The Whitehall Zephyrs like to be home for the holidays, so they played host to Nazareth, North Hunterdon, and Downingtown West for the 2021 Zephyr Holiday Classic Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30.

“We get a practice in during the day and then get a game at night. We try and find different teams from outside our area, so that’s good. Anytime you have the opportunity to do it at home, it’s good,” said Whitehall boys basketball coach Jeff Jones. “It’s a fundraiser for our program too.”

Nazareth was the tournament champion after defeating North Hunterdon, 73-48, and Downingtown West, 74-60.

“Downingtown West actually did us a favor because Faith Christian from Sellersville was supposed to be here, and about a week before, told us they’re not coming,” Coach Jones said. “They went in another tournament, so we thank Downingtown West for filling in, and they’re obviously a really good team.”

The Zephyrs fell to Downingtown West, 65-45, in their first game before defeating North Hunterdon, 48-32.

“Downingtown West was a little bit bigger and they played way harder. North Hunterdon still played hard but we got ahead of them and won,” said Whitehall senior Tommy Buskirk. “It’s definitely doing us good because we’re playing teams that aren’t in our division and getting more experience, and that’s what we need because we’re a team of young players.”

Whitehall scored 20 points in the fourth quarter alone, with contributions from Buskirk, Bryce Bashore, Michael Gallo, Alex Derkits, and Ian Werner.

“We didn’t have our starting center (AJ Hines) here the last two days. We recognized in certain situations we miss him, and we need him, but in the same respect, Michael Gallo stepped in and had two really good games, and he honestly had not seen any significant time before this tournament, so that was great for him,” said Jones. “Damonte Foreman, who started in AJ’s place, also did very well. Between those two guys, we were able to fill the hole, so to speak, and I thought they both did a good job and have probably earned some time, moving forward.”

The Zephyrs will return to conference play this week when they travel to William Allen on Friday and Liberty on Saturday.

“We’ve played a really tough schedule so far, and it’s not going to get any easier. That’s just the way the East Penn Conference is, so every night’s a battle,” Jones said.