The Johnstown boys established themselves as the basketball team to beat in Section 2 of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference with their 72-68 win over Bishop McCort last week.
The Trojans are 9-2 overall, 6-0 in the conference and 4-0 in the section with the Crimson Crushers just behind (6-3, 5-2, 4-1).
In Section 1, Central Cambria and Forest Hills are deadlocked at the top. The Red Devils are 9-2, 6-0, 4-0 while the Rangers are 7-2, 5-0, 4-0.
In the LHAC girls standings, Bishop Guilfoyle holds the top spot in Section 1 with records of 11-0, 7-0, 5-0 followed by Cambria Heights (9-3, 6-1, 4-1).
In Section 2, the Westmont girls hold the edge at the top with an overall record of 7-5, 5-1 and 4-0 with McCort right behind at 6-2, 3-2, 3-1.
In the WestPAC boys standings, Rockwood, Shade and Berlin are battling for the lead in the South while Conemaugh Valley, North Star and Portage are the leaders in the North.
On the girls side, North Star, Conemaugh Valley at Windber are battling at the top in the North while Berlin and Shade are the leaders in the South.
Over in the Heritage Conference, the Ligonier Valley girls are off to their best start in school history with perennial powers Northern Cambria and Penns Manor right behind.
The Comets lead on the boys side with Homer-Center and Northern Cambria just behind.
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Battle lines: Just when you think you’ve seen everything at a high school basketball game, you have a contest like last week’s Ferndale-Conemaugh Valley boys game.
I had never witnessed a game where there were more than two technical fouls assessed.
That game had 15 technical fouls handed out.
What was of most concern was how some of the adults that were near to me were acting during the game, which built up to the big brawl that brought on the technicals.
One of the parents was yelling at his kid about a certain foul that could be committed because the officials “weren’t calling it.”
First of all, the fact that a reporter with a tape recorder (and I made sure it was displayed so that there would be no surprise) is sitting right there when you shout something like that out onto the floor makes absolutely no sense to me. The poor player kept looking to the parent for guidance rather than the coach.
When the brouhaha on the floor erupted, this parent started out to the floor. I just lost it and started shouting at him to stay on the sideline and that it was attitudes like his that had helped cause the problem in the first place. There was enough chaos out there, he didn’t need to add to it.
Imagine my surprise when the parent didn’t head into the fray.
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Sorry to see him go: I’m sorry to see football coach Kevin Marabito stepping down at Johnstown.
Marabito is always a class act who actually does put the good of the kids on the front burner.
Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat
