — Liberty
Jalen Fletcher — Freedom
Ryan Glassmacher — Bethlehem Catholic
Ryan Kresge — Nazareth CJ Santos - Nazareth
Monroe County Division Boys FIRST TEAM
Jahkai Barnes — Stroudsburg Christian Fermin — PM West (MVP)
Qadir Mitchell — Stroudsburg Christian Sapp — ES South Justin Smith — PM West
SECOND TEAM
Matt Campbell — PM West
Colin Castillon — PM East
Joel Contreras — Pleasant Valley Kyle John — ES North
Tamir Thompson — PM East
Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com.