The tradition continued Sunday at Northampton Community College. The Lehigh Valley Senior All-Star Classic was played for the 47th year after being rescued from becoming just a memory. The game had formerly been run by Via of the Lehigh Valley as the Via All-Star Classic, but after having twice been canceled by COVID, the agency was unable to continue with the event.

Traci Cyr, a former player at Easton and former coach at Notre Dame Green Pond, who had been instrumental in putting together past games, pulled together a group of area basketball dignitaries to continue holding the event.

The day consisted of four games featuring high school seniors from 37 area high schools who were chosen by a media panel to take the court one last time in their high school uniforms. At the midway point of the day the Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame inducted five new members: Central Catholic’s Kerry Kinek, Allen’s Jalen Cannon and Jill Jeffrey, Liberty’s Darrun Hilliard, and longtime area basketball writer Tom Mugavero. Current Hall of Fame member and former Catasauqua Rough Rider Larry Miller, considered the best basketball player to ever come out of the Lehigh Valley, was on hand to autograph copies of his recent book.

“Honestly, it was fun just to be able to go out and play a game and have fun and not worry about your record,” said Pleasant Valley’s Aliyah Williams, who along with teammates Drew Morgan and Samantha Merklin, played for the North Girls All-Stars. It was great to just play with all the other girls that we have played against our entire life growing up.”

The teams were able to adapt to each other quickly and there were surprisingly few turnovers and miscues. Both teams in the North-South game came out slightly tentative, but eventually started launching three-pointers, many from past the college three-point line.

“It was a great experience,” said Pleasant Valley’s Drew Morgan, who along with teammates Aliyah Williams and Samantha Merklin, played for the North Girls All-Stars. “It was fun to play with girls that we have played against during the season and to all come together to play was great. Even though we never played together, we still played as a team and played very well together.”

While the girls’ games stuck primarily to fundamentals, the boys went into showcase mode almost immediately. Several players pulled off acrobatic dunks and connected on alley-oop plays that brought the crowd to their feet, while others competed to see who could hit the longest three-pointer.

A team MVP was selected for each game with Palmerton’s Brianna Moore and Northampton’s Lucas Lesko picking up honors from the West teams and Kelly Leszcynski of Nazareth, who nailed a three-pointer in the East-West game to pick up her 1,000th career point, and Wilson’s Nashawn Jones being chosen from the East teams. Dieruff’s Jaydalise Cartagena and Allen’s Nate Ellis were MVPs of the South teams, while Kania Day (East Stroudsburg South) and Christian Fermin (Pocono Mt. West) were named the stars from the North.

Two players – Central Catholic’s Julia Roth and Nazareth’s Maria Falzone – suffered season-ending knee injuries and were not able to play but were given the opportunity to score honorary baskets for their teams. All the proceeds from the game benefit Via of the Lehigh Valley’s services for children and adults with disabilities.