SOUTHERN LEHIGH WARRIORS AAU

06/04/2007
The Warriors played well in the Trojan Summer Classic, June 2-3 at Parkland High School. After two very close losses to the Feeder Program and Tarheels (AAU Regional runner-up), the Warriors decisively defeated both Phillipsburg and Bethlehem Catholic - two Lehigh Valley Conference teams. Revenge made the latter victory especially sweet.

05/21/2007
The Warriors went 1-2 in a terrible AFBE Twin Valley tournament. In their first outing, the Warriors started out slowly yet again, turned the ball over 12 times, and failed to get the ball inside. Only Jimmy Grewal's lights out 3-point shooting even kept Southern Lehigh in the game.

In the second game, the Warriors easily beat a pedestrian Twin Valley II team 56-49. Getting the ball inside, the Warriors big men were able to account for 33 points, including Dan Silver's game-high 14.

The finale matched the Warriors against Twin Valley I. The Warriors played well in this one, tallying 34 rebounds and 10 assists. Mike Schmersahl had 17 points but it just wasn't enough as TVI won 56-50.

05/14/2007
The Warriors went 2-1 at the Messiah College Spring Shootout, winning their division. In the first contest, they led Wyoming Valley the entire game, winning 55-48. In the second game, the Warriors were awarded a trip to the line with 2 seconds left. During the timeout, the Warriors decided to miss the free throw and try for the put back. Time ran out, though, and the Warriors lost 44-42.

In the final, a late run put the Warriors up by 6 points and they successfully stalled for 40 seconds, to ice the game 43-37.

05/07/2007
The Warriors went 1-1 at the NAYS Allentown tournament. They defeated Salisbury easily (47-30) in the first game, Friday night. On Saturday, the Warriors got off to another of their slow starts, this time against the York Raiders, a very good team from York County. The Warriors played better as the game went on, but eventually lost 47-63.

04/23/2007
The Warriors went 2-1 this past Saturday in Bulldog Shootout #1, easily defeating both Wilson and Catty after losing a close one to the Montgomery County Hotshots, 60-63.

04/07/2007
The Warriors went 0-2 in their first tournament of the 2007 season, making too many fundamental mistakes to ultimately overcome. In their first game, they jumped out to a 10 point lead over the Franklin Force, a very talented team from Franklin County. From that point on, however, the Warriors had no intensity, perhaps thinking the game was in the bag. The end result was a 52-68 loss.

06/10/2006
In their last tournament of the season, the Southern Lehigh Warriors supported a good cause, evened a score, and in the process just missed winning another tournament. The AFBE Jess's Sunshine Fund Tournament is one the Warriors feel strongly about because it benefits children suffering from long-term catastrophic illness. Instead of trophies or medals, all proceeds go toward kids who really need the help.

This was the Warriors’ 8th and final tournament of a 2006 AAU season that yielded 18 wins and brought home a gold medal, a silver, and one bronze. This was the first year the Warriors roster included players from outside the Southern Lehigh school district, and the friendships that developed are another benefit that will last far beyond the 2006 season.

In Friday night’s first game, the Warriors faced the B. C. Storm, an all-star team from Berks County. While the Warriors duo of Will Stern and Mike Schmersahl were burning them for 34 points, the Storm no doubt wondered how they missed recruiting Zach Zima, a Warrior from Kutztown, who helped obliterate the Storm 65-45.

In their first game on Saturday, the 16 & under Warriors took on the 18 & under York Knights. The Warriors took no notice of the age and size disadvantage and easily dispatched the Knights. With Steve Kunkle, Tony Forliano, and Will Stern all scoring in double digits, the 64-58 final score was deceptive because the Knights were never really much of a threat.

The Warriors’ second opponent on Saturday was one they had looked forward to for many weeks. Way back in March, the team from Lancaster Mennonite beat the Warriors in the final of the Reading PAL tournament. It was a game that stuck in the craw of every Warriors player and coach because it so easily could have gone the other way and cost them a gold medal. The Warriors eagerly waited for the rematch that finally came Saturday.

This time, it was Joe Wagner, the Warriors point guard, who led the charge by scoring 21 points. Mike Schmersahl (13), Zach Zima (12), and Steve Kunkle (12) each added their own points to a pile that smothered the Cavaliers 70-61.

The final featured the Warriors against another 18 & under team, 4-A Exeter. Energy levels were noticeably low by the time the 7 PM game got underway, but both teams gamely fought it out to the end. The Warriors 3-2 defense was surprisingly effective, in spite of Exeter’s size advantage, with score knotted at halftime, 21-21.

But Exeter’s defense was also effective, holding everyone but Mike Schmersahl to single digits. Even so, it was an exciting game that see-sawed back and forth but ended as a 42-49 Warriors loss.

Tournament Highlights:
• Points: Will Stern – 44, Mike Schmersahl – 42, Joe Wagner - 38.
• Rebounds: Mike Schmersahl – 27, Will Stern 21, Tony Forliano - 20
• Assists: Joe Wagner – 16, Steve Kunkle – 7, Mike Schmersahl - 6

The Warriors would like to thank their families and friends for their support throughout the season, and statisticians Terry Kunkle and John Zima and scorekeeper John Schmersahl for all of their hard work.

The Warriors can be seen at Cedar Beach this summer as they compete with their various high school teams in the Allen High School summer league, on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

05/22/2006
The Southern Lehigh Warriors brought home the gold this weekend at the 2006 NAYS (North American Youth Sports) tournament. Neither the long drive nor the high cost of gasoline was enough to keep the Warriors (15-6) from racking up another undefeated weekend or adding to their growing pile of precious medals.

When the Warriors arrived for the opener Saturday morning, they found out their opponent, Shickey's 1 had chosen not to show. Was it was fear, or the better part of valor? Either way, the Warriors quickly arranged a scrimmage against Reach One BB, handling them easily, 42-26.

When Southern Lehigh returned on Sunday, they found out their next opponent was none other than Reach One BB again. This time, the atmosphere was much different, with the boys from Philadelphia pulling out all stops to win. In the end, though, the result was the same: another win for the Warriors. This time the score was 39-33.

The final matched the Warriors against Courage Red from York. Southern Lehigh led most of the game and were up by 6 points at the half. Courage quickly caught up, though, and stayed there the rest of the game. With less than a minute left, the Warriors were down by 1 point. Mike Schmersahl made a lay up with 15 seconds left to put Southern Lehigh up by 1. Then Cory Greiser was fouled and went to the line. He missed the first shot but hit the second for a 2 point lead with 2 seconds left. Courage's final, desperation shot from half court went wide left and that was the game. The Warriors won 45-43.

Leaders:

• Points: Mike Schmersahl - 28, Cory Greiser - 21
  
• Rebounds: Tony Forliano - 9, Zach Zima - 8
  
• Assists: James Binder - 4, Steve Kunkle - 3
  

05/10/2006
The Southern Lehigh Warriors defeated two perennial rivals in back-to-back games at the 2006 NAYS Allentown AAU Basketball Tournament this weekend, advancing to the semi-finals before falling 52-62 to a new rival, the York Raiders.

The Warriors played brilliantly in their Friday night opener, defeating local powerhouse, Downtown Youth Center, 51-26. "3 years ago, Coach Larry's boys mopped the floor with us", said Coach Glenn Stern. "We were all determined not to let that happen again". In spite of missing their two point guards, Drew Hall from BECA (torn ACL) and Joe Wagner (virus), the Warriors won by playing as a team, moving the ball and finding the open man. Forwards Mike Schmersahl and John Binder cashed-in, scoring 18 and 10 points respectively.

Said Coach Schmersahl, "We play everybody. If you're good enough to be a Southern Lehigh Warrior, you're good enough to play. Everybody gets significant minutes in every game. That way, everyone feels like they're part of the team. All the guys contribute and we win games because we're fresher. The other teams usually tire out before we do".

In the second game, Southern Lehigh was matched up with their favorite rival, Coach Al Blount's Feeder Program. "We always look forward to playing them", said guard James Binder, who led all scorers with 14 points. "Some of their players go to Southern Lehigh, and we see others at basketball camp, so we know them well and love to beat them. We absolutely hate it when we lose."

That didn't happen this time. When the Feeder Program shut down their big men, the Warriors turned to their backcourt, which responded with 36 points. "They double-teamed our big guys", said Steve Kunkle, a guard from Emmaus High School, "but that left us open on the perimeter". Luckily our shots were falling". The Warriors guards accounted for 36 out of 41 points and won easily, 41-33.

In the semi-final, Southern Lehigh faced the York Raiders for the second tournament in a row. "The referees cost us the gold medal at Kutztown", said Coach John Binder. "We felt like we had a good chance to even the score. The Raiders are a very quick, athletically -gifted team, with a couple of excellent shooters and a big man who is hard to stop. As good as they are, I think we played them very well. With 3 minutes left in the half, we were only down by 5."

"We were definitely able to score on them, from both inside and outside. Cory had 14 from the perimeter and Mike added 10 from inside. Our problem was rebounding, especially on offense. We've got to learn to box out".

The Warriors have this weekend off before heading to Lebanon Valley College May 20th for the NAYS Harrisburg Tournament. They would like to thank their many fans for their support and ask everyone to visit their sponsors, Ecco Domani Restaurant in Coopersburg, and Crossroads Harley-Davidson in Center Valley.

04/27/2006
On a cool, rainy weekend perfect for playing basketball, the Southern Lehigh Warriors represented the Lehigh Valley well, winning silver medals at the 2006 NAYS Reading Basketball Tournament held April 22nd – 23rd at Kutztown University.

The tournament began with a whimper when opponent, “Reach One Teach One” showed up 30 minutes late and had to forfeit. The coaches quickly arranged a 20-minute scrimmage, though, in which the Warriors proved they were the better team anyway.

The second game matched Southern Lehigh against B&R Gym from Mahanoy City. Despite a valiant effort, B&R just could not keep pace with the Warriors, who not only outscored them 57-38, but also notched 37 rebounds and 11 assists.

In the third game, the Warriors took on Bensalem, the team that knocked off Dieruff, sending them to the loser’s bracket. Bensalem featured a pair of imposing big men, one of which resembled a giant, red-haired Ron Weasley, escaped from a Harry Potter book. But magic couldn't help Bensalem when Southern Lehigh attacked their basket and fiercely denied access to their own. In the end, the Warriors won easily, 51-42.

The final matched the two best teams in the tournament: the Warriors and the York Raiders. The Raiders may have been the pregame favorite but by halftime, with the game tied at 22 a piece, the outcome was very much in doubt.

Southern Lehigh played hard in the second half, but the Raiders played hard, too, especially on defense, limiting the Warriors to just 14 second half points. The final score was unusually low, underscoring the role of defense in the game: York Raiders 41, Southern Lehigh Warriors 36.

The Warriors were without Drew Hall, one of their Point Guards, who tore is ACL last weekend and was lost for the season.

TOP SCORERS:

• Points: John Binder-32, Mike Schmersahl-26, Cory Greiser-19
• Assists: Joe Wagner-9, Steve Kunkle-3, Mike Schmersahl-3
• Rebounds: Mike Schmersahl-24, John Binder-18, Steve Kunkle-11

04/15/2006
The Southern Lehigh Warriors went 2-1 at the Lehigh Valley Holiday Hoopla tournament. They got off to a slow start, losing to the Skyland Kings (Phillipsburg, NJ) 64-58, then came back strong, beating both the Easton Knights and Hotshots.

At one point in the first half against the Easton Knights, the Warriors were down by 10 points before rallying to win 51-40. In the final against the Hotshots, the Warriors trailed by 6 or 7 points the entire game before fighting back to within 3 with 3 minutes left. The Warriors won going away, 60-53.

1. Mike Schmersahl: 46 points in 3 games.
2. Steve Kunkle: 24 rebounds with a sore foot.
3. Joe Wagner: 12 assists.
4. Corey Greiser: 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the opener.
5. John Binder: Scored 9 against the Hotshots with a sore hip.
6. Will Stern: Played tough in spite of a 102 temperature the day before.
7. James Binder: Often getting loose on the fast break.

04/10/2006
The Warriors took home a 2-2 record from the 2006 Albright College tournament, beating the Reading Rockets and Wilson Bulldogs, but falling to Pius X and the Regulators (Lancaster). Both losses were close, the margin 3 points in each game.

Zach Zima was hobbled by an ankle injury and John Binder by a hip-pointer, both sustained in the game against Pius X.

Highlights of the Albright Tournament:

• Drew Hall's 20 points against the Regulators.
• Joe Wagner's 9 assists in the tournament.
• Steve Kunkle's 9 rebounds against the Rockets.

03/19/2006
The Warriors took Bronze at the 2006 Reading PAL tournament, beating Team Arete, the Wilson West Lawn Bulldogs, and Boyers Food (Pottsville).