A local semi-pro basketball team is enjoying an excellent season. In fact, if you go by the national rankings, they're the best team in the country.
The Wyoming Valley Clutch are ranked first in the ABA Power Rankings, and they just keep on rolling.
They beat the Norristown Knights Sunday 121-81 at the Wyoming Valley CYC. They are now a perfect 19-0 on the season, and it's mostly local talent, like Wilkes-Barre-natives and former Wilkes greats Dave Jannuzzi and Chris Shovlin, and Pocono Mountain East and East Stroudsburg product Lamont Tillery.
They're out there just playing the game they love, and showing NEPA can ball.
"We try to take the 'next game mentality,'" Clutch Head Coach and former Wilkes Head Coach Jerry Rickrode said. "So, we don't really look at the overall record, but we're 18-0, ranked number one in the country. So, there's something at stake. As you play well, the pressure builds and your expectations go up. So, most of the pressure's internal."
"Our season this year has been great so far," Tillery added. "We're undefeated. We're playing well. We're sharing the ball. That's the biggest thing about this team. We're sharing the ball and playing defense. I just think that we play our game. It doesn't matter who we play against. I think we can finish undefeated no matter what because we play the same way every time. We have the same eleven guys every day, every game. So we know each other's tendencies even though it's game 19."
The Clutch close out the regular season next Sunday, at home against Binghamton, before they tackle the ABA postseason.