New Egypt 4-8 after trio of losses

By: Kyle Moylan
   The Allentown High School boys’ basketball team finally got the big Colonial Valley Conference win it needed this past Friday night.
   Now, Coach Craig Parker would like to see his team do it again . . . and again . . . and again . . .
   Allentown, which enters this week with a 4-6 record, was scheduled to play Nottingham this past Tuesday. A home game at 5:30 p.m. against Pennington Prep is scheduled for tonight. While it’s certainly not a slam dunk, a 6-6 Allentown High basketball team stepping on to the court to play at Notre Dame Friday night at 7 p.m. is a real possibility.
   "That’s the way we’re looking at it," Parker said while mapping out his team’s week on Monday night. "We don’t like to count anything as a win before we actually get it. If everything goes as planned, it will be a huge game. A chance to go over .500 against Notre Dame."
   While this past week ended up with a win and a loss, it could also be said everything went as planned. After all, Parker thinks most team should plan on losing to Trenton.
   "That’s the best Trenton team I’ve seen in 10 years," Parker noted of the undefeated Tornadoes. "I have not seen everyone play yet in the conference. From what I’ve seen, I don’t see anyone topping the Tornadoes."
   Back on Tuesday, January 11, Trenton outscored Allentown in every quarter on the way to an 84-53 victory. Trenton was up 16-9 after the first eight minutes and 40-22 at the half.
   Scott Anacker led Allentown with 20 points, which included four 3-pointers. Rounding out the scoring, Chris Mazzella put in nine points, Eric Nutt seven, Currie Mooney four and Dennis Smith and Kyle Sullivan three points each.
   Anacker was even better three nights later. Playing at West Windsor South, Anacker made three 3-pointers and finished with 31 points.
   "He’s been pretty hot lately," Parker noted of Anacker. "He’s looked very confident with his shot and he’s on right now."
   So was Mazzella on Friday. Mazzella made two 3-pointers and finished with 27 points.
   "Chris is coming along very well," Parler said. "He and Scottie are a great one-two punch."
   Rounding out the scoring against West Windsor South, Mooney put in five points, Nutt and Sullivan four points each, and Jeff Duymich, Bill Bacovin and Navid Faryar each tossed in a bucket.
   Just like Trenton did the previous game, Allentown was the one outscoring its opponent in every quarter. It was 15-12 after the first eight minutes, 35-28 at the half, 55-44 after three quarters and 75-58 at the final whistle.
   This was the kind of game the team desperately needed. Parker just hopes it leads to even bigger and better things.
   "We hope so,’ Parker said. "It’s a big week coming up, but we’re already ahead of last year’s pace. We’re 4-6 and we were 2-8 at this point last year. We’re trying to go farther, get better."
   And the way to do that is to play as a complete team. That, of course, doesn’t mean that everyone will score equally, hold the ball for the same amount of time, etc.
   "Our guards (Anacker and Mazzella) will definitely do most of the scoring," Parker said. "We’re only going to go as far as our rebounding and team defense takes us.
   "It has to a team concept. That’s the only way it will work . . . that we’ll be successful. If Scott or Chris scores, that means that one of the forwards got the rebound and got the ball out to Eric Nutt to start the offense. We have to get that rebound. We want to limit the team to one shot so we can get back down to score."
   While limiting the opposition to one shot is a key, Parker is also aware his team is only to get so many shots as well. This week his team has a good one.
   "It’s a big week," Parker stressed. "I hope the boys want to strive for more. This is our chance."
   NOTES In addition to the games against Nottingham, Pennington and Notre Dame, Allentown will be in action against Hamilton West 7 p.m. Tuesday night at home.
   NEHS



   The New Egypt High School boys’ basketball team lost all three games it played this past week and is now 4-8 on the year.
   New Egypt opened play last week with a 51-33 loss to Florence on Tuesday, January 11. Tom Partyka scored 10 points, Josh Howard eight points, Rick Mackesy seven, Don Bunce six and Andew Weingart two points for New Egypt in the setback.
   Despite 18 points from Partyka and 17 from Howard, Westampton Tech defeated New Egypt last Thursday, 62-49. Rounding out the scoring for New Egypt, Bunce and Mackesy scored five points each, and Weingart and Nate Hlad each tossed in a basket.
   The third loss for New Egypt was against Medford Tech, 54-49, on Friday night. Partyka scored 21 points, Howard 14, Weingart seven, Hlad three and Mackesy two points.
   New Egypt was scheduled to be in action this past Tuesday night against a very talented McCorristin team. New Egypt will host Delran 6:30 p.m. tonight. New Egypt will also be home to face Riverside at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. New Egypt will be at Palmyra for a 6:30 p.m. start on Tuesday night.