Inter-Ac BB Preview, 2005-06

Inter-Ac Basketball Preview, 2005-06

This appeared in the Phila. Daily News on Dec. 20

By Ted Silary
Dan Dougherty sounded extra relaxed for a guy who's coaching a
basketball team that's facing monstrous expectations.
No wonder. He was calling from Florida, in the midst of a
three-day respite.
Episcopal Academy, which features two of the nation's very best
seniors in swingmen Wayne Ellington (North Carolina) and Gerald
Henderson (Duke), and another Division I signee in 6-9 Mike Yocum
(Albany), is holed up in Fort Myers, where it's competing in the
prestigious City of Palms Classic.
The Churchmen's first tourney game was Friday, and their next
will be tonight. Their first game of the season? That occurred Nov. 29
and it produced a loss to Abington Friends. Yes, a LOSS.
"There wasn't one ounce of me that was happy about that,"
Dougherty said, rejecting the notion that an early face-slap perhaps was
productive.
"It did help put things into perspective, though," he added.
"You can have two guys going to the best college basketball programs in
the country, and even a third D-I guy, but basketball is still a
five-man game.
"We lost two two-year starters in (forward) Joe Rosati and
(point guard) Dylan Brown. Pat Kelly is doing a nice job as our fourth
guy, at the point, but in part because of some injuries -- Jim Byrne is
out for another week; Tim Ivory was banged up coming out of football --
we're still unsettled at the fifth spot."
Shed no tears, of course.
It's unlikely Episcopal (6-1 so far) will lose an Inter-Ac
League game and, at this point, it's unclear which of the other five
teams, except for maybe Germantown Academy, boasts enough
talent/experience/depth to provide a serious challenge.
"It's my hope that Wayne and Gerald will find a way to get an
early start on their ACC careers," kidded Jim Fenerty, GA's coach.
He added, "It's funny. People are saying I'm in a 'rebuilding
year.' But I have a 6-10 guy (Andrew Ott) bound for Villanova and a 6-2
junior guard (Kyle Griffin) who's also going to wind up in a great
college program somewhere. But in eight games, we've used eight
different lineups, so there are some things we need to determine.
"I'm having a blast. This is the first time in a while we
haven't had a target on our chest. Dan does, and he's wearing it well."
Meanwhile, Ellington and Henderson are expanding their overall
profiles.
"They're our co-captains," Dougherty said, "and at our place, we
ask for them to be more than co-captains in name only. Gerald has always
been outgoing. Wayne is still kind of quiet. But they're doing a great
job as our leaders. They set the tone. They get there early and start
the drills.
"As I tell them, Episcopal's basketball team of 2005-06 is
theirs. We have a 30-game schedule against some very difficult
opposition. They know what they have to do."
The one new coach, on an interim basis, is Malvern Prep's Kurt
Ruch.
There is one more player committed to a D-I school aside from
Episcopal's trio and Ott. Sammy Zeglinski, a junior guard at Penn
Charter, has already been collared by Virginia.

RETURNING ALL-INTER-ACS
(Selected by Coaches)
FIRST TEAM
Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson and Mike Yocum, EA; Sammy
Zeglinski, PC; Andrew Ott, GA.
SECOND TEAM
Jimmie Cotton and Mike Creighton, MP; Julian McFadden, CH; Kyle
Griffin, GA.
HONORABLE MENTION
Brian Teuber and Kevin McGarvey, PC; John Haldy, HS.

INTER-AC THUMBNAILS
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY
Coach: Ed Aversa, third year. Education: Roxborough.
Career: 13-36.
Last year: 1-9 league, 7-17 overall.
Savvy seven: Julian McFadden, 5-9, G; Jon Salem, 6-2, F; Brent Wylie,
6-foot, G; Malik Easterling, 6-5, F-C; Dave Jennings, 5-11, G; Mike
Lonergan, 6-3, F; Luke Pelullo, 5-8, G.
Aversa's comment: "We're playing hard. We need to learn how to combine
that with playing smart."
EPISCOPAL ACADEMY
Coach: Dan Dougherty, sixth year (also St. Pius X, 1959-61; Malvern,
1962-66; Penncrest, 1976; Episcopal, 1977-97).
Education: St. Joseph's Prep, Saint Joseph's. Career: 612-256; 480-188
at Episcopal.
Last year: 10-0, 25-3.
Savvy seven: Wayne Ellington, 6-4, G-F; Gerald Henderson, 6-5, G-F;
Mike Yocum, 6-9, C; Pat Kelly, 5-9, 160, G; Tim Ivory, 5-9, G; Jim Byrne,
6-1, G; Mike Nealis, 6-8, C.
Dougherty's comment: "We're looking forward to our No. 1 priority --
defending the Inter-Ac championship."
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY
Coach: Jim Fenerty, 17th year (also Egan, 1982-89). Education: Dougherty, La
Salle. Career: 374-254; 313-116 at GA.
Last year: 8-2, second; 24-6.
Savvy seven: Andrew Ott, 6-11, C; Kyle Griffin, 6-2, G; Mike Rhoads, 5-9, G;
Joe Hill, 5-10, G; Shane Simon, 6-4, F; Matt Turner, 6-5, F; Ed DiRugeris, 5-9, G.
Fenerty's comment: "We're still trying to figure out who we are."
HAVERFORD SCHOOL
Coach: Steve Cloran, third year (also Marple-Newtown, 2001-03).
Education: O'Hara, St. Francis (Pa.). Career: 33-90; 16-34 at Haverford School.
Last year: 2-8, 5-21.
Savvy seven: John Cesarine, 5-10, G; John Haldy, 6-2, G; Ben Grant, 6-5, F;
Jim McConlogue, 6-1, G-F; Matt Wunderlich, 5-10, G; Andrew Hubley, 6-2,
F; Ferguson Myrick, 6-4, F.
Cloran's comment: "I really like our chemistry and energy, which hopefully
will help us in an ultra-competitive league."
MALVERN PREP
Coach: Kurt Ruch, first year (John DeAngelis on sabbatical). Education:
Bishop O'Reilly (Pa.), Penn State. Career: 0-0.
Last year: 4-6, 10-17.
Savvy seven: Mike Creighton, 6-foot, G; Jimmie Cotton, 5-10, G; Tom
Grandieri, 6-2, F; Kevin Dougherty, 6-4, G-F; Mike Francisco, 6-4, F; John
Alberici, 6-6, F-C; Joe Hoban, 6-foot, G.
Ruch's comment: "We'll be as good as our seniors. They make us."
PENN CHARTER
Coach: Jim "Flipper" Phillips, sixth year.
Education: Penn Charter, La Salle. Career: 82-52.
Last year: 5-5, 14-12.
Savvy seven: Sammy Zeglinski, 6-1, G; Kevin McGarvey, 5-11, G; Brian
Teuber, 6-3, F; Joe Rauchut, 6-foot, G; R.J. Lyons, 6-4, F; Chris Kurz, 6-7,
F; Leland O'Connor, 6-1, G.
Phillips' comment: "I'm encouraged about our depth, which leads to very
competitive practices."