The Palmerton teacher strike is into its second full week.

But that hasn't stopped the school district's sports teams from practicing and playing games.Orginally, that looked like it wouldn't be the case.In early December, the members of the board of education voted unanimously to revise the district's coaching handbook. The original language that was changed had stated that no athletic contests could take place during a teacher strike and teams could only practice off site."Schools closed because of teacher strikes will continue to participate in athletic competitions during the period of the strike," said Palmerton Superintendent Scot Engler in a recent Times News story.He added, "Coaches who choose to engage in the strike and do not continue in their positions as coaches will be replaced for the duration of the strike."Palmerton boys basketball coach Ken Termini and Bombers' girls basketball coach Ralph Andrews have both elected to coach through the strike.Termini said it's business as usual, but some adjustments had to be made."We're trying our best to keep things as normal as possible during this difficult time," he said, "but we're managing as well as we can to coach our kids as hard and as best that we can."Termini said that parent understanding and support has helped."No one is choosing sides," he said. "We're all in this for the kids."Termini shared his thoughts as to why it was important that the sports programs continue."First of all, there is nothing more important than academics," he said. "But missed classroom instruction can be made up during the days added to the end of the school year. It's not the same with winter sports. You can't make up basketball games against other schools in June."Andrews also appreciates the community outreach that has helped to keep his team playing."There's no question that the strike has been a distraction to our program," he said. "But we all understand there are bigger issues at stake here."Both Termini and Andrews declined to comment about specific coaching matters with their teams so as not to compromise the current relationship between the Palmerton teacher's union and the board of education.By law, the teachers are expected to be back in the classrooms by Jan. 25.*******DOUBLE TROUBLE ... Marian's dynamic duo of Brenna Karnish and Emily Shaud have combined for 57 percent, or 320 of the Fillies' 561 total points this season.*******RAINING BUCKETS ... Weatherly's Zach Moon poured in a career-high 38 points against Schuylkill Haven on Monday. Moon had 12 field goals, three three-pointers, and was 11-of-12 from the foul line. His total is the most by a Times News area boy this season, and the most by a Wrecker since Jeff Furmanchin, who had 38 against MMI Prep on Feb. 4, 2006.*******SISTER, SISTER ... Kayley Kovac has hit double figures in all 12 games she has played for the Jim Thorpe girls basketball team this season. The rest of the team has combined to hit double figures on just seven occasions, however. Payton Kovac owns five of those double-digit outputs. Thorpe is 5-0 when Payton hits double figures this year, and 2-6 when she doesn't.*******DEJA VU? ... The Marian boys basketball team is currently riding a 10-game win streak. The Colts' lone loss was their home opener against Lehighton on Dec. 12. The last time the Colts won 10 in a row was during the 2009-10 season, when they were 23-6 overall, won the District 11 championship, and played through March into the PIAA State Playoffs. That streak was snapped by Jim Thorpe. The Colts and Olympians will coincidentally square off tonight at 7:30 p.m.*******MILESTONE ... Pleasant Valley girls head coach Nadia Gauronsky earned her 100th career coaching victory last Friday against Dieruff. Gauronsky's overall record is currently 101-82. Her father, Ted, coached the Panther Valley girls program for eight years, up though the 1993-94 season. Ted accumulated an overall record of 93-101, while earning five district playoff berths and one state playoff appearance.*******LIVE AND DIE BY THE 3 ... Times News area boys basketball teams had combined to play a total of 130 games through Tuesday, and have made a three-pointer in 125 of them. During the five "O-Fors," area teams are 0-5. Northwestern went without a three-pointer twice, while Palmerton, Tamaqua, and Weatherly each had one occurrence. Wilson pitched two of the three-point shutouts against the Tigers and Bombers. Speaking of three-pointers, Palmerton has the most threes by an area team in a game this season. The Bombers drained 10 three-pointers against Moravian Academy last week.Notes compiled by Justin Carlucci