The 2026 portion of the 2025-26 Lehigh Valley-area boys basketball is here, and most of the teams are halfway through their regular-season schedules.
Of course, many of them hope to be playing through February and into March if they can be successful.
At the moment, there are three area 10-1 teams — Bethlehem Christian, Salisbury, and Nazareth — that are on the cusp of clinching District 11 spots, and Pocono Mountain West, Allen, and Executive are all right behind as one-loss teams.
But while certain teams are pushing toward titles, individual players are pouring in the points and, not surprisingly, many of the area’s best teams feature some of the area’s best scorers.
Here’s a look at the first Morning Call Fab 15, the top 15 scorers in local boys basketball through the first half of the season. The averages are based on results sent to The Morning Call. Send updates and corrections to keith.groller@mcall.com:
1: Gabe Transue, Bethlehem Christian, Sr., 29.7 ppg
Bethlehem Christian’s Gabe Transue dribbles the ball against Northern Lehigh 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)
Transue is finishing his Panthers career with a flourish. He recently went over 1,000 rebounds in his career to go along with 1,748 points. He is on a streak of five games with 34 points or more. He had 34 apiece in Slatington Rotary tournament games against Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua and has a season-high 42 against Faith Christian.
2: KJ Coles, Pocono Mountain West, Sr., 27.6 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)
The Kutztown University commit is closing on 1,600 points in his career and has three games over 30 points this season, including 42 against East Stroudsburg North and 31 Saturday against Bethlehem Catholic.
3: Myles Harris, Bethlehem Christian, Sr., 24.4 ppg
Bethlehem Christian’s Myles Harris gets a layup against Northern Lehigh 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)
Harris is another reason why the Panthers have a good opportunity to repeat as District 11 Class A champs. He scored 35 against Nazareth early in the season and had 32 against Northern Lehigh in the Slatington Rotary semifinals.
4: Tiheed Wise, Jr., Allen, Sr., 19.9 ppg
Allen’s Tiheed Wise looks to pass the ball against Dieruff 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)
Allen lost its first game of the season to Woodson High School from Fairfax, Virginia, in the finals of the Canaries’ holiday tournament, but Wise earned an all-tournament spot with 29 in the finals. He opened the season with 32 against Allen.
5: Cole Dietz, Lehighton, Sr., 22.1 ppg
Lehighton senior Cole Dietz, holding a banner with his picture, is surrounded by his teammates in a postgame ceremony after reaching 1,000 points in his career. Dietz was named MVP and scored 31 in leading the Indians to a win over Northern Lehigh in the Hamburg Tip-Off Tournament Saturday night. (Contributed photo Louann Dietz)
Dietz went over 1,000 career points with 31 against Northern Lehigh in the second game of the season. He had a season-high 35 against Palisades.
6: Justin Manning, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Jr., 21.4 ppg
Manning made an immediate statement by scoring 38 in a season-opening win over Freedom and later had 41 against Northern Lehigh.
Notre Dame Green Pond’s Justin Manning drives up the court Friday, Jan. 2, 2025, during a game against Northwestern Lehigh at Northwestern Lehigh High School. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
7: Kellen Bauer, Northern Lehigh, Jr. 19.9 ppg
April Gamiz
Northern Lehigh’s Kellen Bauer had 31 points in a game against Bethlehem Christian last week. (Morning Call file photo).
Bauer had 35 against Hamburg in the season opener and 31 against Bethlehem Christian in the Slatington Rotary semifinals. He is closing in on 1,000 points in his career. The Bulldogs have already matched last season’s win total thanks to Bauer’s improvement.
8. Pierce Gothard, Jim Thorpe, Sr., 19.1 ppg
The Olympians are more competitive in their second season in the Colonial League and Gothard is a big reason for the improvement. He had 34 against Lehighton and 29 against Panther Valley.
9: Sebastian Sacci, Pleasant Valley, Jr., 18.7 ppg
He had 18 against Lehighton and 20 against Northern Lehigh as the Bears got a pair of wins after starting 0-6.
10: Frankie Pujols, Catasauqua, Sr., 17.7 ppg
Pujols bounced back quickly from an ankle injury that caused him to miss a loss at Northwestern Lehigh. He had 23 in a win at Southern Lehigh and reached 1,000 points against Pleasant Valley in the Slatington Rotary semifinals.
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)
11: Eshaan Tung, Executive Education, Jr., 17.1 ppg
Allentown Central Catholic’s Jahrel Vigo looks to score against Executive Education’s Eshaan Tung during a boys basketball game Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, at Allentown Central Catholic. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Tung has not scored fewer than 10 points in any game for the Raptors. He had 25 points against Scranton and 23, including five 3-pointers, in a win over Northeast from Philadelphia.
12: Seth Hoderewski, Whitehall, Sr., 17.0 ppg
Whitehall’s Seth Hoderewski makes a layup against Nazareth in the boys basketball Whitehall Christmas Tournament championship game Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at Whitehall High School. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
The Zephyrs’ veteran, nicknamed Sudge, had a recent scoring spree with 25 points or more four times in five games. He had 35 in a loss at Allentown Central Catholic and is over 700 points in his career.
13: Jake Pukszyn, Liberty, Sr., 16.9 ppg
Liberty’s Jake Pukszyn takes a shot while Pocono Mountain West’s Teddy Stiehler defends 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)
The Hurricanes ended 2025 with five losses in eight games, but began 2026 with a quality win at Downingtown West on Saturday. Pukszyn had 14.
14: Lafayette Acree, Wilson Area, Jr., 16.8 ppg
Acree had 33 in a Christmas tournament win over North Schuylkill and had 20 in a 51-41 victory over Saucon Valley on Saturday when Colonial League play resumed.
15: Steven Lozada, Salisbury, Sr. 16.1 ppg
Salisbury’s Steven Lozada drives up the court as the team plays Southern Lehigh in the small school title game in the Lehigh Valley Summer Basketball League on Friday, July 25, 2025, at Whitehall High School. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Lozada hit a game-winning basket to give the Falcons a summertime title and he would like to get a championship or two in the winter. He had 23 in a 45-40 win over Southern Lehigh on Friday.
Player of the week
Gabe Transue, Bethlehem Christian
Bethlehem Christian’s Gabe Transue dribbles the ball against Northern Lehigh 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)
Transue was an easy choice as MVP after leading the Panthers to the title in the Slatington Rotary holiday tournament at Northern Lehigh. Not only did he score 34 points in both tournament games, but he also had 45 rebounds, including 25 against Catasauqua in the championship game. He also had four assists and two steals in the 69-63 win.
“He basically was the difference,” Rough Riders coach Eric Snyder said. “He’s every bit of 6-foot-4 and he stood outside and drained several 3-pointers with nothing but net and then he went inside. We had nobody his size to defend him. He just did what he had to do to dominate. He rebounded, and made tremendous moves in the paint. He did whatever it took. He is an excellent player, there’s no question about it.”
Bethlehem Christian coach Matt DeJesus has nothing but praise for Transue, who is on schedule to score more than 2,000 career points.
“Gabe has had an outstanding week and continues to set the standard for our program,” DeJesus said. “Reaching 1,000 career rebounds is a special milestone, but what stands out most is how he earned it through effort, toughness and consistency every single day. He impacts the game on both ends of the floor, whether it is scoring, rebounding, defending or leading in big moments. During our Rotary Tournament championship run, his poise and competitiveness elevated everyone around him. Gabe is the kind of player college programs value because he does the little things that win and competes the right way every possession.”