Remembering Kobe: Former NBA star left his footprints on the hardwood at Martz Hall

The entire sports world was shocked upon learning of the tragic death of former NBA star Kobe Bryant.

Reactions are many and widespread, including those that have come from Pennsylvania, where Bryant played at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia.

One game in particular has resurfaced from local basketball history in light of Bryant’s sudden death — the March 16, 1996 PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal clash between Lower Merion and Stroudsburg at Martz Hall in Pottsville.

Scott Mattea, the current Pottsville High School Assistant Athletic Director, was the official scorekeeper for the game. Mattea was aware of the hype surrounding Bryant prior to the game, and he wasn’t disappointed.

“He was dominant, and basically was a man among boys,” said Mattea. “I knew I was watching a special player that day.

“But I would be lying if I said I knew he was going to be playing a key role on a NBA team in a matter of seven months and go on to become the fourth leading scorer in NBA history.”

Something else that Mattea remembers about the game was that despite the excitement surrounding Bryant, the game wasn’t sold out.

“It was a really good crowd, but definitely not a sell out,” said Mattea. “We can seat approximately 4,100 at Martz. I remember a story that Keith Groller of the Morning Call did on the game and he said the attendance was about 3,000. That seems about right to me from what I recall.”

One of the people at Martz Hall that afternoon was Shawn Thornton. Thornton’s view of Bryant was a lot more up close and personal than most people at the game.

That’s because Thornton was the head basketball coach at Stroudsburg, and was charged with preparing a game plan to try to defend someone who was unanimously considered the best high school basketball player in America that year.

“There was no doubt in my mind that Kobe was going to make it to the NBA,” said Thornton, who had previously been witness to Bryant’s incredible talent during summer-league play.

Minutes before the game, Bryant’s father, former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, had come to the Stroudsburg bench to meet with Thornton.

“He said he had a lot of respect for our team and for what we had accomplished,” said Thornton, who coached for 27 years at Stroudsburg, winning over 300 games and six league championships. “Mr. (Joe) Bryant told me that this game would be Lower Merion’s toughest test, and if they beat us, the rest of the way to the state title would be easier — and it was.”

The Mountaineers lost to Lower Merion, 71-54, with Bryant scoring a game-high 36 points.

Thornton had decided against the typical double team and guarded Kobe — who averaged 31 points a game that season — with one defender.

“Our best player, Ken Lacey had the flu that day and tried the best he could,” said Thornton. “If he was healthy, his size (Lacey was 6-7) might have prevented Kobe from getting so many offensive rebounds with his incredible wing span and there might have been a different outcome.”

Television broadcaster Bob Capasso did the play-by-play or Blue Ridge Cable TV Channel 13.

“There was no internet or social media back then,” said Capasso, “So we hadn’t seen much video of Kobe Bryant, but when he walked on the floor at Martz and warmed up, you could just tell you were watching a very special player.”

Capasso said it didn’t take long for Bryant to make his mark on the game.

“As the game started and Kobe got the ball, he took one jab step forward and the defender from Stroudsburg took one step back, possibly anticipating that Bryant would drive to the basket,” recalled Capasso. “Instead, Kobe stepped back and hit a three-point jumper.”

Capasso spoke of Bryant’s outstanding speed with the ball, and his ability to score from anywhere on the floor. He recalled one play that left the crowd at Martz Hall standing in awe.

“It was an alley-oop pass to Kobe,” said Capasso. “He glided down the paint and scored with a one hand jam.”

Soon after Lower Merion completed its PIAA State Championship run during that 1996 season, Bryant announced he was turning down college scholarship offers from most of the premier programs in the country to enter the NBA.

Thornton, who has been a volunteer assistant men’s basketball coach at East Stroudsburg University for the past five years, has followed Bryant’s career closely since that March afternoon in Pottsville.

“From the summer playground league, through high school and throughout his NBA career, what you noticed most about Kobe was he never took a play off like other stars will do,” said Thornton. “He wasn’t motivated to impress anyone. Kobe held very high standards for himself.

“His legacy was his work ethic. He lived the game, and his game had no weakness. He could fake you and then take you. Pull up for a three or score down low — and he could make all the tough shots too.”

Thornton admired Bryant’s respect for the game as much as he did his talent.

“Kobe was no trash talker and he earned his stripes before social media could make him popular,” he said.

Of course there was much speculation about whether Bryant would succeed after he bypassed college and went straight to the NBA to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He answered those questions emphatically.

Bryant, became an 18-time All-Star, an 11-time All-Defensive Team selection, a two-time league MVP, and was named the NBA Player of the Decade from 2000-2010. But probably the most impressive credential is that he was a five-time NBA champion.

Upon hearing of Bryant’s sudden death, both Capasso and Thornton were shocked.

“The way it happened was such a tragedy,” said Capasso. “There’s no doubt that Kobe will be remembered as a top-ten player of all time and arguably one of the top five.”

Thornton tried his best to describe what he was feeling.

“I wasn’t aware you could feel this way about someone so distant from you, someone you didn’t really know, someone you met briefly during a basketball game,” he said, “But just think about how many kids pretended to be Kobe on the playground, or when they shot a crumpled piece of paper into a wastebasket. Like them, I felt like I had known him.”

Kobe Bryant’s death at age 41 provoked Thornton to think about how life can end at any time.

“Eat the cake. Enjoy every sandwich,” he said. “You just never know.”

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BASKETBALL NOTES

CONGRATS, COACH ... Panther Valley boys basketball coach Pat Crampsie recently became the program’s all-time winningest coach.

Crampsie, who is now in his 18th season with the Panthers, passed Phil “Pip” Rader’s old mark of 146.

While PV struggled early in his tenure, Crampsie’s last three seasons (including this year) have produced a 42-25 record. The Panthers have now had three straight years of double-digit wins. The last time that happened in the program was 1990-91 through 1992-93.

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LIGHTING IT UP ... Pleasant Valley’s Noah Mitchell exploded for a career-high 32 points in a win against East Stroudsburg North last Friday.

Mitchell hit 11 shots from the field and went 10-of-13 at the foul line to account for half of his team’s points in a 64-46 victory.

The last time a Bears player recorded that many points in a single game was Jan. 27, 2006 — 322 games ago — when Tom Kresge also netted 32 points.

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JOINING THE CLUB ... Tamaqua’s Lucas Gregoire became the latest area player to join the 1,000-point club when he reached the mark last Thursday in a game against Mount Carmel.

The senior is the 15th Blue Raider boys player, and second this season, to hit the milestone. Tamaqua’s 15 players is tied with Marian for second most among area boys programs. The most belongs to Weatherly.

Gregoire, who is averaging 16.7 points per game this season, is one of only three area boys players to have scored at least 10 points in every one of their team’s games. The other two are Marian’s Tyler Fritz and Palmerton’s Kody Kratzer.

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LONG TIME COMING ... The Palmerton boys defeated Salisbury on Monday to run their overall record to 14-5 and their Colonial League mark to 10-4.

The last time the Blue Bombers had more wins in a season was the 1999-2000 campaign, when they finished with 17 victories.

Ken Termini’s squad also clinched a league playoff berth with Monday’s win. That marks the first time since 2002 that Palmerton has reached its league playoffs. That year, the Bombers went 12-6 in the CL and dropped a narrow 54-52 decision to Salisbury in the postseason.

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SPEAKING OF PALMERTON ... Also in Monday’s game against Salisbury, Palmerton’s Justin Hosier had four three-pointers to reach 128 in his career.

That passed Linnaea Leister for the most in school history. Leister had 126.

Hosier, who has 34 treys this season and also topped the 1,000-point mark earlier this season, recently topped the 500-rebound mark. The senior, who has 109 boards this season, now has 522 for his career.

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JOINING THE PARTY … Two more Times News area girls basketball teams punched their tickets to postseason play during the past week. On Thursday, Palmerton earned its 11th win of the season with a victory over Pen Argyl. The very next night, Pleasant Valley clinched a postseason berth with a win over East Stroudsburg North.

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DIALING LONG DISTANCE … Both the Marian and Pleasant Valley girls’ teams had huge games from behind the arc during the past week. In a 69-57 win over Moravian Academy on Saturday, the Bears made a total of 13 three-pointers. Meanwhile, in a 59-12 win over Executive Charter School, the Fillies drained 11 three-pointers. Only two other times this season has an area girls team hit double figures from downtown. Palmerton made 13 on Dec. 7 against Panther Valley, while Northwestern made 10 in a 62-33 win over Palmerton on Dec. 11.

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ROAD WARRIORS … The Jim Thorpe, Northwestern and Pleasant Valley girls basketball teams all have just one road loss this season. The Olympians are 10-1, the Tigers 9-1, and the Bears 7-1.

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WRESTLING NOTES

ICYMI … Jim Moll became Northwestern’s all-time leader in wrestling coaching victories on Jan. 17. The Tigers rolled to a 43-31 Colonial League victory over Southern Lehigh. With the win, Moll became the all-time winningest coach in Northwestern wrestling history with 105 victories. Eli Dellicker (113), Jake Dellicker (120), Ben Griffith (132), Mason Brensinger (138), Tyler Watson (170) and Ryan Haverkamp (182) all posted falls for Northwestern.

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BACK ON THE MAT … Three Times News area teams have qualified for District Duals. Tamaqua, Jim Thorpe and Northwestern will all be part of the 12-team Class 2A field.

First round and quarterfinal round action will be held at Northern Lehigh and Bethlehem Liberty High Schools on Thursday. The 2A tournament will finish up with the semifinal round, loser’s bracket matches, and the championship match on Saturday at Bethlehem Freedom.

The top four seeds in the field will receive byes, while the remaining eight teams will play first round matches. All first round losers will be eliminated from the tournament. The quarterfinal round will then begin the double-elimination part of the tournament.

Tamaqua is the No. 6 seed and will open with a first-round match at Northern Lehigh against No. 11 seed Pine Grove at 6 tonight.

The winner of that match will face No. 3 seed Wilson at 7:30 p.m. at Northern Lehigh in the quarterfinals.

Jim Thorpe is the No. 7 seed and will face No. 10 seed Catasauqua at 6 p.m. at Liberty. The winner will meet No. 2 seed Notre Dame of Green Pond at 7:30 p.m. at Liberty in a quarterfinal round match.

Northwestern is the No. 8 seed. The Tigers will also be in action at Liberty where they will face No. 9 seed Pen Argyl at 6 p.m. The winner of that match will take on top-seeded Saucon Valley at 7:30 p.m. at Liberty in the quarterfinals.

All eight quarterfinal round qualifiers will advance to Saturday’s action at Freedom, where action will begin at 9 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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KINGS OF THE COLONIAL LEAGUE … Top seed Notre Dame Green Pond ended Saucon Valley’s seven-year run as league champions with a 41-33 victory on Monday. The Crusaders defeated Northwestern 66-14 in the semis, while the Panthers topped Wilson 37-27 in the other semifinal. Ryan Haverkamp pinned Mason Ludlow at 182 pounds, and Harrison Bernhard won by technical fall at 145 for the Tigers. Ben Griffith picked up a decision at 138.

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EPC ACTION … Nazareth defeated Bethlehem Catholic 40-19 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship match on Saturday. It marked the first EPC title for the Blue Eagles. East Stroudsburg South topped Pleasant Valley 43-36 in the 11th-place match. Josh Griffith (106), Everett Lata (113), Gentry Knapp (152), James Syracuse (160) and Alex Womack (170) all had pins for the Bears.