Before Catasauqua senior Brandon Purrone called his high school basketball career quits, he had one more game left to take part in.

During the 39th Annual Via All-Star Basketball Classic on "Super Saturday," Purrone was one of two Rough Riders that were selected to take part in the game over the weekend. The other selection, Paryss Marshall, was not in attendance.

In the final game of his high school days, Purrone tallied two points for the Colonial League team who came up a point short against the Lehigh Valley West squad, 97-96, at Northampton Area Community College.

"I think it's a great experience," Purrone said. "This entire environment and meeting new people for the first time, it just felt really comfortable. Instead of seeing these guys out on the floor as an opponent, we see them as a friend. It's cool getting to know everyone."

The Colonial League boys turned around a 56-47 deficit at halftime to retake the lead late in the contest with one of Vincent Eze's numerous dunks. The Colonial League went ahead 84-83, but that lead was short-lived.

LV West responded with the next two buckets, and despite Salisbury's Justin Aungst sinking a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds that made it a one-point game, there wasn't enough gas left in the Colonial League's tank.

"We wanted to try to come out and win," Purrone said. "We only lost by a point. It was pretty close and a hard fought game. The LVC and Colonial League, there is always going to be a rivalry there."

Emmaus's Joey Nicolini led LV West with 20 points, while Notre Dame-Green Pond's Tanner Reed also tallied 20 for the Colonial League.

While the Colonial League boys came up on the short end of the stick, the Colonial League girls opened up the quadruple slate of games with a 64-62 win over LV West.

Late in the second half, the Colonial League asserted themselves by going on a 13-2 run. Their lead grew to 61-50 in the final minutes, before LV West had a comeback of their own in store.

Allen's Tanisha Jones hit a three-pointer with roughly 1:18 to go that made it 63-62, in favor of the Colonial League. A game-tying jumper from Parkland's Olivia Brown hit off the iron, and the Colonial League was able to come out on top.

Andrea Watkins of Emmaus had a game-high 16 points for LV West. Saucon Valley's Bridgette Gilmore scored 15 for the Colonial League.

The Via All-Star Banquet was held on March 26 at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center. All of the players were recognized at the banquet, while the boys and girls Via All-Star Teams, Via Players of the Year and scholar-athlete winners were named. Former NBA player James Worthy was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.

The event kicked off with the Via All-Star Basketball Clinics on March 23. Players from all of the Via teams helped a number of kids with special needs with the game of basketball at Northampton area Community College.

"It really opened my eyes," Purrone said. "I used to take what I had for privilege, like granted saying I could play. But working with these little kids, it really showed me that nothing is for granted."

The third game on "Super Saturday" featured an 85-83 win for the Lehigh Valley East girls over the Mountain Valley girls. In the finale, the Mountain Valley boys outlasted the Lehigh Valley East boys by a 125.