Last season started in grand fashion for the boys in Brown and White as two new studs took over this town. Sophomores Daren Queenan and Mike Poloha are superb basketball players. Both are great scorers but play different styles which complement each other.  Queenan was not heavily recruited out of nearby Norristown PA and actually played center in high school two years ago.  But the Mountain Hawks saw his incredible athleticism and brought him aboard.  Great move!  From the moment he came to Bethlehem ‘Q’ has been the chosen one.  Queenan is a great scorer and a solid rebounder though at a generous six five is not your typical forward.  Daren is undersized for a post-up style player but has the moves and desire to get the job done. This kid with the 44 inch vertical jump is best in the open court.  He is truly a human highlight film with his ability to soar above the crows and finish with an emphatic dunk over just about anybody who is willing to try and stop him.  He is not afraid to mix it up and got almost as many dunks on putbacks and in half court sets as he did in the open court. When one of his buddies, usually Mike, got him the ball on the break then the fans were in for something special.  Nobody and I mean nobody can throw one down like Q.  He does not have many weaknesses though he is nowhere near the outside threat he is going to the hoop and is not a gifted ballhandler as most of the time he receiving passes with the opportunity to score which on this team is what he is asked to do.  Queenan led the Engineers er Mountain Hawks in almost every offensive and defensive category. Named 2nd team All Patriot conference, Queenan could have played for anyone in this conference and maybe some other one’s too. On a bigger program he might not have put up such gawdy numbers and would have asked to play straight wing as a defender and closer and would not have been required to mix it up with the big boys as he was needed to do in Bethlehem.  Many nights Q was guarding fours (or even fives) as the height challenged Mountain Hawks and Coach Reed asked much of their superstar.  He did not bat an eye and almost never left the court averaging almost 35 minutes a game, one of the top levels in the entire country.   He has the game but more importantly the drive to be great.  Now if he can develop a little more range on his jumper and improve his ballhandling skills, Q should play at the next level.  He has three years to work on that but for now he will continue to rely on his overall athleticism to put up great numbers and perhaps if his sidekicks are healthy for a whole year take Lehigh to the Big Dance.  That would be something even in this league for a program who is more known for it’s rivalry then it is for anything else.   

Polaha is a combo guard who set the table for this program (and his buddy Queenan) last year with his inspired play.  Polaha had an amazing first season here that kind of got overshadowed by his buddy Q.  He is no James Bond but he is adept at running this team.  Polaha is a point guard who can also put the ball in the hoop.  He is not exactly a shoot first player but he loves driving hard to the hoop and getting the attention of the other team.  He would rather score or be fouled but his passing skills are solid and he easily led the team in assists.  He will be counted on even more next season.  He is tough as can be and really understand how to play the game.  A serious knee injury suffered in the late season victory over Army cost him the rest of the year.  Or so we all thought. This gamer came back and played in the final game against Lafayette (he was not going to miss that one) and the tourney game versus Holy Cross.  As a matter of fact he scored the last 17 points of that game including the game winner in the third overtime against the Leopards and was carried off the court.  This was not new as former Coach Fran McCaffrey (who recruited both Polaha and Queenan before taking off to coach the Saints of Siena) states ‘Polaha is the best guard I have ever coached and is the best player I have ever seen at the end of games in the clutch.’   This Central Catholic High native has hit more big shots than Carter has Liver Pills and if not for that knee injury would have earned all-league status. He was always a bit limited defensively however against cat quick guards though he would fight you if you told him that and playing on that knee, no matter how recovered he says he is, won’t help.  But then again he is already a legend in Lehigh and he has three more years to get this team to the Promised-Land and after all wouldn’t you trade in a little pain for Glory?  Junior Bill Griffin was the third guard in Reed’s rotation and is almost a carbon copy of Polaha.  He can drive and distribute and also hit open jumpers but also is not a great defender.  The Mountain Hawks could really use a shutdown athletic type bigger guard who can score especially since Q had to play the 3 or even 4 most of the time.  But Michael Jordan and David Thompson were not born in Bethlehem and these Messiahs are not coming to play for Pennsylvania any time in the near future.  Reed has brought in a slew of underclassmen vying for playing time in the back court.  It really is an open cattle call but none of these guys are going to be replacing Polaha while he can still walk.  

Polaha’s partner in the back court was the captain of this team.  Senior Norm Brandl is a 6’1 stud from Roselle New Jersey who gave up his throne as the king of the court at Stabler.  Brandl is a terrific shooter who played well with his new sidekick when they were actually on the court together.  It was an early season injury that opened the door for Polaha’s ascension, especially as a scorer.  Brandl missed a month and it showed.  This team went south soon after he went down after a good start.  When he returned he was not quite up to snuff but the Mountain Hawks and Reed know they need this guy to play well if they are going to move up the totem pole of the Patriot. Senior Bob Happ and junior Johnny ‘Hairspray’ Winters got extended minutes with Brandl out and played ok.  Winters is a combo guard who can score but is not the long-range marksmen Brandl is.  Happ was never content on the defensive end and will have a hard time staying in the rotation this year. 

Now for the rest of the team!  With two great warriors like that you must be wondering why this team wasn’t better?  Well, here we go.  The lack of size up front really hurt.  Queenan is by far the best inside offensive player and he is a svelte six five.  Senior big man Bob Fortune has had a solid career for the Mountain Hawks but he is only six five as well though a bit thicker.  Far too often fortune did not shine on Bob as he was stuck guarding the other team’s center for which he was woefully mismatched.  And when he got to Bethlehem he was six five and did not sprout up a few more inches after enrolling .  Six five guys used to work at this level but with seven footers dominating the landscape of this new league it is not in vogue anymore.  Fortune sure did give it everything he had and when he was playing the four did much better.  A nice touch inside and a rugged mentality led him to be a solid contributor.  He is quick to the basket and tough on the boards and really runs the court well but too often had to lag down in the paint banging with the big boys because he was by far the best the Mountain Hawks had on the blocks.  He worked hard and never gave up on a team that was going nowhere after the injuries knocked the train off the tracks.  Of course, nobody was going to confuse him with Tommy Heinsohn either.  The only other four year seniors up front were Edward ‘the Wrath of’ Kahn, William Binder and Richard Roepke were three old wise men who all had some solid careers in Bethlehem but were too small for this league and barely played but they did get some great educations at this phenomenal engineering school.  Transfer Bob Lowman came on last year and has a bit more size at 6’5 and played well but was mainly on the court due to injuries to other players.  Junior Greg Falkenbach got some minutes behind Fortune (and next to him at times as they played well together) but is really mainly just a board and screen guy.  But he does both of those well.  At six seven he is undersized as well but at least was a presence at the rim though he is extremely limited on the offensive end.  Fellow junior Hank Wisniewski is a bit bigger at six eight and takes up space and can score and board some but was one of those injury issues.  He will be back at full strength and gives Reed another big body down low to rotate in.  He can play and needs to get minutes and as of right now he might actually be starting at the five as Reed wants to get bigger on the post and the Wiz is the biggest player on the returning roster.  This does not bode well with the new monster manning the midway for the Navy bombers. 

Still another junior Charlie Brown rounded out the starting five. For now.  Reed has made it quite clear he wants someone bigger playing the center spot for his team.  The reputation for ‘why is everybody always picking on me’ came true as Reed really pulled the football out of the way as Brown was productive when he was in but really was way too small at 6’6.  Brown is not a great board guy but he can score on the blocks and until someone comes along who is better, he will be the starter albeit getting nowhere near the playing time of your average starters.  Fellow juniors Ray Green and Bill Milligan and sophomore Bill Cheslock will also be in the mix after being JV development players.  They have a little size and give Reed some more fouls and work on the boards but neither is a scorer in the paint. 

The Lehigh Engineers er Mountain Hawks were not just a two man show this season.  It might have seemed like it at times but this program has more than the super two playing in Bethlehem.   Sophomore Daren Queenan and Mike Polaha are definitely the main attraction in Bethlehem.  This duo will be the main men for the foreseeable future in this steel town.  If they do not get some help, this team will continue to languish at the bottom of the Patriot conference and of college basketball.  You never know though, things change quick in college basketball.  And with these two around the basis for a team that can upset the bullies of the World is there.  Now if they can just get it done?