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Nick's Sports Crusade Return to TedSilary.com Home Page Nick Mandarano is a junior at Lansdale Catholic HS with an
appreciation for sports at the high school level. Since March 2011, Nick has
been covering pro and college sports through a self-run podcast and
has recently added high school sports to the podcast's arsenal. As a result,
Nick has discovered a passion for high school sports that goes hand-in-hand
with his love of writing. Nick couldn't be happier to join the crew and to
write about his Crusaders! |
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Nick is now doing shows about Philly high school
sports with his buddy, Dan Spinelli, who attends
La Salle.
Here's the link . . .
http://www.30minutesofmadness.com/highschool.html
FEB. 11
CATHOLIC LEAGUE PREPLAYOFF
Lansdale Catholic 50, Conwell-Egan 35
Lansdale Catholic wasn’t too happy when they were told
they had to play Conwell-Egan for a second night in a row. With each team
finishing 3-10, there was a tie for 10th place in the PCL, the last team in the
playoffs. The head-to-head rule for tied teams is ignored in the PCL, so when LC
beat Egan in their last game, they were still forced to play the Eagles in a
play-in game. That means in order to make the playoffs, LC would have to beat
Egan in two consecutive nights, with neither game at their home court.
The Crusaders came out fired up, blowing the game open early with a 10-0
lead. In fact, Egan did not score until almost a minute left in the quarter. The
Crusader defense was impeccable in the first quarter allowing just 3 points to
their 15. The defense stayed strong all night long as the Eagles were having
consistent struggles finding the basket and finishing. Chris Rudisill’s
inside presence made it next to impossible to get to the hoop. He finished with
4 blocks while adding double-digit rebounds, many of them offensive and hustle
rebounds. With LC missing an offensive threat in Kyle Pavlik (out with
pneumonia), Rudisill’s defense and ability to find his team extra possessions
with offensive rebounds was key.
Brian Rafferty, finishing with 17, and backcourt-mate Andrew
Riviello, 18, combined for 35 points and 4 threes. Corey Kirk scored 10
points and Jim Rock scored 5 to round out the score sheet. In a great game, LC
won 50-35 to give themselves their first ever PCL playoff berth! They will take
on Wood on Wednesday. The Crusaders are hot and hungry for a playoff victory!
JAN. 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 67, Lansdale 52
Despite a 6-0 non-league record,Lansdale Catholic has now fallen to a
league record of 0-2. The Crusaders fell to Roman Catholic last night by a score
of 67-52. The Crusaders showed early signs of hope, jumping out on top 4-0 with
all the momentum, but Roman guard Shep Garner decided he didn’t like that
too much. Garner came down and hit two threes quickly to put Roman on top 6-4,
and LC never regained the lead. Garner scored Roman’s first 10 points and 13 of
the team’s first 16. The Crusaders had a tough time matching up against his 6’3”
frame, remembering that he was also the quickest kid on the floor.
Roman was never in true danger of losing the game, but LC gave them a run
for their money. While the game ended with a 15 point deficit, LC hung with them
and never let it get too far out of hand. Senior center Chris Rudisill
got into foul trouble again, picking up three fouls in the first half, and his
fourth early in the second half. With senio rbig man David Eckroth out
with stitches in his finger, Coach Ed Enoch gave significant minutes to
junior Brenden Schneider. “B-Schneid” used his minutes well, but
eventually fouled out at the end of the game. Usually a JV player, he showed
that he can play with the kids on varsity and Enoch’s team is even deeper than
he imagined.
Junior guard Andrew Riviello led theCrusaders in scoring again,
dropping 15 points. Kyle Pavlik and Corey Kirk also each scored 10. Kirk,
despite being outsized by the Cahillites, was not afraid to bang down low and
fight for rebounds. Once again, the fearless junior showed heart and hustle,
contributing much more than just stats.
Lansdale Catholic plays again on Monday night at Bonner-Prendergast and
will look for their first PCL win. If LC continues toplay like they have been
recently, beating the Friars is very possible.
DEC. 19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 78, Lansdale 50
After a strong 3-0 start to the season,
Lansdale Catholic walked into the gym against Neumann-Goretti as the heavy
underdog. The Crusaders jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and showed some
promising signs, but Neumann fought back with a 7-0 run of their own, forcing
coach Ed Enoch to call for a timeout. The first quarter consisted of runs
rather than back-and-forth scoring. Thanks to a great quarter offensively from
junior Andrew Riviello, LC was on top 18-17 at the quarter’s close.
The Saints didn’t show any signs of worry, however. They seemed to step
it up in the 2nd quarter, outscoring LC by 23-12.
Coming off of a career game against William Tennent last week, 6’7” senior
Chris Rudisill picked up 3 fouls in the 1st half, forcing LC to play
undersized the rest of the way. Neumann coach Carl Arrigale immediately took
advantage by incorporating more of John Davis and Jamal Custis
into the offense. LC had no answer and ended the half trailing 40-30.
The 3rd quarter was played fairly even, but a 5-point 4th quarter from LC
helped Neumann pull away to a 78-50 victory. For the majority of the game
though, it was much closer. A lot can be said about how LC showed up to play and
wasn’t too rattled by the #16 before Neumann’s name in ESPN’s rankings. The
defense was very impressive in the first half and the offense did a nice job at
running with Neumann rather than slowing down the play. It might have helped to
slow the game down, though, as many shots were falling short at the end of the
game and there were evident signs of fatigue.
Riviello finished the game with 19 points, deserving my player of the
game honors. Junior guard Brian Rafferty did a great job handling the
ball alongside Riviello. Junior Corey Kirk also deserves a mention for
hustling his heart out as he’s been known to do. Despite the loss, the Crusaders
should hold their heads high and focus their attention on winning their upcoming
game at Pope John Paul II this Friday.