The Colonial League has a new look this basketball season.
The addition of Jim Thorpe and Lehighton from the Schuylkill League gives the Colonial 15 teams and three divisions of five teams apiece.
Perhaps the most intriguing of the divisions is the West where the Olympians and Indians have found a new home along with longtime Colonial League members Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh and Palmerton.
Each team plays each other twice within the division and once around the rest of the league for 18 league games.
While several teams are in action as early as Friday night, the league schedule begins Tuesday.
5 players to watch
Lehighton: Junior Cole Dietz, who made 70 3-pointers last season, and senior Joe Roth, who led his team in scoring and rebounding last season.
Northern Lehigh: Senior Connor Simms, who averaged 17.3 points per game last season and made 43 3s last season.
Northwestern Lehigh: Senior Gavin Nelson, who averaged 16.3 ppg and got to the foul line a team-high 121 times.
Palmerton: Junior Logan Anthony, who is the top returner scorer, having scored just over 4 points per game last season.
4 questions to be answered
(1) Can Lehighton and Jim Thorpe find success in their first seasons in the league?
(2) How long will it take Northwestern Lehigh, which has had its early-season schedule shuffled, to come together once it gets back several guys who were part of a championship football team?
(3) How will Palmerton fare in its first full season with Joe Egan as coach and its first season without stars Matt Machalik and Brayden Hosier?
(4) Can Northern Lehigh make strides and post more wins after a 2-20 season?
3 league openers to see
On Tuesday night, Lehighton is at Palmerton and Notre Dame-Green Pond visits Jim Thorpe; Dec. 9, Northwestern Lehigh at Bangor.
2 dates to remember
Jan. 16: That’s the first time Northwestern Lehigh and Lehighton will play and their matchup at Lehighton along with a rematch eight days later at Northwestern. These games could decide the division winner.
Jan. 25: Palmerton plays at Northampton in a Saturday matinee. Always interesting to see EPC vs. Colonial matchups.
1 man’s opinion
Predicted order of finish: 1. Northwestern Lehigh; 2. Lehighton; 3. Palmerton; 4. Northern Lehigh; 5. Jim Thorpe.
A team-by-team look:
Jim Thorpe
Coach: Brian O’Donnell (first season)
Last Year: 1-21, 0-14 Schuylkill League Division 1
Players to watch: Aaron Curran (6-0 Sr. G); Pierce Gothard (6-1, Jr. G); Brody Schrantz (6-2 So. G-F); Cole Lazorick (6-0, Jr. G-F); Cristian Barlie (5-8, Sr. G); Ethan Moore (6-1 Jr. F); Zach Zurn (6-3, Sr. F); Blaze Flyzik (5-9, Fr. G); Michael Antignani (5-9, Jr. F).
Outlook: O’Donnell, who spent many years at Jim Thorpe before being an assistant at Marian last year, said the goal is to “find out who we are as a team early.” The Olympians return three starters in Curran, Gothard, and Schrantz. Also returning are Moore, Zurn and Barile who played quality minutes last year. “We also have some key new pieces in Cole Lazorick, Michael Antignani, and Blaze Flyzik stepping into some big roles for us,” O’Donnell said. “Our main focus is coming into the Colonial League with a fresh start. Last year was last year, and we can only look ahead and improve this year. We have a lot of athletes on the roster who we hope to take advantage of. We’ll need to take care of the ball and play very sound defense in order to be successful. We open up with a really tough test in defending league champions Notre Dame-Green Pond, so that will give us a good look at where we can stack up with the top tier teams of the league. Our season goal is to return to the District 11 playoffs again.”
Lehighton
Coach: Trevor Miller (eighth season)
Last year: 14-9, 6-8 Schuylkill Division I. Lost to Pottsville 55-44 in a District 11 4A quarterfinal.
Players to watch: Cash White (5-11, Fr. G); Aiden Solt (5-10, Jr. G); John Light (6-0, Sr. G); Caden Meek (6-0, Jr. G); Talin Fairchild (6-2, Jr. F); Brayden Johnson (5-10 Sr. G); Blake Roberts (6-2, Jr. F) 10.8 ppg; Tommy Blair (6-0, So. G); Joe Roth (6-2, Sr. F) 15.4 ppg; Cole Dietz (6-2, Jr. G-F) 14.8 ppg; Dante Kalbach (5-11, Sr. G).
Outlook: The Indians return their top three starters and six of their top seven players from a 14-win team. They figure to be one of top scoring teams in the league, but the question mark, according to Miller is: Can we stop people? “We can score in a variety of ways. We’ve got a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket. But if we want to compete with some of the top teams in the league and in the district, we have to be better defensively.” Miller said his program never felt at home in the Schuylkill League and they are happy about being in the Colonial League where they have much shorter distances to their division rivals. It helps that Miller’s dad, Jeff, coached in the Colonial League for years at Northern Lehigh and he’s on the Lehighton staff as a varsity assistant. “The entire league has been supportive of kind of bringing us along with Jim Thorpe,” Miller said. “I’m excited about bringing back some of the natural rivalries in the area and we’re also excited about about getting to play teams we haven’t played in a long time.”
Northern Lehigh
Coach: Bob Fahler (second season)
Last year: 2-20, 0-17 Colonial League
Players to watch: Connor Simms (Sr. F) 17.3 ppg; Kellen Bauer (So. G) 11.9 ppg; Dare-Rious Smith (So. G); Coy Daubert (Jr. G); Zaid Salih (Jr. G); Kayden Novicki (Jr. C); Colin Karetsky (So. F); Chayce LoPinto (Jr. F).
Outlook: The Bulldogs have one just senior but have three others who were freshmen starters last season for Fahler, who is optimistic entering his second season. Simms and Bauer combined for 83 3-pointers last season. “Our players have worked extremely hard during the offseason both on the court and in the weight room,” he said. “Last season provided great experience of what varsity basketball requires. That experience will certainly serve us well as we continue to grow as individuals and ultimately as a team. Our goal is to provide an entertaining, up-tempo, and competitive style of play that will make our school and community proud. These young men have been an absolute pleasure to work with and watch grow. We’re really looking for them to take Northern Lehigh boys basketball back to a competitive and proud level that they, the school, and community, deserve. We’re excited to see where they can take us.”
Northwestern Lehigh
Coach: Pat Wanamaker (second season)
Last season: 16-9 overall, 12-5 Colonial League. Beat Bangor 54-49, lost to Notre Dame-Green Pond 64-59 in the Colonial League tournament. Lost to North Schuylkill 59-59 in District 11 4A quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Eli Zimmerman (5-8, Sr. G); Gavin Nelson (6-0, Sr. G); Mason Bollinger (6-3, Jr. F); Shane Marth (6-6, Sr. C).
Outlook: Wanamaker again will happily deal with a waiting game until the Tigers football ends, preferably with a win in the PIAA 3A title game on Dec. 7. Several guys currently in pads and helmets will play key roles for his team. “We’re looking to build on what we were able to accomplish last season with again only graduating one senior from last year’s team,” he said. “We’re returning three all-league players and that’s a great place to start. Combine that with another successful summer and the hopes are very high for this year.” Wanamaker said his team played 24 games together in the summer against mostly bigger schools from in and out of the area. They won the small-school division at the A-Town Throwdown and advanced to the round of 16 in the overall tournament. “We have a great group of guys who work their tails off,” Wanamaker said. “We look to be a pretty deep bench with probably 10 guys who could see minutes on any given night. We will look to apply some pressure defensively and get out in transition as best we can on offense. We’re looking forward to another great year.”
Palmerton
Coach: Joe Egan (first full season)
Last season: 15-10, 13-4 Colonial League. Beat Saucon Valley 45-44, lost to Notre Dame-Green Pond in the league finals. Lost to Panther Valley 59-57 in the District 11 3A quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Corey Serfass (6-0, Sr. G); Mason George (6-2, Sr. F); Logan Anthony (6-5, Jr. C); Jared Grammes (5-10, So. F); Cameron Pengelly (6-1, Jr. G/F); Beau Stahler (6-1, Jr. F); Brady Reph (6-2, Jr. G/F); Jason Carrelli (5-7, So. G); Kurt Jedrejeczyk (6-0, Jr. G/F), Grayson Ahner (6-2, So. F); Gaige McGowan (6-0, So. G/F), Braylen Delgado (5-9, So. G); Andrew Zulic (5-9, Fresh. G)
Outlook: It’s never easy to replace multiple 1,000-point scorers as the Bombers had last year in Matt Machalik and Brayden Hosier. Palmerton and will have plenty of new faces on the court this season. The Blue Bombers will rely on Logan Anthony and Corey Serfass’ veteran leadership while acclimating new players to the varsity scene. Regardless, the expectations remain the same. The Blue Bombers aim to return to the league and district playoffs.
