LEHIGH VALLEY FLASHBACK
A look back at Lehigh Valley sports stories over the years from Feb. 27.
2012: Lehigh junior C.J. McCollum, who helped Lehigh win a schoolrecord 23 games entering the Patriot League tournament, is named the league’s player of the year for the second time. McCollum, who won the award as a freshman, leads the league in scoring (21.2 ppg) and steals (2.5) while ranking third in rebounding (6.6) and fifth in assists (3.4).
2007: Sparked by a 33-second pin that brought 112-pounder Erin Yenolevich his second district title, Northwestern crowns three champions and qualifies 10 wrestlers for the regional tournament while running away to its first District 11 Class 2A tournament team title since
1978. The Tigers, who out-point Northern Lehigh 230-172, also get championships from Scott Clymer (his third) and brother Ben Clymer.
2007: The Brooks Group, which owns parts of seven professional teams including the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, are introduced as the driving force to bring an arena and minor league hockey team to the Lehigh Valley. The new investors join Whitehall developer Abraham Atiyeh, and the new group hopes to find the funding to build a $55-to-$60million arena one one of four sites. Atiyeh’s first choice is a 300-to400-acre parcel near the Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
2002: Ray Barbosa scores 39 points and Allen, which needed to win the East Penn Conference title just to qualify for the postseason, advances to the District 11 Class 4A final and secures a PIAA berth with an 81-79 win over Easton in the semifinals.
1998: Bethlehem Catholic scores the game’s first 18 points and cruises past Saucon Valley 54-38 for the school’s first District 11 Class 3A boys basketball title. Also, Emmaus wins its first Class 4A girls title since 1978 by beating Northampton 37-36 on Amy Buda’s steal and game-winning shot with 15 seconds left.
1993: Lafayette earns the 1,000th win in the history of its men’s basketball program with a 77-67 win over Army at Kirby Field House.
1992: Moravian hits 41 of its 49 free throws, including 18 of 21 by Pam Porter, and wins its second straight MAC Southern Division women’s basketball title with an 82-70 victory at Franklin & Marshall. Porter finishes with 25 points.
1988: Freedom’s Lisa Kunsman wins the advanced all-around and floor championships, two of 13 medals won by the Patriots in the PIAA girls individual gymnastics championship meet. Julie Dunham of Freedom also wins the intermediate uneven bars.
1988: Emmaus captures 12 medals, including golds by Janine Atiyah (200 freestyle), Jen Jackson (500 freestyle), Laura Brown (200 individual medley) and the 400 free relay team, and doubles up the field to capture its ninth straight District 11 girls swimming title. The Green Hornets score 315 points, well ahead of runner-up Freedom’s 154 points. Emmaus also wins its fourth straight boys title.
1983: Despite a 63-59 loss at Widener in the MAC South Division semifinals, Moravian (19-6) receives its first-ever NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament bid. But the Greyhounds must face Scranton, the nation’s top-ranked team, in the opening round.
1982: Lehigh’s Colin Kilrain pins Navy’s Pat Ryan in the 190-pound finals to become the fifth wrestler in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association history to win four individual titles and help the Engineers finish a close second (133.5-131.5) to Navy in the EIWA tournament. Lehigh also gets titles from Bobby Weaver, Tom Husted and Pete Schuyler. Kilrain joins former Lehigh greats Mike Brown and Mark Lieberman as four-time champions.