Stevie Jones comes up BIG for PSU - Harrisburg.....

The day after watching PSU - Harrisburg in practice, I began thinking about the old saying "you play how you practice!".....   As I stated before, they were enthusiastic, excited, focused and uplifting so I figured they would play well the next day.....  BINGGGG, I was correct.....

PENN STATE - HBG - "Program on the RISE"

I had the opportunity to take a visit to Penn State Harrisburg to see what all the fuss is about.  There's a huge buzz in the air about the men's basketball program and rightfully so, those guys are FIRED UP!!!!!

2013 Top 10 players early in the season....

Here's a look at the top juniors in the area so far this season....

2012 Top 15 players in each class in the Harrisburg area....

Early in the seasons, here's a look at the ranking order for the senior class....

Congrats to Kyler Burke 1000 pt scorer and Coach Archer....

Now, this blog has been for the Harrisburg area players BUT here's an exception....    Pine Grove HS is coached by Harrisburg product David Archer and he's been doing a fantastic job changing the culture of basketball in that area......

Quincy Roberts has a big first game for Grambling....

Take a look at ex Cougar Quincy Roberts as he tries to help Grambling get on track....

Merry Christmas from Centralpabasketball to all my readers!

Uptown YMCA games are intense......

I had a chance to visit the Uptown Harrisburg YMCA to check out a game today....  The youth in Harrisburg is looking very promising.....

Who's been the most exciting player to watch so far for HS ball?

You guys hear a lot about what I think, let's hear from you!!!!

Early Season top underclassmen (Varsity)

These aren't just guys who made the team but who actually get the opportunity to play as well....
There may be other players that are a little better but for one reason or another they haven't gotten the opportunity to prove themselves on the Varsity floor....

Here's a look at some of the top underclassmen playing varsity that I've seen this season......

CD SMACKS MCDEVITT

I guess it's safe to say football is officially over for these two schools and now it's time to take it to the hardwood.....

TOO MUCH MATT "RIM BREAKER" BANAS......

In a game where both teams are undefeated, somebody had to lose.....  CD East and Hershey were playing for something tonight....  East had to prove that they could win a game against a good team and Hershey needed to prove they are the top team in this area, Hershey is making a good case, winning 63 - 51 at CD East......

Who's your Early season Big 15 team????

With the season being so young, it could be a little premature to start thinking about all star teams....    

Or is it?????

Predictions for 12/23 games....

Not too many games going on tonight but there's a couple that are worth checking out....  Here's what we think about tonight's match ups.....

New Hope Middle School on a roll....

Coach Chris Scott really wasn't sure how his team was going to look at the beginning of the season.  One thing he knew for sure was he'd have a group of guys willing to compete......

Catholic School league

Don't forget to take a look at the Harrisburg Catholic School link....  There's some very good players in that league.....

New Hope Middle School on a roll....

New Hope played against Reynolds MS of Lancaster and won the game 55 - 40.... 

Tonights scored from 12/20/11

Here's a look at some of the scores for tonight......

CD squeezes past Steelton in a tight one....

What a game, what a game....  That's all I can say....  Steelton played nowhere near their potential a day before but really stepped up their game tonight....

Predictions for 12/20 games.....

Here are some of the match ups for tonight that may be worth watching.......

Harrisburg comes back STRONG to beat York....

When Harrisburg has a slow start to a game, the last thing a team can do is relax....  It's one thing for a coach to tell his team, it's another for them to understand why he's saying it....

Interview with 7th grade rising star Tyrece "Little Slim" Little

I was able to take a moment and get an interview with one of the areas top 7th graders Tyrece "Little Slim" Little....  He's a kid with very little words but I was able to get a few out of him.  Here's what he had to say....

Nehemiah "Bud" Mack and Tyrece "Little Slim" Little at Hoop Group

My Prodigy Reggie Dudley named player of the week....

Great Job Reggie, keep up the great work....  Colleges are always looking for guys that can light it up from the outside.....

New Hope Academy MS team gets a big win....

New Hope Academy and Red Lion played each other down to the wire.....

Hanna takes down The Rollers 51 - 38.....

In a highly anticipated game between two local programs, we knew that it would be a great atmosphere for basketball.  The gym was packed with fans, coaches, players, college players and even a couple of news camera personnel. 

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS ONE.........

Anyone who was just thinking "Is there anything to do on a Monday night besides football?", the answer is YES SIR!!!!  

Susquehanna League showdown.....

Another nail bitter today in the Susquehanna Township Midget basketball league as Team Wilkerson took down Team Chapman 38 - 36....

A Wright to the rescue.......

It doesn't get any better than this....  Two schools that always produce great games had another classic battle....

Is this kid the top 8th grader in the country????

Check out this video of Thon Maker, #1 ranked 8th grader in the country....   If you want to be the best, you got to play against the best, and beat the best!!!!

Predictions for tonights games.....

Here's what I think the outcomes will be for tonights games in the Mid Penn.....

Bud Mack too much for Blue Mountain

In a game where no one could get into a rythm in the first half, one thing was for sure, it was going to be a physical game......

CD East downs CV boys...

Meet the new run and gun CD East Panthers.....

Welcome Home Milberry!!!!

Can the ending to this story be any better?  What once was a penciled in victory for the Mid Penn teams last year has now turned into a grudge match......

Tiara Little leads the way....

With the Emmanuel Baptist JV girls looking out sized and out maned, chances of winning the game looked pretty slim.....

Solid Middle School players of the week (updated 12/15/11)

Here are just a few of the local players who had good games this week.....  This will be updated dailey....

CD East Middle
Chris Whitaker had 4 pts, 7 assist and 8 rebs.....
Evan Chandler put up 16 pts and 4 rebs...
Justin Henry chipped in 11 pts and 7 steals....
Ny'seen Thomas - 15 points vs Swatara MS

Swatara MS
Jordan Gillis led the way with 16 pts while Nick Ramsey chipped in 14 for Swatara....

EBCA JV
Casey Caruso - scored 13 pts in Mondays game and 17 pts plus the game winning 3 pointer Tuesday to win the ball game vs Lebanon Christian....  14 pts in a big win vs Blue Mountain Christian

Ty Little - scored 9 pts and 10 rebs and 3 blocks in Mondays game.....  10 pts, 14 rebs and 5 assist in his jv game vs Blue Mountain

More to come........

Lebanon Christian beats Emmanuel at the buzzer...

In a game that went back and forth for much of the game, it came down to the final possesion of the night....

Emmanuel Baptist Varsity Boys get their first win of the season!!!!

Seems like there was a good reason that EBCA played a tough schedule in the non conference and apparently it paid off.....

Emmanuel Baptist JV Boys lose at the buzzer

Emmanuel Baptist boys JV basketball team loss a heart breaker to Bible Baptist of York.....

Harrisburg CYO League info....

There's lots of good basketball being played all over the Harrisburg area....  

Take a look at some of the standings for the Varsity CYO league as well as results at

http://harrisburgboyscyo.com/

Ty Little leads Team Chapman to a victory...

In a showdown of the top two teams in the Susquehanna Township Basketball League, the two teams showed why this game was a must see....

6th grade phenom Tiara Little playing against boys 2 years ago....

This was a video create 2 years ago showing Tiara Little playing in one of the areas top Pony leagues in Steelton.  She was in the 4th grade at the time but played well beyond her years..

Cody Williams has a monster game.....

Orange Crush Cruises Past Bronx

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Middletown, NY - The SUNY Orange Men's basketball team continued its winning ways with its third win in a row and fourth in the past five games. The victory over Bronx CC was the best of the week. Orange had it working on both ends of the floor for a convincing 96-86 win. The 86 points Orange gave up does not tell the story of how good its defense was. Bronx came into the game averaging over 95 points a game. Orange held Bronx to 31 first half points and Bronx was on fire in the second half hitting 8 very well guarded 3's. Orange defenders continuously had a hand in the Bronx players faces as they hit their shots. On the rare occasions that the Bronx did miss it was one and done for the Broncos. Orange once again relied on it's calling card, dominant rebounding. Cody Williams had 17 rebounds, Ryan McNeill-Moses had 15, and Avery West pulled down 10 rebounds and had 3 blocks.

The first half was text book Orange basketball. The team opened up with a 13-2 run to open the game. Williams and West sparked the opening run with 5 and 4 points respectively. West punctuated the opening stretch with a thunderous dunk with 15:15 left in the half. The rest of the half saw Bronx battle back and cut the deficit to three after two made free throws from an Orange technical foul made it 35-32. Orange came up big in the final two minutes of the half to finish with an 8-0 run. The run included a three by Marian Smith, a three by Avery West, and a shot at the buzzer by Smith for another two. Orange went into the locker room up 11, 42-31.

Orange opened the second half with a dunk by Ryan McNeill-Moses off a rebound and outlet by Malcolm Covington. The crowd went nuts as Ryan had many friends and family in attendance. McNeill-Moses continued to impress. In addition to his 15 rebounds he also had 10 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. The Orange lead stayed between 8 and 16 the rest of the game. Leading scorers in the game for Orange were Avery West with 26, Marian Smith with 24, and Cody Williams chipped in with 21. Smith continues to be hot from behind the arc with 9 made threes for the week.

The win moves Orange to 8-3 on the season. Orange continues Tuesday with a Mid-Hudson Conference match up with Westchester on Tuesday night. The game is in Valhalla at 7:00 pm.

Jon Breeden and West Chester pull it out.....

Jon Breeden takes the ball up court during the second half of West Chester’s home game against Clarion.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Lance McDowell scored 19 points, and Khalif Foster and Jon Breeden each contributed 15 as visiting West Chester University topped host Lock Haven, 88-76, in a PSAC men's basketball contest inside Thomas Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

Lock Haven falls to 0-7 overall and 0-6 in conference play while West Chester improves to 6-4 and 3-3 with the win.

The Bald Eagles trailed by 12 at the break (46-34) and by as many as 18 points in the second, but Lock Haven continued to press.

In the end West Chester proved too strong thanks to four players in double figures in the scoring column. McDowell led the way for West Chester with a game-high 19 points. McDowell was 8-for-14 from the field and also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

A huge key for the Golden Rams was their 30-for-36 outing at the free-throw stripe. A huge spark in WCU’s 83 percent night at the charity stripe was Breeden’s 13-for-13 outing. He finished with 15 points and a game-high six assists.
Lock Haven freshman Terrell Johnson netted a career-high 18 points to lead four Bald Eagles in double figures. Andre Rivers added a career-high 16 points for The Haven. Anthony Baker and Lucas Mosca added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Baker also had a team-best eight rebounds.

Mosca added a team-high five assists in a solid all-around effort for the Bald Eagles.

With the win, the Golden Rams bounced back from yesterday’s 92-86 loss at Edinboro.

West Chester is off until the New Year. The Golden Rams hit the court next at IUP on Friday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m.       

Saturdays top performers....

Jordan Brooks (McDevitt) scoring 19 points in a lost...  He's averaging 17.5 in two games...

DJ Polachack (McDevitt) had another 15 point game in a lost to Central York...

Brian Laird (Central Dauphin)  scored 19 points in an easy victory....

Shaquan Sheppard (Susquehanna) scored 21 points as he's averaging 21.5 ppg

Haiishen McIntyre (Harrisburg) torched Lancaster with 29 points but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory.

Mike Zangari (Red Land) poured in 22 points on Hazelton but those Cougars came out on top...

Matt Aikey (East Penn) had 20 points in a loss while Gettysburg Cody Kiefer (19 points) came out on top with the victory......

Freshman Joe Marshall (Susquehanna) scored 10 points today to break out of his shell...

Eddie Cowan (East) had 8 points, 8 rebs, 5 steals, 4 assist and the game winning steal to win the LD tip off while Tony McCraw (East) led the way with 15 points and 7 rebs....

Steady Eddie saves the day.....

Im going to be flat out honest....   "What an ugly game"!!!!  In a game where there was too many whistles in the first half to get into a flow, there was no telling who was going to get this win...East finally pulled it out at the end 45 - 41 vs Lower Dauphin but the game shouldn't have been that close....

Fridays top performers......

Here's a look at some of the top performers from the area on their first day of the season.....

Devin Thomas of Central Dauphin  set it off with 34 points and 17 rebounds....

Reggie Dudley from CD East tourched Cedar Crest with 28 points including 4 three's....

Aaron Devan (McDevitt) lit up Solanco with 26 points.....

Matt Aikey (East Penn)  had 24 points in a lost to New Oxford.....

DJ Policheck (McDevitt) scored 15 points, 7 rebs, 4 assist and 5 steals....

Harold Brantley (Hershey) lit it up for 27 points vs Cocalico......

Logan Stumpf (Cedar Cliff) poured in 19 points.....

McDevitt turns it up late on Solanco

McDevitt played as sloppy as a first half as you can see while they trailed Solanco 41 - 38. 

Cody Williams is a DOUBLE/DOUBLE Machine

Orange Shuts Down Run-n-gun Senators

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Stone Ridge, NY - The SUNY Orange basketball team came into this Mid-Hudson Conference match up determined not to trade baskets with Ulster all night long. Orange's stingy defense held the Senators to a season low 65 points. Ulster came into the game averaging in the high 90's. Orange was able to impose it's defensive resolve upon Ulster to cruise to a 93-65 victory.

Some teams sneak, some teams flop....

Every season we see a group of teams we thought were going to be horrible and they end up being pretty good.  Then there's some teams we thought would have a dynamite season and they totally choke....

Sleepers to watch this year........

As the basketball season kicks off in the next 3 days, we all know about the Devin Thomas's and the Aaron Devans, the Nol Aru's and the Sheen MacIntyres....  but there's other players around that can make a HUGE impact on a game that you may not here to much about...

Cody Williams is making a name for himself in NY

Many have forgotten but the ex-Harrisburg Cougar Forward Cody Williams is having a fantastic time at Orange County Community College in Middletown, N.Y.  Lats year, Cody made 1st team All NY for Division II JUCOS and is well on his way to making first team again. 

His school is ranked #11 nationally while Cody is posting averages of 13 ppg and 12 rebounds....

If you would like to follow more on Cody go to http://www.sunyorange.edu/athletics/sport/index.php?sports_id=5

Let's keep supporting our youth as much as we can....

Jon Breeden Leads West Chester to victory....

West Chester University played a hard fought game vs Gannon from Erie, PA and pulled out an 83 - 79 victory....

Former CD East District 3 MVP Jon Breeden had a great all around game with 17points, 6 assist, 6 rebounds while playing all but 1 minute of the game...

He also shot 9 - 10 from the charity stripe and was clutch at the end of the game going 4 - 4 to seal the victory.....

He's currently averaging 14 ppg and is shooting 93% from the free throw line, 41 - 44 so far.

Many Blessings Jon and keep up the great work!!!!

EBCA comes close but not close enough...

                          Nehemiah Mack, Jansen Morrison and Tyrece Little                                    

Emmanuel Baptist in their third game seems to be improving as a team.

Emmanuel Baptist loses a tough one in West Chester tip off...

EBCA loses a tough fought game in the West Chester Christian tip off to Concord from Delaware 75 - 50.......        

Team Brothers Making a Difference (BMD) at Hoop Group

Team BMD had the opportunity to attend the Hoop Group College Match up in Philly....  Great experience for this group of young guys....

From left to right Front....   Coach Joe Proctor, Takhi "The Beast" Turner, Jamal "C-4" Carter, Sekou "S-Dot" Johnson, Ramique " Meek" James IV, Dejour "All Day" Williams, Jahaad "The Truth" Proctor, Coach Boomer Proctor
Back Row left to right....   Jakai "Zelle" Bowman, Joe "Alexander the Great" Marshall, Malik "Majik" Gantz

Harrisburg area Top Players in Class of 2018....

Here's a look at the top players in the class of 2018...

Class of 2018
Tim Kater (East Penn MS) - Very energetic inside/outside guy. He can hurt teams in a variety of ways making him very difficult to defend.

Harrisburg Area top players class of 2017

Class of 2017
Nick Ramsey (Swatara MS) - Nick has a very good feel for the game as a big guy. He can finish with both hands and has Kevin Love type outlet passes, which is rare for a kid so young. Huge upside!

Elijah Camp (Harrisburg Marshall) - This kid has an old soul for the game. Other than Bud Mack, he's the best pg in Middle school.

Harrisburg area top players class of 2016

Here's a look at some of the top players in the 2016 class......

Class of 2016
Nehemiah "Bud" Mack (Emmanuel Baptist) - Bud is a 6'0 185 lb strong pg who imposses his will on his defender. This kid has incredible speed and just understands the game as well as any player in the area. He's one of the top 5 8th graders in the State of PA and should have a supurb year at Emmanuel Baptist as their Varsity starting PG as an 8th grader.

AJ Perez (CD MS) - AJ is a handful for any player.

Harrisburg Area top players in Class of 2015...

Here's a look at some of the top players in the class of 2015......

Class of 2015
Joe Marshall (Susquehanna HS) - As you can see, Susquehanna is loaded with talent. This kid may be a Division 1 player once he believes that he already is the best player on the court. Standing at 6'3 with a nice athletic build, he's a terror on the wing and goes 110% in the paint. Never complains about anything, he just puts on his hard hat and goes to work.

Malik Gantz (Bishop McDevitt) - Malik's time is NOW.

Harrisburg Area Class of 2014 Players to Watch...

Here's a look at some of the top players in the class of 2013 that everyone should be aware of..... 

Class of 2014
Justin MacAuthor (Susquehanna HS) - This kid is a flat out scorer. He does it in so many different ways which makes him difficult to defend. He'll be the main perimeter threat for Coach Rogers.

Dom Antenelli (Red Land HS) - Dom may be the best prospect in this class at this time.

Emmanuel Baptist kicks off the season with a great effort....

Although the basketball season just started for most of the local schools, Emmanuel Baptist Christian Academy (EBCA) is gearing up and rolling along......

Top Seniors in the Mid Penn.....

With the season getting underway, let's take a look at the top seniors from the area....

Devin Thomas (CD) - The Wake Forest signee is well on his way to having another superb season.  Standing at 6'10, he will be a handful for EVERY team in the state.  Made 1st team All State
as a junior and will be considered a player of the year candidate this year.  He could end up becoming a Pro player in the next 3 years if his progress continues.
Mike Zangari (Red Land) - Mike is a 6'9 wing player who can light it up from the outside.

Local 7th Graders at The Hoop Group Turkey Day Tourney

Local kids participate in the Thanksgiving Turkey Day Hoop Group Tournament in Pottstown, PA....   Although they were out sized, they fought hard all game....Left to right....Coach Steve Little, Ty Little Aneas Carter, Tayvon Bowers, Casey Caruso, Tim Kater, Kentrell Rucker, Sam Allen, Coach Joe Caruso, in the front is Darien Perez

Mid Penn top underclassmen class of 2013

Basketball season is right around the corner and the youth in the Mid Penn area is as strong as ever.  Here are just a few players to keep your eye on to start the season.....

Classof 2013
Jerel Patterson (Harrisburg HS) - Jameer Nelson type quickness with the ball with an incredible IQ for the game.  Understands angles on the court and can finish well in traffic.  May be the best PG in the area regardless of class.

Shaquan Sheppard (Susquehanna HS) - Known to many as "Shoop"