While his older brother, Trey, took center stage as the quarterback of the district-winning football team, younger brother Talon Dogmanits is starting to become a headliner with the boys’ basketball team.

The younger Dogmanits, a sophomore, is the team’s starting point guard, and is an integral part of the team’s early success. As they began the second half of the season recently.

“Talon is the point guard and leader of the offense,” said Zephyrs’ head coach Jeff Jones about the younger Dogmanits. “We count on him to get us into transition, and then to get us into an offensive set. Besides that, he is shooting 59 percent from two, and 44 percent from three.

“Defensively, we count on him often to cover the opponent’s best player if that player is a guard. He sets the tone for our aggressiveness by his relentless effort and desire. He gets those 50-50 balls that are such a key in a game.”

Talon Dogmanits began playing the point when he first started the game at age four. It has been a smooth transition, and his older brother has played a key role.

“Since I started playing basketball, I always have played the point,” said Talon. “It’s a very important position, and it definitely took time getting used to.

“Trey has been a great influence because he helped me realize what is expected, and he also taught me many other things. I wouldn’t say there is a rivalry between us, but we are both really competitive.”

The Zephyrs head into the second half of the season by recently winning their own basketball tournament - defeating Delco Christian Academy, 66-56, in the championship game. Luke Keppel led the team with 16 points, and Gavin Roberts had a season-high points. Keppel was the tournament MVP, and Roberts was named to the all-tournament team.

Earlier in the tournament, Whitehall defeated Boyertown in overtime, 52-50. Keppel led the way with 19 points, and the Zephyrs had seven different players in the scoring column. Keppel leads the team in scoring with a 14.4 average, and Dogmanits averages six points per game.

The tournament victories added to the Zephyrs’ five-game winning streak as of a couple weeks ago, and Whitehall had won eight of their last nine games at that time.

Dogmanits sees a strong team bond as a major key for their success.

“I think the team is off to a really good start as expected, and I think a lot of it is team chemistry,” noted Dogmanits. “We have been playing together since we were in third and fourth grade. We would run the same plays back then that the varsity ran, so it has prepared us well.

“We are all pretty comfortable out there.”