For head coach Josh Madas, the weekend at the Cedar Beach Basketball Showcase for the Whitehall girls was extremely encouraging.

The Bash at the Beach, as it’s become known, featured two Whitehall entires, a B squad that was comprised of junior varsity players, and an A squad that featured their varsity contingent.

Madas said that the B squad drew Parkland’s varsity in their opener last Thursday, and then lost to Lehighton in a close game in their next match on Saturday. They were eliminated from the tourney by the Indians, leaving the A squad as their sole representative heading into the remainder of the weekend.

And that’s where it got encouraging for Madas.

The A team began by facing Dunmore High School, a powerhouse who were 30-1 last season. They dropped that game, but rebounded with a 35-20 win over Antietam High School as Olivia Hines dropped in 16 points to pace the Zephs. That was followed by a 45-30 victory against Parkland’s A team as Grace Clary was en fuego, knocking down 19 points to lead the now 2-1 Zephs who were gaining steam heading into Sunday’s action.

They defeated Catasauqua on Sunday, setting up a showdown with Jim Thorpe High School who could be listed in that powerhouse category as well, finishing this past season at 26-2. The Olympians dealt the Zephyrs their second loss, eliminating them from the tourney. The Olympians would eventually defeat Dunmore, 44-38 for the title.

The Zephyrs wound up 3-2 for the weekend, with both their losses coming against the two finalists who went a combined 56-3 last season.

“That’s kind of the encouraging way to look at it,” said Madas who’s overseeing his second offseason as the Zephyrs head coach.

The tourney at Allentown’s multi-court complex off Hamilton Boulevard draws a host of talented scholastic teams from across the area. The Zephs, who have been competing in Parkland’s Summer League, once again laced up their sneakers to compete in the event that’s organized by Glen Klein, the father of former Whitehall graduate, Karly Klein, who was a hoops player during her athletic career. The pair are now in their third season running the tourney, and have added a small school tournament which allows the smaller schools to compete on a more level playing field.

Along with Hines and Clary, who was named to the all-tournament team, the Zephyrs varsity squad featured Ella Laky, Cassie Due, Kristin Laky, Katie Kelly, Jaraye Jackson, Joey Shaul, and Amaya Alvarez.

Madas said that this offseason had been vastly different since he has a year under his belt with the program. That familiarity helped them gain some traction in the tourney, and it’s also helped them have a good offseason where they’ve also competed in the Patti Heffner Summer Classic in addition to the Parkland Summer League.

He said that this summer they focused on the defensive aspect of the game.

“We really made an emphasis on how our defense was going to play,” said Madas.

That was supplemented by playing with tempo and getting out in transition.

Before each game, he said that he’s been stressing three points. It’s been kind of their mantra this summer, telling his squad: “We’re going to defend. We’re going to rebound. And we’re going to transition.”

The players took that to heart.

“We did these things really well and that’s what kept us competitive,” said Madas.

The summer season winds down for the Zephyrs this week when they host their Whitehall Girls Basketball camp which runs June 25-27 at the high school’s main gym. He said that once that concludes, that will be the end of their tournament schedule for the offseason. After that, they’ll reconvene for practice leading up to their winter season.