Summer high school basketball has been synonymous with a multi-day tournament at Allentown’s Cedar Beach for more than 30 years, but times change and the tournament is back Thursday with a new name and a new location.
Now known as the Cedar Beach Basketball Lehigh Valley Live Tournament, this year it will be held at the Whitehall-Coplay School District campus. Four courts, all indoors, will be used — Dick Tracy Court, which is in the main gym at Whitehall High School, the auxiliary gym which is behind the main gym; the middle school gym and the Zephyr Elementary School gym. These are the same facilities used for the Lehigh Valley Boys High School Summer Basketball League the last several years.
While 20 boys varsity teams will compete in the big-school division and six will participate in the small-school division, there will also be a JV tournament going on involving another 15 teams including two each from Allentown Central Catholic and Wilson West Lawn.
The double-elimination tournament begins with nine games on from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday night, followed by another full slate on Friday night from 6 to 8 p.m. with Saturday action going from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The final-day schedule starts at 8 a.m. Sunday with the varsity big and small-school championship games to be held at 6 and 7 p.m. The JV finals will be at the middle school gym at 7 p.m.
The “Live” portion of the tournament’s name reflects the change to holding the event during a “live period” for college recruiters.
Why the change in venues?
“We’ve got a lot of heat outside this week and the great thing is I don’t have to worry about it,” said tournament director Glen Klein. “I don’t have to worry tents, porta-johns, PA systems, renting cops, being a nonprofit organization. For 34 years I worked for the City of Allentown and went through five different administrations, five different mayors and when I retired I said that was it. We weren’t going to play at Cedar Beach anymore and we moved on. We took the show on the road. The JV league is playing in North Whitehall Township and the varsity league has been here at Whitehall. We’re completely nonreliant on Cedar Beach. It was a nice run. Thank for you everything. But they have an agenda and we weren’t involved in it. The great thing is that all I have to do is walk into the gym here and we’re ready to go after doing all of the other stuff for 35 years.”
The tournament’s major sponsors are Service Electric Cable and St. Luke’s University Health Network. In addition, the tournament is boosted by Biaggio’s restaurant, Cuzin’s Pub & Grill, Jack’s Slice and Yocco’s.
A new sponsor is My Medicare Life, which is owned by former Allen High basketball standout Derrick Brickhouse, who is a 1990 Canary graduate and played for legendary coach John Donmoyer.
“Glen had reached out to me and I want to give back to the basketball community because I played in one of the first tournaments before my senior year when we were out on the hot macadam at Cedar Beach and now these kids can play in air conditioning,” Brickhouse said. “I’m very excited to be involved and people can stop by during the tournament because what my business does is help people who are turning 65 and help them choose the right Medicare health care plan for them. There’s a generation of people who have paved the way for us, and Glen is one of them and he’s a client. I want to help my friends, but also help the community.”
Brickhouse says it’s important for events like the basketball tournament to receive community support.
“Small businesses have always been involved,” Brickhouse said. “When I played at Allen we were sponsored by Sewards Steak Shop for all those years. So I want to give back because so many people gave me the opportunity. A lot of these kids could use a little bit of direction and part of that direction is having someone like myself who played in this tournament talk to them and help them out.”
Brickhouse’s alma mater, Allen, is not in the tournament. The Canaries will have games in the Philly Live! event.
However, two-time defending tournament champion Allentown Central Catholic is back in the tournament and shooting for another strong showing.
“Our guys look forward to the tournament,” Vikings coach Dennis Csensits said. “We’ve been playing summer league for about a month now and we’re making improvements and I know the guys want to have a good showing and play their best in this tournament. Glen does a good job with it and the great thing about it is that it brings a lot of people together and there’s a good sense of community.”
In the past, Central has played in the Philly Live! event.
“This year we made the decision that we’re going to play this weekend in the Cedar Beach Bash and then next weekend we’ll go to the Philly Live! event and play some games there,” Csensits said. “In the past, we’ve tried to go back and forth and do both but it does get to be a lot.”
Central has a lot of new faces that are meshing with two proven stars in Lucas Mushrush and Jahrel Vigo, but Vigo will be in Spain in a tournament with the Puerto Rican U17 national team and will also be traveling to Turkey.
“Jahrel hasn’t played with us this summer because he was out with a high ankle sprain and now he has this opportunity with the Puerto Rican national team and we’re happy for him and know that he’s going to have a great experience,” Csensits said. “It’s a great culture experience and a great competitive experience for him and him not being here gives an opportunity for some other guys to step up and that’s what summer is about.”
One of the guys taking advantage of everything that comes his way is Mushrush, an all-area player who is primed for a big senior season.
“We come here every Tuesday and Thursday and play in these gyms in the summer league, so we’re used to it and we’re looking forward to this tournament,” Mushrush said. “What’s nice is that we get to play some teams we don’t normally see and we’re starting with Delaware Valley on Thursday night. That should be a pretty good team and we’re looking forward to it. As for us, we’re putting the pieces together. We have guys coming up who have been a part of our program and know our tradition and know what we’re all about. Now it’s a matter of finding ways to blend them into our team. You’re going to see a lot of the newer guys this weekend and they’re going to make an impact. We go into every game like it’s a championship game. It’s about being mentally tough and focusing on us, focusing on our team.”
Thursday’s schedule
6 p.m. games: Delaware Valley vs. ACHS (Dick Tracy Court); Quakertown vs. Bangor (Middle School).
7 p.m. games: Liberty vs. Phillipsburg (Dick Tracy Court); Easton vs. Hazleton (Middle School); Salisbury vs. Panther Valley (Zephyr Elementary School).
8 p.m. games: Notre Dame-Green Pond vs. Pocono Mountain East (Dick Tracy Court); Easton JV vs. Panther Valley JV (Auxiliary Gym); Nazareth vs. Southern Lehigh (Middle School); Dieruff vs. Emmaus (Zephyr Elementary School).
Past tournament champs
STELLAR CONSTRUCTION CATCH A RISING STAR SHOWCASE
1996: Chambersburg
1997: Glen Mills
1998: Parkland
1999: Dieruff
2000: Parkland
2001: Archbishop Carroll
2002: Harrisburg
2003: Trinity
2004: Harrisburg
2005: CCHS
2006: Glens Falls, N.Y.
2007: Parkland
2008: Harrisburg
2009: Parkland
2010: Allen
2011: Chester
2012: Freedom
2013: Wilson West Lawn
2014: Parkland
2015: Archbishop Carroll
2016: Pocono Mountain West
CEDAR BEACH SHOWCASE
2017: Berks Catholic
2018: Berks Catholic
2019: Wilson West Lawn (big school); Salisbury (small school)
2021: Parkland (big school); Southern Lehigh (small school)
2022: Allentown Central Catholic (big school); Holy Cross (small school)
2023: Allentown Central Catholic (big school); Palmerton (small school)