Stellar Basketball Tournament

Jim Hutnik wasn't exactly singing in the rain, but the Easton coach boys basketball coach was happy as the skies opened up Sunday night.

Hutnik's Red Rovers lost twice to Harrisburg, including a 50-45 defeat in the bracket finals of the Stellar Construction "Catch A Rising Star" Showcase at Cedar Beach.

But Hutnik was encouraged by what he saw throughout the weekend as his team, thought to be in rebuilding mode, showed it may contend for another Lehigh Valley Conference next winter.

As rain forced Harrisburg and Glen Mills to head to Parkland High School to complete the 64-team varsity boys extravaganza, Easton, Parkland and a handful of other area squads could feel good about their efforts throughout the weekend.

"There's still a lot of question marks about our team because we lost six of our top seven players [all-area player Zach Hankerson is the lone key returnee]," Hutnik said. "Our kids played hard against some great competition, and that's what this tournament is all about. It's about getting you ready for the upcoming year."

In the final, Harrisburg earned its third Stellar title since 2002 with a 44-37 victory. Division I recruit Aaric Murray, who was named tourney MVP, was held to nine points for Glen Mills.

Easton, which beat Allen decisively twice, will return to Cedar Beach in two weeks for the new SportsFest tournament, where Hutnik will try to get more seasoning for his mostly inexperienced group

league -- by choice," Hutnik said. "So, we play in a lot of these tournaments and scrimmage a lot. So that means these events are important to give us a gauge of what we need to work on."

Hutnik knows what happens in the summer doesn't necessarily translate to the winter. "Not to degrade anybody, but I told my guys that Parkland won this tournament last year and didn't make the league playoffs," he said. "It's important to do well here, but it's really more about getting the experience, and I was happy to get as many games in as possible."

Big crowds throughout the sweltering day enjoyed lots of basketball before the rain came.

The surprises started early. Bangor stunned Chester in an elimination game at 8 in the morning.

"That was huge for our program," said second-year Slaters coach Bron Holland, whose team was later eliminated by Reading Central Catholic. "We're making a lot of progress with our kids this summer, and I definitely feel we can be a contender in the Colonial League next year."

Emmaus, Whitehall, Freedom, Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic were all eliminated in the morning, but surprising Quakertown and Nazareth joined Easton and Parkland as local teams to make it to the final four in each of the two 32-team brackets without a loss.

The Trojans looked capable of repeating as champs, beating Quakertown, 57-40, and Glen Mills, 60-55, as 2007 MVP Jaleel Clark scored 21 points.

But after a five-hour break, Parkland couldn't sustain the momentum in the rematch with Glen Mills in the bracket finals.

The Bulls came out firing on all cylinders, building a 42-24 lead that turned into a 68-33 final. The tourney is double-elimination until the bracket finals. Parkland and Glen Mills posted one win over each other, but the Bulls won at the right time.

Murray put on a show, with 25 points that included four backboard-swaying dunks. Darnell Plummer scored 18 and Terrance Daniels tallied 13 for Glen Mills, which last won a Stellar title in 1997.

keith.groller@mcall.com

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