Time Out With Special Ed Return to TedSilary.com Home Page   Ed Morrone is a senior at Penn Charter with an interest in writing. He has asked to file reports for this website and since we take anyone with a pulse, he's part of the ballclub now! (smile) Ed covers Philly sports for PC's school paper, The Mirror.    You may contact Ed at nomarrulz335@hotmail.com.

MARCH 12
SPECIAL REPORT
Special Ed’s All City Teams
          For those of you who read my Dougherty-SJ Prep report, I said at the end that I was considering doing a first, second, and third All-City Team. I originally had decided against it, but after seeing Ted’s teams in today’s (3/10) Daily News, I had to go forward with it. I don’t want to copy off of Ted, so I’m going to try to make things a little bit different.  Before I get to the teams, I have to clear something up first.  I mostly covered Inter-Ac and Catholic League games this year, so I may be a bit biased toward those guys.  I don’t want any of the Pub players to think I’m overlooking them because that’s not my intention.  I just didn’t get out to many Pub games this year, so my knowledge on a lot of the players is a little limited.  Ted knows much more about the Pub than I do, so take a look at his teams since they have the completion that mine may lack.  My teams will be based mostly on guys that I saw this year and how much they impressed me.  If you feel like the teams are totally outrageous/wrong or if I left anyone who you feel should be on there out, send me an e-mail and I’ll look back over them.  But now without further delay, onto the teams…
FIRST TEAM
**MVP** G- Sean Singletary (Penn Charter)—signed with Virginia
G- Kyle Lowry (Dougherty)—signed with Villanova
F- Mark Tyndale (Gratz)—Temple, La Salle, and others are interested
F- Charron Fisher (Roman)—signed with Niagara
C- DeSean White (Dougherty)—signed with Providence
Coach- Speedy Morris (SJ Prep)
   Without a doubt, Singletary gets my MVP of the city.  I know you may think I’m biased because Sean and I are classmates at Penn Charter, but Ted picked him as MVP too.  Out of every game I went to this season and of all the different teams I saw, no player was better than Singletary.  He averaged 22.9 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals a game, leading the Quakers to a 21-7 overall record and its second consecutive Inter-Ac title.  In Singletary’s two seasons at PC, the Quakers never lost a league game.  In addition to shooting the ball well, he has the ability to find his teammates and see the floor better than any other point guard around.  The other guard spot goes to Lowry, who is close behind Singletary in terms of his abilities as a team leader.  He averaged 17 points and 5 assists a game, and considering the loads of talent his team has, he handled his situation like a true professional.  My only real criticism is that he didn’t really bring his ‘A’ game into the playoffs, and that cost his team a shot at the title.  Nevertheless, he’s a phenomenal player.  I said I didn’t know much about the Public League, but I sure know about Tyndale.  Every time I saw him play this year he was a force.  He has the ability to knock down the J or if he wants he can drive strong to the hoop.  Not many can stop him.  The other forward is the man-child Fisher.  At 6-4 230, he brings a linebacker’s body to the court.  He’s got great inside ability and averaged well over 20 PPG this season.  The last spot on the first team goes to White.  Like Lowry, I would’ve liked to see White be more aggressive in the playoffs, but you can’t argue with his skills.  He loves that 16-18 foot jump shot and at 6-8 he can also grab any rebound that comes close to him.  As for the coach, this was tough.  There are a few coaches who led their team’s to great turnaround seasons, but in the end I had to go with Speedy.  His team lost one of the city’s best players in Mark Zoller and some other starters as well, but still led them to a 25-3 record and a second consecutive Catholic League crown.  The blowout victory over a more talented Dougherty squad in the championship really spoke wonders about Speedy’s coaching ability, and he therefore edges out a few other coaches as my Coach of the Year.
SECOND TEAM
G- Tyrone Smith (Gratz)—receiving some D-I interest
G- John Griffin (SJ Prep)—signed with Bucknell
C- Rob Kurz (Penn Charter)—signed with Notre Dame
F- Reggie Redding (SJ Prep)—sophomore
F- Shane Clark (Dougherty)—junior, committed to Villanova
Coach- Marty Jackson (La Salle)
   This is where it begins to get tough.  Let’s start with my boy Robbie Kurz.  Kurz is really a guard-forward, but because he’s 6-9 I’m using him as a center to make life easy.  He averaged a double double this season and was the perfect compliment to Singletary.  Kurz, like a lot of the other big men in the area, has a great inside-outside game and is a force on the glass.  I think his unselfishness is his best quality, as he puts the team before anything else.  He’s similar to DeSean White, but I gave the nod to DeSean just because he’s a little bit more physically strong than Rob.  Although he disappeared at times in some games, there’s no doubting the athletic ability of Shane Clark.  As my dad stated back when Dougherty played PC, Clark is a pogo stick around the rim.  He’s a little thin at 6-8 180, but he has so many skills that he already committed to a D-I school as a junior.  I think a lot of people will view my Redding pick as a bit of a surprise and maybe think I have him up too high, but whenever I saw him this year he was downright awesome.   He’s only a sophomore but you wouldn’t be able to tell by watching him play.  He’s yet another guy who has great inside outside game and he’s also a pretty good defender.  His teammate John Griffin gets the first guard spot.  Griff is one of the best shooters in the city, but he’s also come into his own as a passer and a defender this year in leading his team to the CL title.  If you give him one inch to shoot, he’ll make you pay.  It’s hard to envision Griffin in a backcourt without teammate Chris Clark, but I’m giving the nod to Tyrone Smith of Gratz.  “Tamir” made some outstanding passes to set up Tyndale & Co. this season and helped guide the Bulldogs to the Public League crown.  The best play I saw him make was when he threw down a vicious dunk against GA back in January.  He’s 6-0, by the way.  Coach Jackson, who was the DN Coach of the Year, is my runner up to Speedy.  Jackson did great things at La Salle this year and really helped get the basketball program back onto the radar, leading the Explorers to the CL semifinals before bowing out against the Prep.
THIRD TEAM
G- Chris Clark (SJ Prep)
G- Tywain McKee (Bartram)
C- Nick Shattuck (La Salle)
F- Brian Grandieri (Malvern Prep)
F- Ryan Ayers (Germantown Academy)
Coach- Mike McCarron (North Catholic)
   I feel bad dropping Clark this low after he played so well in the title game against Dougherty, but it comes with the territory.  He’s only 5-8, but he plays fearless and hardly ever turns the ball over.   McKee is another Pub guy who I caught glimpses of that really impressed me.  He’s a long and lanky player but he can score at will.  Shattuck, or “Schmeagle” as he is known as, can shoot the trey bomb and can control the glass despite being only 6-4 175.  He helped turn La Salle around this year and it’s a shame he was injured in their semifinal loss vs. the Prep.  Grandieri is another guy I feel bad about dropping this low because he’s such a hustler.  He averaged 20 and 11 boards en route to helping Malvern give Penn Charter a run for its money in the Inter-Ac.  Ayers, still just a junior, is such a threat on offense and defense.  I have a feeling the D-I schools will be all over him next season.  I love the job Mike McCarron did at North Catholic.  He took a team that was 2-12 and dead last in the CL North and turned them into an 8-6 competitive squad that was on the CL playoff doorstep.
HONORABLE MENTION
G- Richard Cunningham (Neumann)
G- Matt Spadafora (Wood)
G- Zack Zeglinski (Penn Charter)
C- Gerald Henderson (Episcopal Academy)
F- Wayne Ellington (Episcopal Academy)
F- Marshall Taylor (West Catholic)
Coach- Jim Phillips (Penn Charter)
   “Tabby” Cunningham is another guy with boatloads of talent, but there’s just so many good point guards out there that this is where he ends up.   The best part about his game is his unselfishness.  He’ll usually only give you 10-12 points per game, but he sees the floor so well and makes his teammates better.  Spadafora might be another pick that some people don’t agree on, but in the three games I saw him play this year he impressed the hell out of me (especially in Wood’s quarterfinal loss vs. Dougherty).  He’s got a smoothness to his game and doesn’t make many mistakes.  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to give the guard spot to Spads or to Zack Zeglinski, so I’m putting them both on the team.  Zack accepted his role this year and was one of the best defenders I saw.  He shut down so many great players, and next year he’ll get to show off his offensive game as well.  I’ll group Ellington and Henderson together, because they are one of the best sophomore duos I’ve ever seen.  They put a forgotten Episcopal basketball program back on the map this season and you will be hearing their names a lot in the next two years.  Marshall Taylor was a scoring machine for the surprising Burrs of West Catholic and got his team into the playoffs.  Ever since Flip took over at PC, new life has been injected into the basketball team.  They’ve improved each year and the run has been highlighted by back-to-back undefeated Inter-Ac seasons.
   Before I go, I’m going to include what I’m going to call a “Fan Favorite Team”. These guys may not be the most talented athletes or maybe they are talented but are willing to sacrifice their offensive numbers so that their teams can win.  These 5 guys are players who I really respect and applaud for their job well done on being role players this season.
FAN FAVORITES
G- Timmy Smith (Dougherty)
G- Hanif Hopkins (Penn Charter)
G- Jared Black (SJ Prep)
G- Sean Thomson (North Catholic)
F/C- Mike Kearney (SJ Prep)  

MARCH 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FINAL
SJ Prep 84, Dougherty 61
          When the college basketball polls came out today, the St. Joseph’s University Hawks were the #1 team for the first time in school history.  But after Sunday night’s Catholic League Final, the fans on Hawk Hill aren’t the only ones celebrating a number 1 St. Joe’s basketball team.  The Hawks of St. Joe’s Prep absolutely manhandled the favorites and title hungry squad from Cardinal Dougherty and claimed their second consecutive Catholic League title.  It’s hard to decipher how Dougherty was beaten so badly in this game, but some people had to see this coming.  I say this because in the two playoff games before this one against Wood and Neumann, the Cardinals severely underachieved and narrowly escaped defeat both times.   Maybe they just came into the postseason overconfident after they crushed every CL team they played during the regular season, I don’t know.  But it’s funny because a few days ago I read the article Stephen A. Smith wrote about Dougherty before the season even started and the players all said that after losing to the Prep in last year’s title game, they had to win it all this year and that anything less than a championship would be a disappointment.  They had the more talented team but they just didn’t use that talent to their advantage.  Big men Shane Clark and DeSean White (both 6 foot 8) were seriously shut down by guys that were 4- 5 inches shorter than they are.  You could make the case that maybe it wasn’t meant to be, but for Dougherty it was.  This was their year.  That’s why it makes this loss so hard to understand.  But give the Prep tons of credit.  They played mistake free ball and star guards John Griffin and Chris Clark turned in Jameer Nelson and Delonte West style performances.  I said all along that these guys were still the reigning champs and would be until someone proved otherwise, and they showed that in a big way Sunday night.
          My odyssey began long before tip off.  I was sitting on Olney Ave. for about 40 minutes in a long line of traffic.  When I parked and finally got into the parking lot at Tom Gola Arena, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  There were thousands of people just standing in line waiting to get tickets.  My dad found somebody he knew close to the front of the line, but naturally they sold out of tickets just as we got to the door.  So did we just give up and go home?  Of course not!   We walked around the lobby for a bit, pleading our case with people, but still got nowhere.  I even told a few security people that I was a reporter for tedsilary.com, but they didn’t buy it.  It was getting dangerously close to 6 o’clock, so without any more ideas, my dad and I just ducked under a rope and sprinted up the stairs with reckless abandon.  By the time the security guards were screaming at us to come back, we were already up the steps and into the gym and lost in the crowd.  We then somehow found two empty seats in what was a PACKED arena, and the rest is history.  It was a beautiful thing.  Next time, I want a press pass Ted (smile).  But now, onto the game…
         Things definitely didn’t start out in blowout fashion.  Dougherty jumped out to a quick 7-2 start and it appeared that they were finally going to put those two close calls behind them and show everybody that they indeed did deserve that championship.  But the Prep quickly evened things up and led 16-14 after one.  One of the prettiest plays of the game came at the start of the second quarter.   Dougherty sr. G Timmy Smith blocked Prep sr. G Jared Black’s shot, picked up the loose ball, raced toward the other end and did a nifty spin move around two Prep defenders and finished with a layup.  This tied the score at 16, but things didn’t stay pretty for Dougherty.  They began to play very sloppy, picking up some foolish offensive fouls.  The Cards led 22-21, but the Prep ended the half on a 9-0 run and took a 30-22 lead into the half.  Chris Clark really began to heat up in the second quarter and had 11 at the half, while Griffin and Mike Kearney added 8.
      Forty-five seconds into the second half, Dougherty star guard Kyle Lowry drove into the lane and collided hard with Kearney.  He was down on the floor for about a minute, but got up and remained in the game.  However, Dougherty wasn’t able to entirely escape their bad luck as the Prep just began to pour it on.  Everything seemed to go the Hawks way.  There was Clark’s wild drive and layup attempt that fell.  Or there was Griffin’s 4-point play that made it 44-29.  Or how about Lowry picking up his fourth foul with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter.  Or Smith’s technical foul for arguing.  The list goes on and on.  As Dougherty continued to shoot themselves in the foot with fouls and other various blunders, the Prep made no mistakes at all.  The lead stayed in the low double digits until the Hawks just exploded in the fourth quarter.  It went from 13 to 19 and got as high as 25 when Kearney capped the night off with a slam that brought the title anticipating Prep fans into a frenzy.  This had to be the best game the Prep played all season considering the talent they were up against and how convincingly they won.  Last year when they beat Dougherty in the title game, the Prep at least had 6-6 franchise center Mark Zoller (now a starter at Penn), who was often unstoppable during the year.  Their tallest players this year were the 6-4 Kearney and the 6-3 Reggie Redding, but as Prep coach Speedy Morris said, “stars shine but teams win”.  This phrase is so true when it comes to the Prep.  They played such great team basketball, highlighted by one more great performance from their star backcourt.  Griffin shot 7 for 11 (4 for 5 on treys) and 9 for 9 from the line for 27 points and 4 assists.  Clark was the floor general and led the offense while tallying 25 points (8 for 10 FG, 8 for 9 FT) and 5 assists.  Redding shot 7 for 10 for 16 points and 6 boards while Kearney went 4 for 6 for 10 points with the highlight of his night coming on the dunk at the end.  While we’re looking at stats, check out these team numbers: the Prep shot 27 for 44 from the field (61%), 23 for 29 from the line (79%), and 7 for 12 behind the arc (58%).  That’s just unheard of to shoot that well.  I bet they could have started launching shots from halfcourt and they still would have went in, that’s how hot they were.  But I’m sure the players would be the first ones to direct all of the credit to Coach Morris.  This was Speedy’s eighth CL title (6 with Roman, 2 with the Prep) and ninth overall (he won one with PC too).  He’s a hell of a coach, and after having so much success at the college level it just says even more about him that he still has that desire to coach high school kids.  For Dougherty, just like in the double overtime triumph against Wood, the biggest and only real bright spot was Tim Smith.  Tim played a very aggressive game, finishing with a team high 16 points (7 for 15 FG) and 6 assists.  I also need to thank Tim’s dad Shawn Smith (who my dad works with), who gave up his seats so that my dad and I could sit down.  I wish Tim the best of luck next year wherever he goes to school.  For Lowry, it wasn’t the way he hoped to end his brilliant career at Dougherty.  He fouled out with 3:44 to go, ending his career with a 9 point, 3 assist performance.  I’m sure he’ll have great success at Villanova, but I’m also sure that he wanted to end his high school career with a championship.  White (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Shane Clark (14 points, 5 rebounds) had OK games, but they should have dominated against a much smaller Prep team.  After the game, my dad remarked, “If I’m the coach of that team, I’m throwing the ball inside to those guys every play.  There’s no reason not to, especially against a smaller team.”   It’s just a shame for Dougherty, because they had all the necessary tools in place but just couldn’t win that final game.   Oh, and one more thing: Whoever makes the decisions on where these games are going to be played, make sure next year it’s played at a bigger venue like the Palestra.  There’s no reason that people should be turned away at a high school basketball game, and La Salle’s gym just isn’t big enough for this type of game.  I’m just glad I got in.
     I know this report is incredibly long, but stay with me for just a little bit longer.  Since this will be my last basketball report, I just want to take a few minutes to thank some people.   First and foremost I need to thank Ted, because if not for him I never would have gotten this opportunity.  I’ve always loved sports and I’ve always loved to write, and he made it possible to put the two together.  I owe you big time Ted.  Also, thanks to all the people who read my reports, those who sent me e-mails offering me good luck and encouragement, and those who stopped me at a game to offer a kind word.  It was these people that made me keep writing and I’m just glad to have provided a little bit of enjoyment in your daily routine.  But for those of you who were about to bid me farewell, not so fast.  Baseball season is about to get underway and I am going to continue writing for the site since I am a player on the Penn Charter varsity team this season.  Our first game is this Friday, so make sure to check back in for that.  I’m also toying with the idea of making a first, second, and third all city basketball team, but nevertheless, thanks everybody.

MARCH 3
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
SJ Prep 59, La Salle 52
          To play a postseason game with a trip to the championship on the line without your star player is an extremely difficult thing to do.  Unfortunately for La Salle, they were put into this position on Wednesday night when star forward Nick Shattuck stepped on a teammate’s foot in practice the day before and tore a ligament in his ankle.  Shattuck, who played so well in the Explorers' quarterfinal win over Ryan, was out of the lineup on the night his team had to go up against the defending Catholic League champs of St. Joe’s Prep.  Despite Shattuck’s absence, La Salle put forth an admirable effort and hung with the Prep for most of the game, but in the end the Hawks had just a little bit more talent and were able to secure their spot in the championship game on Sunday night.
          Things started out great for La Salle.  Obviously energized by a huge and raucous student rooting section, they jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead.  The spurt was highlighted by 5 points from sr. G Ryan Kirk, including a beautiful play where he dribbled behind his back, fooled the defender, stepped behind the arc, and drained a trey.   The Prep responded by scoring the next 9 points and they held a 13-9 advantage after one.  Even though they had less firepower than the Prep, La Salle hung in there and substituted great defense for explosive offense.  With a little over a minute to go in the first half, La Salle trailed by only 1 point, so Prep coach Speedy Morris decided to dribble out the clock for the last shot (much to the dismay of the La Salle crowd, who had nothing but terrible things to say to Speedy all night—smile).  With about 4 seconds to go, sr. SG John Griffin rattled home a trey bomb to give his team a 26-22 lead going into the half.  This was a backbreaker for La Salle because the Griffin trey sparked the Prep offense as they started knocking down a lot more 3’s in the second half.  La Salle just didn’t have the offense to stay in this game, as the 2-4 point deficits turned into 9-11 point ones in the second half.  A Mike Kearney layup made it 38-26 and Chris Clark scored his only FG of the game on a top of the key trey that gave the Prep a 46-32 lead with 5 minutes to go in the fourth.  La Salle made it interesting one last time by scoring the next 5 points, but you could tell that they were running out of gas.  Coach Marty Jackson played the same 6 guys all night it just looked like they wore down physically.   A Reggie Redding three ball made it 49-37 in favor of the Prep, and La Salle never threatened to come back again.
          The Explorers put forth a very gritty and very commendable effort without Shattuck.  Kirk led the way with 17 points (5 for 13 shooting), sr. PG Colin Fitzgerald tallied 11 points and 4 assists, and Joe Sobocinski hustled for 9 points.  These guys opened a lot of eyes this season and I hope their program continues to have this kind of success in the future.  For the Prep, it was the same two guys that impressed me all season that came up big again, and those guys are the 6-4 Redding and the 6-3 Kearney.  These two always seem to have great games whenever I watch the Prep play.  Redding had a great overall game, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.  It seemed like he was a threat in every possible way.  Whether it was hustling for loose ball, stepping back and nailing a trey, or crashing the boards, Reggie did it all.  It’s hard to believe he’s only a sophomore.  Kearney, who is usually content to do all the “dirty work” down low, deposited a season high 15 points on 5 for 6 from the floor and 5 for 5 at the line.   He probably could have cracked 20 points but he spent some time on the bench due to foul trouble.  Without Shattuck, La Salle really couldn’t stop Kearney from having his way down low.  Griffin had a modest 12 points on 4 for 11 from the floor (2 for 8 on treys).  But I liked that the Prep didn’t need Griff to take 20 3-pointers in order for them to win.  The emergence of Redding and Kearney this year has freed up John for a lot more open looks and it’s also allowed him to find his teammates more, making him an all around better player in the process.  I used to think his game was only one dimensional (shooting the 3 ball) but now I’m seeing that he has so many more skills to offer.  I do feel bad for him though because the La Salle rooters hounded him with chants of “Pee Wee Herman!” all night (there is a slight resemblance too—smile).  Clark scored only one FG en route to 6 points and 4 assists, but he didn’t turn the ball over once, which is almost unheard of for a point guard in this day and age.  The win set up a rematch of last year’s championship game against Cardinal Dougherty.  I think a lot of people are considering the Cardinals a lock to win, but they have looked very vulnerable in their two postseason wins versus Wood and Neumann.  The Hawks are the reigning champs, so until someone proves otherwise, they are still the team to beat.   I think the teams match up well and it should be a heck of a game.
     Just a quick side note: I even made 5 bucks in a bet on this game.   Yes I bet on the game, but unlike Pete Rose I’m admitting it up front, I just hope Ted doesn’t ban me from the site (smile).  But before the game at baseball practice, PC jr. Chris Brock bet me $5 that La Salle would win the game.   Chris always goes for the underdog and I’ve lost two bets with him in the past because of this, but tonight was my night to make some money back.  So I thank the members of the Prep team, because I’m sure that the extra 5 dollars will go a long way.

FEB. 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Dougherty 66, Wood 63 (2 OTs)
          God almighty, what a game!  In a contest that should be replayed on ESPN Classic for the next 10 years, Catholic League powerhouse Cardinal Dougherty just barely avoided what would have been the biggest upset in recent history, creeping past the Vikings of Archbishop Wood in a double overtime thriller on Friday night at Tom Gola Arena.  Am I crazy to say that I kind of saw this coming?  Well I didn’t think Wood would win, but I knew that it was a definite possibility that Dougherty would come out cocky and overconfident and that Wood would give them a good fight if that was the case.  Wood was flying high after their first ever playoff win (a pre-playoff win over North on Wednesday night) and they really had nothing to lose.  Their confidence level was through the roof and their energy allowed them to bully around the lackluster Cardinals for most of the game.
          I was actually kind of hoping that this would be a blowout so that I could go home and get some sleep.  I had to wake up at 3:30AM to help my dad at work and then go to baseball practice at 8, so a traditional Dougherty shellacking would have helped me out.  But after Wood held a 17-12 lead after one, I knew that I was going to be sticking around for the entire game.  Right off the bat, Dougherty took Wood by surprise.  Brian Klumpp and Rob Pearson provided 13 of the team’s 17 first quarter points and the Vikings proved right away that they did not get to this position just by being lucky.  The second quarter was played at a back and forth type pace, and Dougherty even held a 5 point lead at one point.  But Wood rallied back to tie the game at 32 going into halftime in front of a stunned crowd.  Wood energetically ran into the locker room exchanging high fives while the Cardinals just looked tired and confused about what was going on.  Kyle Lowry shot just 3 for 11 in the first half while DeSean White contributed just 5 points.  As if things couldn’t get any worse for Dougherty, Lowry picked up three quick (and foolish) fouls in the first 2 minutes of the third quarter, giving him four for the game.   He ran over to Coach Mark Heimerdinger to plead to remain in the game, but Heimerdinger yanked Lowry and his star guard spent the rest of the quarter on the bench.  Even without Lowry, it appeared that things were beginning to pick up for Dougherty as the third quarter progressed.  A Shane Clark jumper gave them a 46-40 lead, but two shots by Tim Walters and then a wild sequence in which Matt Spadafora missed two follows before tapping in his third attempt tied it back up at 46-46.  As the fourth quarter got underway, Wood decided to take the same approach as La Salle and Ryan in the first game and dribble off a lot of clock.  It was actually a smart move by Wood because them holding the ball prevented Dougherty from gaining any kind of momentum.  Wood eventually turned the ball over but got it back as WG Corey Filer sunk his only field goal of the night on a shot that looked like it was partially blocked, giving his team a 50-49 advantage with 1:25 to go.  This brought the Viking bench and the already standing crowd into a frenzy.  Dougherty failed to score on its next two possessions and Wood added four more free throws, pushing the lead to 54-49 with less than 30 seconds to go, prompting chants of “Overrated” and “Upset City” from Wood’s rowdy student section.  But the Cardinals didn’t give in.  Clark scored on a follow and after a Wood turnover the 6-8 White launched an ugly three pointer that went in, stunning Wood and tying the game at 54 with 17.3 to go.  A missed attempt by Filer at the buzzer sent the game into OT.
          Two Timmy Smith jumpers, a shot by Walters and free throws by Filer tied the game at 58, and Dougherty dribbled about a minute off of the clock in hope of getting a last look.  But Smith’s shot was blocked with 2.3 to go, giving Wood one last chance to win it in OT.  They inbounded the ball and it appeared that Dougherty got away with a foul that would have put Wood on the line as time expired.  But nothing was called, leading us to double overtime!  By this time I was even on my feet (I usually didn’t stand this year unless it was at a Friday night Penn Charter game).  And I know as reporters we aren’t supposed to pick sides, but I have to admit I was pulling for Wood to pull this one out.  They were outplaying Dougherty and it just seemed like they deserved to win it.  Dougherty led 63-60 in the second overtime, but Klumpp tied the game at 63 with a trey from the right corner with 25 seconds to go.  This got people thinking triple overtime, but Smith and jr. reserve G Kyle Sample made sure that didn’t happen.  Smith found a wide open Sample, (in for Lowry, who had fouled out in the first OT) who drained a three from the right corner, making it 66-63 in Dougherty’s favor with 2.1 seconds to go.  Smith then batted away the ensuing inbounds pass, and the Cardinals were able to escape with the win.
          Dougherty should be glad they won this, but they shouldn’t be impressed with the way they played.  They were severely outplayed and outhustled by Wood, and in this one I’m not so sure that the better team won the game.  The three Cardinal stars of Lowry, White, and Clark barely even showed up for this one.  Lowry played a sloppy game highlighted by the five fouls, and finished 4 for 16 for 10 points.  He especially should be glad they won this game because it would have been bad for him to end his career with a loss at this stage.  Clark scored his 1,000th career point in this one but managed only 12 points to go with 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.  White, fresh off being named CL North MVP, took just 6 shots for 9 points and 9 rebounds.  So if these guys underachieved so much then how in the world did their team win this game?  Answer: Timmy Smith.  Smith was downright heroic in this one, providing nonstop clapping and  encouragement for the rest of his teammates who often looked stunned and dejected.  As the guy who is usually content to step aside and leave the glory to the other players, Timmy stepped in and contributed 17 points (7 for 12 shooting), 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists (including the game winning dish to Sample).  Had it not been for Smith, Dougherty probably would have been watching the rest of the playoffs from the stands.  Sample also stepped up and provided 7 points off the bench and showed a lot of confidence when he let that game winning shot go.  As for Wood, they have nothing to be ashamed of.  They played a phenomenal game and earned a hell of a lot of respect from everybody watching that game.  It was Spadafora that really led them.  A 6-5 junior PG, “Spads” was awesome, finishing with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks.  He seemed to have perfected the mid range jumper and had some impressive post-up/fade away moves as well.  When things were looking bleak, he usually came to the rescue and really inspired his team.  I hope the mid-low D-I schools don’t let this kid slip away.  Walters (14P, 9R), Pearson (15P, 6R), and Klumpp (14P, 4R, 5A) also had some huge clutch plays for Wood, but unfortunately they came up just short in this one.  Dougherty will move on with hopefully a better effort when they play a dangerous Neumann team on Tuesday night.

FEB. 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
La Salle 45, Ryan 43
          What started out as an ugly game turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser in the end.  It’s too bad it probably won’t be remembered/talked about that much because it occurred on the same night that Dougherty almost fell to Wood in double overtime.  The first half was as hard on the eyes as Gigli (no I didn’t see it, I’m just assuming…).  The Explorers shot a painful 3 for 21 in the first half and Ryan a not so much greater 8 for 25.  It just seemed like everything that either team threw up rimmed out.  I think each team came out a bit nervous because this kind of stage (playing in a big arena, TV cameras flashing, etc) was relatively new to both Ryan and La Salle.  Anyway, the score was an under whelming 19-13 in favor of Ryan at halftime and I’m sure every body in the packed Tom Gola Arena were hoping for a better second half.
          I bet if I told you that a team went over 14 minutes (that’s almost half of the game) without scoring a field goal then you would respond by saying that team wouldn’t stand a chance.  Well if you did, you’d be wrong, because La Salle “accomplished” the feat on Friday night.   They scored just 7 points in the first quarter and all 6 of their points from the foul line in the second but somehow managed to stay close enough to be able to come back and win the game.  The unprecedented drought lasted from about three minutes left in the first quarter until 4:48 left in the third when Explorers C Nick Shattuck hit a short jumper in the lane to make it 21-15.  It’s ridiculous to go that long without a shot, but La Salle played good enough defense on the almost equally unlucky Raiders to avoid a blowout loss.  The Explorers rallied back to tie the game at 29 going into the fourth and finally took the lead on a Kevin Ihlein layup.  But Ryan sr. L.B. Rebstock (6 points) banked in a three from the top of the key to give his team the lead again.  The game was on the seesaw thereafter until Joe Mullin hit a trey from the right corner with 3:05 to go to make it 43-41 in Ryan’s favor.  But then La Salle sr. Kevin Moll added two free throws to knot it up at 43.  What followed was a strategy that ultimately came back to bite Ryan coach Bernie Rogers in the butt.   After Moll’s FTs, the Raiders killed off about two minutes of clock in hope of getting a favorable last shot, but some miscommunication between Joe Zeglinski and Jim Welsh led to Zeglinski firing a turnover out of bounds, giving the Explorers the ball back with 48.7 seconds left.  La Salle then adopted the same strategy and held the ball until G Ryan Kirk finally made a move into the lane.  The ball was deflected out of bounds with 7.8 to go, with the ball still belonging to La Salle.  The ensuing possession proved to be the game winner.  Colin Fitzgerald (7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) inbounded a pass to Shattuck, who quickly banked in a short jumper over Zeglinski with 6.2 seconds left.  After a Ryan timeout and a blocking foul, the Raiders were able to inbound the ball at halfcourt with about 2 seconds to go, but Zeglinski’s 25-foot heave at the buzzer fell short, sending La Salle to the semifinals and ending the Ryan season.
          How La Salle was able to pull this one off I still don’t know, but they showed a lot of character by continuing to shoot the ball and plug away at Ryan’s lead.  Shattuck was awesome for La Salle.  He was the lone bright spot on a day where the rest of his team struggled mightily, and he finished with 21 points (8 for 14 FG/5 for 8 FT) and 10 rebounds.  I really like watching this kid play.  He’s not that big (maybe 6-4 175 lbs.), but he can be a force around the basket.   He has a lot of strength too.  On one play he just drove into the lane where about three Ryan players were waiting and just powered his way to an underhanded layup.  The kid they call Schmeagle can flat out play, and I agree with Ted and Amauro that he may have a D-I future ahead of him.  For Ryan, starters Welsh, Mullin, and Rebstock ended their careers with 13, 11, and 6 points respectively.  Although losing these guys hurts, Ryan has a lot to look forward two over the next two seasons with rising stars Zeglinski and 6-8 C Kevin Hudgeons.  La Salle will move on to play the Prep on Wednesday night.

FEB. 25
CL NORTH PRE-PLAYOFF
Wood 70, North Catholic 55
          In a terrific turnaround season, the North Catholic Falcons fell one glass slipper short of a Cinderella story.  And it was eight minutes that held them back.  North suffered through a painful and brutal first quarter, one that pretty much knocked them out of the game and unfortunately for them, the Catholic League Playoffs.   Instead, the Vikings of Archbishop Wood defeated North for the second time in five days and crept into the playoffs as the number four seed.  They completed the playoff picture and clinched a first round meeting with powerhouse Cardinal Dougherty.
          For North, it seemed like destiny.  They were playing in a gym (Archbishop Ryan’s) that was close to home, had a busload of their loyal fans cheering them on, leading scorer Chalie Evans was back in the lineup, and the team had 8 league wins in its pockets a year after having only two.  If they skipped the first quarter altogether, the Falcons would have won.  However, they did play the first and endured one of the worst and most inopportune eight minutes of basketball of all time.  They just missed everything they took: jump shots, 3 pointers, layups, you name it.  It was getting to the point where when they threw up a shot you almost knew it wasn’t going to go in.   Wood, on the other hand, couldn’t miss if their lives depended on it.  Each shot they made was more salt in an open wound to the Falcons.  Matt Spadafora scored 6 points in the first quarter for the Vikings, which is how many he scored in the whole game against North on Friday.  When all was said and done, North shot 0 for 12 in the first quarter and trailed by a count of 17-1 with the only point coming from a Ryan Davis free throw.  Wood didn’t stop as the second quarter got underway, though.  They pushed the lead all the way to 21-1 before North frosh Andrew Pomager nailed a tough turn around jumper with 5:30 to go in the half.  Just when the disgusted Falcon fans were ready to run for the exits, things got a little interesting.  Pomager (who has one of the oddest three point shots I’ve ever seen) drilled two straight treys and accounted for 8 straight North points, making it 23-9.  Nate Edwards and Evans followed with three’s of their own, and all of a sudden it was a 25-16 game.  But this was as close as North would get for awhile, mainly because of the refs.  Now I’m not one to cry over officiating in a game and I know these guys have a tough job to do, but these refs made some awful calls that really prevented North from getting all the way back into the game.  It was like it was all one sided out there, and the North fans let the refs know this many times.  Wood took a 38-23 lead into halftime, highlighted by 10 from Spadafora and 14 bench points.  North was paced by 9 from Edwards and 8 from Pomager.
          North came out of the locker room with that never-say-die look in their eyes.  Despite being down by 15 at the half and as much as 20 in the game, North crawled back into it one more time mostly because of Pomager.  Again.  Down 43-28, Pomager grabbed a missed 3 point attempt and laid it back in.  Evans then picked off a pass and fed the rock to Pomager, who took a few dribbles and flicked up a runner in the lane that somehow fell.  On the next possession, he fired up another funky looking trey that found the net.  Just like that, the lead was down to 43-35.  But Wood quickly silenced the momentum by going on a 13-1 run capped off by a Spadafora J, making it 56-36 and ending North’s season.
          This was Wood’s night and they wouldn’t be denied, no matter how much it seemed like North was destined to make the playoffs.  Despite a few minor slipups here and there, they played fabulous.   Spadafora rebounded from a poor performance against North on Friday and led his team to the playoffs, tallying 20 points (6 for 9 FG, 8 for 8 at the line) and 7 rebounds.  Tim Walters had another solid game of 17 points, 9 boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists.   G’s Brian Klumpp (6P, 4R, 4A) and Corey Filer (8P, 3R, 4A) contributed as well.  Wood also received a huge lift from its bench, getting 11 points and 5 boards from Mike Piselli and 8 and 5 from John Gwiazdowski.  This Wood team is scary.  They shoot the ball so well and have 6 or 7 guys that can hurt you at any given moment.   Now that they’ve snuck into the playoffs, I advise Cardinal Dougherty not to take these guys lightly because they can play.    For North, Pomager was the truth.   It was amazing how this kid just took over and got his team back into the game two separate times.  He finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.  15 of the 17 points came in those two big spurts.  North has a lot to look forward to in the next 3 years with the young fella, because he is for real.  But it definitely was tough for North to win this game because they rely on the 3 point shot a little too much.  They attempted 32 treys, converting only 10 of them.  That’s probably too many 3-pointers to take, but they don’t have a dominant big man so that is their game.  The Evans return was a big lift for North, but he was a little rusty as expected and shot 5 for 16 (4 for 12 on treys), but he did hustle for 4 boards and 4 boards and got a nice round of applause when he was taken out for good in the fourth quarter.  Jr. sniper John Adamski grabbed 10 boards but shot just 1 for 12 (all but one of his shots were 3-point attempts) for 5 points.  Edwards shot 3 for 12 for 11 points and 4 boards.  Even though it was a disappointing finish to a great season for the Falcons, they are definitely on the way up.  Watch out for them next season.
Now that the playoff picture is finally clear, the postseason will begin tomorrow night at La Salle University.  La Salle will battle Ryan at 7, followed by Wood and Dougherty at 8:45.  The Catholic South teams will go to battle the following night, with the Hawks of St. Joe’s Prep playing the Burrs of West Catholic and Neumann going up against Roman.  It should be a great weekend of basketball.
   Gans Spread of the Game: North by 3…Gans misjudges this one and falls to 7-3.

FEB. 22
CATHOLIC NORTH
Ryan 67, North Catholic 45
          After an exhausting stretch of four games in four days, the finale of the group turned out to be a little more one sided than I expected.  Ryan for the most part coasted over North Catholic, which has lost 3 out of its last 4 league games.  With the win, the Raiders clinched third place in the CL North and set up a Friday night showdown with the number 2 seed La Salle.  As for North, the loss hurts but the season is not over yet.  They will play a pre-playoff game with Wood, a team that beat them two days ago, most likely at a neutral gym on Wednesday night.  The winner of that game will be “rewarded” with a first round matchup against title hungry Cardinal Dougherty, which hasn't  lost a CL North game in more than two years.
          Ryan honored its seniors (basketball players and cheerleaders!) before the game and coach Bernie Rogers awarded the seniors with one last start at home.  This meant leading scorer Joe Zeglinski started the quarter on the bench, but the Raiders didn’t miss a beat.  They jumped out to a 7-0 start and never really let up (North never led in this game).  Ryan led 16-8 after one, highlighted by 10 points from sr. L.B. Rebstock.  North was again missing leading scorer Chalie Evans, who is still sidelined with an ankle injury.   They had hoped to get him back today but he couldn’t play, but hopefully Chalie can come back for the game against Wood.   Without him, the Falcons couldn’t seem to muster any type of consistency on offense.  Ryan lead swelled to 27-15 midway through the second quarter, but North closed out the half on an 11-6 spurt and trailed by only 7 points at the break.  It would have been 3 points if not for a crazy sequence to end the half.  With 5 seconds left, Ryan sr. F Joe Mullin hit a shot and was fouled in the process.  He went to the line, missed the FT, soph. C Kevin Hudgeons grabbed the rebound but missed his shot, and then out of nowhere Mullin burst through the lane grabbed the miss and laid it in as time expired.  Yes, all of that happened in 5 seconds.  North made one final threat before Ryan opened the flood gates.  Falcon G Hanif Edwards (6 points, 3 rebounds) drained a 3 pointer and then on the ensuing possession Ryan was whistled for a 10 second violation.   However, North failed to capitalize on this and Ryan then went on a 15-4 to end the quarter and turned the game into a blowout.
          The Raiders were so much better in this game than when I saw them play vs. Dougherty.  Their offense had such a smoothness to it.  Against Dougherty it looked like they were hesitant to shoot the ball, but today they kind of looked like the Sacramento Kings out there in that they kept making beautiful passes to set up easy baskets.  Them and La Salle should be a great game because they’re both scrappy teams who don’t quit.   I heard Mullin being interviewed after the game and he said the team was glad to avoid the showdown with Dougherty but he said that they feel like they can play with any team in the city.  Speaking of Mullin, he was terrific in this one.  He was all over the place on both ends of the court and mixed 12 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, and 2 blocks.  He can be an intimidating guy to play against (the barbed wire tattoo on the calf speaks for itself) and if he plays like he did today then La Salle might be in some trouble (for more on Joe, check out Ted’s story on him in Monday’s DN).  Rebstock played 10 times more aggressive than the first time I saw him and had a game high 18 points on 8 for 11 shooting.  Zeglinski and Hudgeons scored 14 and 10 points respectively for the Raiders.  As for North, like I said, the offense was lacking.  John Adamski led the team with 12 points but he had trouble getting open and attempted only 7 shots.  Nate Edwards had another tough game, taking some wild, out of control shots to finish 1 for 7 for 2 points.  Sr. G Sean Thomson (8 points) and sr. F Ryan Davis (7 points) did play well, and I think both of these guys should take more shots as long as Evans is out.
          I’m so pumped for the CL playoffs.  It’s easy to say Dougherty is going to win the title, but that would be taking something away from the other teams because they are all so talented.  Just for a quick review, the first round matchups look like this: Dougherty-North/Wood, La Salle-Ryan, SJ Prep-West Catholic, and Roman-Neumann.   Now that should be entertaining.
                 Gans Spread of the Game: Ryan by 3…Gans covers easily to go to 7-2 overall on the season.

FEB. 21
INTER-AC SHOWCASE FINAL
Penn Charter 86, Gtn. Academy 75
          As Penn Charter seniors Rob Kurz and Sean Singletary left the court with 23 seconds left in the game, a chill rushed up and down my body.  I had followed these guys all season and watched them play in almost 30 games, and it was at that point that I realized that this was the end.  Sean and Rob exited to a standing ovation (from both the PC and GA fans) from the overflow crowd at Episcopal’s gym, ending their magnificent high school careers with one last great win.  Evan though the Quakers had clinched their second straight Inter-Ac title almost two weeks ago, you could see that they desperately wanted to end their season with a win in what was a meaningless game played solely for entertainment.  But it wasn’t meaningless to Penn Charter, especially the team’s four seniors, and Kurz even said after the game that “as seniors, we couldn’t imagine losing our last game.”
          Things got off to a pretty even pace, with GA matching PC’s intensity.  GA sr. G Larry Sharp was as aggressive as I’ve seen him in three games vs. PC this year, tallying 8 first quarter points on 3 for 3 shooting.  But the Quakers shot 9 for 16 in the quarter and got 21 points from Singletary, Kurz, and Zack Zeglinski and led 24-18 after one.  PC really started to pour it on in the second quarter and the Patriots definitely had trouble keeping up with the fast paced Quakers.  Zack gave the Quakers a double digit lead with one of his four three pointers in the game, making it 30-18 with 6:56 to go.  PC didn’t stop there, though.  Kurz grabbed a defensive rebound, saw he had some room to run, and ended up taking it the length of the court and throwing down a thunderous slam.  On the Quakers next offensive possession, Kurz caught a perfect alley oop from one of the Zeglinski bros (I’m not sure which) and converted that for another dunk.  This made it 43-26 in PC’s favor and forced a frustrated Jim Fenerty to call a timeout.  GA did end the half on a little momentum though, as reserve player Jeff Neubert (8 points) hit a shot from just inside halfcourt as the buzzer sounded.  The Patriots trailed 43-30 at the half, led by 10 from Sharp and 6 from Ryan Ayers.  Singletary and Kurz paced PC with 13 first half points each.  GA almost crept back into it one more time before the game was over.  Usual reserve G Kirk “Kyle Korver” Jones (12 points, 3 assists), starting for injured Patriot Brian Grimes, converted a three pointer and then some free throws a short time after that cut the Quakers lead to 48-43.   Jones did a nice job filling in for Grimes and he should have a good year next season as a starter.  But Charter was able to hold off GA’s rally and take a 62-52 lead into the fourth quarter.  Kurz picked up his fourth foul 27 seconds into the quarter and spent some time on the bench, but PC didn’t slip up in Rob’s absence.  Singletary hit a pretty runner in the lane and Sam Zeglinski (5 points, 4 assists) stole a pass and converted a fast break layup to make it 74-60 with 3:58 to go, pretty much ending GA’s chances at a comeback.
         For Kurz and Singletary, they definitely put forth their best efforts for their final game.  Singletary had his usual few jaw dropping plays and finished with a game high 26 points (9 for 20 shooting), 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.  Kurz cashed in with one of his best games ever with 19 points (7 for 15), 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 8 blocks.  He was a force down low (offensively and defensively) in this one.  It’s a shame that their high school careers are over, but as I said before, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see both of them play on ESPN next winter.   Aside from these two, Zack Zeglinski, who served mostly as a role player this year, poured in a season high 24 points on 7 for 9 shooting (4 for 5 on treys).  After the game, Kurz praised Zack’s play and said that “next year people will get a chance to see how good he really is.  But Zack has no time to soak it all in because he will resume his duty as the baseball team’s starting shortstop next week.  Three of guys who should contribute a lot next year (RJ Hollinshead, Brian Teuber, and Sam Zeglinski) added 7, 5, and 5 points respectively.  Another guy who should contribute a lot next year is Kevin McGarvey, who deserves a long overdue shout-out for his hard work as a varsity reserve and a JV starter this year.  As for GA, they have a lot to look forward to next year.  They will return three starters: first team All Inter-Ac Ayers along with 6’8 C Andrew Ott and a healthy Grimes.  Ayers, who wasn’t as explosive as he can be, still had a team high 21 points and added 8 rebounds and 5 assists.  He’s going to be awesome next year and I’m sure the D-I schools are foaming at the mouth over this kid.  Ott didn’t have as much success against PC as he did against Malvern and that was because Kurz made things difficult for him.  He did finish with 10 points and 11 rebounds.  Seniors Sharp and Joe Gill finished their careers with 13 and 5 points, respectively.  GA should be right up there in the Inter-Ac hunt next year.
          Before I go, I need to agree with ZB and express my outrage that both Singletary and Kyle Lowry were left off of the McDonald’s All American team.  I wanted both of these guys to make it and was pretty sure at least one would, but how can you leave two players of this caliber off?  I’m sure Sean and Kyle will brush this snub off quickly, but you heard it here fellas that this isn’t right.  I will admit Sebastian Telfair should be there, but beyond that I can’t justify it.  Rajon Rondo is a great player but of course you’ll be great when you play for Oak Hill and have a starting lineup of guys that will all be in the NBA in 3 years.  And I don’t know much about the Washington guy but I’m sure he’s great too, but as ZB stated in his report, Singletary and Lowry could both shift to shooting guard if necessary.  But I guess life will go on.
Gans Spread of the Game: PC by 9…Gans squeaks out a close win and gets back in the win column to improve to 6-2 overall. 
   **Ed’s Note: Just because PC’s season is over, don’t give up on me just yet, folks.  I am a Catholic League junkie and plan to make it out to as many of the playoff games as I can, so check back in for reports on those games.  But I really do need to thank the Penn Charter coaching staff, especially head coach Jim Phillips for putting up with my antics all season, and assistant Mike Razler, who willingly gave me the stat sheet after every game so I could verify his stats with my own.  Also, I want to congratulate the team on a great year.  I must have put 500 miles on my car driving out to all the games, but in the end it was worth it.  Thanks everyone.

FEB. 20
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 65, North Catholic 56
          With just a weekend to go in the regular season, things are just beginning to get interesting in the Catholic League North division.  This game featured two big surprises: the host North Catholic Falcons (14-10, 8-5 league) and the Archbishop Wood Vikings (13-11, 7-6), and this was the first look I got at either team this season.  North, a year removed from finishing dead last in the CL North with a 2-12 league record, is creating a buzz around the city.  They’ve improved dramatically and boast a tough, hard-nosed team that plays fearless basketball.  Wood on the other hand is a scrappy group of guys who are still in the playoff hunt after most people left them for dead.  And tonight they showed why they are a solid team, coming into an extremely hostile North gym and controlling the game throughout.  I want to talk about the playoff picture in the CL North, but since it’s so confusing I’ll go over the game and get to the playoffs last.
         I really didn’t know what to expect from either team coming into this one.  To my knowledge I had never seen Wood or North play basketball, so I was pretty open minded.  While both teams played well, it was Wood that impressed me the most.  I hadn’t heard of one guy on their roster coming into the gym, but I sure know who some of them are now.  After the Vikings jumped out to a quick 7-0 start, the first quarter ended up being pretty even with Wood holding a 14-12 advantage after one.  The Falcons were hanging in there, but you could see they missed leading scorer Chalie Evans (and no that’s not a typo, that’s how they spell Charlie down in Juniata), who is out with a badly sprained ankle.  Evans should be able to return sometime soon (maybe even for Sunday’s huge game at Ryan), but for tonight North had to do without.  With North’s lack of firepower, Wood pulled away a bit and took a 30-21 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Brian Klumpp (14 points, 4 assists) and 7 from Tim Walters.  North cut the lead down to 32-28 to start the third quarter.  Promising soph. Falcon Nate Edwards (11 points, 6 boards), who up until this point had done nothing, made some aggressive plays to guide North back into it.  However, Wood then went on a 14-4 run which was capped off by a beautiful play from Viking leading scorer Matt Spadafora, who dribbled into the lane, went up for a shot, switched hands and still got the shot to fall.  This gave Wood a commanding 46-32 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter.  But instead of throwing in the towel, North showed a lot of character and clawed their way back into it.   North jr. trey bomber John Adamski (15 points, 4/13 on treys!) hit a three as he was fouled and then made the foul shot to complete the 4-point play, making it 46-38.  A runner by North frosh Andrew Pomager (5 points, 7 rebounds) made it 49-44, but this was as close as North would get the rest of the way.  After the Pomager make, play was stopped for several minutes as Wood soph. Theo Jensen went down hard with what looked to be a serious ankle injury.  The trainers tended to him and he had to be carried off of the court.  North definitely could have got closer than they did, but Wood made great plays on the offensive glass three straight times down the court and pushed the lead back up to 57-44, giving Wood fans a happy finish and also keeping Wood’s postseason aspirations afloat.
          A couple of guys really impressed me on Wood.  The main guy was jr. C Rob Pearson, who dominated all over the place.  Pearson came in averaging about 6 PPG, but in this one he toyed with the smaller North defenders and poured in a season high 19 points on 9 of 11 from the floor.  He also added 7 rebounds.  It was a gritty effort.  Walters had a great all around game, going for 15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.  He picked up the slack for Spadafora, who was held to 6 points on 2/7 shooting.  As for North, there are some definite bright spots.  Start with Pomager.  Looking at North’s past box scores, I saw that Pomager has contributed games of 26 and 19 points as a freshman, which is damn good.  They don’t call a lot of plays for him just yet, but he’s got quite a future.  There were flashes of brilliance from Edwards, but at times he seemed like he was out of control.  On a few possessions he recklessly drove to the hoop and threw up a bad shot, and I also read that he has a bit of a temper (he was ejected from North’s game vs. Dougherty).   But this can all be fixed in the next two years.  Adamski is a good player but it seems like his game is one-dimensional.  All he did was fire up three-pointer after three-pointer, and that’s great when the shot is falling, but on nights like tonight when he missed 9 treys things won’t turn out so well.  But he does have a sweet stroke and Adamski-Edwards-Pomager in the CL North next year will be a force to be reckoned with.  6-5 sr. Ryan Davis hustled down low for 2 points and 5 boards.  I used to play club soccer with Ryan back in my Juniata days, and he used to be a heck of a player.  I didn’t think it was possible, but there are two Hanif’s on this earth.  I thought PC sr. Hanif Hopkins was the one and only ‘Nif, but North boasts a similar player in soph. Hanif Edwards, who came off the bench to contribute 6 points and 4 assists.  The North student section was one of the rowdiest I’ve seen this year, and that’s saying something considering there were like 10 of them at the most.  There may have been more but it was the same 5-10 who were doing all of the yelling, and they did A LOT of yelling.  They were often hilarious too, and my favorite was when they told Wood sr. F John Gwiazdowski that he looks like Mikey from the cartoon Recess.  They were dead on too, I used to watch Recess and John looked like Mikey’s twin.
          Now I will try to explain the CL North playoff scenario as best as I can.  Dougherty and La Salle are already in as the #1 and #2 seeds.  So that leaves 3 teams battling for the remaining 2 playoff spots, and they are North, Ryan, and Wood.  After tonight, North has an 8-5 league record, Wood is a game out at 7-6, and assuming Ryan beat cellar dweller McDevitt tonight, they stand at 8-5 too.  Now here’s where it gets interesting.  North plays at Ryan on Sunday, so if I’m not wrong, the winner of that game will improve to 9-5 and pick up the number 3 seed and clinch a first round matchup with La Salle.  Now the loser will fall to 8-6, and assuming Wood also defeats McDevitt (who was 1-11 coming into Friday’s game), Wood and North/Ryan will be tied with 8-6 records.  I’m assuming this will then force a pre-playoff game between these two teams, with the winner getting the fourth seed.  That’s why Wood’s win over North was so huge tonight.  If they had lost, North and Ryan would have both clinched.  But it all goes for naught if Wood stumbles against McDevitt, which I’m guessing won’t happen, so prepare for a pre-playoff game to decide the final team.  So the two games you want to keep an eye out for on Sunday are North-Ryan and Wood-McDevitt.  I’m going to go to the North-Ryan game, so check back for an update then.  I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
         Gans Spread of the Night: Gans liked North by 6…but I’m not going to count this loss since he, like myself, had absolutely no know knowledge whatsoever on either of these teams.  So Gans still stands at 5-2.

FEB. 19
INTER-AC SHOWCASE TOURNEY SEMI
Penn Charter 51, Episcopal 42
          Whew!  For the third time this season and the second time in six days, Penn Charter went head-to-head with Episcopal Academy.  The result was the same as the previous two games, but for the first time in three tries, this one did not come easy for the Quakers.  It looked like PC, fresh off its second consecutive Inter-Ac title, came out of the gate a little sloppy.  On the other hand, the Churchmen fed off of the crowd support (the IA tourney is @ EA this year) and gave PC a real run for its money.
          The first quarter was played mostly on the seesaw, with both teams matching each other point for point with some ties and lead changes.  The Quakers led 15-12 after one, but it was in the second quarter where things really started to get ugly.  Sean Singletary picked up his second foul early and spent a chunk of the second quarter on the bench.  Besides the Singletary fouls, the Quakers were whistled for 3 offensive fouls in the quarter.  Episcopal used a 10-2 burst to start the half and quickly pinned PC down by 5 points, and when things couldn’t seem to get any worse, 6-5 EA soph Gerald Henderson provided a highlight reel play that brought most of the roaring crowd to its feet.  Churchmen sr. PG Brian Shanahan (2 points, 3 assists) dribbled the ball across halfcourt and lobbed a pass that looked like it was going to sail over the backboard.  But Henderson flew through the air caught the ball and threw it down for an explosive slam.  It was an Air Jordan style dunk.  This put PC down by 7 points at 26-19, and with Singletary and Rob Kurz watching from the bench, things were not looking good for the Quakers.  But they did finish the half on an 8-2 run, with the last 3 points coming from frosh Sam Zeglinski (9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists).  After two Episcopal free throws made it 28-24 with :03 left on the clock, Sammy grabbed the inbounds pass, took 3 dribbles and launched a desperation heave from halfcourt…and got nothing but the bottom of the net!  This left the Episcopal faithful stunned, and it was a huge pick-me-up for the Quakers.  During halftime, a guy came over to Zeglinski’s father who was sitting in the front row and said, “Did you teach him that shot??”
         Charter played very good defensively in the third quarter, holding the Churchmen to just 6 points.  PC led 39-34 going into the fourth, but Singletary picked up a very costly and a very questionable fourth foul with 50 seconds left in the third.  It didn’t even look like Sean touched whomever he was guarding at that time, and he was in a state of disbelief as he sulked over to the bench.  With Singletary watching from the bench at the start of the fourth, EA used a mini 6-0 run to take the lead that was highlighted by two more phenomenal plays.   With EA trailing 39-36, the other super sophomore Wayne Ellington missed a shot in the paint, and out of nowhere Henderson came flying through the air to slam down a one handed dunk before anyone even had a chance to grab the rebound.  Henderson’s ability to jump over so many people and dunk the ball like that was amazing, but his timing was even better.  Those were two of the best dunks I’ve seen so far this season, and it’s clear that this kid is going places.  Jr. PG Dylan Brown (4 points, 3 assists) then stole the ensuing inbound pass and found Ellington who, not to be outdone by his teammate, soared through the air for a two handed slam.   I was still recording the stats from Henderson’s dunk when I heard the crowd roar and I looked up only to see Ellington hanging from the rim.  That’s how fast it happened, and it was one of the most jaw dropping sequences I’ve seen this year.  PC coach Jim Phillips quickly called a timeout to settle his team down, who all of a sudden trailed by one point.  Flip used the timeout to put Singletary back into the game, and about a minute later Sean drilled a tough fade away jumper from the foul line that put PC back on top.  Sammy Zigs followed with a line drive 3 pointer, and then Singletary found Kurz on a beautiful pass that Rob layed in and was fouled.  Singletary, not finished yet, found Joe Rauchut on another beautiful feed that Joe layed in for an easy bucket.  Just like that, PC was up 49-40 and the Quaker fans could breathe easy again.  It was a great run that was really engineered by Singletary, who refused to let his team lose this game.  Sean finished with a respectable 16 points (7/11 shooting), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals despite playing only 22 minutes.  Rob Kurz had a bit of an off night, finishing with 11 points and 6 rebounds on just 4 for 12 from the floor, but he was still a factor down low.  Joe Rauchut played clean up duty for 10 points.  He scored all five of his field goals on layups, and he was able to get these open looks because his teammates kept finding him underneath with beautiful passes.  Sammy tallied 9 points while his brother Zack only scored 2, but he again played great D on Shanahan for the entire game.  As for Episcopal, it was the Ellington and Henderson show again.  They scored 14 points a piece, but shot just 12 for 38 combined.  These guys are so fun to watch and it’s just amazing how much skills they have as sophomores.  It’s scary to think they haven’t even come close to reaching their peak yet.   Joe Rosati played a very physical and impressive game for the Churchmen, hustling for 8 rebounds (6 of which were offensive).  This was a game Episcopal could have won, but they scored just 14 points in the second half and fell victim to that late run, which ended their very impressive season.
          Sixers ex-coach Randy Ayers was on hand to watch his son Ryan lead Germantown Academy to a 54-40 win over Malvern in the other semifinal game.  Both PC and GA’s seasons will come to an end on Saturday afternoon, when they will face off in the championship game.  To me, there isn’t a better way to end the season than to watch these two ancient rivals square off for the third time this year, so make your way over to Episcopal to check this one out.   And as Huck stated in his report, it will be the last game to catch Singletary and Kurz in a PC uniform before they head off to play at Virginia and Notre Dame this fall, so don’t miss it.
     Gans Spread of the Game: PC by 15…Gans’ four game win streak ends as he falls to 5-2.  Look for him to bounce back with the three other games I’m attending this weekend.
    Player of the Game: Singletary, who shook off the foul trouble to lead his team to the fourth quarter win.

FEB. 15
CATHOLIC NORTH
La Salle 48, Judge 32
          This was my first look at either team this season, and it’s obvious which team is heading into the CL playoffs and which one will be spectators.   La Salle (17-6, 9-3 league) left me surprisingly impressed, while Judge (11-12, 4-8) often looked lost out there.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the Explorers, because they don’t have a lot of size. But they played aggressively and dominated the Crusaders in all aspects of this one.  The two things I noticed the most about La Salle is that they play great, unselfish offense and then suffocating D on the other end.  They held Judge’s starters to just four field goals in the entire game, and there were a lot of possessions where Judge just passed the ball around because they couldn’t get a decent shot off.  La Salle F-C Nick Shattuck (13 points, 5 rebounds), who appears to be the Explorers tallest player at about 6-3 ½, started the game off with two straight 3-pointers, but the first quarter was anything but fast paced as La Salle led 12-7 after eight minutes.  The second quarter was an even bigger yawner, as this time La Salle outscored Judge 8-7.  It wasn’t a pretty first half at all, but you can tell that La Salle doesn’t play to score 80 points every game.  They’re a very defensive minded team and it looks like they use the philosophy of “well if we play good defense for 32 minutes then no matter how many points we score we should still get the win”.  At one point after a failed fancy pass attempt, La Salle coach Marty Jackson screamed “Come on! Can’t we just be good and not try to be pretty?!”  But whatever the case, it seems to be working for the Explorers because in the last two games they’ve only allowed 33 and 32 points, respectively.
          La Salle used the third quarter to finally pull away from Judge.  They limited the Crusaders to just 5 third quarter points and led by 16 after three.  Shattuck and Ryan Kirk (2 for 8 treys, 3 assists) led the explorers with 13 and Colin Fitzgerald had a solid all around game of 6 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.  The guy that really impressed me was fan favorite Kevin Moll.  The Explorer fans were cheering Moll on for the entire game and he really played hard, hustling for 10 points and 14 rebounds.  Moll isn’t tall either, but he showed that if you play physical and box out then you can outrebound anybody.  La Salle definitely looked good and I think they might be able to surprise a few people in the playoffs, which should start sometime in the next week or two.  As for Judge, they were hard to watch.  They looked like they didn’t have a clue on offense, and I know some of this can be accredited to La Salle’s defense, but I can only think of maybe 3 possessions in the game where Judge got a good look at the basket.  It just seemed like nobody wanted the ball.  Judge’s best player, 6-5 sr. swingman Steve Wolf, was held to just 2 points on 1 for 6 shooting (he didn’t score until 6 minutes left in the fourth).  He couldn’t get open at all and he was hounded by La Salle’s student section all day.  Arthur Livingston was the only real bright spot for the Crusaders, as he came off the bench to hustle for 8 points and 9 rebounds.  Judge coach Bill Fox uses a peculiar offensive rotation, as instead of bringing 1 or 2 guys off the bench at a time, he brings in five guys and sits his entire starting lineup for chunks at a time.  Normally I would think it’s strange, but today it worked as Judge’s reserves outscored the starters 22-10.  The La Salle student section of about 20-30 kids was pretty loud and often funny.  They were screaming lines from Wednesday night’s Chapelle’s Show and one kid would just start screaming really loud whenever a Judge player would go to the foul line.  I guess it worked, because the Crusaders shot just 5 for 11 at the stripe.  But that’s it for me, as I am off to sulk over the Yankees acquisition of A-Rod.  I mean, come on!   The Yankees seriously ruin baseball for me every year.  George Steinbrenner needs to go away (if you can’t tell by my rant, besides being a big Phillies fan I also love the Red Sox).
  Gans Spread of the Game: La Salle by 9…Gans covers again to improve to 5-1, despite the fact that he claimed, “This is just a guess because I know nothing about either team”.

FEB. 13
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 79, Episcopal 62
          Friday the 13th turned out to be pretty lucky for the Penn Charter basketball team.  Despite a first half scare, the Quakers were successfully able to complete their second consecutive undefeated Inter-Ac season for the first time since the 1963-64 seasons.  The win didn’t come easy, or at least it didn’t until the second half.  The Churchmen (20-5, 5-5 league) gave the Quakers (19-7, 10-0) all they could handle in the first half, and for the first time in a league game this season, PC trailed at halftime.  Coming into the game, the Quakers had defeated Inter-Ac opponents by an average margin of 21.5 points per game, so there was a little cause for concern when Episcopal took the lead at halftime, but a dominating performance in the third quarter capped off another perfect season.
          Before the game, Penn Charter honored its four seniors (Sean Singletary, Rob Kurz, Hanif Hopkins, & Dave McEnerney) as this was the last game all of them could play on their home court.  Coach Jim Phillips awarded ‘Nif and Dave with a starting nod and they played for most of the first quarter until usual starters Sammy Zeglinski and Joe Rauchut (9 points, 4 boards) relieved them.  The first quarter started out good enough, as the 6-9 Kurz stepped behind the arc and drilled two treys to start the game off.  Rob has evolved as more of an inside threat this year, but he showed the Churchmen that he can still knock down the long ball.  Despite Kurz’s explosion, PC held only a 4-point lead after one, and this was in large part due to Episcopal soph. G Wayne Ellington.  Ellington was all over the place in the first half, scoring from inside and out and it appeared like he was really going to take over the game.  PC held the lead for most of the second despite Ellington’s hot touch, but a Brian Shanahan three (9 points, 3 for 7 treys) put EA up 32-30 with 1:56 to go, prompting Flip to call a timeout.  The Churchmen took a 34-32 into the half (putting tonight’s Gans spread in serious jeopardy), as Ellington led the way with 18 first half points.  Kurz led the Quakers with 14 at the break, while Singletary added 7 on 3 of 8 shooting.
         The 3/8 clip for Singletary did worry me a little bit, as Sean was coming off 5/19 and 4/13 shooting performances against Haverford and Malvern, and it looked like he was a little off in the first half.  But he proved me wrong.  Big time.  Singletary went nuts in the third quarter, dropping 11 in the first 3 minutes and 18 overall to dismiss the upset threat.  PC started the quarter on a quick 9-2 run, forcing a frustrated Episcopal team to call a timeout.  However, this didn’t stop the Quakers, as Singletary hit two consectutive treys in 40 seconds, putting the Quakers up by 11 and forcing another Episcopal timeout.  Ellington’s heroics pretty much ended as his shots stopped falling, but he did finish with a team high 27 points, and the other super soph. Gerald Henderson contributed 14 points.  PC outscored EA 27-9 in the third quarter, which put the Quakers up 59-41 and they maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way.
          It was the men that led PC to back-to-back 10-0 Inter-Ac seasons that won this one.  Sean Singletary and Rob Kurz showed why they are one of (if not the best) 1-2 punches in the city, as they completely took the game over in the second half.  Singletary finally shook his shooting slump and scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half.  His final box score on his home court looked like this: 12 for 21 (9/13 in the second half), 6 for 12 on treys (5 in the second half), 10 rebounds and 7 assists.  Kurz followed close behind and finished 13 for 19 (two treys) for 28 points and 7 rebounds.  This was a special night for both of them, and it’s gonna be tough when the season officially ends next week, because I know I speak for a lot of people when I say I could watch these guys play any time.  But I’m sure we will have plenty of opportunities in the next four years to catch Virginia and Notre Dame games on TV.  The guy who will try to pick up some of the slack left by Kurz and Singletary next year, Zack Zeglinski, had his usual solid performance with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.   Look for those numbers to be more like 25-6-6 next season.  As for the crowd, they yet again filled PC’s gym for a Friday night game.  The student section for Charter was sizeable as always, but the rowdiness wasn’t there in large part because PC director of admissions Dr. Stephen Bonnie was on hand to keep the crowd in check after things got a little too crazy in the Friday nighter vs. GA.  But about a dozen of us still stood for the entire game and got a lot of chants going.
    Gans Spread of the Game: PC by 12…Gans covers for the third straight game despite the first half scare (he also picked an over/under tonight saying the total would be over 130, which got right as well).  Gans improved to 4-1 overall, and even though the basketball season is almost over, I will talk to Gans about carrying this feature over to baseball season.   A few PC students even tried to follow in his footsteps tonight.  Srs. Mike Black (26), Tim “the T-Unit” Starr (21), Chris Mouzon (25), and Corey Thomas (18) all made their spread predictions, but all came up short.
  Special Ed’s Player of the Game: Gotta give this one to Singletary and Kurz.
   Next Game: PC will begin play in the second annual Inter-Ac postseason tourney (which has no impact on the league winner, it’s really just for fun) next Thursday night.

FEB. 10
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 69, Malvern 49
          In honor of the finally beautiful weather outside, the Quakers turned in a beautiful performance of their own on Tuesday afternoon.  OK, that was pretty corny, but you get the idea.  Penn Charter swarmed into Malvern’s gym and notched another convincing win against an Inter-Ac opponent.  The win gave the Quakers their ninth league win of the season (a perfect 9-0) and allowed them to clinch their second consecutive Inter-Ac Title.  They did so despite star guard Sean Singletary’s second straight off night.  On Friday, Sean finished 5 for 19 in a win against Haverford and today his troubles continued as he missed 10 of his first 11 shots and everything he threw up there seemed to rim out.  He did hit heat up a bit in the fourth and finished 4 for 13 (14 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 boards).  But even though Sean had another difficult game, PC pretty much coasted to victory in what was supposed to be a very tough game.
          When PC met Malvern last on Jan. 3, it was close throughout and the Friars really made the Quakers earn their first league win of the season.  Things were the same this time around only for the first eight minutes.  The first quarter was really back and forth and the Friars looked like they were going to put up another good fight.  They stayed in it despite Rob Kurz’s dominating performance.  Rob was having his way down low on the smaller Malvern defenders, tallying 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting, including the first 7 Quaker points.  Malvern sr. F Dan Plunkett scored 8 of his 12 points in the first to help his team keep pace.  But the second quarter was, I bet, one of the worst Malvern has ever endured.  They missed everything: field goals, 3 pointers, free throws, layups, etc… and scored exactly 0 points.  This happened for a few reasons.  The main one was Penn Charter’s defense.  They wouldn’t give Malvern one inch to shoot out there, and it was one of the more impressive defensive showings I’ve seen this year (and PC almost always plays very good defense).   Another reason was that Malvern’s superman Brian Grandieri spent a lot of the second quarter on the bench.  I guess it was due to foul trouble, but if I’m not mistaken Brian only had 2 fouls at that point, so I’m not sure what happened there.   Even though they hadn’t scored, Malvern was still relatively close until a Zack Zeglinski trey and a Joe Rauchut (6 points) pinned them down by 17.  Malvern was able to cut the lead down to 44-35 in the third quarter, but Kurz responded with one of his two three ball’s and PC went onto score the next 12 points to seal the win.
          Kurz pretty much dominated in this one.  He scored from inside and outside en route to 25 points (9 for 12 from the floor), 10 boards, and 4 blocks.  Zack Zeglinski stepped up when Singletary was struggling and finished with 15 points and 3 boards.  He also did a phenomenal job guarding Grandieri.  It seemed like whoever Zack was guarding couldn’t make a shot.  He may not be the team’s leading scorer but he brings so much to the table and I bet you anyone would admit that they would be in trouble without him.  As for Grandieri, it was a tough day for him.  It started out good, as he was honored before the game for becoming the second leading scorer in school history with 1500+ points in his career.  But Zack and Singletary always had a hand in his face and his four field goals were all layups or from close range.  He finished 4 for 13 en route to 14 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals, which is a solid game, but the Friars needed more from him to be able to win this game.   Nevertheless, he’s a great player and always plays his heart out.  It seemed like whenever he was on the court he was around the ball.  Teammates Dan Plunkett and Sean Dougherty contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.  I also need to thank PC coach Jim Phillips, for if not for him I may have missed the game.  I got to the game early and fell asleep in the bleachers during warmups, but Flip was kind enough eight minutes before the game started to shout “Special Ed! Wake up you’re missing the game!”  I immediately jumped up and was ready to go.
Gans Spread of the Game: PC by 7…Gans easily covers to improve to 3-1.
Special Ed’s Player(s) of the Game: Kurz for his great performance and Zack Zeglinski for both his offense and his defense on Grandieri.
Next Game: PC plays its last home game of the season Friday night vs. Episcopal.

FEB. 9
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 64, Ryan 48
          Coming off tough games against Oak Hill (5-point loss) and North Catholic (6 point-win), Cardinal Dougherty was hoping to coast to an easy win over Catholic North rival Archbishop Ryan.  However, the Raiders made things tough on the Cardinals and stayed in it until the very end, but Dougherty was ultimately able to get back into the win column and took their 10th straight league game.  From the opening tipoff, you could tell that Kyle Lowry was feeling it.  He recorded four quick steals in the first quarter and with about 20 seconds remaining, he took the ball at halfcourt, looked at the scoreboard, slowly dribbled some time off the clock, and with about 5 seconds left made his move and drilled a 3 before the buzzer sounded.  It was like he was toying with Ryan’s defense.  He finished with 8 in the quarter and guided the Cardinals to a 17-10 lead after one.  The second quarter was kind of back and forth, and everytime Ryan seemed to chip away at the lead Dougherty would respond with another basket to silence the momentum.  Dougherty showed off the quality of its defense in the first half, holding the Raiders to 9 of 24 (38%) from the field.  The Cards, on the other hand, went 11 for 18 (61%) en route to a 30-20 halftime lead.  Ryan’s big three of Joe Zeglinski, Joe Mullin (7 points, 4 boards), and Jim Welsh was kept under wraps in the first half, with Zeglinski leading the way with 6 points.  Lowry led Dougherty with 13 at the break, while DeSean White chipped in 10.
          Dougherty still held a double digit advantage for most of the third quarter, but Ryan began to play more aggressively on both ends of the floor.  When Lowry picked up his third foul with 5:39 to go, Zeglinski began to play much more assertively and his teammates seemed to feed off of his energy.  He converted some free throws and hit a three that cut the lead down to 42-34.  But as they usually do, Dougherty quickly responded, scoring the final 4 of the quarter and taking a 12 point lead into the fourth.  Ryan scored the first five of the fourth, including a Zeglinski three that made it 46-39, prompting Dougherty coach Mark Heimerdinger to call a timeout.   Everything began to go through Zeglinski after his only trey of the game, but unfortunately for Ryan he started to get cold as the quarter progressed.  But this didn’t knock the Raiders out of it.  Welsh (13 points, 3/5 on treys) hit a three from the right wing with 4:18 to go, making the score 50-44.   This was as close as Ryan had been since the first quarter, but it would also be as close as they would get the rest of the game.   Lowry sunk two free throws and then fooled Zeglinski on a beautiful stutter step and calmly drained an 16-footer that pushed the lead back to 10.  This was the knockout punch, as Dougherty converted free throws the rest of the way.  Lowry was flat out nasty in this one and after he fouled out with 57 seconds to go, his final stats looked like this: 11 for 14 (two treys), 5 for 6 at the line, 30 points, 7 boards, 5 steals, 3 dimes, and 2 blocks.  He’s so fun to watch, and in the end I really do hope that both he and Sean Singletary make the All-American team.  They both deserve it.  White chipped in with 23 points and 7 boards, as he and Lowry accounted for 53 of the 64 Cardinal points.   For some reason, Shane Clark only took 4 shots, making 2 en route 5 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists.  Timmy Smith made the only shot he took and contributed 5 points and 4 assists.  On the way into the gym, Tim’s grandfather recognized me from Saturday’s game against Oak Hill and I ended up sitting and talking with him for the entire game.  He told me that Timmy doesn’t know where he’s going to school yet next year, but he said as long as he can play basketball then that’s all that matters.  He remains one of my favorite players to watch.
          This was my first look at Ryan this year and the first time I saw Joey Zeglinski play since two years ago when he played varsity ball at Penn Charter as an eighth grader.  Besides having some trouble guarding Lowry (who doesn’t though?) and going cold for a bit at the end, he had a good game and kept Ryan in it.  He finished with 20 points (6 for 17, 1 for 6 on treys), 5 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals, and both of his brothers were in attendance to cheer him on.  But aside from Zeglinski, I didn’t really see too many bright spots for Ryan.  It seemed like they were hesitant to shoot the ball at times and a lot of the time when they caught the ball near the foul line they had their backs to the basket.  It just looked like they were playing to keep pace instead of playing to win.  But hey, they are 13-7, so what do I know?
        The “Gans” Spread of the night: Dougherty by 13, which means Gans covers to improve to 2-1.  I’ve known about the Gans spread for quite awhile and I wish I would have implemented it into some of the earlier reportd, but it will be around for the rest of the games I attend.
      Next Game: PC plays at Malvern tomorrow at 3:45, and the Quakers can clinch their second consecutive Inter-Ac title with a win.   

FEB. 7
PRIME TIME SHOOTOUT
Oak Hill Academy (Va.) 62, Dougherty 57
          Check this out: Between the two starting lineups of Cardinal Dougherty and Oak Hill Academy, seven of the ten players will be playing Division I next year (and 1 maybe even in the NBA).  So that means it would be four quarters of non-stop offense, right?  Well, in some spurts yes, but overall no.  Both teams showed off the quality of their defenses (Dougherty in the first half, Oak Hill in the second half) more than anything else.  But even though this one wasn’t the offensive shootout some may have expected, fans at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton were still treated to some jaw dropping plays and in the end an overall great game.
          For those of you who don’t know, Oak Hill (located in rural Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) is renowned for consistently assembling one of the best basketball teams in the country.  The school has produced players such as Jerry Stackhouse, Carmelo Anthony, and Steve Blake, all of whom now play in the NBA.  This year is no different, as they came into the game a perfect 25-0 and were ranked as the #1 team in the nation by USA Today.  Four of their five starters are committed to major D-I programs, and I read in a program that in 19 years, head coach Steve Smith has a record of something like 582-36 (that statistic isn’t exact, but it’s pretty darn close).  So all of this means that Catholic League frontrunners Dougherty wouldn’t stand a chance against the mighty Warriors, right?  Guess again.  Dougherty held their own in the first quarter and by halftime held a 15-point lead, and it looked like they were going to pull off the upset of the year.  However, their offense faltered in the second half (they scored only 18 points after halftime) and Oak Hill finally began to play like the country’s best team.
          Oak Hill got out to an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter, but Dougherty refused to let the opponent any momentum.  The Cardinals matched Oak Hill point for point and trailed 17-15 after eight minutes.  The second quarter is when the show really began, though.  With Kyle Lowry (Villanova--10 points, 10 assists, 8 boards) running the offense and everything that DeSean White (Providence--22 points, 8 rebounds) and Shane Clark (Villanova--22 points, 5 boards) threw up going in, the Warriors were powerless to stop the bleeding.   A Lowry oop to Clark made it 32-22, prompting Coach Smith to call a timeout in frustration.  But the timeout didn’t help and Oak Hill still couldn’t do anything on offense, being constantly frustrated by Dougherty’s 1-3-1 zone.  White hit a trey to end the first half, and all of a sudden the Cardinals had the number one team in the country pinned down by 15 points.  White scored 17 in the first half, while Clark poured in 14 and Lowry added 5 points and 9 assists.  As Oak Hill walked toward the locker room, they were showered with chants of “Overrated!” from the Cardinals faithful.
          But high school games are 32 minutes long, and unfortunately for Dougherty the magic ran out after 16.  Oak Hill gained the momentum back by starting the third quarter on an 8-2 run and just continued to pour it on from there.  6-2 sr. G Rajon Rondo (Kentucky--16P, 3A, 3S, 3R) scored 6 straight after Doughtery’s next basket and that fast the lead was down to five.  Lowry picked up his fourth foul with 3:36 to go in the quarter and was forced to play a more conservative game, which was definitely an advantage to Oak Hill.  Dougherty led 44-42 after three, but the damage was done.  They shot a brutal 2 for 16 (5 total points) in the period and let an angry Oak Hill bunch back into it.  Aside from Rondo, Oak Hill’s other stars hadn’t done much up to this point, but that all changed in the fourth.  6-9 sr. F Brian Johnson (Louisville—15 points, 10 rebounds) scored on a layup with 7:15 to go that tied the game, and he was really a factor inside, especially on defense.  Anytime Dougherty drove toward the net it seemed like he was there to swat the shot away.  6-8 F Josh Smith (an Indiana signee, but many expect him to jump right to the NBA), one of the nation’s best players, was also kept under control for most of the game until the fourth quarter.  He gave Oak Hill their first lead since the start of the second quarter on a beautiful pass from Rondo with 5:29 to go, and Dougherty would never see the lead again.  Paired with finally red hot offense, Oak Hill played smothering defense the rest of the way and made it impossible for Dougherty to crawl back into it.  Clark kept the Cardinals in it with 8 points in the final 2:14, but Oak Hill was able to convert free throws down the stretch and successfully completed the come from behind victory.  Even though Dougherty lost, I’m sure that this was the toughest test Oak Hill faced so far this season.
          Some thoughts on the individual performances: Lowry struggled from the floor shooting only 3 for 12, but he still made his presence known.  As Huck said in his Dougherty-North report, Lowry can do so much to hurt you even when he isn’t shooting the ball well.  He made some great passes to set up a lot of baskets in the first half and I expect him to contribute right away next year at 'Nova.  White had a great first half, and he impresses me more every time with his range.   Despite being 6-8 and weighing 245, he knocked down a bunch of 12-18 footers with ease, and he shoots with confidence.  I don’t know how much he’ll contribute in his first year at Providence, but I’m betting you haven’t heard the last of him.  Clark was also impressive with his jumper, and he has so many skills that it’s ridiculous.  My only criticism of him is that he’s too skinny for a guy his size (180 lbs at 6-8), but he can work on that.
    As for Oak Hill, their guys were impressive but could and should have been better.  They played an extremely sloppy first half and often looked lost.  Rondo has a lot of skill but he needs to work on his free throw shooting (3 for 8 as a guard under Tubby Smith will not fly next year).  Johnson has a lot of inside ability, and he should continue to blossom under Rick Pitino, who is one of basketball’s best teachers.  6-6 G-F Dayshawn Wright (7 points, 6 rebounds) looks like he can step in and give Syracuse some help right away.  As for Josh Smith, I’m a little skeptical.  I don’t know if he plans to be a guard or forward next year wherever he plays, but it’s clear that he needs a lot of work on his jumper (he was short on a few shots) and he’s too skinny to be a dominant big man on a higher level.  If I were him, I’d take that scholarship to Indiana and let the NBA wait for a year or two, because he isn’t ready yet.  But he has unlimited potential, and you will be hearing his name a lot in the future.
     Overall, this was a great showing by Dougherty.  They proved they can play with anybody and that they could even dominate teams like Oak Hill at times.   It’s unfortunate that they came up short, but I can guarantee you that they won’t let this loss faze them and they are hungry for that Catholic League title.  Personally, I’d love to see a Prep-Dougherty rematch in the final, but only time will tell if that’s how it will happen.

FEB. 6
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 73, Haverford School 50
          I’m not going to say too much about this one because I’m going to leave soon to catch the Dougherty-Oak Hill game over in Trenton (make sure to check back on that one for a report as well), but there were a few things that stuck out in this triumph over Haverford.  You know what they say, “You’re not a good team until you prove you can win ugly”.   Do they say that?  Well, if they don’t, then I do.  I think the Quakers came into this one a little overconfident and maybe were expecting to blow the Fords of Haverford out of their own gym.  The final score looks like they achieved that goal, but not without a lot of struggle.
          The weather conditions were nasty outside, and the shooting from inside was not much better.  PC jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead and were up 18-5 with less than a minute to go in the quarter, so things actually weren’t going so bad.  But Tom Close (13 points, 5 boards) hit a three pointer from the left wing with less than 10 seconds to go in the quarter, and this definitely swung the momentum in the Fords favor.  PC started to take some bad shots and turned the ball over more than usual.  Things were so bad in the second quarter that even good shots the Quakers took were rimming out.  Close hit another 3 to make it 27-21, and then Jon Haldy (11 points) responded with another three to cut the Quakers lead to 29-24.  The Quakers got a timely 3 ball from Sammy Zeglinski (9 points, 5 steals, 3 boards), but the score was still too close for comfort going into halftime, with PC up 34-28.  Rob Kurz (7 for 17, 21 points, 8 rebounds) scored 10 in the half, but he shot only 3 for 9.  Sean Singletary (18 points, 6 steals, 5 boards, 3 dimes) had an even tougher time, going 2 for 10 before halftime.  Zack Zeglinski scored all 7 of his points before halftime, and it was evident that the Quakers needed to do something if they wanted to avoid a huge upset.  Haldy scored all 11 of his points before the half, and they survived a first half on a night when their star player had an off night too.  Pete Kathopoulis (8 points, 8 assists) scored 6 points and dished 6 assists in the first half, but he finished 3 for 12 in the game.  I guess it was just one of those nights for some players tonight.
          Thankfully for Charter, Haverford had an even more difficult time scoring the ball in the third quarter, and this allowed PC to gradually pull away.  Singletary caught his only real fire of the game in a brief spurt in the third where he scored 7 quick points to make it 43-31.  It was a difficult night for Sean.  He finished the night with a 5 for 19 performance, which is highly uncharacteristic for him.  However, to his credit, he kept on shooting and got a lot of good looks, they just wouldn’t fall for him.  I was sitting behind Haldy’s family, and they suggested that Sean was struggling so much because their son was playing such great defense on him.  I don’t know about all that, I just think it was one of those rare off nights for Sean, and he should get back on track this week with the last two regular season league games against Malvern and Episcopal.  The Quakers outscored Haverford 22-5 in the third and the bench played out the rest of the game.
          With this win, the Quakers clinched at least a tie for their second consecutive Inter-Ac Title.  If Malvern defeats GA today or PC beats either Malvern or Episcopal next week, the title is theirs.   As for the crowd, it was not very impressive, at least for a Friday night game.  Practically no PC students showed up for this one, and I don’t know if it was the rain outside or Haverford’s losing record that stopped them from coming, but I was a little disappointed.  However, four faithful Bleacher Bums showed up (sr. Mike Black and jr’s. Hunter “Hunt-Po” Maloumian, Jake Markovitz, & Dave Roithstein), and these guys should be commended for leading the PC section tonight, even though they did not make too many friends with the Haverford parents (smile).  Those guys and myself just had to do a little extra screaming tonight.
The “Gans” Spread of the night: 33…sorry Gans, you lost this one, and I think I’ll make this a recurring feature for the rest of the season to see how good Gans is (for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, refer back to 2/3’s PC-CHA report).
Special Ed’s Player of the Game: Rob Kurz
Next Game: PC will play its makeup game at Malvern on Tuesday, but check back for a report on Dougherty-Oak Hill later tonight.

FEB. 3
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 94, Chestnut Hill 45
            This was a battle of the polar opposites in the Inter-Ac, and the team with the better record won easily.  Penn Charter came in to the game with a mighty 6-0 league record, while the Blue Devils of CHA were licking their wounds at 0-6.  PC had a sluggish first quarter start as they missed some early shots and saw CHA jump out to an 8-4 lead, but the Quakers soon got their acts together and finished the quarter strong behind the play of Gs Sean Singletary and Zack Zeglinski.  Sean and Zigs accounted for 18 of the 22 first quarter points, and Singletary was just getting started.  He ended the first with 11, which was highlighted by two treys toward the end of the period.   The show really began in the second quarter, though.  In a span of about 90 seconds, Singletary hit 4 straight three balls to knock CHA out of it.  It was like playing NBA Jam when you hit a few shots in a row and you get on fire and everything you throw up goes in.  Add it up and that’s 6 three pointers in the first half.   He might have had a chance to join Ted’s 8-trey Club but Coach Phillips only left him in for a few minutes in the second half.  Sean finished 7 for 11 (6 for 8 on treys), 25 points (23 in the first half), 3 boards, and 2 each of assists and steals.  As for Zeglinski, he was literally perfect.  He shot 7 for 7 overall (2 for 2 on treys) and also added 3 steals and 2 dimes.  Sam Zeglinski added 5 points and a season high 12 assists, including one on the best play of the game.  With 2:46 left in the second, Sam dribbled across halfcourt and lobbed a perfect alley oop to Rob Kurz (11P, 4R, 2S) that Rob finished with a thunderous slam.  This put PC up 46-20, and things stayed like this for the rest of the game.  CHA shot the ball well (44%), but only made 15 field goals.  The Blue Devils didn’t have any big performances, as their big scorers Julian McFadden and Chris McInerney scored only 7 points each.  On the flip side, the Quakers shot a torrid 56 % from the field (31 for 55) and were able to get back in the win column after Saturday’s nail biting loss against Dougherty.  As for the Inter-Ac as a whole, PC all but clinched its second straight league title (knock on wood).  Up 2 games with only 3 to go, a major collapse is the only thing that would prevent the Quakers from winning it.  There are still tough games left against Malvern and Episcopal, but after winning 19 league games in a row (over the past 2+ seasons) and playing like they have been over the past month, a collapse should be avoided.
            I’m going to keep this report relatively short since I’m also going to weigh in on the Prep-Roman game, but I have to say a few more things.  Earlier in the day during school, PC soph. sub R.J. Lyons said to me, “Yo Ed, you gotta cover the JV game today!”  I told R.J. I couldn’t because I was going to another game afterwards, but as it turns out, I didn’t have to watch the JV game.  R.J. went 2 for 4 (1 trey) from the field and 6 for 6 from the line en route to a season high 11 points.  If he plays with as much confidence as he did tonight, he could be a solid contributor on next year’s team.  The other very good sign I saw came from the team’s other R.J.  Jr. F R.J. Hollinshead played in his first game since injuring his right knee on Jan. 9 at GA.  He entered the game midway through the third, quickly recorded a block and finished with 2 points.   It was great to see R.J. back in the lineup.   Even though there are only a few games left on the schedule, R.J. should be ready to resume his job as starting catcher on PC’s baseball team when the season starts in March.
Ramblings:
-  The 49-point margin of victory was the highest so far this season, surpassing the 48-point win notched over GFS in December.
-   In attendance was Don the “Superfan”.  Don is known for his loyalty to GFS basketball, but he’s made it over to a bunch of PC games this year.  Let me tell you, this guy is INTENSE.  He was cheering PC on constantly for 32 minutes, and when I came back to kill some time at the JV game, he was still there rooting the team on.
-   According to PC jr. and Bleacher Bum Matt “Gans” Gannon, PC covered the “Gans Spread” in this game.  Apparently, the Gans spread was 40 points in this one, but it has been known to fluctuate.   If I’m not wrong, it was 30 in a game earlier this year.  Whatever the case, keep up the good work Gans. 
Special Ed’s Player of the Game: Sean Singletary
Next Game: Friday night, 7:30PM @ Haverford

FEB. 3
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 74, Roman 59
            After missing the Dougherty-LaSalle game I intended to go to on Jan. 25, I finally got out to my first Catholic League game on Tuesday night.  After getting in without a ticket (I used my tedsilary.com reporting credentials to weasel my way in), I had to wait about 2 hours until the game started.  The time went by slowly, but I did get to meet fellow website reporters Huck and Colin “Curtin Call” Curtin, which was fun.  In the end, in front of a packed house at Philadelphia University, I suppose the game was worth it.  The leads never really got larger than 8-9 points until the end when the Prep converted free throws down the stretch.  However, even though the game was close throughout, the Prep never really lost control and were flowing out there.
            Prep sr. sniper John Griffin (a Bucknell signee) had a hot start, hitting his first 3 shots en route to 7 first quarter points.  He hit some clutch shots for them down the stretch and finished with a solid all around game: 6 for 14 (2/8 on treys), 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists.   Prep’s other star guard Chris Clark hit on 4 of his 11 attempts (3 for 8 behind the arc) and also converted 9 of 10 at the line en route to 20 points to lead both teams.  These two guys love to hoist the long ball (they did the same when they beat PC back in December), and both of them have such a sweet stroke that you have to be comfortable with most of the shots that they take.  However, it was two other Prep players that impressed me the most.  Soph. F Reggie Redding (17 points, 8 boards, 4 dimes, 2 swipes) always seems to have great all around performances.  He shook off an 0 for 6 start and played great the rest of the game.  He gives the Prep something to look forward to the next two seasons when they graduate the rest of their starting lineup in June.  The other guy that really impressed me was 6-4 F-C Mike Kearney.  He’s not as explosive as last year’s center Mark Zoller (although Kearney does sport a similar hairdo), but he gets the job done.  He played relentless defense (I hear that’s his trademark) and really kept Roman star Charron Fisher from ever becoming a factor.  He also scored 8 points and even showed some range on a few open mid-range jumpers.   I read in Ted’s DN story that Mike is a D-I track prospect and is considering schools such as Marist, Marquette, and Fordham.   These are all schools that I applied to, so maybe we’ll even end up being classmates next year (smile).  The other Prep starter, 5-9 sr. G Jared Black shot 3 for 5 (two treys) for 8 points and Corey O’Rourke added 7 off the bench.  As for Black, I played a lot of CYO ball against him back in the day when he was at St. Bernard’s and I was at St. Dominic.  In another interesting twist, I’m real good friends with PC sr. and Bleacher Bum Mike Black, who is Jared’s cousin.  Small world.
            As for Roman and Fisher (Niagara), I’m sure they’ve both had better nights.  Fisher was hounded by Kearney and Redding all night and took only 8 shots, hitting 4 of them.  He shot 6 for 6 at the stripe, good for 14 points.  He added 8 rebounds and 2 steals.  The 14 points is 9 below his season average.  He missed a dunk in the fourth quarter that nobody really contested, so I guess it just wasn’t his night.  It also showed the quality of Prep’s defense.  With Fisher struggling, three other Cahillites stepped up and scored in double figures: Khalil Ferguson (13P, 8R), Andre Sloan-El (12P, 4R), and Malik Perry (12P, 4R, 2 blocks).  Roman cut it to 48-44 late in the third, but the Hawks quickly responded and a Redding 3 with 3:30 to go in the fourth made it 64-52 and buried the Cahillites for the night.  As for the crowd, it filled Philly U’s gym to capacity plus more but I was pretty disappointed with the student cheering section.  As far as I saw, Prep didn’t even have one and Roman’s was weak.  I guess this was because it was a Tuesday nighter instead of Friday, but I still expected more rowdiness.
            As for the Catholic League as a whole, it’s definitely stacked with the most talented teams.  I can definitely see another Prep-Dougherty final in the future, except this time Dougherty would most likely be favored to win.  However, I wouldn’t count the Prep out of this.  A lot of people wrote them off when they lost Zoller and T.J. Valerio, but they look better than ever.  So far this year, they’ve beaten teams such as Roman, Penn Charter, West Catholic, La Salle, Neumann (twice), and stand at a very impressive 17-2.  They’re the team to beat in the Catholic League until someone can prove otherwise.