Last week was PIAA Officials Appreciation Week for winter sports, and schools took time to recognize the guys in the striped shirts.

Allen athletic director Randy Atiyeh even presented the three referees working the Allentown Central Catholic-Allen boys basketball game with a goodie bag.

The recognition for those guys and all officials across the state is well-deserved.

But what all involved with high school, middle school, and youth sports would appreciate most of all would be seeing more people, male or female, young or old, get involved with officiating.

By now, everyone knows there is a shortage. It’s why Thursday night high school football games are more frequent, and the high school basketball contests are spread throughout the week when it used to be primarily a Tuesday-Friday routine.

Veteran soccer and basketball official and assignor Jack Keiter said the problem is not going away.

“The PIAA is the first state association to do that; dedicate a week each season to recognize the officials, and that’s great,” Keiter said. “As the PIAA always says, without officials we can’t play the games so we need as many people as possible, and not just in basketball, but all sports, from swimming to lacrosse to soccer to volleyball. I would like to say we’re seeing an improvement in numbers, but the answer is not really. We’re averaging right around 350 officials and before COVID we had a little more than 400 for basketball. We gain about 15 each year, but then we lose five or six. So right now we have 350 officials, and that’s what we use in the Lehigh Valley to cover EPC and Colonial League, the Poconos, and the Schuylkill League.

“I tell people I use a magic wand to assign everything,” Keiter added. “Some days you need a magic wand. It’s one day at a time. We’re playing every night, and the leagues have done a phenomenal job of spreading games out to help us out. But there are certain nights when we need everyone available. We had a day where there were 112 games scheduled, including middle school. So, if we don’t double people up, that’s about 200-plus officials needed. But we’re doubling some people up, and some of the varsity guys are working a middle school game at 4 o’clock and then going to a varsity game at 7. Certain days are harder than others, but league officials have a great job in helping us out and moving games around. On a Saturday, we’ve asked them to move games up and back so that we can make it work.”

Keiter said the most help is needed at the younger levels, like freshman and middle school, because they are 4 o’clock starts, which is often problematic because guys are working their regular jobs.

He added that there are youth games going on in every gym in the Valley, “And they are paying better than high school games, unfortunately. So I can’t blame officials for wanting to do two or three youth games instead of high school because they can make more money. I talk to the guys, and in baseball at the youth level, they will have one guy working a game instead of two just to cover it.”

Keiter is encouraged by the fact that more young people are getting involved, including former players such as Devon Troxell and Justin Paz. Andy Donatelli’s son, Cole, is getting in the mix,

“We’ve got some good young people working, and we’re putting them in good spots,” Keiter said. “Every time I go to a game, someone will say to me, ‘Wow, you’re still doing this.’ I just saw a kid a couple of weeks ago at Allen and he told me I was his favorite referee. I said, ‘That’s awesome, but you should be officiating now, too.’ So, I try to put a bug in their ear and give them the feeling that, hey, maybe they can do this. We’ll take as many as we can get and we’ll train them and prepare them as best as we can.”

While a basketball season will always have one or two incidents, Keiter said the climate for officiating is good, but will get tougher as the playoffs approach.

“The climate is really good right now, and sometimes it depends on the level of play,” he said. “The higher the level of play, the easier it is to officiate. The tougher games are the ones where you might have two 4-8 teams playing, and the ball doesn’t go in the basket as often or it doesn’t go where it’s always supposed to go. The climate will get more intense in the next couple of weeks because teams will be fighting to get into the playoffs. As officials,we’re human and we may not get everything right, no matter how hard we try. That’s why I will listen to a coach sometimes and hear him out. But then it’s time to move on or, like the kids say, go on to the next play. If the coaches aren’t willing to move on to the next play, then that’s when we have a problem, and we have to go a different way and use some tools at our disposal.”

But the issues aren’t as plentiful as some might think.

“It’s still a great profession,” Keiter said. “More people should give it a try.”

Friday’s results

Allen 59, Freire Charter 47: The Canaries made it two wins in two nights at Sewards Gym as Xavyon Wimberly scored 19 points, making three 3-pointers along the way, and Nazeer Chapman and Cam Pearsall added 12 and 11 points respectively. Allen improved to 12-3 overall. This game was on Youth Night and sponsored by Tyrese Martin’s Tyrese 4 You Foundation.

Stroudsburg 57, Morris Hills, NJ 41: In one of the few games played on Saturday, the Mounties got 21 points from Jarel Jackson, and Tae El-Bassiouni added 14 as the Mounties improved to 8-8.

Northwestern Lehigh 59, Lehighton 44: Malachi Coleman scored 18 points and Mason Bollinger added 15 as the Tigers upped their record to 13-5, 12-2 league. Cannon Fitch chipped in 11. Blake Roberts led Lehighton (9-8, 7-7) with 15.

Notre Dame-Green Pond 75, Palisades 40: The Crusaders earned their seventh straight win and remained unbeaten in the Colonial League behind an offensive display that featured nine 3-pointers and 20-for-24 foul shooting. Justin Manning led the way with 17 points, and Drew Boyd added 13 for Notre Dame (14-2, 12-0). Jack Trickel led Palisades (1-15, 1-12) with 15.

Salisbury 68, Wilson 46: The Falcons celebrated the program’s 1,000-win history with their 15th win in 17 games this season. Steve Lozada led a balanced attack with 18 points, while Julian Makhoul added 14, Drew Petrie chipped in 13, and Garrett Leiner contributed 11. Lafayette Acree led Wilson (11-5, 9-5) with 14.

Northern Lehigh 45, Saucon Valley 40: Newly minted 1,000-point scorer Kellen Bauer scored 16 points, and his brother, freshman Michael Bauer, added 13 as the Bulldogs snagged their sixth win in 18 games. They are 5-9 in the league. Saucon fell to 6-10, 4-10 in the league, despite 14 points from freshman Thomas Cahill.

Southern Lehigh 51, Bangor 31: Three different Spartans made a pair of 3-pointers, and Southern Lehigh had eight treys overall in pulling away from the host Slaters. Joseph Plessl led the Spartans with 12 points and Jack Fistner added 11 as Southern Lehigh improved to 12-4, 9-4. Jason Marcantonis paced Bangor (8-6, 7-4).

Record-breaker

Liberty senior Jake Pukszyn, who earlier this season became a 1,000-point scorer, became the Hurricanes’ all-time assist leader with several passes leading to points on Thursday night against East Stroudsburg South. Pukszyn, who has started all four seasons in his career at Liberty, now has 326 assists. He passed the previous record holder, 2008 graduate Trevor Van Ackeren. Pukszyn was also a record-breaking wide receiver on the Liberty football team and will continue his career on the gridiron at Lehigh.

The new 2,000-point man

Pottsville Nativity’s Trey Keating scored 35 points in a 65-46 win over Marian Catholic on Friday night and became District 11’s newest 2,000-point scorer and the third player in Schuykill League history to attain the milestone. Keating needed 18 and finished with 35 for the 7-8 Hilltoppers.

The other Schuylkill League 2,000-point scorers were Dave Delenick of St. Clair (1969-73), who had  2,018 points, and Bob Felty of Tri-Valley (1990-94), who is the league’s all-time leading scorer with 2,419.

He is also believed to be the state’s all-time leader in 3-pointers with 348.

“He’s an ambassador, not only for the program but the school,” Nativity coach Brady Burke told Eli Doyle of T-102 Sports Now “I mean, he’s just a great kid on and off the court. He does everything you want and ask for. He is a tireless worker, great in the community — just an all-around great kid.”

Keating is a two-time first-team all-state selection in Class A  Last year, he led the Schuylkill League in scoring with 25.7 points per game.

He is also an outstanding golfer, baseball player, and a Distinguished Honor and National Honor Society student. He’s also the president of his class.