The best of the high school basketball season is to come.
Bethlehem basketball is alive and well this winter with three high school boys varsity teams among the area’s best. But at halftime of Friday night’s Freedom-Liberty game, a glimpse was given to a very bright future for the sport, especially in the Christmas City.
Liberty Little Dribblers took center stage at Memorial Gym with a quick display of running and dribbling drills that showed kids having fun as they learned the game of basketball.
The program is associated with the Hurricane Basketball Club and began with kids in the third through eighth grade, but about 15 years ago it was opened up to kids age 4 to 7 with the idea of just getting them involved in the sport.
No games are played, but fundamentals are taught.
“This is a way for the kids to get out on the floor and get them their first experience with basketball,” said Spud Yasso, who is a co-director of the program with his niece Victoria Yasso. “The parents get very involved and we ask them to come out and do things with the kids. We’ve had a lot of luck with the program and we’ve seen a ton of kids go through it and some of them have gone on to play high school and college basketball.”
The program goes for 10 weeks with the kids coming out every Saturday morning at Liberty.
“The kids just have fun together; they run around and just let loose,” Victoria Yasso said. “It’s great to see the smiles on their faces and the smiles of their parents and grandparents who come out to watch them. It’s a great atmosphere.”
Spud Yasso said the Little Dribblers spawned two other programs, one started by the Bethlehem Bulldogs, which is a feeder program for Freedom High School. Also, Jose Medina, a Liberty graduate, and the Bethlehem Catholic girls coach began his own program incorporating many of the things the Little Dribblers do.
“We have a meeting with the parents before the program starts and we tell them that we want the kids to learn the fundaments, but the three most important letters in fundamentals are f-u-n,” Spud Yasso said. “We have a lot of fun and parents come back to us and say our kids love coming here on a Saturday morning.”
The Little Dribblers did a few new things this year including a Saturday morning where the grandparents were invited to participate and another bring-your-teacher day.
Family is emphasized as is doing well at school. “We want them to get involved, even if it’s not basketball,” Spud Yasso said. “Whether it’s another sport, the school play or the band, whatever — get involved. That’s a big message.”
Matt Brown, the Saucon Valley coach, has had his children involved. Justin Potts, the Moravian College men’s coach, has had a child involved and Moravian’s men’s and women’s teams have been there to interact with the kids
Mike Frew, the former Becahi boys coach and current Liberty assistant, is a big advocate of the program.
“My daughters Leah and Riley were Little Dribblers since the older one was in kindergarten and they absolutely adored it,” Frew said. “In fact, we just moved and got into a new youth organization and they were heartbroken to leave the Little Dribblers. It’s a great way to get kids working on the fundamentals and having fun. It’s about building self-confidence, that’s what the Little Dribblers do. They’re doing something special for the kids of Bethlehem here.” Rippert, a member of the Class of 1967.
The wrestling program at Notre Dame shined during the mid-1960s and Rippert played a big role in the school’s success.
Competing as a varsity wrestler for four years, Rippert was part of the three consecutive PCIAA championship teams, who were inducted as a group into the Notre Dame Athletic Hall of Fame last year. Rippert competed as a 112-pound wrestler and was a PCIAA runnerup in 1966, an Eastern Regional champ in 1967 and a PCIAA champ in 1967.
After graduation, he attended Northampton Community College and then entered the Marines, serving in Camp Lejeune In North Carolina for two years. Upon completion of his military service, Rippert went to work for the next 26 years as a steelworker and bricklayer for Bethlehem Steel. Yadush scored 18 points in a 49-36 win over Salisbury to become the 10th boys player and 17th player overall in Tigers history to reach 1,000.
In addition, something special happened at Catasauqua’s Senior Night.
Rough Riders senior Devon Troxell, who suffered a major leg injury in the Thanksgiving morning football game against Northampton, played for the first time all season.
An arrangement was made between Catty coach Eric Snyder and Northern Lehigh coach Jeff Miller for Troxell to be allowed to start the game and score two points.
He went under the basket on his crutches, and then set them aside. Cody Velez dribbled the ball down to him and made the pass. Devon Troxell then put the layup in the basket to give Catty a 2-0 lead. Northern Lehigh then scored to even things as was pre-arranged.
Making the night even more poignant is that Devon’s grandfather, former Catasauqua High School principal Frank Troxell, died this past week.
It was a special moment for Devon, his brother Derek and the entire Troxell family.