When Bethlehem Christian’s Gabe Transue became the Lehigh Valley area’s ninth 2,000-point scorer earlier this week in a win at Executive Education, he earned praise from another member of the local 2,000-point club.
Executive coach Ray Barbosa, who scored 2,202 points in an Allen career that launched him to Division I college basketball and a professional stint in Puerto Rico, had nothing but good things to say about Transue after he scored 30 points against Barbosa’s team.
“He’s good,” Barbosa said. “I am surprised there weren’t more college coaches on him. He’s pretty good. I saw him on film, and it was like, ‘Wow.’ He’s physical, tough, and can rebound. He dominated the game. He’s a pretty good player. I think in the right system, he can be a Division I player. It doesn’t matter who he is playing against; 2,000 points is 2,000 points. He’s a player.”
Transue is from Nazareth, but has no regrets about not playing in a high-profile league.
“I definitely made a good choice coming here,” he said. “This is home.”
Teammate Deion Swift added his praise, saying, “He’s one of the best players I have ever played with. He rebounds, he hustles. He’s a great teammate. He keeps the positive energy off the court. All the attention he gets from the defense opens it up for everyone else, and we get easier shots.”
Transue and Bethlehem Christian should get their share of attention once the district and PIAA tournaments begin. Not surprisingly, Transue and his teammate, Myles Harris, remain in the top two spots of The Morning Call’s Fab 15 list of scoring leaders. Here’s the list, based on results sent to The Morning Call, as the postseason begins:
1: Gabe Transue Sr., Bethlehem Christian, 28.6 ppg
Transue is not only averaging 28-plus points per game, he’s also averaging 11.1 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.8 steals per game. He has scored 30 points or more seven times.
2: Myles Harris, Sr., Bethlehem Christian, 23.6 ppg
Bethlehem Christian’s Myles Harris shoots a free throw in a game against Coventry Christian on Friday night. Teammate Caleb Brown, 13, takes his position along the lane for the foul shot. (Keith Groller/The Morning Call)
Harris is tied with Transue with 46 3-pointers and is averaging 6.1 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game. Harris has a season-high of 39 points against Valley Forge Baptist, but also scored 35 in a loss to Nazareth. He has scored more than 1,700 points in his career.
3: KJ Coles, Sr., Pocono Mountain West, 22.05 ppg
Pocono Mountain West’s KJ Coles Jr drives up the court against Liberty during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference basketball game on Thursday, Dec.18, 2025, at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
Coles had just 11 points in a loss to Northampton on Sunday, but bounced back with a 31-point effort a day later in a win over Stroudsburg. He has over 1,700 points in his career and has averaged more than 17 points in his career. He made 70 of 75 foul shots during the EPC regular season, which is 93.3%.
4: Cole Dietz, Sr., Lehighton, 21.6 ppg
Lehighton senior Cole Dietz. (Keith Groller)
Dietz finished the regular season with a 22-point effort against Jim Thorpe. He has 63 3-pointers this season, including eight treys in a 62-25 win over Palmerton on Jan. 21.
5: Tiheed Wise, Sr., Allen, 20.8 ppg
Dieruff’s Terron Dearing-Jones defends against Allen’s Tiheed Wise Jr on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, during a boys basketball game at Allen High School. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Wise finished the regular season with 23 points in a loss at Allentown Central Catholic. He finished the EPC season as the second-leading scorer in league games at 21 ppg. His 33 3-pointers in league games was sixth-best in the EPC.
6: Justin Manning, Jr., Notre Dame-Green Pond, 19.8 ppg
Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Justin Manning looks to pass against Wilson’s Wyatt Deemer on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, during a basketball game at Notre Dame-Green Pond High School. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Some might have thought the Crusaders were in trouble when Isaiah Miles transferred to Phelps last summer. But Manning picked up his game and led Notre Dame to a perfect mark in the Colonial League regular season. The Crusaders won several games by lopsided scores and that meant early exits for Manning, who otherwise would have scored many more points.
7: Pierce Gothard, Sr. Jim Thorpe, 19.0 ppg
Gothard scored just nine points against Wilson Area in the first game of the season, but then didn’t score less than 12 in any game the rest of the way. He had a season-high 34 in a win over Lehighton on Dec. 19.
8: Kellen Bauer, Jr., Northern Lehigh, 18.6 ppg
Northern Lehigh boys basketball player Kellen Bauer is surrounded by his family after scoring his 1,000th career point Tuesday night in a loss at Catasauqua. Bauer is the 12th boys player in school history to score 1,000 points. The Bauer family photo includes, left to right, Zach Bauer, Kellen Bauer, Kellen’s mother Jackie Bauer, Cameron Bauer, Kellen’s father Mike Bauer and teammate and brother Michael Bauer (Kim Popoff/Contributed photo)
Bauer ended his junior season with more than 1,100 points. He began the season with 35 points against Hamburg and closed it with 21 against Palmerton. He was instrumental in the Bulldogs winning seven games this season after they won just six games over the two previous seasons combined.
9: Sebastian Sacci, Jr., Pleasant Valley, 17.7 ppg
Sacci had a season-high 28 points against East Stroudsburg North on Dec. 5. He ended his junior year with 585 points and will have a shot at 1,000 next season.
10: Lafayette Acree, Jr., Wilson Area, 17.1 ppg
Wilson’s Lafayette Acree looks to score against Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Tommy Murphy on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, during a basketball game at Notre Dame-Green Pond High School. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Acree scored 33 points against North Schuylkill and Palmerton. He finished the regular season with 14 points against Notre Dame-Green Pond.
11: Seth Hoderewski, Sr., Whitehall, 16.6 ppg
Whitehall’s Seth Hoderewski drives down the court during a boys basketball game Friday, Jan. 22, 2026, against Parkland at Whitehall High School in Whitehall. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Hoderewski had a season-high 35 against Allentown CCHS. He was held to two points twice, once by Pope John Paul II and once by Parkland early in the season, but finished with a streak of 17 straight double-digit efforts and was instrumental in the Zephyrs’ rebound from an 0-5 start.
12: Kristoff Barrett, Jr., Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg, 16.13 ppg
Notre Dame-Green Pond junior Kristoff Barrett has scored 242 points in 15 games for the Spartans. (Contributed photo / Aidan Acosta).
Coach Matt Gallagher said Barrett has been a consistent player for the Spartans. “Kristoff plays hard every single possession and has a dog mentality and it shows when you watch him. He’s a great shooter and has a knack for scoring and is a tremendous kid to coach as well.”
13: Frankie Pujols, Sr., Catasauqua, 16.1 ppg
Catasauqua’s Frankie Pujols and his mother Olivia celebrate his one thousandth point against Pleasant Valley during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys basketball game on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, at Northern Lehigh High School in Slatington. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
Pujols reached double figures in every game and scored 20 points or more four times, with a high of 23 against Southern Lehigh. He is over 1,200 points in his career.
14: Jake Pukszyn, Sr., Liberty, 16.09 ppg
Liberty’s Jake Pukszyn drives down the court during a boys basketball game Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, against Nazareth at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Pukszyn was held to a combined nine points in back-to-back losses to Northampton and Lower Merion, but finished the regular season by averaging 19 points in his team’s three-game win streak. He set a Liberty record by making his 100th career start and has played in 102 games in his career with a high 28 as a sophomore when he helped the Canes go 20-8 and reach the EPC semis and the D11 6A finals.
15: Alphy Deris, Sr., Dieruff, 16.05 ppg
Dieruff’s Alphy Deris looks to score against Allen during an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys basketball game on Saturday, Dec.20, 2025, at Dieruff High School in Allentown. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
Deris finished his career with a 32-point effort against Parkland. He finished 10th in the EPC’s regular season in scoring. The Huskies had nine wins this season after winning only four in 2024-25. The Huskies have not had a winning season since 2007-08.