SCBL finals are set for Sunday to wrap up the fall schedule
It has been a busy fall basketball schedule in the Lehigh Valley, and the last big day is Sunday at the Swain School with the finals of the 11th annual Select Competition Basketball League.
The title game for the NCAA Division (grades 7-8-9) is set for 2 p.m. with the NBA Division finals (grades 10-11-12) slated for 3 p.m.
Here are last week’s results, courtesy of Ed Jennings, the league founder and director:
NCAA Division Semifinals
Syracuse 41, Missouri 39 ... Hayden Granitz 12 for Syracuse; Ethan Miller 14 for Missouri.
UNC 69, Georgetown 43 ... Blake Hargrove 32 for Georgetown; Elias Lopez 25 for Georgetown.
Consolation
Kansas 60, Penn State 54 ... Jacob Lewis 19 for Kansas; Lency Tankwa 25 for Penn State.
Player of the Week
Blake Hargrove, 8th grader at Nitschmann.
Sunday Standouts
Elias Lopez, freshman at Executive Education.
Elijah Miller, freshman at Saucon Valley.
Jacob Lewis, freshman at Lehigh Christian.
NBA Division Semifinals
Heat 84, Nets 75 ... Nate Ellis and Will Meeker 27 for Heat; Eli Vigo 28 for Nets.
Celtics 59, Warriors 51 ... Jalil Schenck 20 for Celtics; Liam Joyce 16 for Warriors.
Consolation
Knicks 91, Lakers 67 ... Leandro Pena and Joseph Barnes 25 points apiece for Knicks; Chris Ray 20 for Lakers.
Player of the Week
Nate Ellis, senior at Allen.
Sunday Standouts
Eli Vigo, senior at Allen.
Will Meeker, senior at Parkland.
Chris Ray, junior at Moravian Academy.
Louie Vidal, senior at Bethlehem Catholic.
Jennings filed this report: In the NCAA Division, the first team punching its ticket to the “Championship Sunday” was the cardiac kids Syracuse Orangemen in a bit of an upset of Missouri. Missouri was without their primary playmaker (who was at a high school soccer event) but didn’t diminish a great effort by Syracuse.
The final spot for the championship game went to UNC with their Blake and Jake Show. Blake Hargrove and Jake Pukszyn, both eighth-graders at Nitschmann, dismantled Georgetown. They slowed down Georgetown Hoyas. They were able to slow down the hot shooting of Central Catholic freshman Jack Csensits, although Elias Lopez, a freshman from Executive, kept it competitive with 25 points.
In the NBA Division, the consolation game featured two teams on paper that no one thought would be in this predicament. However, an injury to the top picks on both rosters and some nicks and bruises to the supporting cast put these teams in this situation. Chris Ray, a junior at Moravian Academy finished with 20 points and has had a breakout fall along with a growth spurt. However, the streaky shooting of seniors Leandro Pena and the attacking style of Joseph Barnes (Liberty) was too much for the Lakers.
In the semifinals, Jennings said, “we had more oohs and aahs than I can remember.”
Nate Ellis and Eli Vigo, a pair of Allen seniors traded buckets all afternoon. But Parkland senior Will Meeker found his shooting stroke and was lights out in pick and pop. Ellis made the right reads all day and delivered dime after dime. Not wanting to be eliminated Louie Vidal, a Becahi senior, almost spoiled the Heat’s best performance of the season with a 27 point effort. However, the Heat is moving on to the finals.
They will get the Celtics who avenged a triple-OT loss from last week with a 59-51 win over the Warriors and Liam Joyce and company. Jalil Schenck, a senior at EECS continued to lead with a 20-point effort and several assists.
But he received help from Xavier Goodman, a senior at Kutztown, and Kola Lysynecky, a senior at Easton.