NEPA Elite entered a team in the 61st annual Albert C. Donofrio Classic at the Friendship House in Conshohocken for the second straight season and reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated Thursday night.
Separate from the AAU operation of the club out of Riverfront Sports in Scranton, NEPA Elite has done well while putting together a roster to fit the Donofrio Classic rules. Using players who have been part of its AAU teams in the club’s first three years, NEPA Elite reached the semifinals of the prestigious, 26-team event last season and fell just short of a return trip when a big lead got away in a two-point loss.
The Donofrio Classic is a boys event for players 19-and-under who are still enrolled in high school.
Gabe Tanner led NEPA Elite in scoring both games.
Tanner, an all-District 2 Player at Mid Valley before moving on to the Perkiomen School, a prep school, after his sophomore season with the Spartans, led NEPA Elite in scoring in both games.
NEPA Elite had a first-round bye before opening the tournament with Monday’s 94-68 victory over Hoop Dreams from Lancaster.
Tanner led a balanced attack with 16 points. Augie Gerhart, a University of Pennsylvania commit from the Hill School added 15 points while Abington Heights players Will Marion and Mason Fedor added 14 points each.
All four scored in double figures again during Thursday’s 110-108 loss to Raw Sports.
Tanner had 25 points.
Gerhart, who came to the team for the start of the 2022 season after playing with former Wyoming Seminary player and NEPA Elite all-star Ethan Meuser at the Hill School, added 22 points.
Tunkhannock’s Ben Chilson scored 21 while Fedor added 14 and Marion had 10.