It was another fantastic weekend of Saucon Valley Youth Basketball.
The game of the week came from one of the girls 5/6 travel division teams, when the undefeated Saucon Valley Bobcats faced off against the undefeated Bethlehem Canes. In a true team effort, the Bobcats’ defense, led by Sophie Babashak, Erin Duffy and Allison Cort, frustrated the Canes as Babashak led the scoring with 10 points. Makenna Reed also scored 8 in the 26-17 win, which improved the Bobcats to 5-0 and kept them on top of the travel division.
In the 5/6 Boys Rec division, the Trojans had the Saucon parents biting their nails.
After letting a five point lead slip away late in the second half, the boys finally fell behind for the first time all game when the Canes went ahead 19-18 with a minute left. The Trojans, however, responded with Brandon Thompson drawing a foul and tying up the game with his first free throw with 30 seconds left. With the press on, the Trojans again got the ball back and again sent Thompson to the line. Thompson came up clutch again, nailing his second foul shot to give the Trojans a 20-19 lead. With 5 seconds left, the Canes tried to inbound the ball to attempt a last second miracle shot, but Benjamin Keenan managed to intercept it and sank a shot as time ran out to give the Trojans a huge 22-19 win.
In the 3/4 boys rec division, the Saucon Valley Nittany Lions and Saucon Valley Wildcats faced off in yet another exciting game.
The Saucon Valley Nittany Lions discuss strategy to hold on to a then 13-12 lead, with seconds left in their exciting game against the Wildcats.
The Wildcats quickly turned loose with cat-like reflexes, pulling down rebounds and running fast breaks. Luke Stubblefield and Nick Albanese led the offense, driving down the lane and finding open players throughout the game. Tony Salgado made a shot from downtown to give the Wildcats a lead going into halftime. The Lions regrouped and held the fast-paced Wildcats to just 2 points in the second half. Lions forced defensive turnovers and Chase Luckenbach came down with clutch rebounds to keep the Lions offense alive. Phillip Taylor made the game-winning shot with less than a minute left to lead the Lions to a 15-12 win over the formidable Wildcats, and maintain a stranglehold on first place.
The action picks up again this weekend with the 1/2 Minors playing Saturday morning, Jan. 28, in the Saucon Valley Elementary School Gym. The 3/4 Boys rec teams start play at 9 a.m. in the Saucon Valley Middle School Gym. The 3/4 Girls rec start Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Southern Lehigh Middle School. The 5/6 Boys rec teams start play Saturday morning at 9. The 5/6 Girls Bobcats take on Southern Lehigh at 10 and the Leopards and Tigers face off against each other at 11 in the SV Elementary School Gym on Saturday, and the Leopards play again Sunday against Jaguars at 1 p.m. in the Middle School.
The travel teams will see a lot of action this weekend. The Hoosiers will play Friday in Northern Lehigh and again both Saturday and Sunday afternoon at home in the Elementary School gym. The 5/6 Boys Thundering Herd play Thursday night at ESYC and again Sunday at home vs. PYC in the Middle School Gym. The 5/6 Huskies also travel to Northern Lehigh on Friday night and return home to play Green Pond Saturday afternoon in the Elementary School.
Note: Nittany Lions coach Jason Ashraf contributed information for this story.