The ninth-grade Pennsylvania Red Storm of Solebury traveled to Scranton the first weekend of April trying to establish themselves as the premier ninth grade basketball team statewide.
Without the services of point guards Joey Stampone and Donn Mills, the Red Storm advanced over teams from Lehigh Valley, Toronto, Canada, the Doylestown Renegades, the New Jersey Hogs from Asbury Park, the Spartans from Harrisburg and the Blast from York, Pa., to face the Northeast Pennsylvania AAU All-Stars at a capacity crowd at the University of Scranton.
Although the Storm prides itself on defense, it was the offensive explosion of both teams that had the crowd on its feet most of the game. The Storm was lead by point guard Drew Pento, who had four points and seven assists, and Jeff Neubert, who had two points and eight assists, allowing the Storm to stay in constant transition.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well in the first half the Storm 82 percent and the Northeastern Pennsylvania All-Stars 79 percent.
With the half-time score locked at 49 each, adjustments were made at half-time to do a better job boxing out for rebounds and challenging their shooters. The results were Alex Alper, who had four points and 11 rebounds, and Ryan Ayers, who had three points and nine rebounds, controlled the glass. Sean Kennedy’s 2 points from the foul line, combined with his defensive hustle, kept the Storm in the game.
With seven lead changes in the second half, Craig Moore, with 14 points, Douglas Hayes, with 17 points, Larry Sharp, with 20 points, and Joseph Gill, with 26 points, took control of the game. Building up a six-point lead with three minutes to play, the Storm’s "pass and pick away" half-court offensive positions to take time off the clock resulted in a 93 to 86 team victory, crowning the local team as Northeastern Pennsylvania champions.
Follow the Storm at www.stormbasketball.com.
