The first three days and nights at the annual A-Town Throwdown Tournament at Cedar Beach Park are all about great nights for the community and great opportunities for teams to see how they stack up against strong competition heading into the school year.
Sunday is all about playoff basketball.
The boys tournament narrowed down to 16 teams and the elite eight in the girls bracket were decided following Saturday’s action, which set up an elite display of high school basketball from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a beautiful day in Allentown.
The day was won by a pair of out of area teams as Malvern Prep repeated for its third A-Town championship in four years while Bensalem brought home a championship to District 1 with a 24-18 win over Emmaus in the girls championship.
At least locally, Sunday’s action was all about the Green Hornets who advanced farther than any District 11 team in both the boys and girls tournaments.
“I told the boys on Thursday that beating Reading was an amazing moment, and I talked about how that can’t be the best moment,” Emmaus boys basketball coach Eric Luckenbill said. “We’re really excited about the group that we have and the future that we can have. It was a great high, but we also wanted to continue to grind.”
His team did just that with wins over Bartram and Pocono Mountain West in pool play before playoff wins over Samuel Fels and William Allen on Sunday to become the lone local team playing in the final four.
Kylie O’Neil works to evade Emmaus during their game against Bensalem during the A-Town Throwdown basketball tournament finals Sunday, July 26, 2026, in Cedar Beach in Allentown. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
“We knew that if we could get through our very tough pool that we could make a run, and that’s exactly what we did today. I’m just so proud of the boys for being able to fight and continue to grind like they did,” Luckenbill said. “Every team takes on their own personality and every team, as a coach, you have to conform to what the team’s strengths are. The beauty of this team is that we have guys from every position and even off the bench that can win and score and play and defend and play hard. Our depth has really become our joy.
“And the boys buying into the fact that it’s not who scores, but it’s that we score. It’s that we get the rebound. It’s that we run sets together. It’s just been getting better and better all summer, and I think it’s really going to help propel us in the winter.”
A rising junior class is the main cause for excitement for Luckenbill, but on the girls side, this weekend’s tournament was an opportunity for an exciting class of rising freshmen to shine before heading to high school next month. Aliyah Rosario was one of those freshmen stars, earning Team Awesome honors to go with a 3-point contest championship on Saturday night.
Sophia Shutkufski passes the ball to Gracie Ervin during Emmaus’ game against Bensalem during the A-Town Throwdown basketball tournament finals Sunday, July 26, 2026, in Cedar Beach in Allentown. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
“Honestly, I’m just so proud of myself. All the times I woke up at 4 a.m. to go practice before school, it’s all paying off. Also, this is my favorite time of the year. So, that’s what makes me even more happy that I get to celebrate something I always look forward to every single year.”
The reigning District 11 6A runner-up lost plenty of talent, but if another championship appearance on Sunday is any indication, the Green Hornets could be right back in the mix in February and March.
Third-year coach Avon Mack didn’t even need to be on the sideline for his team to make a run to the final by showcasing immense grit in a comeback win against Catasauqua in the semifinal. The Rough Riders scored the first 10 points of the game and were clinging to a 3-point lead in the final seconds before rising freshman Taylor DeFanti drained a deep triple to send the game to overtime. Her free throw in the second extra period gave her a game-high 14 points and proved to be enough to deliver a 37-34 double-overtime victory.
Kyle Parrish shoots the ball during Lower Merion’s game against Malvern Prep during the A-Town Throwdown basketball tournament finals Sunday, July 26, 2026, in Cedar Beach in Allentown. (Jon Chiu/The Morning Call)
A tight loss to Bensalem in the final won’t take away from the strides DeFanti, Rosario and the rest of a highly anticipated freshman class made against the first varsity competition of their careers.
“I’m definitely ready to get challenged. Avon Mack is a really good coach, and I’m very excited to get coached by him. And Emmaus is a very competitive school, so I’m just ready for whatever comes for me,” Rosario said. “I think this brought me a lot of confidence. I needed it.”
Saucon Valley, Northampton ready to turn heads in girls basketball
Although neither team ended up winning the entire tournament, Saucon Valley and Northampton walked away from the A-Town Throwdown as two of the biggest winners in local girls basketball.
The Panthers continued to show that last year’s runs to the Colonial League and District 11 tournaments were no fluke by winning their first four games and earning a spot in the final four at Cedar Beach. A loss to the eventual champions, Bensalem, wasn’t enough to dampen a productive weekend under John Tone, a finalist for last season’s all-area coach of the year.
“We’re not leaving here disappointed,” Tone said. “Everything’s moving in the right direction, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
What made the weekend even more impressive was that they lacked several key contributors from last year and played with five eighth graders on their way to the semifinal on Sunday. That just adds to Tone’s excitement following a 12-12 season where he regularly rolled out six players per game.
“Now we’re going to possibly have an eight or nine player rotation, which means kids get a break,” he said. “Foul trouble won’t be as debilitating, so again, there’s a lot to be excited about with this upcoming year. This was impressive to get to the semifinal, and I just couldn’t be happier.”
The Konkrete Kids were another happy qualifier for Sunday’s playoff bracket as they adjust to life under first-year coach Jameel Seymour who returns to his alma mater after serving as an assistant coach under Ed Ohlson at Parkland prior to his resignation.
“Honestly, it’s been phenomenal. I graduated from Northampton, so to be able to go back home, it’s almost like a lot of things never changed,” Seymour said. “Some of the teachers are still there. The coaching staff, we brought a couple people over from Parkland…they’ve welcomed me with open arms.”
With a pair of wins and plenty of experience to draw upon heading into the winter, Northampton is a prime contender to improve upon its win total from last year after a disappointing 6-16 campaign.
“That we’re ready,” Seymour said about his takeaways from the weekend. “They’re ready to take that next step. I know we’re young, we’re just getting together, but you count the losses up in total, in terms of point differential, we only by a total of six. We beat a really good Dieruff team and we took it to overtime. That showed that we’re ready to handle some of that adversity, ready to handle some of that pressure and ready to handle some of that physicality. We just need to nurture that over the fall and come wintertime, we’ll be ready.
“I think we’ve got a really good team. I think we’re going to turn some heads this year.”
Sunday scaries
Everything was going right the first few days for the likes of Parkland, Allen and Northampton, who will all look to contend for a league and/or district championship this winter. All three went through the first three days unscathed, but a loaded field from teams all over the state caught up to the local powers on Sunday.
Northampton battled, but ultimately fell short, in a Sweet 16 showdown with Cedar Crest. Parkland and Allen survived their opening round matchups but bowed out in a pair of heated quarterfinals against Lower Merion and Emmaus, respectively.
Team Awesome
Boys Selections
Kyle Parrish, Lower Merion
Collin Romaczek, Malvern Prep
Xander Grasty, Abington
Noeah Newsome, Emmaus
Marvin Reed, Lower Merion
Chase Boylan, Malvern Prep (Beast of the Tournament)
Israel Ingram, Lower Merion (Brit Life Coach Most Complete Player)
Nick Harken, Malvern Prep (Most Awesome MVP)
Girls Selections
Kylie Der, Bensalem
Aliyah Rosario, Emmaus
Kaleaya Alexander, Bensalem (Beast of the Tournament)
Gracie Ervin, Emmaus (Brit Life Coach Most Complete Player)
Talyn Savage, Bensalem (Most Awesome MVP)
Sunday’s results
Boys Varsity
Sweet 16
Parkland 48, Exeter 37 … Nassry 19
Lower Merion 44, Stroudsburg 43 … Parrish 21
Abington 55, Reading 47 … Grasty 32
Cedar Crest 51, Northampton 37 … Tirado 11
Emmaus 43, Samuel Fels 32 … Hafner 10
Allen 43, Dobbins 27 … Walker 13
Muhlenberg 41, Chambersburg 35 … Duheney 14
Malvern Prep 50, Wilson WL 24 … Harken 17
Quarterfinals
Lower Merion 41, Parkland 34 … Parrish 19
Abington 68, Cedar Crest 45 … Grasty and Sikora 19
Emmaus 29, Allen 24 … Rooney 9
Malvern Prep 42, Muhlenberg 35 … Harken 13
Semifinals
Lower Merion 57, Abington 49 … Parrish 33
Malvern Prep 49, Emmaus 30 … Boglan 11
Championship
Malvern Prep 51, Lower Merion 42 … Harken 25
Girls Varsity
Quarterfinals
Bensalem 35, Northampton 18 …Der 9
Saucon Valley 33, Reading 25 … Velez 13
Catasauqua 31, Tamaqua 28 … Green 12
Emmaus 19, NW Lehigh 14 … Ervin 10
Semifinals
Bensalem 29, Saucon Valley 14 … Der 10
Emmaus 37, Catasauqua 34 (2 OT) … DeFanti 14
Championship
Bensalem 24, Emmaus 18
JV
Boys Championship: Malvern Prep 44, Executive 38
Girls Championship: Whitehall 26, Dieruff 19
Derek Bast is a freelance reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.