Last Friday, the SHS Boys’ Basketball team suffered a devasting loss at the hands of our rivals East Stroudsburg South High School as South junior guard Jaen Chatman hit a buzzer-beating three to give South the 51-48 victory. This dropped Stroudsburg to 1-3 on the season. With their backs against the wall, they had to bounce back.

Before the game on Tuesday, head coach Tarik El-Bassiouni explained their plan to bounce back. Coach El-Bassiouni plainly stated, “We have no other choice…it doesn’t help anyone to dwell on what happened on Friday.” He also clarified that the team has to learn from their mistakes.

To hear the full interview with Coach El-Bassiouni, check out the Mountaineer Athletics Podcast on YouTube.

Coming out of the gates early against Easton, the Mountaineers took an early 5-0 lead 30 seconds into the game. That would be the last points they would score until the middle of the second quarter as Easton went on a 20-0 run to lead 20-5.

But that is when something clicked, the main lineup of seniors Micaiah ‘Meeks’ Brown, Denzel Keys, Kevin Polonia, Kamoni Smith Johnson, and Richard Gilmore, led the Mountaineers back into the game to make it a 21-16 game at halftime, scoring 7 unanswered points to close the deficit.

Stroudsburg continued to fight but trailed going into the final quarter. It seemed, at first, like a replay of last Friday. Clutch defense and key offensive possessions gave the Mountaineers the lead for the first time since the 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Richard Gilmore, 12, led all scorers with 19 points and Kamoni Smith Johnson, 12, hit the game-sealing free throws to give the Mountaineers their 2nd win of the season, 43-36.

The Mountaineers were down by as much as 15 points but they didn’t give up and continued to fight back and won. They play 4-2 Whitehall High School in district play tonight, 12/15, as they try to make it two in a row.