When the A-Town Throwdown boys basketball tournament begins Thursday night at Allentown’s Cedar Beach, teams will be coming from all over Pennsylvania as well as Delaware, New York and New Jersey.
But if they gave an award for the team traveling the furthest to play in the Lehigh Valley it would go to the Geneva School, which is coming to Allentown from Casselberry, Florida, near Orlando.
And if they gave an award to the coach who is most enthusiastic about being in the A-Town Throwdown, it would go Geneva’s director of basketball operations, Tony Medina.
Medina is the former Whitehall High and DeSales University product who can’t wait to see family and friends who have supported him through the years and especially in his recent battle with cancer.
The health obstacle came out of nowhere for Medina, who has carved his niche as a quality basketball coach in the Sunshine State.
“Back in April of last year, I went to my doctor for a checkup, and they found a lump in the back of my neck that turned out to be a cancerous tumor,” Medina said. “From there, they began a treatment plan. I went through chemotherapy and radiation for six straight weeks. I was in treatment all of May and June. The radiation pretty much killed, but I still had to wait for scans to make sure everything was good.”
The cancer treatments prevented Medina from coaching in the summer. His assistant, Kyle Hughes, who is a Northwestern Lehigh product, took over.
“Kyle teaches at the school and he took over for me last year during the summer,” Medina said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I lost a lot of weight, and I was weak from the chemo and radiation. But when we got back to school in August, my goal was to return to coaching and I ended coming back coaching last season which was unexpected, but great. It was great to be back with the students and our Geneva School community.”
Medina said he felt the love and support of an entire school community while he went through his health issues.
“The parents, the students, there was nothing like it,” he said. “To have that behind me during my trauma, so to speak, poured a lot of strength into me.”
Medina had previously coached at Faith Christian Academy in the Orlando area and he brought that team to the Throwdown. He has now been at Geneva for five years as the dean of students as well as the director of basketball operations.
“You never want to hear the word cancer, and when you hear it, it’s lifechanging,” Medina said. “But when you hear it, you rely on God and my faith is strong. Your relationship with God becomes stronger and you realize that nothing else really matters. But you also want to make the best of each day when you go through something like this. You realize what matters the most and you have no other choice than to prioritize what’s most important. It comes down to your family and the family we have at Geneva.”
Medina said the families at Geneva made sure to provide meals for six weeks and helped his family out by taking care of some medical bills.
“There’s not more solid ground to be at than at the Geneva School,” he said.
That’s one of the reasons why he can’t wait to bring the team back to where it all started for him.
“I love coming back home and I’m excited to bring this group,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are one or two players who won’t make the trip because of prior commitments. But it’s still going to be great coming back to the Valley where I had some awesome coaches from coach [John] Shelak who coached me as a kid to coach [Ron] Hassler in high school and coach [Scott] Coval in college. It’ll be neat to show my kids what a great area I am from and also a different type of basketball. It’s about more than basketball. It’s about being with the guys I love coaching and also to be around familiar faces and family.”
Medina’s parents, Ralph and Maryann, are in their 80s. He also has a sister Athena and a brother, Bill, who live in the area.
His family, friends and faith were instrumental in Medina’s recovery process. So was his sports background.
“Mentally, it was draining because of the uncertainty part of it,” he said. “But the physical part, I had that fighting through kind of mindset. That comes from sports and people building you up. I remember Coach Coval reaching to me and saying that if anybody was going to get through this, he said it was going to be me. So, the positive words of affirmation from the people you trusted and helped you get through playing high school and college basketball, was so positive. It’s the discipline and determination that was instilled in me when I was younger that helped me get me through. You don’t realize how important of a role that stuff plays.”
Medina’s son, Mateo, is a rising senior who will be playing for him at the Throwdown.
“Mateo is looking to get his name out in this tournament and we know there are usually a lot of D3 schools there,” Medina said. “Hopefully, he’ll get an opportunity to play at the next level. But if he doesn’t, the best part is that he’s such a great kid. He has a really good heart, he’s passionate about life and he loves people. That’s the best you can ask for as a dad.”
Medina says local fans can also look forward to seeing Duke Carpenter, who is a Stanford football commit and his brother, Braddock, play for his team.
“They’re great athletes and great kids,” he said.
Medina was a champion in his playing days at Whitehall from 1989-91. The Zephyrs won three straight District 11 titles. He also had success at DeSales, which was then known as Allentown College. But now he sees value beyond the win-loss records.
“It’s so weird with how everything has changed with high school becoming almost a portal for colleges,” he said. “But I have been blessed to get the most out of what the kids I have. It’s not really the games that matter, though. It’s impacting the lives. Too many coaches are chasing wins and they’re in it for themselves. It’s disappointing and embarrassing with how things have gone. I am glad our school believes in standards, virtue and strong beliefs.”
Geneva is in the same pool as Northampton, Pocono Mountain East and Hempfield, which will be for the first opponent for Medina’s team at 5 p.m. Thursday.