The tradition continued Sunday at Northampton Community College as the Lehigh Valley Senior All-Star Classic was played for the 47th year after being rescued from becoming just a memory.

The game had formerly been run by Via of the Lehigh Valley as the Via All-Star Classic, but after having twice been canceled by COVID, the agency was unable to continue with the event. Traci Cyr, a former player at Easton and former coach at Notre Dame Green Pond who had been instrumental in putting together past games, pulled together a group of area basketball dignitaries to continue holding the event.

The day consisted of four games featuring high school seniors from 37 area high schools who were chosen by a media panel to take the court one last time in their high school uniforms.

“Honestly, it was fun just to be able to go out and play a game and have fun and not worry about your record,” said Pleasant Valley’s Aliyah Williams, who along with teammates Drew Morgan and Samantha Merklin, played for the North Girls All-Stars. It was great to just play with all the other girls that we have played against our entire life growing up.”

The teams were able to adapt to each other quickly, and there were surprisingly few turnovers and miscues. Both teams in the North-South game came out slightly tentative, but eventually started launching three-pointers, many from past the college three-point line.

“It was a great experience,” said the Bears’ Morgan. “It was fun to play with girls that we have played against during the season, and to all come together to play was great. Even though we never played together, we still played as a team and played very well together.”

While the girls’ games stuck primarily to fundamentals, the boys went into showcase mode almost immediately. Several players pulled off acrobatic dunks and connected on alley-oop plays that brought the crowd to their feet, while others competed to see who could hit the longest three-pointer. Lehighton’s Jack Lorenz played in the game, but also took some time to enjoy the skills that the other players put on display.

“It was awesome, a lot of cool players and great people on the court,” said Lorenz. “I really enjoyed watching some of the dunks and plays those guys made, it was great. Playing with these guys was better than playing against them, definitely.”

A team MVP was selected for each game, with Palmerton’s Brianna Moore (14 points) and Northampton’s Lucas Lesko picking up honors from the West teams, and Kelly Leszcynski of Nazareth - who nailed a three-pointer in the East-West game to pick up her 1,000th career point - and Wilson’s Nashawn Jones being chosen from the East teams. Dieruff’s Jaydalise Cartagena and Allen’s Nate Ellis were MVPs of the South teams, while Kania Day (East Stroudsburg South) and Christian Fermin (Pocono Mt. West) were named the stars from the North.

Two players selected for the games - Central Catholic’s Julia Roth and Nazareth’s Maria Falzone - suffered season-ending knee injuries and were not able to play, but were given the opportunity to score honorary baskets for their teams.

In the girls games, the South defeated the North (61-42), while the East downed the West (80-67). In the boys games, the North topped the South (116-96), while the West rolled over the East.

A total of 11 players from the Times News coverage area were selected to play in the All-Star Classic. In addition to the trio from Pleasant Valley, Lehighton’s Hailey Miller and Aaliyah Fisher were also on the North girls team, while Palmerton’s Moore and Reagen Nemeth joined Emma Niebell of Northern Lehigh on the West girls team.

In the boys games, Lehighton’s Lorenz and Donald Francois Jr. of Pleasant Valley were on the North team, while Dylan Witkowski of Northwestern was part of the West team.

At the midway point of the day, the Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame inducted five new members: Central Catholic’s Kerry Kinek, Allen’s Jalen Cannon and Jill Jeffrey, Liberty’s Darrun Hilliard, and longtime area basketball writer Tom Mugavero.

All the proceeds from the game benefit Via of the Lehigh Valley’s services for children and adults with disabilities.