LEHIGH VALLEY FLASHBACK
A look back at Lehigh Valley sports stories over the years from March 1.
2008: LeighAnn Burke (26) and Kim Rarick (19) combine for 45 points to lead DeSales (26-3) past FDU-Florham 75-60 for the Bulldogs’ first Freedom Conference women’s basketball title since 2000 and an NCAA Division III playoff berth.
1978: Lehigh and Lafayette, which had been competing in NCAA Division II for football, are among 37 schools to apply for membership in the newly created Division I-AA.
1978: Bob Coogan scores 21 points and Mountainville Fire Company snaps Witmer-Jones’ four-year, 58-game winning streak in Allentown’s Class A recreation basketball league with a 72-68 victory.
1968: Catasauqua grad Larry Miller (North Carolina) is named to the AP’s first-team All-American squad, joining Houston’s Elvin Hayes, LSU’s Pete Maravich, Louisville’s Wes Unseld and UCLA’s Lew Alcindor.
1966: Dieruff wins its first East Penn League title with a 74-58 win over Tamaqua in a playoff for the second half title. Skip Kintz scores 27 of his 35 points in the second half for the Huskies, who pull away from a 52-49 third-quarter lead.
1966: Joe Paterno elevates Coaldale native George Welsh from assistant defensive backfield coach to offensive backfield coach, filling a vacancy created when Paterno was promoted to head coach a week earlier to replace Rip Engle. Welsh remains on Paterno’s staff through the 1972 season, when he leaves to become head coach at Navy, his alma mater, beginning a 28-year head coaching career during which he’s often speculated to be Paterno’s successor.
1961: In a game that features 231 field goal attempts, the Allentown Jets set a franchise scoring record in a 163-137 Eastern Basketball League win over visiting Williamsport at Rockne Hall. Roman
Turman scores 38 points and grabs 37 rebounds, helping the Jets outrebound the Billies 99-57, while Brendon McCann adds 27 points and 22 assists.
1961: Marian Catholic wins the Anthracite Catholic League title with a 50-48 sudden death victory over Pottsville Nativity at Pottsville High School. Dave Lewis hits the game-winning basket off the opening tap of the second overtime session to give the Colts their first berth in the PCIAA Class A playoffs.
1956: Butch Heffner scores 18 points to break Allentown’s singleseason scoring mark as the Canaries conclude an unbeaten (24-0) regular season with a 78-51 win over Freeland MMI at the Little Palestra.
The Royals and third baseman Hunter Dozier agreed to a four-year, $25 million contract extension that includes a fifth-year option, according to reports Sunday. The 29-year-old Dozier has long been considered a cornerstone of the Royals rebuild, especially after a breakthrough 2019 season in which he hit 26 homers, tied for the American League lead with 10 triples and drove in 84 runs. But he missed the start of last season with COVID-19 and wound up hitting just .228 with six homers and 12 RBIs in 44 games. Still, the Royals believe Dozier will revert to form with a full spring training and 162-game season. “I think it was the hardest mental season we’ve been through,” he said recently. “So I’m definitely looking forward to a normal season.” Dozier is also looking forward to a consistent spot in the everyday lineup. He has regularly moved between first base, third base and right field the last few years, but the signing of longtime Indians first baseman Carlos Santana coupled with a trade for Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi means Dozier will primarily play third base this season.