15 years ago, Kobe Bryant was a senior in high school looking to lead Lower Merion to an PIAA AAAA state championship.

On March 23, 1996 in Hershey, Pa., Cathedral Prep almost ruined it for Bryant and the Aces.

The Ramblers were up early, up late, but lost, 48-43, to Lower Merion in a truly entertaining game.

With Prep located in Erie, I wanted to take a trip back to memory lane. So we talked with key players from that Prep team in Keith Nies, Brian Szewczykowski and Julian  Blanks and its then-assistant, Jim Marnella.

I also went to Cleveland and interviewed Bryant about it before the Los Angeles Lakers played the Cavaliers last month. Erie is about two hours from Cleveland.

With that, we put together a video to recapture the game. Our video guy, Matt  Mead, is still trying to get it to fit perfectly, but you’ll get a chance to see how Bryant’s last high school game went before he bolted to the NBA.

On the eve of two-time NBA MVP LeBron James being able to declare himself a free agent July 1, I asked basketball fans in Erie one simple question Tuesday.

Should James stay in Cleveland with the Cavaliers or go elsewhere?

Here’s what they said.

In an earlier post, I talked about how the D-League had a player with the Los Angeles D-Fenders – Ryan Forehan-Kelly  – being born Jan. 1, 1900. He was actually born Jan. 14, 1980.

Had a little fun with it, but all jokes aside, Forehan-Kelly did this thing against the Erie BayHawks today in the final day of the D-League Showcase in Boise, Idaho.

Forehan-Kelly scored a game-high 28 points as he went a ridiculous 11-of-12 from the field. The only shot he missed was a 3-pointer and that was half way in the rim before rattling out. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss to Erie.

What’s even crazier is Dan Lynch, who graduated from Cathedral Prep in 1967, coached Forehan-Kelly’s AAU team back in the day. He left a comment on the post. Here it is:

Ryan was born in Long Beach California in 1980. He was raised in Irvine, California and attended Santa Margarita Cath. High School. The Ast Principal was an Erie gal named Mary Ann Dougherty.
I coached Ryan AAU, Club, Irvine Youth and Boys Club Leagues.