It’s called the Catch a Rising Star Basketball Showcase, and in the case of the Whitehall girls basketball team, what they showcased was a potent offense throughout the tournament.

Whitehall played Upper Perkiomen in their first game following the traditional Ladies Night that opens the Stellar Construction tournament at Cedar Beach. That game saw the girls handily defeat Stroudsburg to kick off the annual tournament.

Against Upper Perk, they were clicking offensively the entire game. They were shooting the lights out from beyond the arc en route to the 75-14 victory.

“It was like watching Golden State,” said head coach Dwight Repsher. “It was one right after another, after another.”

While it wasn’t quite the same splashy three-fest against the Slaters, they toppled Bangor 37-26 to keep them in the winner’s bracket. That put them on a path to face Parkland’s “Gray” team. Once again they won, downing the Gray squad 44-15. That win put them in a game against Parkland “Red” with a chance to waltz through the winner’s bracket and into Sunday’s finals. However, Parkland’s Red squad spoiled those plans, sending them into the consolation bracket with a 29-18 victory.

That’s where they met Allen and a chance once again to get to the finals. However, Allen defeated them 45-36, ending their run.

They wound up finishing third in the tournament with Alix Buskirk making the all-tournament first team.

Repsher said that the Stellar tournament helped this year’s squad forge their own identity, moving out of the shadows of last year’s team that was filled with recognizable varsity veterans.

Repsher also said it was important that they get the feeling they can win and this summer has proved what they’re capable of doing. And shooting has been a key to that success.

“We’ve played pretty well; we shot the ball pretty well,” said Repsher.

Repsher said that overall they’ve had a pretty good summer. That summer included stints in the Patti Heffner Summer Basketball Classic as well as the Allentown Central Catholic Summer League. They finished the summer 12-8-1.

Playing 21 games during the summer is just about perfect, said Repsher. His roster is dotted with multi-sport athletes and he knows that some players have been going non-stop since the fall, and a break is needed before the school year starts.

“You have to figure out where that line is of what’s enough and what’s too much,” said Repsher.

With their summer season now in the books, Repsher said that he’s encouraged. In fact, he may be even more encouraged at this point in the summer than he was last year at the same time.

“We’ve accomplished everything we wanted to accomplish this summer,” he said.

Once again, they’ll feature an undersized line-up. Repsher said that they’ll have to win with balance. They’ll also rely heavily on their returning veterans who either started or played a lot of minutes off the bench. One of those players is the aforementioned Buskirk who ran the point last season.

“Alix Buskirk has really played well this summer,” said Repsher.

Repsher said that another vet, Kylee Cunningham, has been playing well defensively. Olivia George is another player who’s had a good summer. George had 19 points in the win versus Upper Perk. Additionally, Taylor Rummel has continued to be a threat from the perimeter.

While the Stellar tourney was a good sign, Repsher said that all his questions haven’t been answered, but he’s in the process of putting things toothier so they’re ready to go in the fall.