News and Notes

What better time to get caught up on some local sports news and notes than a bitterly cold, trapped-indoors Friday night…
*We begin with the most high-profile coaching opening in Lebanon County right now, the Cedar Crest football job.
Vacant since Tom Waranavage stepped down just before Thanksgiving after five seasons at the helm, the Falcons’ head coaching job is slowly getting closer to being filled.
According to Cedar Crest athletic director Rob Snyder, the deadline for applications for the job was yesterday and interviews should begin sometime in the next few weeks. Snyder also indicated that he hopes to have a candidate to recommend to the Cornwall-Lebanon school board at its February meeting, and March at the very latest.
No word on any candidates yet, but I’d be surprised if interest isn’t strong. Though the Falcons have scuffled for wins for several years now, there is talent on hand in South Lebanon and a Class AAAA school like Cedar Crest could be an attractive destination for an upwardly mobile football coach.
We’ll see. More on this as the search plays out.
*Speaking of football, we should find out in the next few weeks if Lebanon High standout Mark Pyles will get a chance to represent the county in the 2014 Big 33 Football Classic.
The Pennsylvania team is expected to be revealed sometime in late January, and here’s hoping that the powers that be reward Pyles with a spot. He’s certainly deserving after turning in a brilliant senior season at both quarterback and linebacker while leading Lebanon to a District 3 Class AAAA playoff berth.
Quite frankly, if the Bucknell-bound Pyles isn’t considered one of the state’s 33 best football players, well, I don’t know what to say. Should be a no-brainer. Great player, great competitor and great kid, and the kind of person the Big 33 should want representing it on the big stage.
Just my two cents.
Moving right along…
*The Lebanon Valley women’s basketball team has engaged in some epic battles with archrivals Messiah and Widener on the way to capturing the last three Commonwealth Conference championships.
Now, it looks like LVC has another formidable challenger in Elizabethtown, which is off to a 7-0 start and is part of a three-way tie with LVC and Stevenson atop the conference standings.
Valley will find out if E-town, which has already upended Messiah and Widener, is a legitimate title contender on Wednesday night when it visits the Blue Jays at Thompson Gymnasium for a key early showdown. Should be a good one.
*Meanwhile, on the scholastic scene, the Palmyra girls’ basketball team is still rolling along after going 29-1 and grabbing the Mid-Penn Conference and District Three Class AAA titles a season ago.
This time around, Palmyra is off to a 9-0 start (that’s 38 wins in its last 39 games. Yikes.) heading into Saturday’s matchup with Susquehanna Township.
And that’s with junior point guard Katie Dembrowski yet to play a game because of a broken wrist suffered in the state field hockey playoffs, and another key ingredient, talented junior guard Kristen Smoluk, having missed some time with a shoulder injury.
Makes one wonder what the Cougars will be capable of when they get back to full strength.
Looking forward to see how Palmyra looks against an on-the-rise Cedar Crest team in an upcoming non-league tussle in mid-January. That one should be fun, given that Crest recently upended Susquehannock, the Class AAA runner-up to Palmyra last season, over the holidays.
OK, that’s all for now. See you at the games, and feel free to join me on Twitter @phuggsports for more local sports talk and other assorted opinions.