Ryan Nealon’s long-distance shooting prowess was on full display in front of college recruiters April 23 when the Abington Heights sophomore buried seven 3-pointers in a 30-point first half for the NEPA Elite Coyle 17U boys AAU team during an 81-62 victory over the Penn Warriors at The Hoop Group’s Pittsburgh Jam Fest.
Nealon, a guard who earned Lackawanna League Division 1 all-star honors for the Comets during the 2021-22 season, finished with 32 points in the 81-62 victory. He helped the team go 2-1 in Hoop Group Showcase League-3 bracket play at the tournament.
Will Marion, another Abington Heights sophomore guard, hit three times from long range as Comets players accounted for 10 of the Coyle team’s 13 baskets from beyond the arc in the game.
The two Abington Heights players also fit in well with seniors and a prep school post-grad when NEPA Elite put together a team for the 60th annual Albert C. Donofrio High School Classic in Conshohocken and advanced all the way to the semifinals of the prestigious, 26-team, single-elimination event.
Nealon made three long 3-pointers during the first half for nine of his 14 points during an 83-72 quarterfinal victory over Cool Hoops April 14.
Marion and Nealon each scored five points in the second half.
Emily McDonald from Abington Heights helped the NEPA Elite Macciocco 16U girls team win Varsity Girls Pool C and the Pool B-C playoff to cap a 4-0 weekend April 30-May 1 at Select Events Basketball’s The Main Event at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
McDonald went 7-for-8 from the line to finish with 11 points in a 51-45 victory over Savin Rock Ballerz in a playoff game between the two teams that had gone 3-0 to win their Varsity Girls Division pools. McDonald scored eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in a 70-55 victory over Connecticut Rebound then had nine points in the 60-22 rout of New York City Crash to complete pool play.
