SPECIAL NOTE
   Just wanted to post a note about the reporting of scores/boxscores. More than ever this season, managers are calling in boxscores with only the first names of guys scoring points. (I've seen this for myself, as well, in teams' scorebooks.) This is unacceptable, troops. It's tough enough to keep track of all this stuff without having to deal with THAT nutty twist (smile). Also, please be prepared to make note of which Johnson/Smith/Brown, for example, has done the scoring in games where teams have players with the same last name. Generally, it's better for us when the winning team calls in the results. That way we get info to explain HOW the game was won because representatives of the winning team will usually be in a better mood (just human nature) to provide extra details such as rebounds, assists, etc., or the identity of someone who maybe hit a winning shot. One last thing: please be careful. For years I've asked the leagues to make a rule that would force scorekeepers to sit next to each other with the scoreboard operator to one side or the other. It would thus be much easier for the scorekeepers to coordinate fouls/timeouts, not to mention cross-check info on which players actually make the field goals/free throws. Please remember, we want the info to be correct and making that happen is only fair to those involved. The number for Score Service is 215-854-4570. Thank you.

JAN. 31
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Farmers 59, Actors 36
  . . . Or, if you prefer, Saul over CAPA. Though both teams entered winless in Pub play, my fear was that Saul would find a way to win in comfortable fashion though the HOPE was that being at home (Palumbo RC, 10th and Fitzwater) would enable CAPA to remain competitive down to the end. Instead, both teams wound up using deep subs over the final 2:24 after Saul played well enough to remove all juice. DN ink went to sr. C-PF-SF-WG-PG Xavier Williams. That’s right. At one time or another, this dude played all five spots. It’s pretty cool to see a guy jump center one moment, and then run the offense the next. Aside from his playing skills, Williams gives off a good-teammate aura and he said some funny/interesting things in the interview and, let’s face it, for DN purposes that’s what matters the most. His overall numbers were 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. The other Razorback veteran is sr. F Jonathan Medina. In the second half, he made all five of his shots, finalizing his point total at 13, and he served as a nice complement to Williams. Jr. PG Tyrell Smith, a waterbug, mixed 18 points, four assists and three steals in a solid overall effort. Jr. Dom “Body by Barkley (Early in His Career)” Randall and soph Joe McClain grabbed nine rebounds apiece. Dom insisted he’ll be getting ink next winter (smile). The late-game highlight was a three-rebound performance by jr. Greg Layman-Becker. He’s still bummed that he hasn’t scored this season, but he does have three pics on TS.com and there’s something to be said for that (hopefully, maybe). CAPA’s main scorer, sr. WG Ronald Roberts, experienced a performance from Hades. He launched 18 threeballs and only two went in. Phew! Almost every one was slightly to significantly short, so maybe he was dragging for one reason (sickness) or another (injury). He took three other shots and one of those, capping a drive, did find net. Other stats: one rebound, one steal. The starting PG is frosh Matt Powers. Not bad! He didn’t appear to be the least bit timid and his assist total could have been MUCH higher than two if Roberts had converted his passes. Powers did drain two treys of his own en route to 10 points. Trying hard to contend inside with the thicker Saul players was F Justin Ghee (not sure what grade he’s in). He shot 5-for-9, scored 11 total points and bounced around for 12 boards. Sr. F Odunjo Copeland plucked 11 rebounds. CAPA’s late-game highlight was a threeball by soph G Jony Rondon. One ref handled the game until the second guy showed up 7 minutes in. There were eight spectators at the start and that number later swelled to 18. This was an enjoyable day on the photo trail. There’s a ramp at the south end of Palumbo’s gym and the wall fronting it is close to the court. You just have to sit in a folding chair behind the wall and click away. The action is so close, the flash takes full effect and the overall lighting is not bad, either. Let’s play more games in this place! (smile) Saul coach Paul Winters, considered by some to resemble Jon Gruden, formerly was a FB assistant at Germantown Academy. Basketball is not his life and he appreciates the help he receives from assistant Mike Waltrich. It was nice talking beforehand with Paul and CAPA’s coach, John Dunphy. Both are quality individuals and I respect their commitment in trying situations.

JAN. 26
NON-LEAGUE
Audubon (N.J.) 74, GAMP 72 (3 OTs)
Report by Kevin Silary
  It's really hard to write game reports, and I don't like it, but it's all good!
  Last Saturday I went to another GAMP vs. Audubon game, at Audubon. It was better than last year's. Very exciting, considering the triple overtime and all.  Anyway, I don't know much about basketball these days, but I'd have to say that despite the score GAMP was definitely the better team. Junior PG LaRon Byrd and senior WG Stefan Thompson led the team through great hardships and havoc.  Audubon's team was good, I'll give them that, but I just didn't really like them. They were like real stupid and stuff. But, uh, I guess I'll get to the actual game.
  The jump ball was in the air a really short time because neither team had tall starting centers! The first point was by GAMP at 6:43 by Foster McKoskey. Then, more than three minutes later, the Green Wave got their first point. And that's about all that happened! At the end of the first quarter, it was boring but I could already sense some tension between the two equal teams. The score was 15-7 GAMP
  W-A-V-E Audubon's Butt. I don't know why that's in my notes. I think that's what I thought their cheerleaders were saying, probably! ha, ha.
  Anyway GAMP was playing much better b-ball at this point. Byrd and Thompson were tearing up the Green Wave like they were on jet skis. Um, #10 from Audubon shouldn't make no-look passes because he messed up one too many. I don't think I took good notes at this point, so, um, the score was 21-15 at the half. Sorry 'bout that!
  OK, so the start of the second half was when it started getting good! The refs in the first half were good, but through the 3rd quarter they were getting real bogus! They were calling traveling on GAMP every other play, which really hindered their chances for a win.  Audubon got the lead by a missed and-1 rebound play. The quick play proved to be enough to boost up the score to an Audubon lead, 35-34 . . .
  I'll finish this later. My pop has been bugging me all week. I had midterm exams. He told me, "Do the report! Get your priorities straight!" Ha, ha, ha. First he said to do the rest of this "within a month." Then he changed it to "within a DAY." It's not easy being this guy's son, and stuff.

JAN. 29
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Delaware Valley 73, Hope 59
  With only ref on hand for the first 7 ½ minutes of the initial period, these teams went flying up and down and played to a 22-22 tie. Naturally, there were more calls once the other guy arrived and some fatigue set in and, honestly, the second quarter was not too enjoyable. We mostly got back to pinball-style hoops after intermission and a good time was had by all. Lonnie Young RC, in East Germantown, with lots of windows along both sidelines, is pretty bright even on a cloudy-rainy day, like this one, so many of the photos wound up being decent. The choice for ink came down to jr. WG Dain Jordan “D.J.” Suber – in honor of Michael, he wants people to start calling him Jordan – or jr. SF Kevin Mack. Both were outstanding, but Suber is the Warriors’ top player game in and game out, so we went with him. He goes just 5-8, 170, but shows some Energizer Bunny tendencies along with deep shooting ability. He drained three treys en route to 11 points in the first quarter and visions of 50 danced around in his head. He then slowed up – he said he got tired; he intends to ask coach Tye Taylor to reinstitute suicides at practice – and was pretty much a non-factor scoring-wise until an eventful fourth quarter. When his shot was off, Suber was savvy enough to move closer. In fact, the field goal that got him rolling again was a follow off a missed layup. He finished with 20 points, five apiece of assists and steals and – phew! – eight rebounds. Mack showed heart and poise throughout and I liked how he truly made an all-out effort to stick Hope’s franchise WG, sr. Briel Scott, in the fourth quarter. He succeeded, too, as Scott (21) missed his first six shots before hitting a means-nothing deuce at the end. Meanwhile, Mack nailed five of his last six shots and finished with 24 points. He also contributed four boards, two dimes and six steals. Sr. F Terrell Jenkins, though undersized, gave off a game-long, not-to-be-messed-with aura. He hit all five of his shots from the floor and one of his two free throws. Before the second, I said to statman Steve Reid, “Well, should I mention something here?” Steve said immediately, “He’s going to make it.” I noted, “He hasn’t missed a shot of any kind all game.” The ball went up and . . . clang. “You jinxed him, Ted!” Steve hollered, laughing. Glad to be of service (smile). Soph PG Khalil Meadows had 11 points, five assists and three steals. While jr. F Malcolm “You Get My Picture?” King (of course, that could be many players’ nickname these days) went 3-for-4 for six points. Taylor has the Warriors playing true basketball. They run plays and sets and look out for each other. Tye lives in Delaware and goes back and forth every day via train. The cost of that is about half of what he was spending in gas, he said. With help from seven at the offensive end, the active Scott claimed 15 rebounds. He has a strange shot – kinda just flips it, almost two-handed from atop his head, especially at the line – but you can tell he’s accustomed to making them. He also had three assists. Sr. Aaron “Ace” Haye, a small forward prospect, was impressive. His mates didn’t always get him the ball in the proper spots, but he displayed some multiple-jumping tendencies along with “knifeability.” He went for 15 points and 11 boards. Sr. WG Derrick Stephens fired up lots of treys (13). Only two connected. One of those days. Jr. WG-SF Anthony Lewis looks more like a Catholic League player, and at times the game seemed to be going on around him. He did have eight points and four apiece of rebounds/assists/steals. Three faces in the crowd: former La Salle High coach Marty Jackson (no idea why he was here, though I did see him talking with one of the refs; maybe a buddy?); Philadelphia police officer Herman “Coozie” Willis, a starter at forward for Overbrook’s 1983 Pub champs; and recent Roxborough FB legend Richard “Microwave” Williams, who was telling me about a new FB league that’s organizing. He’s going to send details for website posting.

JAN. 28
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Lincoln 57, Engineering and Science 53
  It’s not too often that Pub teams play a league game on a Monday and today there was a special reason. The game was moved up from Thursday because E&S’ new gym is almost ready and this one, called The Pit by E&S folks (sorry, North Catholic has dibs on that name) and The Bathtub by yours truly (that’s how it’s shaped), will be converted into a room for art and other non-important stuff (ha ha). Along for today’s journey was ex-website writer (and Northeast HS rusher) Chris Banks, who now attends Temple and is serving as our sports department intern for this semester. Upon arrival, E&S coach C.M. Brown took us over to the new gym for a quick look-see. VERY nice. We then headed back to the old gym and Chris busied himself sending and receiving, oh, about 1,247 text messages until the game began. When he wasn’t accepting phone calls, that is. Phew, how many peeps does this guy know? The E&S kids no doubt wanted to step out of the Bathtub with a bang; they just didn’t want to slip and hit their heads on the side of it. Oh, well. Except for jr. SF Marcus Brown, no one played particularly well. Brown was outstanding. He has to perform many duties for the Engineers and he does them all in an old-school way. He loves using the glass (major props!) and truly realizes that the only good play is a finished play. Fancy stuff might get you oohs and aahs and maybe an extra cheerleader’s phone number, but making the right play time after time, and carrying through with all responsibilities in a sensible manner, will most impress the college coaches. Brown is not a leaper, per se, but he is bouncy. He finished 14-for-21 while scoring 31 points. He added 11 rebounds and three steals. His last two buckets came on picture-perfect treys. Nice addition to the repertoire! Oddly, they were the only threes of the game. DN ink (in the overall context of the last-game thing) went to sr. PF Daniel “Space” Randall, who’s only 6-1, 170, but cut and ballsy. He cracked me up when he said he’s nicknamed Space mostly because he’s a shade nutty (as in a space cadet), but also because he can jump well and is always “up in it.” Space, that is. Good stuff! Randall shot 8-for-13 from the floor. Sr. G Dorrell Harrington (also eight steals) hit eight of 11 shots en route to 18 points. The major noise level in this place didn’t bother them at all. Just last Thursday, I’d seen Lincoln vs. Frankford and the Frankford fans, especially in the second half, had every right to keep breaking out the ol’ “Stinkin’ Lincoln” line. The Railsplitters did give off an odor. Not so today. They beat E&S at its own game, mostly by taking care of the ball and flying upcourt only when it made total sense (like after steals or rebounds that kicked out long). E&S has no deep shooters, so a well-played zone was effective. Contributions were basically limited to five guys. The others aside from Randall and Harrington were sr. G Markief Azuakoemu (12 points, three assists, five steals, cool beard), 5-11 sr. C David Goldsmith (eight rebounds) and jr. G Maurice Robinson (three assists). For E&S, 6-7 sr. C Chris Thompson, who’s very raw, did experience some late-game joy. He scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter while adding four blocks as well. In case you want to win money in a trivia contest someday, Brown’s trey produced the last points of the game. (A free throw by Randall was Lincoln’s last marker.) Brianna Martin, one of E&S’ managers, is the sister of ex-Dougherty/Prep Charter/Gratz guard Josh “Scrap” Martin. Josh is now a freshman at Albany, averaging about six points and 2.5 assists. He missed some time with a knee injury.

JAN. 27
BEHIND THE SCENES IN INKVILLE . . .
  While writing the Dougherty-La Salle story, I received a call from Puck. "Yo, you hear dis? McDevitt beat Judge! Phew, that pwetty cool. Dougherty on Fwiday, now Judge. They should get a story." Know what? For once in his life, the Puckstering Pucklehead was right! The original plan, with Huck's help, was to also cover N-G/Bonner. I told Puck to call Huck and see if he "wouldn't mind" having his game downgraded to website only. Rrrring! "Huck phone go straight to voicemail." Me: "OK, well let's try to reach (McDevitt coach) Jack Rutter and see if he has a phone number for (McDevitt hero) James Williams. If this falls into place without too much trouble, we'll do it." Rrrrring. "Jack Wutter voicemail all fill up. Pwobly everybody callin' him today. He a celebwity. Ha, ha, ha." Me: "Well, I have (McDevitt player) Matt Shervin's number here because I did something on him during football season." (When he won letters for golf and soccer in addition to FB, for kicking). I gave Puck the numbers (home, cell) and he reached Matt's dad, Vince. He had James Williams' home number and we did the interview. Vince taped the game and even plowed through it to come up with a few extra stats. The only thing left to do: Call N-G's Jamal Wilson and ask for some understanding. I explained the situation to Jamal and he was very gracious. "I understand. No problem," he said. "McDevitt had two nice wins. That's good for them." Jamal, who's a Rhode Island signee, has received past ink and chances for more will present themselves. Huck also saw the wisdom of going with a McDevitt story. One last tidbit: Later in the evening, Vince Shervin sent along some pics taken this weekend, at both McDevitt games, by Rich Drennen, father of the Lancers' Dan. A file was created for those and they're posted. Anyway, that's how everything played out for today's "second story." Thanks to everyone who made it happen. Yes, even the Puckster (smile).

JAN. 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Dougherty 57, La Salle 56
   The string of streaks continues. What a crazy week this has been. (I know. Sunday really starts the week, but with so many CL “weekends” now concluding on Mondays, the phrase fits.) Anyway, Dougherty owned a 53-42 lead with 7:06 left and was approaching we-can-cruise-from-here status. Then? You got it. One of those ever-popular streaks. The Explorers reeled off 10 consecutive points and, lo and behold, there WOULD be late-game tenseness. To backtrack: Sr. WG Isiah Mason, recipient of DN ink (and son of ex-Kensington guard Donald Mason), put Dougherty in a good place by sticking a top-of-the-key jumper (just inside the arc) as the third quarter ended. That made it 48-42 and then, out of the fourth quarter blocks, jr. WG Ryan Fitch (VERY nice outing today) drove for a three-point play. The next possession featured a layup on the left baseline by Fitch; the pass came from soph WG Zaahir Allen along the right baseline. La Salle kept scrambling and finally drew within 53-52 at 2:40 on a pass from sr. PG Frank Pierson to 6-8 soph C.J. Aiken, who uncorked a dunk. (This caused La Salle’s students to finally wake up – smile. About 35-40 kids were in the 6th Man Section, but they’d made only mild noise all game and had never stood in unison to support their squad. No idea why not. Must have been something about the unwritten law that seems to pretty much thwart unabashed student enthusiasm throughout the league for Sunday games.) Fitch put Dougherty back ahead on a pass from sr. F-C Brandon Savage and all scoring thereafter came on free throws. La Salle sr. F Matt Crozier made it 56-55 with a pair at 44.1. Mason converted a one-and-one at 28.4 to provide the decisive points. La Salle twice called timeouts thereafter, at 22.1 and 6.9. On the final play, sr. WG Joe Migliarese inbounded from the sideline opposite La Salle’s bench. He flipped into the right corner to Aiken, who was doubled and passed back to Miggy. Joe stepped in and a defender went tumbling backward, then Joe, who appeared to still be a shade off-balance, was short with maybe a 17-footer. Savage grabbed the final rebound. Coming off a surprising (shocking? earth-shattering?) loss at McDevitt Friday night, this was a satisfying road win for the Cardinals. A case for ink could have definitely been built for Fitch. In my earlier looks at CD, Fitch appeared to think of himself as someone whose only purpose in hoops life was to hit treys. Not that he hit too many, honestly. But today, he went hard to the hole more than once and also played a very nice overall game (11 points, three assists, two steals) and the performance should do wonders for his confidence. Savage had seven points, six boards and six assists (and we’ll forgive him for the late-game missed dunk on a fastbreak – smile). Allen drained three treys in a 15-point performance. He fouled out with 2:53 left. He has picked up the habit of committing ill-advised fouls. Exhibit A was jumping into Aiken while the latter – remember, he’s 6-8 – was shooting a left-corner trey. Just can’t happen! Jr. PG Jahkeem Bogans (10 points, two steals, oddly no assists) and sr. SF Sean Williams (six points) completed the scoring. La Salle has a very tall frontcourt with Aiken, the 6-7 Crozier and the 6-5 Jaylen Bond, a freshman. Heck, even Migliarese is 6-5. You can’t imagine how refreshing it was to see a team that actually knows how to make entry passes, and a player like Crozier, who knows how to “sit down” in the post and use his body to full benefit. Crozier was a game-long force, witness his 22 points and 15 rebounds. His only black mark was a 6-for-12 outing at the line. At least he wasn’t alone. The Explorers finished 11-for-22 overall. Aiken, who has progressed from painfully thin to just skinny, is still feeling his way. At least in this one, he had very few go-to opportunities. His 17 points included two other dunks, both on well-timed follows. Five of his eight rebounds came in the second quarter. He did show a nice spin move along the right baseline. Overall impression? Buy stock in him now! Migliarese (five) and Pierson combined for eight assists. Early, I thought Bond (six points, four boards) was playing in somewhat laid-back, even timid, fashion. Maybe he was just deferring to Crozier and Aiken. As time went on, he became more aggressive and also showed good potential. The fifth starter was jr. WG Todd Stokley (four points), who mostly shared time with Migliarese, who committed this weekend to play WR at Rhode Island. That story will also be in tomorrow’s paper. After the game, another star receiver, soph Connor Hoffman, came over to say thanks for his Player of the Week T-shirt. Turns out he just received it. Whoa! Is the mail service THAT slow? Nah, whichever guy I sent it to – coach Drew Gordon? Assistant Brett Gordon? AD Tony Resch? (can’t remember for sure) – was just a little lax in turning it over in timely fashion, and will be reprimanded (ha ha). Connor has been hitting the weights since the season ended. Let’s hope the shirt still fits..

JAN. 26
SHOWCASE EVENT
Imhotep 73, Bishop McCort (Johnstown) 40
Report by Tom Taylor
  Imhotep's scoring -- Morgan-0; Battle-2; Adams-16; Appolon-0; Wells-11; McBride-4; Prescott-13; Trice-9; Savage-18
  The outcome was never in doubt although the game started slowly with Imhotep leading only 4-0 midway through the first quarter.  The teams were fairly evenly matched size-wise but Imhotep controlled the boards and McCort had trouble handling the press when it was on. Imhotep shot well.  They hit nine threes (Adams-4; Wells-1; Prescott-3; Trice-1) and were 8-8 from the foul line. Rashad Savage (7 FGs, 4-4 FTs) was named player of the game.  Nine players were dressed. All nine played and seven scored.  Imhotep ended two quarters in dramatic fashion.  Lamar Trice hit a three from midcourt to end the first quarter and Savage ended the third with an authoritative two-handed dunk off a steal.  The teams were fairly evenly matched size-wise but Imhotep controlled the boards and McCort had trouble handling the press when it was on.

JAN. 25
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill 47, Malvern 44
  I knew the answer before asking the question, but the idea was to elicit a response that could be used with the DN story. The interviewee was CHA sr. G-F Mike Mattei, who was also the Blue Devils’ QB (and will be playing FB at West Chester). “So, does this make up for what happened in football?” Mike half-winced and half-smiled and responded, “I wouldn’t say that.” He followed up by saying that he and his grid teammates still talk every single day about the last-day showdown that produced a title for Malvern. Understood. But so’s this: tonight’s win was nice for CHA, but especially for Mattei for a couple of main reasons. First, he did an effective defensive job on Malvern’s top scorer, sr. F Ryan Nassib, who just happened to be the Friars’ QB. Second, twice in the last 36 seconds, while inbounding against fullcourt pressure, he used that strong right arm to make QB-style passes that traveled roughly to the area of the opposite foul line. Soph. Pat Connaghan caught the first one (it barely cleared the leaping Lamon Church – more on him later; for now just keep thinking WOW!) and Pat passed to jr. F Gary Lawrence for an easy layup. He thought about dunking; not sure why he nixed that idea. Soph Todd Cramer caught the second and flipped to Lawrence for another layup. Ballgame. Not sure if you got to read the report of last Monday’s Roman/N-G game, but this tilt was somewhat similar in that one team (Malvern) appeared to be in something close to command (at 35-30) and then coughed up 12 consecutive points. CHA tallied 20 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 27 in the first three. Lawrence had seven of his 17 in the session, along with four of his seven rebounds. Connaghan also had some large moments. None was bigger than his three-point play off a rebound of his own missed free throw. How did THAT happen? (I’m guessing he was in the lane too quickly – smile). In addition to his two great passes, Mattei had four points and a big steal and assist in the fourth quarter uprising. This was my first extended look at Church, who appears to be about 6-4 (?) He has the much coveted long arms and legs and is a VERY quick leaper. Plus, there are 10-year NBA vets who don’t show this kid’s timing and instincts. He notched seven blocks and every one was impressive. His best was an out-of-nowhere swat on what had the look of a breakaway layup. He also claimed seven boards. My strong guess is that he scored well in youth leagues before arriving at Malvern. I liked that he didn’t pump indiscriminately. That’s a sign that he knows his place, for now, and is content to contribute in other ways while he awaits his scoring days. He did show a quick-dribble, side-to-side move to free himself for a third quarter bucket and did score the game’s final basket on a quite deep trey. Nassib never found a groove, though he did go 5-for-11 while adding eight boards. Fellow sr. F Chris Cowell totaled 14 points and five boards. Sr. PG Matt McManus, oddly, packed all seven of his points into the third quarter. Eventually, CHA’s rooting section got things rolling, but the guys (and the girls from Springside/elsewhere who joined them) didn’t even stand up and get organized until the second quarter. What’s with that? There were several dicey moments. Shortly into the third quarter, CHA coach Bill Dooley called a timeout and was still jawing at ref James Smith a good 10 seconds after his team reached the bench area. Tweet! Smith hit him with a T. About 90 seconds later, Smith called an intentional foul on the Blue Devils. During a stoppage, Smith was standing not far from the baseline when ex-CHA coach John McArdle, seated in a folding chair against the back wall, yelled over to him that the call – we’ll soften this – resembled the stuff that comes out of bulls’ hind quarters. Smith responded, to paraphrase, that such language was not becoming of a teacher, especially with CHA’s students not sitting too far away. John is a great guy and maybe the most beloved person employed by CHA. His language has always featured a tinge of blue. Most people who know him probably don’t even notice it anymore, or give it a second thought. Anyway, there was no escalation. Late in the game, though admittedly it happened near the other end of the court, a Malvern player pretty much fresh off the bench appeared to flat-out tackle a Hiller during a chase for a loose ball. A few CHA students took several steps down toward that area, as if they wanted to be part of a fight. FB coach Rick Knox and others corralled them, but good, and nothing happened. Down in the basement, where the locker rooms are located, I could hear yelling while moving through the hallway that leads straight to CHA’s meeting room. I got a brief glimpse of a Malvern assistant screaming and being held back. At the refs (who were standing nearby)? At CHA personnel? Whatever it was, that commotion also died down quickly. Nothing quite like a nice, serene night in beautiful Chestnut Hill (smile).

JAN. 24
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Frankford 72, Lincoln 39
  Another Pub day, another Pub moment. There’s a book in here somewhere. Though I did wind up seeing two teams for the first time this season, things did not go according to plan. There was a change involving UC-Gratz and those schools wound up playing a JV-varsity doubleheader. I got word about this from Gratz coach Leonard Poole shortly after arriving at maybe 2:25 and the idea of hanging around for a varsity game starting at 4 o’clock, with luck, was not appealing. Good thing I left, too, because the office evening was busy with two more FB commitments and an extra story to write. I called the office and asked Ed Barkowitz to run down the schedule. Lincoln at Frankford sounded somewhat appealing and I zipped up the Boulevard and arrived in plenty of time. Frankford’s refurbished gym looks great. The game? Not so great. Lincoln had some good moments early, but later had major problems with shot selection and taking care of the ball and Frankford wound up frolicking. DN ink went to sr. PG Malik Ballard, a WR who’s called “All-Dimes” by his spirited former FB teammates. Malik wants to be comedic actor and coach Ben Dubin is hoping to place him at a JC in California so he’ll be close to Hollywood. Ballard notched eight assists and the total could have been doubled with a little help from his teammates. He was part of a VERY scary early moment. He got the ball on the right baseline and drove hard to the hoop. He leaped and landed on the shoulder of someone who was slightly bent over. He went spinning as if doing a cartwheel and crashed to the floor back-of-the-neck first. When he finally got up, he was OK and kind of snapped on the official who hadn’t made a call. He later apologized. The reason: the player who sent him spinning was a teammate! No idea how that happened. The Pioneers’ franchise is sr. WG-SF Malik Tinsley. In track, this kid would be tremendous in the jumping/hurdling events. He has the coveted big first step, can get to the hoop in a hurry and owns the baseline. Plus, his hands must be gigantic because he shows a very feathery touch, even from Threeball Land. Tinsley went for 25 points with four treys among them. It appears he’ll need to hit the JC trail. Assuming he remains focused and receives the proper nurturing, he’ll be starring in somebody’s major-college program down the line. He added 13 rebounds, three steals and four blocks. Sr. WG Steven "Spud" Haynes (14) and sr. PF Khayree Brown (12), a strong lefty, also scored in double figures. They combined for seven steals. Soph PG Harold Hicks did a nice job as Ballard’s backup, dealing four assists. As time wound down, the fans exploded in joy, and even caused a tech by edging out onto the floor, as sr. Tamir Phillips, another guy with an impressive build (and bright red knee socks), wolfed down a jam in transition. The pass was made by soph Jerline Harris. Can’t say much about Lincoln, unfortunately. It was hard to draw conclusions about any of the Railsplitters. One of those days. Sr. F David Goldsmith, strong but underheighted, did battle deep into the game and finished with 10 points, nine rebounds. Sr. F Ismail Greenlee also had nine boards. It was fun interacting with some of Frankford’s football players. Namely RBs Erv “Mack Daddy” Goodson and Kareem “Spotlight” Steplight and LB Chris “Waterboy” Spence. They did a nice job of supporting Ballard -- and others, of course – and entertained the other spectators with some goofy comments and gyrations. Keith Hines, formerly my long-time statistical sidekick, is now a non-teaching assistant at Frankford and is also helping Dubin. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Ben (smile). Keith is an all-time character. Frankford’s scorekeeper, Naiesha Crump, wants us to cover girls’ soccer. Huh? Girls’ soccer??!! Sorry, baby.  I did tell Naiesha to send us a team picture when the season starts and we’ll find a way to post it somewhere. Maybe on www.nobodycares.com. Just kidding. Good luck, ladies.

JAN. 24
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION
  (Ted's note: Check out this note by Pat Egan, a 2007 Dougherty grad who's now a freshman at Neumann College, and who still makes time in his schedule to hang out in the Looney Bin. During a 2007 playoff, La Salle students busted on Dougherty's about their supposed lack, ahem, of academic prowess. We saw Pat at a recent Dougherty game and suggested he send an email with a lot of big words to show the La Salle guys a thing or two -- smile. We thank him for being a good sport and playing along. Here goes . . . )

  You wanted an email so I could showcase the extensive vocabulary that a Cardinal Dougherty student has in their repertoire. You didn’t say what you wanted the email to be about so I decided that I would convey what I feel, as an alumnus of Cardinal Dougherty High School, to be a shining light of our school, The Looney Bin. The Bin, or as it is often referred to as the psychotic storage area, displays an immense amount of joyous attitude with that of a competitive fervor that cannot be seen in any other academy dedicated to learning.  The students use their knowledge and words to penetrate the team’s cranium and disrupt their psyche to the point where the opponent cannot fully function at the task at hand. The plethora of sayings and insults are amusing, but more importantly well thought out and well put together. The students convey their message with enthusiasm and gusto and prove why they are at the apex of the Catholic League when it comes to student rooters. While it is not hard to cheer for the Cardinals because of the cornucopia of talent and cock eyed optimism held throughout the game.  The knowledge of the fans is impeccable.  When the referee makes a call that the fans think is a bit obtuse they let that certain referee know about it through one of their many chants loaded up in their arsenal. Now the sayings aren’t conveyed with malice but more of a playful anger. I would say the fans are even angry but more disappointed because they know that the official of the game is capable of greatness and is lacking in his progress to be the unsurpassed official they know he can be.  Even when the team is failing in their attempt for glory the Bin still has that loquacious personality that it is associated with it. The “Looney Bin” holds a particular spot located in my aorta region of the chest cavity. I hope I have showed you that Cardinal Dougherty is not only dedicated to the success of their athletics (simply view of dominating performance of our chess team) but also, and more importantly, at Cardinal Dougherty High School for those sharing both double x and those sporting the y chromosomes, they are dedicated to making sure that when the students leave their institute of higher learning they will be going out into the world with a keen sense of knowledge and support for their school.
-- Pat Egan

JAN. 22
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Penn 71, Franklin 59
  Someone from city government could have walked into the gym before the game and proclaimed, “We have passed a new law. Nobody taller than 6-foot is allowed to play Pub basketball any longer. Sorry about that.” The coaches could have shrugged and said, “Go somewhere else, pal. Enforce that law somewhere else. Doesn’t EVEN affect us.” OK, so we exaggerate. But just a little. There isn’t anything close to a post player, or even a power forward, in either of these teams' rotations. There ARE guards galore. A pair of Penn guys, sr. WG Mark Allen and sr. PG Curshawn Banks, turned in wonderful performances and that spelled victory. These two guys combined for 45 points as Allen posted 27 and Banks managed 18. Allen went berserk in the first quarter, hitting all five of his shots (two treys included) for 12 points. Then, in the fourth quarter, he helped to assure that Franklin would never make things nerve-wracking by nailing nine consecutive free throws (he missed his 10th and final attempt, but the outcome was decided by then). Mark added five rebounds, two assists and three steals. He received DN ink and was very impressive in the interview. Maybe 90 minutes later, coach Harold Alexander called my cell phone and noted that first last year, and then last month, Mark had lost first his birth mother and foster mother. Mark later hopped on the cell phone and we got some extra details to put into the story. Mark keeps plugging (he recently won two school awards) and robustly credits his teammates and coaches for enabling him to maintain both his spirit and focus. Banks added five rebounds, seven assists and two steals. These guys work very well together and even Banks was death and taxes (8-for-9) at the line. Jr. F Emmanuel Pittman, a very good DB with a nose for the ball, translates his football skills very well to the court. He led the Lions in rebounds with seven while packing nine of his 13 points into the third quarter. Sr. WG Branden Tondreau has had some big scoring games, but in this one managed just five. I like that he didn’t bitch about his limited role. Pittman and Tondreau are lefties, as is sr. sub G Quahsim Gredic, who was brought off the bench right before halftime to try a push-shot from almost halfcourt. Franklin likewise has a good floor leader in the person of sr. William “B.J.” Kearse. He totaled 12 points, five assists and four steals. His performance fell off to some degree in the second half only because he and his teammates had trouble hitting shots. Kearse has quick feet and is one of those scoot-here, scoot-there guys. Franklin’s inside force, though he plays WG in outside ball (I wrote about him earlier this year), is sr. Ron Lee, yet another lefty. He has a decent build and, man, did he work. Lee totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds. Soph WG Malik McDaniels managed 10 points and four steals. Sr. Richard Freeman, yet another guy forced to play out of position, grabbed eight rebounds. Ex-Franklin coach Ken Hamilton, one of the Pub’s all-time legends, is back helping the Electrons (under Larry Gainey). Alexander has the College of Cardinals helping him (smile). The two headliners in the crew are two guys who were terrific Pub players – scoring machine Anthony “Hubba Bubba” King (Penn ’82) and cut-your-heart-out guard Marshall Taylor (Southern ’86). Marshall’s son, Marshall Jr., starred at West Catholic and played briefly at La Salle University. Another son, Tyrell, is Neumann-Goretti’s current point guard. Franklin had only five cheerleaders. What’s the deal with that? Thanks to Franklin AD Ken Geiser, also the FB and baseball coach, for making things enjoyable for all in attendance. I’m not sure Franklin (the male enrollment is only about 250 and there are NO official feeders) will ever again return to hoop prominence, but this was a nice visit to Hamilton Hall (yes, it's named after Kenny).

JAN. 21
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 62, Neumann-Goretti 60
  When a game offers circumstances such as blown big leads, one is never quite sure how to proceed when recounting the events. Does the team that stormed back deserve gigantic credit? Or was it helped “too much” by the other team’s flat-out failure? And, after assuming there was a mixture, which team should get the focus? Well, it’s a tough call tonight, but let’s go with Roman’s good deeds in part because it racked up this victory without being able to rely on star jr. PG Maalik Wayns down the stretch, at ALL. Wayns recently suffered a severely sprained big toe and was walking around, rumor has it, in a boot as recently as this past weekend. He tried to go in this one, but we (Amauro and Duck were on hand) noticed early on that he had the slightest hint of a limp and he was finished for the night after the early moments of the fourth quarter. Roman is a pretty confident bunch anyway, but to storm back TWICE and gain this win in N-G’s gym before an overflow crowd will undoubtedly do wonders for coach Dennis Seddon’s squad. Check this out: Roman erased a 12-point deficit in the third quarter and then a completely new deficit, this one a 10-pointer, in the fourth quarter. Hard to believe, right? Also, the Cahillites blanked N-G over the final 2:18 while scoring the final seven points. N-G mounted a 42-30 pad  with 2:29 left in the third quarter. They “celebrated” by surrendering 13 right back to Roman. Wait, hold on. The Saints did regroup. In fact, they ran off 11 in a row to make it 53-43 with 5:10 left in the game. Somehow, they again became frigid (and timid, and careless, and I’m guessing coach Carl Arrigale mentioned some other words in timeouts and/or afterward) and they paid a price, dearly. The end-game went like this: Sr. G-F Jamal Wilson (Rhode Island) hit the second of two free throws at 2:18 to make it 60-54; after sr. F Will Kirkland drew a charge on soph WG Tony Chennault at 1:53, sr. CG Courtney Stanley hit two free throws, drawing Roman within 60-56; sr. F Wes Kirkland (Will’s identical twin) hit a straight-on shot for 60-58 math and then made a steal; Roman frosh F Aaron Brown, previously 0-for-5 from the floor, stepped to the line and was big-time CLUTCH while hitting two shots at 1:06 for a 60-60 score; Stanley made a steal and soph WG Rakeem Brookins missed a layup; a foul was called in a scramble and sr. F Shane Irwin went to the line for N-G at 45.6; he missed both ends of the double-bonus and Will snagged the second miss; Roman called time at 33.3; Stanley, after breaking off a screen by Wes Kirkland, drove down the right side and flipped a layup off the glass at 5.2; Wilson got a great look on a buzzer-beating trey from a shade to the right of straight-on. It rimmed the hoop and spun out. Ballgame. DN ink could have gone to many. The choice was Wes (15 points, eight boards, five steals). Will added 20 points, seven boards and three pilfers. Stanley had all 11 of his points in the second half, with eight in the fourth quarter. He’s going to be a point at Loyola Chicago, so he no doubt felt great about helping his team to victory with Wayns (Villanova, already) only able to watch. For N-G, Wilson scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had a pair of fourth quarter assists. However, he hit just three of his six free throw attempts in that session and, as he knows, that just can’t happen. Chennault shot 8-for-12 for 16 points. His efforts were hindered by foul trouble. Soph F Daniel Stewart shot 5-for-8 while scoring 13 points. He added 10 rebounds. Jr. C Andre “Scooter” Gillette notched four blocks. Sr. PG Tyrell Taylor dealt four assists. The night’s most memorable visual was provided just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter after Wes stuck a right-wing trey on a pass from Stanley; it put Roman ahead, 43-42. N-G immediately called time and Arrigale walked quickly away from the bench area to confront one of his players maybe 15 feet out onto the court. He was screaming, big time, right in the kid’s face and everyone in the gymnasium saw it. Most observers, we’ll assume, were made uncomfortable by it. N-G now finds itself with a .500 record (4-4) in South play. Might this team miss the playoffs? It doesn’t even “sound” right, does it? But with Bonner, Carroll and Prep all feeling hunger-for-playoff-berth pangs, and with Roman rolling along at 8-0, N-G must face facts: There are no guarantees.

JAN. 20
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
N. Catholic 98, Dougherty 80
  First, happy 21st birthday to my daughter, Kristen! Second, this was quite a enjoyable game, even though there was no late-game tension. (Not much after the early portion of the second quarter, really.) But how can you not like a game where the teams go up and down like crazy, and slow down only to hold for last shots (or turnovers) of quarters? The score after 8 minutes was North 124, Dougherty 123. Huh? Well, the scoreboard at Dougherty is malfunctioning slightly and there are extra ones to the left on both sides, though a few bulbs are out on the Dougherty side. We know what you’re thinking? Is this the highest scoring game in CL North history? Nah, not even THAT close, really. In the 2002-03 season, Dougherty and McDevitt put on two shows that topped this one. The Cardinals won by scores of 116-81 and 109-83. Legendary, huh? Like always, Dougherty’s gym was stinkin’ hot and my pregame thought was that fact would REALLY favor North because coach Mike McCarron has often been using a rotation with at least a dozen guys. His troops would stand less of a chance to hit the exhaustion level; Dougherty coach Mark Heimerdinger uses seven or eight. For this one, at least, McCarron cut back to nine and mostly went with seven, truth be told. I can’t imagine the Falcons have slapped together a better performance all season, especially from the togetherness/unselfish standpoint. No more than three shots were forced all afternoon and sr. PG Velton Jones came within whiskers of perfection. His final line showed 18 points, 10 assists and two steals. I’d written about Jones earlier. Even if that had not been the case, DN ink would have gone to sr. WG Lenny Young. Man, was he ever cookin’! The 6-2, 207-pound Young (down from 236; focus of story) missed his first shot, a trey, but then nailed six in a row (with three treys among them). That third trey made it 36-25 just two minutes into the second quarter and North had few difficult moments from there. Young finished 11-for-16 total and 6-for-9 on treys. That made two very impressive shooting shows this weekend for yours truly. Friday afternoon, SJ Prep’s Jim Mower went 6-for-7 on threeballs in a victory over Neumann-Goretti. Also vital to this win was soph CG Woody Redding. Points? None. And he really didn’t care. Redding dished seven assists and worked outrageously hard at the defensive end, keeping jr. PG Jahkeem Bogans from achieving anything close to a comfort zone in terms of trying to run the offense. Sr. WG R.J. Handy nailed three treys en route to 12 points. Frosh SF Xavier “X” Harris, in what I’m guessing was his most extended look of the season, totaled 12 points and eight rebounds. He doesn’t play like a young buck. This was a strange game for Dougherty, production-wise. Sr. F-C Rashad Savage had to settle for seven points while taking just three shots from the floor. Sr. WG Isiah Mason, also known for reliable scoring, managed just nine points and had to post five of them at the line. Soph WG Zaahir Allen started off in Lenny Young fashion, using three treys to post 11 points in the first quarter. He got bit, hard, by the foul-trouble bug, though, and departed with 6:00 left. Bogans wound up pouring in 24 points. Sr. F Sean Williams, usually a little-things guy, managed 19. They combined to shoot 17-for-26. This game didn’t start until 2:55. The freshman game took forever, rumor had it. At least some time was made up during the JV contest, which went to North by 62-19 (if I remember correctly). The PIAA’s 40-point mercy rule was in effect throughout the fourth quarter of that one. The crowd was pretty darn good, especially considering that the Patriots-Chargers AFC title game was on TV. The Looney Bin occupants never became a factor because Dougherty could not quite make things TRULY interesting. Afterward, one of the guys, with FB star Sean Kidd laughing and nodding approvingly, said he might send me an e-mail filled with all kinds of long, demanding words to prove to La Salle guys (long story; goes back to last season) that Dougherty kids indeed have the hang of the more difficult parts of the English language. He might have mentioned “cornucopia.” (love it – smile!) Dougherty has always boasted some of the CL’s more personable kids. This guy – sorry, don’t know his name – definitely keeps the string going.

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Carroll 70, W. Catholic 48
  Here’s my first observation after seeing Carroll: Why doesn’t sr. PF-C Kasheef Festus play football??!! (smile) He’s an exact body double of North’s Shahid Paulhill and, obviously, since he can run and do athletic things he’d almost be guaranteed of receiving a scholarship. Not saying he doesn’t have hoops potential, but ever if a kid’s “look” screamed “football!!!” . . . Second observation: there is MUCH to like about frosh G Juan’ya Green. While sr. PG Lamar Jackson, who has just returned, was out with an injury, Green got to play some PG. He served as a combo in this one, but definitely showed PG headiness. He finished with eight assists and almost every pass that led to a dime was of the snappy variety. Anybody with a hint of ability can find the guy one person away. Green again and again found the person two guys away. And did so quickly. See him. Boom. Get it to him. VERY admirable quality. DN ink went to jr. WG Andre Wilburn, who merely canned his first eight shots en route to a 17-point night. He suffered a broken ankle last June and, in the early part of his recovery, he wasn’t able to do much more than shoot standstill jumpers. He’d always been a drive first, second and third kinda guy, but now his arsenal is varied. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, as did Festus (14 points). Sr. Bender Retif provided an early spark by hitting his only three shots for eight points. (Do the math. Yes, that means two of them were threes – smile). Soph G DJ Irving added nine points and four assists. Seeing spot duty, Jackson hustled for three steals. In the little-thing category, sr. WG Ellis Rogers sank all four of his first quarter free throws. Though something else could have happened, of course, this one had the it’s-all-over feel by halftime. The Burrs weren’t hitting and they were having NO luck, either. Many shots rimmed out. Jr. PG Rob Holloman (groin) tried to go, but was ineffective and was limited to a brief appearance. Sr. F Eric Brennan had 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Sr. F-C Sergino Mystil managed 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Jr. G Curtis Drake provided a first half spark with 12 points, then missed all five of his shots in the second half.

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 57, Neumann-Goretti 51
  This game was as much about how N-G lost as it was about how Prep won. Yes, the Saints boast one of the area’s proudest programs, but this effort was truly a stinker. Only in the final four minutes, after the deficit hit 17 points, at 51-34, did N-G show a hint of urgency. Check this out: as the first half faded away, it was obvious that TWO different players were not even aware that the clock was approaching 0:00. Finally, sr. G Tyrell Taylor got the ball and threw up a prayer. Then, in the fourth quarter’s final moments, with N-G trailing by six, a Saint drove for the basket instead of launching a trey. One timeout remained. It could have been used after a made basket with the deficit at three. After this game, I had to rush to West Catholic, so there were no conversations with coach Carl Arrigale or his assistants. Maybe some kids had the flu this past week. Maybe something else was going on. At halftime, DN colleague Bob Cooney, on hand to watch Prep sr. WG Rich Hofmann, son of another DN colleague, stopped by to chat. We couldn’t believe that N-G wasn’t just trying to flat out-athlete the Prep. Sure, to run and jump and go nuts can give the opposition chances for some easy baskets. But it can also create turnovers and cause doubts and those things DID happen once an active press was applied in the final 4:00. But overall, this N-G performance was quite the shocker and it was the kind that makes you think this: from here onward, the season will almost certainly go North or South. There won’t be much East-West movement. OK, with all of that being said, the Prep did a TERRIFIC job. The Hawks were patient and focused and careful, and they truly seized this game by the you-know-whats. Plus, it didn’t hurt that they shot 12-for-22 on treys!! Phew!! Sr. WG Jim Mower led the way in that department, sniping a mere 6-for-7 en route to 20 points. Hofmann and fellow sr. WG Matt Williams drained three apiece. DN ink went to sr. PG Joe Meehan, who took just five shots all game and made two (a pair of brassy drives). He added eight assists and five steals and was mostly flawless in running the offense. Joe and other guys again and again dribbled away from mild trouble, and then often were able to find teammates who were wide open. Prep had 19 FGs for the game. Fifteen yielded assists. The only guy with a hint of height and inside moxie, sr. F-C Mike Bradley, managed 10 points, nine rebounds and even three dishes of his own. With 4:15 left in the third quarter, N-G nudged within 30-29 as soph WG Tony Chennault buried a right-corner trey on a pass from Taylor (11 points, four assists). More than a few folks had to be thinking, “Well, this could be it. N-G has finally awakened.” Not even close. The Prep reeled off 11 in a row, with treys by Mower and Hofmann highlighting the barrage. Another truly amazing stat: Chennault and sr. SF Jamal Wilson (Rhode Island) combined to take just five shots in the first half. They finished with 11 and nine points, respectively. Soph F-C Daniel Stewart totaled 15 points, eight boards and three blocks. Saturday’s N-G practice could be VERY interesting. Almost exactly one year ago (Jan. 21), Roman slapped together a very poor performance at Prep. The Cahillites regrouped, though, and went on to win the championship. Later this season, will the Saints be able to point to this showing as something they truly took lessons from?

JAN. 17
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Imhotep 72, Freire 47
  One of these decades, I will actually again see a game in Freire’s gym. If I don’t kill someone first and wind up in prison. Twice last year and again today, I parked out by 30th Street Station, pumped a bunch of quarters into a meter, hoofed it down to 2027 Chestnut, walked into the gym and . . . bad feeling. Today, the players were sitting at tables set up on the gym floor and wearing street clothes. It was roughly 2:10. Game time was roughly an hour away. “We’re not playing here today, Ted,” two of them said, almost simultaneously. They weren’t kidding. Coach Lawrence “Biggest Knucklehead of All Time” Threadgill came walking in and babbled something about the game being switched to King Rec Center, at 22nd and Cecil B. Moore, because the school something, something, something . . . I was too pissed to process what he was saying. Once back out on Chestnut Street, out came the cell phone and a call went to Charles Sumter, long-time friend (quickly becoming an enemy, though – smile) and the Pub’s hoops chairman. He said he knew about the change, but forgot to tell me. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It’s always something in this league. In fact, it’s always many somethings. So, off it was to the King center, where the lighting is horrible. There were five spectators when the game began and the number later “swelled” to 20. It’s likely there wasn’t a student from either school in the house. Oh, and both teams were wearing black jerseys. The Biggest Knucklehead of All Time brought Freire’s black shirts, even though the Dragons, of course, were the home team. He dispatched one of the managers back to Freire to fetch the white ones. I guess he didn’t explain to her clearly enough which bag did contain those white ones because the black jerseys remained on the squad throughout. Have I told you lately that Lawrence is a BIG knucklehead? (smile – I do like the guy, but man, things just HAPPEN where he’s involved. At least when I’m around.) Overall, Imhotep was VERY impressive. The Panthers roared to a 26-6 lead and --  during that span, at least – they could have beaten any high school team in America. Maybe some college teams, too. They were playing extremely hard, and well, and this contest looked like good varsity vs. bad JV. (A scared JV, at that.) The one thing that saved Freire, and helped create a resurgence that provided at least a hint of drama, was that Imhotep sr. F-C Rashad Savage picked up two fouls in the first quarter. Coach Andre Noble opted to sit him down and Freire used his absence to slightly relax and mount a comeback. As you might remember, Savage (6-5, 220) last year played for Neumann-Goretti. He was strictly a rebounder, though, so it’s amazing to see him perform so many more duties this season. Savage is righthanded, but on one occasion he made a steal and dribbled three-quarters court lefthanded, and then dunked lefthanded, too. Whoa!!! It might have been more dribbles than he took all last season. Savage had five dunks en route to 20 points. He added eight rebounds and three steals. This is his third school in three years (Pottsgrove before N-G) and some academic/SAT matters must be dealt with, but LIU, Mount St. Mary’s, etc., are keeping tabs and Noble is confident all will work out. As Andre put it, “He’s a monster.” LIU is the future home of sr. SF Miguel Bocachica (12 points, just 2-for-11 on treys, six boards). The Mount is getting sr. PG Lamar Trice (nine points, six assists, three steals). The Panthers’ other headliner is jr. WG Will Adams. If all Pub basketball players were to enter a track meet, he’d probably win it. What a runner/jumper! He went for 11 points, five boards, four assists and five steals. This young man has limitless potential. In the fourth quarter, soph F Jamal Jones collected 10 of his 14 points. Freire’s franchise player is sr. WG Jarrod Denard, a lefty. Denard was slightly off from the floor, especially early, but later settled down and finished with 25 points. He’s capable of turning nothings into somethings and did so more than once. He also had three assists, three steals. Soph inside strongman Octavious Booker had 11 points, 10 boards and three blocks. It seemed as if he was doing more, actually. Jr. F Koron Reed, formerly of Girard College (and West Catholic before that), never achieved a comfort level. Probably understandable because he didn’t face foes like this at Girard. Another former West Catholic player, jr. F Abraham Bah, likewise had trouble finding his niche. Now seeing most of the PG time is sr. John “Tatoe” Brown, formerly of Prep Charter, and that’s coming at the expense of sr. Antione “Blueberrry” Singleton. Singleton had three assists, and several smart plays, to spark the second quarter comeback, but barely played after that. Huh? This isn’t meant to offend Brown, because I do like his approach, but Blueberry has been a two-sport rock at Freire (also football) for three years and I’d hate to see him get shunted aside as his days there are winding down. Overall, perhaps THE play of the day by a Freire guy was posted with about 30 seconds left. That was when soph G Rodney Hardrick dug down deep and played excellent defense to force a 5-second call. Nice job, young man! Two coaching notes: Jarrard “Mutch” Jones, formerly of Southern, is now helping at Imhotep. Mike Boles, a strong contributor in football and hoops at Penn Charter, and fresh out of Albright, is now helping at Freire. (Mike, I’m begging you, please help Lawrence leave behind his knuckleheaded ways – smile.)

JAN. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Dobbins 75, Northeast 72
  This came close to being one of the all-time collapses. Not so much because of shaky overall play, but foul-line miseries. Dobbins rushed to leads of 29-9 and then 60-46 and coach John Sullivan tried to mix in some deep subs down the stretch. One question: Were they wearing blindfolds at the foul line? (smile) In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs went 6-for-19 at the line and 10 of those misses came on five double-bonuses. Ouch. Northeast kept hustling and getting baskets and moved within 75-70 before Dobbins sr. F Antonio McKenzie, a recent varsity addition, went to the line for a twosome at 0:18. He missed both badly. NE sr. PG Tyron Lytes grabbed the rebound and hustled upcourt and sr. WG Corey Wilkins wound up with the ball on the left wing. He briefly pondered launching a trey, but instead opted for a hard drive. He misconnected and sr. F Paul McPherson snagged the defensive rebound, and then was hacked at 0:08. He also clanged both ends of the double-bonus. Soph G Dan Patriarca canned a layup on a pass from jr. G Demetrius Davis and, whoa, the Vikes were within three. One problem: the buzzer was sounding as the ball passed through the net. Ballgame. DN ink went to sr. PG Samuel Everett-Bey, a solid lefty with the ever-popular North Philly brass. Somehow, he never went out for the team until this year. He went for 21 points – an explosive 13 in the first quarter – along with 10 rebounds, two assists and six steals. The leading scorer was jr. SF Lamar Speller, also a lefty (and thin) and somewhat spidery/bouncy. He shot 9-for-16 (three treys) en route to 24 points and worked well with E-B and sr. WG Tariq Lee, the nephew of ex-Sixer Aaron McKie (15 points, six assists, four steals). Speller (12 points) was also dominant in the burst that led to 29-9. Lytes played the role of good-soldier PG in the beginning and several snappy passes went pounding off the mat behind the basket because teammates weren’t ready to catch ‘em. Later, he looked for his own shot a shade more and finished with 21 points, in addition to 10 rebounds and four assists. He’s a spirited kid and is truly trying to play the right way, which is to be commended. Sr. PF-C Marcus Booker had to settle for 10 points and four boards. Aside from Lytes, the late comeback was paced by jr. G Devin Colston (10 of 14 points in second half) and Davis (all 10, including a pair of treys). Also making a late appearance for Dobbins was FB star Chuck King, another recent addition to the hoops squad. He at least hit 50 percent of his free throws (1-for-2). This game was played today because Dobbins’ Senior Trip is tomorrow and Friday. Destination: Poconos. Not sure if any players are going. Forgot to ask. If so, have fun and be safe. If not, work on free throws (smile).

JAN. 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Germantown 59, Central 53
  Though hardly a marquee attraction, this one figured to make good sense from the newspapering standpoint. Germantown sr. PG Khalief Mason (5-6 ¾, 142 pounds) is a whirlwind deserving of maybe even D-II attention and I’d made a note during an earlier G-town game to make sure to see him again. Plus, you can never go wrong highlighting a Central kid and four seniors are mainstays for coach Haviland Harper, with the headliners being 6-5 C Acquil Cook and 5-9 PG Yusef Nuriddin. Well, early it appeared the ink would go to Mason, but not Khalief. Germantown has another Mason, a well-built 6-5 sr. named Jon (no relation) and he established himself early as inside force. He did continue to play well, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but there was no way not to shine the spotlight K. Mason’s way. Check this out: Aside from totaling 20 points (18 in the second half), five assists and eight steals, he also claimed 10 rebounds! He was involved in almost every play as da Bears broke away from a 29-29 halftime tie to build a 47-34 lead with 6:00 remaining in the game. OK, so Central scrambled back and made things quite interesting. But Mason led the let’s-regroup effort and, among other things, followed his own missed trey with a rebound bucket to help assure the win. Khalief was an interesting interview subject as well. I loved his perspective and also liked hearing later from AD Mike Hawkins that Khalief has become quite the focused young man over the last couple years. He lost his mom, Bonnie, at age 7 and now receives steady guidance from two brothers and an uncle. I hope things work out for him! J. Mason was being held out the first time I saw G-town; he also has possibilities. He showed that nice aggressive/ornery mix while grabbing half of his rebounds off the offensive glass. Sr. G Kevin Moody went 3-for-4 at the line in the waning moments to help secure the win. Honestly, the rest of da Bears are hard to distinguish. They fly around and try to help, but are prone to miscues. Cook, the Lancers’ soccer goalie, finished with 16 points, eight boards and six blocks. He’s a quick jumper, though unpolished away from the hoop. Nuriddin struggled with his shot and didn’t break into the scoring column until the last segment of the game. He did have four assists and two steals. Sr. WG Darren Gee had 12 points, nine boards and four dimes. The lefty’s pretty athletic. Sr. WG-SF Joffrey Cummings-Glynn notched just four points, but he got on the glass to the tune of nine carom-clutches. I liked that he appeared to be very dedicated to little-things duties. Malcolm Albright, a jr. G, showed some late-game pizzazz to help the Lancers rally. Among those helping Hawkins sell tickets and handle general entry-door duties were students Dwyne Hall and Jerome Plant. Last spring, they were among four athletes who hopped a fence and ran across the street to save a lady from a house fire during a track meet involving Germantown and other schools. They’ll soon be honored by the Philadelphia Sportswriters Association at the group’s annual banquet. Tremendous! They'll get to rub elbows with ex-Penn Charter QB Matt Ryan (Boston College), who will also be honored. G-town coach Joseph "Coach X" Bradley is taking the no-nonsense approach as he tries to improve the Bears' program. Late in the game, while a Bear was shooting free throws, J. Mason and others were back downcourt, just standing and watching. Well, mostly watching. Bradley noticed Mason briefly conversing with a fan in the stands and, zoom, he immediately sent a replacement to the scorers' table. Mason got tongue-lashed, then returned to finish up.

JAN. 14
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 62, Dougherty 59
  We’re always looking for the oddities here in Dot.com Land and this game provided a classic: 18 three-point “events” for 44.6 percent of the points. We’ll call ‘em events because there were three varieties. The teams combined for 12 treys (Dougherty led with eight), five old-fashioned three-point plays (Dougherty led with three) and just one of the variety that sees a guy get hammered while launching a trey and then stroll to the line and drain all three shots. Doing the honors on that last one was sr. G-F Bob Zanneo, of Judge, and his timing could not have been more exquisite. With Dougherty up, 59-57, thanks to a backdoor layup by sr. WG Isiah Mason on a pass from sr. F-C Brandon Savage, Zanneo was jostled on a trey attempt from a shade to the right of straight-on. The clock showed 0:22 as he stepped to the line and the Looney Bin occupants were making all KINDS of noise. Didn’t matter. Nor did an ice-him timeout called by CD coach Mark Heimerdinger between the second and third shots. Zanneo delivered perfect swishes in a big-time clutch performance, putting the Crusaders ahead, 60-59. At the other end, Mason could not connect on a trey from an area almost identical to Zanneo’s and Z-man snagged his 10th rebound at 0:07. He took the long walk to the other end and again silenced the Boisterous Bin Boys With a Few Girls Mixed In, converting both ends of a double-bonus. Dougherty’s last shot, a trey by jr. PG Jahkeem Bogans, was an air-ball from straight-on. Zanneo was flying at him, as this picture shows. Care to guess which player received DN ink? You got it: The guy who’s called Z-z-zanneo by the PA announcer when the Crusaders are playing at home. Except for new/newer Pub schools, Judge has the lowest single-game scoring record (34 points). Zanneo impressively threatened it, pouring in 31. He went 10-for-18 from the floor overall, with a 3-for-10 performance on treys, and 8-for-8 at the line. Bob is not the fastest or quickest guy ever, but he possesses a certain bounciness and has worked VERY hard on perfecting a lightning-quick release. Does he sometimes misfire? Of course. Who doesn’t? He’s the go-to guy, though, and he takes his responsibility seriously, so if there’s a sliver of daylight he’s going to launch. Zanneo complemented his performance with the aforementioned 10 boards, so he definitely was not going the one-dimensional route. D-IIs and D-IIIs are in pursuit and he’s also a star in the academic arena (4.0 GPA, ranks fourth in senior class, gotta love it.) Also starring tonight was sr. F-C Andrew Vose. He totaled 17 points and 13 rebounds and worked perfectly with jr. WG Tom Ryan (six assists) for a series of easy baskets off nifty entry passes. The duo showed how easy inside baskets CAN be if the target knows how to set up and the passer possesses both savvy and confidence that his deliveries will be handled correctly. Sr. handyman Jim DiLisio mixed five points, three assists and two steals. Sr. PG Matt McLaughlin, a lefty, had five points, two dimes. Jr. F Josh Jaskowiak claimed five boards. Dougherty placed three players in double digits in scoring: Mason (21), soph WG Zaahir Allen (17) and Savage (10), a lefty. Mason was killin’ early. He nailed his first six shots and four were treys. Phew! He really had that classic jump-shooter thing going. This was my second look at Allen and again there was much to like. He boasts that classic first step and winds up at or near rim level on his drives. He comes off as a nasty dude, too, at least where playing ball is concerned, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as the emotions are channeled correctly. Amauro and I agree that Allen bears a playing and body/mannerisms resemblance to Saint Joseph’s Tasheed Carr, who first made a name for himself at University City. Savage took just six shots from the floor while adding 14 boards. He impressed on one play in the first half, driving hard from the left side and – whoa! – exploding off the floor in an attempt to thunder-dunk. He was fouled on the play, but, man oh man, was that a highlight. Loved the aggression and the fact he could even DO something like that. Dougherty’s cause was damaged when Allen fouled out with 1:40 left. Also, the loss had to sting because the Cardinals were outscored, 21-12, over the final six minutes. The Looney Bin was not exactly packed, but those in attendance did show good energy. Late in the game, a kid jumped down to the floor during a timeout to spell out “C-a-r-d-i-n-a-l-s” with hand and arm gestures. When the kid hopped back up, one of his buddies yelled over, “Should we spell out Dougherty next time?” I responded with a yes and signaled with my hands that “Dougherty” is longer (and would thus be more of a challenge.) The kid nodded in agreement. One problem: Cardinals and Dougherty both have nine letters. I wouldn’t have been able to pull that kind of fast one on an Inter-Ac kid. Or even a La Salle kid (smile). See, the second kid, I’m sure, was only providing me a flashback to last year at Ryan when Dougherty played La Salle in a quarterfinal. Here are the final few lines from THAT report: As you might imagine, the (La Salle) guys played the we're-superior-academically card early and often. In the fourth quarter, after Dougherty's students, fronted by the mascot, spelled out C-a-r-d-i-n-a-ls, a La Salle kid yelled out, "Now you can pass second grade!" Pause. Same kid. "Try spelling 'Dougherty!' " Hey, Duke has to get its clever rooters from somewhere, right? . . . One last thing from tonight: One of Judge's adult fans -- Ryan's father, in fact -- was wearing an O.J. Simpson Buffalo Bills jersey. The Dougherty kids razzed him from time to time about taking it off and then, right after the game, as he walked toward the exit, he was serenaded with "O.J.'s Guilty! O.J.'s Guilty!"

JAN. 11
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 59, Chestnut Hill 54
  As the first half ended, GA’s players were walking off the floor en masse and it looked like a photo op. Click! It wasn’t until much later, while processing the photos, that I noticed CHA star Gary Lawrence walking amidst all of the Patriots. Kind of the theme for the night. GA coach Jim Fenerty decided to tackle the task of trying to control Lawrence, the crafty jr. SF, by alternating srs. Tim “Timmy-Tim” McCarty and Eric Yuschak. They did a wonderful job. Gary spent much of the game trying to operate along the right baseline. The Blanket Boys kept fronting Gary and spreading out and he rarely received the ball at all, let alone in spots that permitted comfort. Later, he moved to the high-post area, or beyond. He did get the ball rather easily way out there, but he’s not a long-distance shooter and he had to make moves and the Patriots, especially in key moments, did a nice job of doubling. Lawrence got only six shots for the game, making two. He canned an early field goal and didn’t get another until 4:14 remained. He went 7-for-10 at the line. DN ink went to GA sr. G Joe Hill, who just last Tuesday became a WG with soph Cameron Ayers moving to the point. Hill is an energy guy and Fenerty figured the Patriots were a shade stagnant on the wings last Saturday in their I-A opener vs. Malvern. Both guys were productive. After missing his first six shots from the floor, Joe regrouped and finished with 14 points. He also exhibited good timing. While doubling Lawrence, he executed a steal and raced three-quarters court for a layup that provided a 51-45 lead. The Blue Devils missed a semi-wild flip shot and the GA headed back downcourt. Coach Bill Dooley yelling for his squad to foul, but somehow it didn’t happen and Hill drained a right wing jumper on a pass from Ayers. CHA kept battling, no doubt. But an eight-point deficit is a little much to overcome in 70 seconds. Ayers, son of former Sixers’ coach Randy, looked very comfortable at the point. He displays a certain calm mixed with what you know is deep-down focus/intensity. He went 8-for-12 (one trey) and 2-for-2 for 19 points, adding five assists. Jr. PF-C Jeff Holton totaled 11 points and six boards while jr. WG Jack McDonnell totaled an efficient eight points by hitting three of four shots (with two of them being treys). CHA was on point at the start, spurting to leads of 9-2 and 21-13. Sr. PG Mike Rhoads, who once upon a time played for GA, was spectacular early, accumulating 10 points and two assists. At least for a while, the taller Ayers began covering Rhoads and his dominance waned. Mike did finish with 21 points while going 8-for-14, 3-for-5 (treys) and 2-for-2. Also effective was soph F Pat Connaghan with 11 points, seven boards and four blocks. There was a full house on hand – recent grads are still home on break from college -- and the kids had lots of energy. Statman Mark “Frog” Carfagno and I sat along the baseline closest to CHA’s  bench and all kinds of former Blue Devil coaches were in the vicinity. AD Mark Burke walked back and forth every so often, as did John McArdle. Ed Aversa mostly stayed seated. At one point there was a shaky non-call and McArdle roared, “Use your whistle!” He then said in a lower voice, “That’s why I hate referees.” Everybody nearby cracked up because John is a prominent baseball version of a ref. A few years ago, he even umpired third base in a Phillies game when travel woes for the regular crew forced MLB to scramble. The DN story spent some time addressing the wonderful buzzcut Hill recently received from a buddy. OK, maybe it wasn’t so wonderful. We decided Joe looks like a guy about to start a riot at a British soccer game (smile) . . . There would have been another report dated Jan. 11 right below this one, but Pubness got in the way. Parkway players have been begging for attention, not to mention a team photo, so I decided to cover the Hoyas' non-league game at Fels since there were no CL afternoon games. As I arrived at Fels, I sensed something was wrong because no students were hanging outside. See, this was an in-service day for teachers and students were dismissed early, so the game was postponed to next Friday. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I drove downtown and killed time in our palatial office, where the temperature on the thermostat read only 77 degrees. Yawn! Yawn! Heat makes me sleepy. GA-CHA was a great way to wake up!

JAN. 10
PUBLIC LEAGUE
FitzSimons 70, Northeast 66
  Things were going too smoothly. There HAD to be another "Only in the Pub" experience one of these days. Here we go, gang: I arrived at the M.L. King RC, 22nd and Cecil B. Moore, at about 2:15 and there was no sign of either team. It was early, but the circumstances still provided that uh-oh feeling. Next was a cell phone call to Charles Sumter, Pub hoops honcho. Charles said Fitz no longer plays at King RC. Thanks for telling me, buddy!! Grrrrrrrrrr (smile). “They play at Rhodes now.” Oh, brother. Here we go. Rhodes is at 29th and Clearfield. Charles says he’ll call our new statman, Steve Reid, and let him know of the change. (Steve went to Strawberry Mansion and has remained in contact with Charles). I head to Rhodes, walk in the door and the woman security guard says, “No teams are here. I don’t think there’s a game.” Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Another call is placed to Charles. Another woman comes out of the office and explains pleasantly that some changes had to be made to Fitz’ schedule to avoid conflicts with Rhodes’. This game is AT Northeast, she says. As I walk outside, Steve is just arriving. (He lives nearby.) As we walk to my car for the, um, rapid ride to Northeast, I kiddingly tell Charles, “Don’t read the website tomorrow because I’ll be torching your ass again!!” (ha ha) Anyway, everything worked out OK. We arrived at maybe 3:05 and game time was 3:15. Here’s the kicker: If I’d known ahead of time about the site switch, I might NOT have attended because this game figured to be a better bet to be competitive with NE on the road. But guess what? FitzSimons was in control – by a little, then by medium, then by a little again thanks to NE’s late rush – pretty much throughout and this was a NICE win, especially considering that coach Rory Calhoun dresses just seven players. In league play, only six Rams scored before today and seeing only six in uniform would not have surprised. But there indeed were seven and the least-used guy, sr. G Tyree Frisby, after not shooting at all beforehand and barely playing, nailed both halves of a double-bonus with 8.7 left to lift the lead back to four points, at 70-66. DN ink went to sr. WG Anthony Razor (5-9, 170), who used two treys to help himself to 12 first quarter points. He finished with 19 and hit a large right-corner trey in the fourth quarter with one guy in his face and another on the doorstep. Huge brass, and execution. Jr. PG Kion Coats somehow went 0-for-10 in the first half, but did much better thereafter en route to 13 points and eight assists. Sr. WG Tyrone Waters managed 15 points, five assists and two steals. The inside work was done mostly by guys with small forward bodies by eye-of-the-tiger resolve – jrs. Tyrell Johnson (eight, 15 rebounds) and Chuck Collins (11 of each, plus four blocks). The other Ram was jr. F Cameron Dunbar. In part to avoid foul trouble, Fitz played a decent amount of zone. That should have meant major threeballing for sr. WG Jordan Green, but somehow he finished scoreless and 0-for-7 on threes. Sr. PG Tyron Lytes was impressive, totaling 21 points, six boards and three apiece of assists and steals. He made seven of his eight free throws. Part of me liked that he played sensibly. Another part wanted to see him be a shade selfish, especially against a squad that could ill-afford foul trouble. Sr. PF Marcus Booker was a worker bee until fouling out late. He grabbed seven boards and hit all eight of his free throws while scoring 16 points. Sr. G Corey Wilkins was a tremendously motivated defender (six steals) and a pleasure to watch. Jr. F Lionel Berdecia, who apparently has begun receiving extended playing time only recently, grabbed 10 boards. With 1:26 showing, after Waters notched a fastbreak three-point play on a wonderful no-look, drop-it-behind pass from Coats, FitzSimons had the look of a team that would coast home, at 66-57. But Northeast kept scrambling and creating turnovers and when Wilkins buried a left-wing trey on a feed from jr. G Devin Colston at 0:25, the deficit was only four, at 68-64. Waters obliged by missing a double-bonus and Lytes went HARD from end to end to make it 68-66. Oh, baby, was NE going to steal this one? The Vikings had to be feeling good when Frisby went to the line. But wouldn’t you know it. The little guy showed big-time brass, hitting both free throws! This was a nice road win for FitzSimons. Congrats to two former Pub players, Calhoun (King) and Edward “Cookie” Flythe (Gratz), for how they’re handling the Rams under difficult circumstances. Flythe played for Gratz (and attended FitzSimons beforehand, when it was a middle school) in the mid-1970s. When we exchanged handshakes before the game and he merely said, “Ed Flythe,” he was stunned (and happy) when I blurted out his name with the nickname included. “How do you remember me?” he asked. Hey, Edward “Cookie” Flythe is a shade more memorable than Frank Johnson or John Jones, right? (smile).

JAN. 8
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Southern 88, Overbrook 54
  Hopes were high for seeing a decent game. A good (but not tremendous) crowd was on hand in Overbrook’s gym and a DJ played some pre-game music to set a mood of pending excitement. Then the action started and, damn, only one team showed up. I’d been hearing good things about this Southern edition and now I know why. The Rams play HARD and they’re deep (not to mention young). At times it appeared to be a game of six on five as the Rams swarmed everywhere to cause the ‘Brook major difficulties. The Panthers coughed up 17 steals in a 49-27 first half, so it’s likely their turnover total was at least 25. Meanwhile, what’s the deal this year with teams whose primary color is red? North Catholic, Germantown Academy and Southern all feature deep rotations. On my office voice mail, an overly excited Ram fan left word tonight that this team could compete with any of Southern’s powerhouses from days gone by. Crazy! Not even close! But there IS much to like about this group and the togetherness quotient appears to be significant. That has not always been the case. On some past teams, players from one side of Broad Street have tried to undermine guys from the other (along with their posses) and ugliness has ensued. Time to leave that stuff WAY behind, guys. Just think about how many schools are tugging away at the talent base: Though prominent, Neumann-Goretti and Prep Charter are only two. If Southern hopes to recapture some of its past glory, a welcoming atmosphere will be totally necessary. Anyway, DN ink went to sr. WG Anthony “Crip” Reese, a 5-9 guy who can dunk! Easily! OK, so his lack of height is not THAT amazing. Well, Reese is named “Crip” because the bottom portion of his left leg is thinner and shorter and he walks with a limp, owing to the fact that leg was broken as he emerged from the birth canal. Nevertheless, quickness, speed and leaping ability are no problem and he showed all three right out of the gate, taking the opening tap and throwing one DOWN! Simply sensational! Crip – obviously, the nickname is not exactly politically correct; he embraces it, though – finished with 14 points and five steals. The other Reese in the lineup is his fraternal twin, Antoine, a sr. SF. They don’t look too much alike in the face, honestly, and, get this, Antoine is 8 inches taller! How weird is that? Crip said the school ID cards include birthdates and he constantly has to prove to people that he and Antoine indeed were born on Nov. 20, 1989. Antoine had 16 points. Also impressive was soph PG Haywood Henderson. He mixed 12 points and nine assists and again and again made correct decisions in traffic. And there was a lot of traffic because this tilt was swooshing from beginning to end. Neither team ran more than five set plays total for the game, if that. Another soph, G Deshon Minnis (his dad, Shon Minnis, is a Ram alumnus), had seven steals. No one else rang up much in the way of stats, but every single guy was energetic. Jr. WG Nurideen Lindsey, who has already committed to La Salle, is of course Overbrook’s franchise. He went for 34 points, but NOT impressively. Especially in the second half, he was throwing up pretty much anything from distance and for a while, each miss was worse than the last. This guy has unmatched body control and can get to the line pretty much any time he wants. But, oh my goodness, was he ever taking liberties with the vast amount of freedom given to him by coach Freddie Stokes, the Pub’s leading scorer (for West Philly) in 1968. Lindsey shot 10-for-23 total (2-for-12 on treys) and 12-for-21 at the line (ouch). The other guys combined also took 23 shots from the floor. Lindsey did add eight rebounds and three apiece of assists and steals. Sr. F Vernon Harris failed to score (0-for-3), but grabbed seven rebounds. Sr. F Thomas Edwards went 4-for-4 en route to 10 points. Yet another sr. F, Justin Clarkson, managed eight points, seven boards and four blocks. Justin is a first-year varsity player. Late-blooming runs in the family. His brother, Kris Clarkson, had a strong career at Widener out of ‘Brook and now plays overseas. Erik Hood, former star at Gratz and Overbrook (until sidetracked by personal issues), was in attendance. Soon, he’ll be heading back overseas to play in Israel. He played last year in Germany and checked in via email a few times to offer his thoughts on his life/hoops experiences. We even set up a special page and “E” said he received a lot of positive feedback. Always nice to hear. It will be interesting to see how Southern fares as the season wears on. With Gratz struggling, the Class AAAA group is wide open. A big one will occur Jan. 17 when Southern, supported today by maybe 25-30 fans, visits Bartram. Both teams are 6-0 in  Pub play.

JAN. 8
UPDATE
  I was able to find the picture of Southern's six lefties from the 1981-82 season. Will Williams, now a ref, was five-sixths correct on his memory. Here's the pic with the IDs, L to R -- Will Williams, Antonio Harris, Mike Richmond, Nate Blackwell, Lawrence Burgess and Andy Jones. (Yo, Will. Love the Jordache shirt -- smile.) 

JAN. 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
N. Catholic 70, Judge 60
   This was one of THOSE nights in North’s legendary basement gym. The kind, where during the second half of the JV game, people come streaming down the concrete stairs during timeouts looking to find a decent place to sit. Later, as they’re watching the game and sitting on the front half of a plank of wood, they can feel anything from the shoes to knees of the person behind them touching or even digging into their back or butt. North-Judge. Judge-North. List them in the order YOU prefer. Just get there early to watch ‘em, especially in seasons when both are playing quality basketball. The focus of my DN story was sr. PG Velton Jones (Robert Morris) and especially how he has become the Northern Division player everyone loves to hate. Which is something HE loves, by the way. He feeds off villain status. Are there times when he takes bad shots or makes questionable, even horrendous, decisions? No doubt. North coach Mike McCarron loves the kid, though, mostly because he admires his will and that he’s constantly trying to make sure the Falcons are playing aggressively. Shortly into the game, an adult sitting right behind Judge’s bench yelled, “No discipline! He’s shooting!” as Jones stood in an area toward the left corner, pondering what to do. Velton said afterward he probably would not have shot if not for the comment. But he did and the ball swished and shortly thereafter, he was making almost an identical shot from the left corner. (Though neither was launched from behind the arc.) He was soon adding a layup on a pass from soph G Woody Redding and his yield wound up being six points in a 10-2 rush that covered the first 2 minutes, 36 seconds. Similar comments were directed at Jones as the intense, spirited game proceeded – “Selfish!” was the word of the night – and, yes, at times he did force shots. Actually, many of the shots that missed (he finished 6-for-18) were not so much forced as not efficiently finished. Jones has a habit of flipping rather than actually shooting. Anyway, his final yield featured 23 points (8-for-8 at line) along with nine rebounds and three assists and it was his pass to sr. WG-SF R.J. Handy that resulted in a three-point play with 5:59 left in the third quarter, giving North nine-point breathing room at 41-32. Judge was never completely dispatched until very late, but neither were the Crusaders able to post the kind of quick burst that could have caused the North guys to fret. North’s leading scorer, sr. WG Lenny Young, was out with the flu. Didn’t matter. McCarron still used anybody and everybody and when sr. G Terrell “The Nice/Good T.O.” Oglesby, of FB game, checked in with 2:32 left in the second quarter, he was the 12th Falcon to hit the floor. Handy did an excellent job in this one, compiling 13 points and two apiece of assists and steals while doing all of his usual little things. The Falcons dominated the boards: soph F Josh Stevens (nine), sr. PF-C Shahid Paulhill (eight), soph F Bob Makor and sr. F Pete Sellecchia (six apiece). And don’t forget, almost nobody is getting extensive playing time with the non-stop shuttling in and out. Judge’s best player was jr. WG-SF Tom Ryan, whose competitive fires burn just as brightly as Jones’. He’s one of those no-fear guys and he went for 17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Sr. wing scorer Bob Zanneo had to settle for 11 points. The Falcons made sure to crowd him (and even bump him) and rarely allowed him to launch a full-comfort shot. Zanneo did contribute six rebounds and seven blocks just by being bouncy and displaying good timing. Sr. F-C Andrew Vose added five rejections and shot 4-for-5 en route to 11 points. Sr. G Jim DiLisio, now serving as sixth man, hit two of his four treys for six points while dishing four assists. MANY legends were in attendance. Included was the first guy in city history to hit a three-point shot at the high school level, North’s Marty O’Donnell. It happened on Dec. 1, 1986, in North’s gym as the Falcons played Gratz. If I remember correctly, Marty launched from the wing near North’s bench. Only the CL was using the new rule that year, but Gratz coach Bill Ellerbee agreed to North’s request to honor threes in THAT game. O’Donnell, primarily a FB player, left the team a couple weeks later. He came over to say hi just as this game ended. He said with a laugh that all he hears about from his buddies is that I referred to him as a “deep sub” in later mentions about his place in city history and that he wasn't. Hmmm. Further research to come!! (ha ha). By the way, North went 1-for-9 on treys that day. Gratz didn’t even attempt one. (I was at the game.) One footnote: as mentioned, the Pub did NOT use the three-point rule that year. In a game that concluded the regular season, Bartram coach John Dougherty came up with a plan to break Wilt Chamberlain’s city record of 90 points. The opponent was Bodine. Sr. Reggie Isaac scored 84, shooting 33-for-69 from the floor and 18-for-22 at the line in a 99-69 win. I attended this one only because Bartram had received no attention during the season. Beforehand, Dougherty said something along the lines of, “Well, we’re going for the record today.” I mentioned Joe Bryant’s 57 points (yes, he’s Kobe’s father and also played in the NBA), achieved in ’72 vs. Bok. (Olney’s Willie Taylor scored 63 against Bok the next playing date to overtake Joe for the scoring title. Phew! Those were wild and wooly times – smile.) John said, “No, we’re going for the big one. Wilt’s.” And then they did. The other players were under orders not to shoot, though some occasionally did, and one frontcourt guy got momentarily benched until he promised not to shoot anymore. Even on easy follows. It was a CRAZY day. Worse, no DN photographer showed up and I had to use a school phone at halftime (no cells back then, remember) to call the office and beg them to somehow get a photographer out there because Wilt’s record was in jeopardy. Someone eventually did show up right at the end and Reggie’s picture, surrounded by delirious teammates, wound up on the back page of the paper. (One of Bodine’s players was then-soph Monte Ross, now the coach at the University of Delaware). Isaac was a classic mad bomber and went on to become the MVP of the MEAC tournament in ’90 for Coppin State. If the three-point rule HAD been in effect for that game, Reggie NO DOUBT would have displaced Wilt. Considering Wilt’s place in city (and world) hoops history, I was kind of glad Reggie didn’t break the mark. Deep down, as he reflects back on it now, maybe Reggie was, too. Wow, a Marty O’Donnell sighting certainly took us off on a tangent, eh? (smile)

JAN. 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Ryan 53, Conwell-Egan 39
  This is basketball, his preferred sport is baseball (third base) and he came up with a number most associated with hockey. Jr. F Anthony Keiter posted an amazing plus-21 in this one. In pure fashion. He scored 21 and held jr. G-F Jonas Skovdal to zero. Amazing. Keiter shot 8-for-10 (one trey) and 4-for-5 while limiting the dangerous Skovdal, who just last Sunday had used his ambidextrous skills to pour home 26 points vs. West Catholic, to 0-for-2. Ryan coach Bernie Rogers was in attendance that day, so he obviously did a tremendous job of scouting Skovdal and deciding how to try to contain him. To his credit, Skovdal did not force and came up with seven rebounds. Keiter added seven boards and two steals. Ryan jumped to a 15-8 lead in the first five-plus minutes as sr. WG-SF Tom Marshall scored 10 points. Strangely, he did not score thereafter. The Raiders received contributions from pretty much everyone, which is how things are supposed to work in Rogers’ system. His brother, sr. PG Andrew, had 12 points and three assists. Sr. F Chris Wilk, of linebacking FB (and flexing) fame (more on that later – smile), mixed five boards, four steals and, um, physicality. Marshall also had six rebounds. Jr. G Mike “High Rise” Colon (check out this pic) scrambled for four steals. Sr. WG Eric Jann totaled three dimes and ended the third quarter with a left-corner trey that produced a 34-31 lead. For C-E, sr. F-C Hayk Gyokchyan had 20 points and seven rebounds. The other main man, sr. G Rashad Little, hit three treys en route to 12 points while adding three boards and three assists. The Eagles slightly lost their way early in the fourth quarter, missing a trio of misguided treys. The launchers did not appear to be completely set on any of them and, if memory serves, all were ugly. Ryan extended its lead to 42-35 on a three-point play by Rogers (he used his left hand on the drive) and to eight a shade later (at 45-37) on Jann’s fast-break feed to Keiter. By the time I made it to Ryan, the varsity players were already warming up and there was no chance to take the Raiders’ team picture. So, we did that afterward in a hallway outside the classroom at the front of the school where the Raiders always meet/plan. I always try to take two shots, just to be safe. After the first, one of the players quipped, “Wilk is flexin’.” I blurted out, “When isn’t he?” I should have taken pic No. 2 right then because everybody would have been smiling or laughing. But respecting the fact that most kids want to flash those tough-guy stares for team pics on the website (ha ha), I held off. A small group of recent Ryan players wound up near my locale in the second half. I asked Tim Kelly, a forward for last year's squad, where they'd been in the first half. Tim said, "I was here. Back up there." He motioned to a spot higher in the stands. "I don't know where the other guys were," he added. "Maybe waiting until halftime so they wouldn't have to pay." Today brings the Inter-Ac tripleheader. Let the fun resume!

JAN. 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 58, O’Hara 57 (OT)
  When it comes to sports news for guys named Rich Hofmann, Dad reports it and Son creates it. What a development THIS one was. Rich Sr. is the long-time Daily News columnist and has been working at the DN since maybe 1980. He came to us from Penn and even helped with high school coverage in the very beginning as an intern. If I remember correctly, he covered a Pub baseball playoff involving Roxborough that had to be finished another day after a protest was upheld. Anyway, Rich Jr., a senior wing guard and lefty, is mostly known for long-range sniping. When he gets on the floor, that is. Though Rich in practice routinely plays the role of the other team’s best player, on game day he had only watched four of the Hawks’ last five outings. And even in this one, I doubt he was out there for more than three-four total minutes. But with 6 seconds remaining, after setting a pick for star sr. WG Jim Mower (Lafayette), Hofmann peeled off and, let’s face it, was not surprised when the man covering him, sr. C Mark Wedderburn, went to double Mower. He was standing beyond the arc, a shade to the right of head-on. The nearest guy was a zip code away. Sr. G-F Matt Williams hit him with the inbound pass. Hofmann looked and looked some more, then lofted. Bang! A perfect swish! Here’s the kicker: It was his first shot in a game since mid-December. His one appearance in the  playing dry spell had come against Roman; he hadn’t fired away. Son wants to follow Dad into this goofy life, so when he interviews heroes down the line, he’ll know exactly what questions to ask. Right before the special moment, Hofmann had grabbed a rebound of a missed Hawks’ shot and dribbled into traffic. A jump ball resulted, with the arrow working in his favor. The instant the ball splashed into the net, the Prep’s students rushed the floor. The surge pushed Hofmann and the other players all the way to the west end of the spacious gym. When the pandemonium died down, the refs decided to put 1 second back onto the clock. Jacky Onks, the Prep’s trainer, mentioned at the time that the number should have been 2. Right she was! I have a picture showing Rich falling back just after the shot was made. The clock shows 0:02 and Prep’s coaches/subs are exploding in glee to the left, so the shot had obviously already connected. On O’Hara’s last possession, sr. WG Zach Tansey launched from a step or two inside midcourt. The ball came close, but not close enough. Many guys were deserving of ink. Mower had 24 points with 15 from the fourth quarter on. Sr. PG Joe Meehan, who’s not exactly on the doorstep of participating in he-man competitions, dealt four assists and scrambled his way among the big-‘uns to can a follow the forced OT. Sr. C Mike Bradley mixed nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out. But, hey, this was an amazing occurrence and there was no hesitation about which guy would get the interview. While we were talking, my cell phone rang. I told Rich it was probably his uncle, who happens to be the DN’s executive sports editor, Pat McLoone. When we finished, it rang again and I noticed Pat’s home number. I answered it and said right away, “I figured you’d be calling.” Pat said, “Were you there?” I shot back with a laugh, “I just finished interviewing him.” Pat said he’d been receiving text messages about the goings-ons from a friend in attendance. Where was Rich Sr.? In Gettysburg to watch daughter Casey play in a CYO tournament. Oh, well. I’m guessing he’ll watch the video. Maybe 1,000 times (smile). Backtracking a little, Andrew Whelan, a Prep teacher with a focus on journalism, made a dead-on comment right after the game ended. “Rich just saved the season.” Indeed. A loss would have dropped the Hawks to 0-3 in league play and that hole would have presented a formidable challenge. Instead, O’Hara is now 0-3 and how it happened was not good. The Lions lost a six-point edge in the final 1:03 of regulation. They regrouped to score the first five points of OT, but again things did not work out. Tansey matched Mower in the late-game heroics department, scoring 13 of his 22 points from the fourth quarter on. While the Hawks had only Mower in double digits, Tansey was joined by sr. PF Matt Romano (12, several key “little-things” plays off the bench), WG-SF Jim Kelleher (11), and Wedderburn (10, also six boards and five blocks; he too came off the bench). Sr. PG Ryan Wolski dealt four assists. With lots of free throws in the fourth quarter, and then an OT, this game took a LONG time. My night game was going to be Conwell-Egan/Ryan and there was quite a dilemma. Run out to the car, grab the computer and start the story at Prep? Try to hurry to Ryan and do it there? Nah, it’s rush hour. I-95 will be a mess. I opted to head to our nearby office and write the story there. I made it about three-quarters of the way through by a self-imposed 6:45 deadline. From there it was off to Ryan with a quick stop at the vending machines for a “dinner” of Tastykake and diet coke. Gotta love life on the trail (smile).

JAN. 3
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Bracetti 46, Masterman 35
  With no true gems on today’s schedule – hard to believe in a league with 54 teams – there was a decision to make. Figuring the DN reading public might like to know about 6-10 Bracetti sr. Diyaaldin Kelley, I headed to this one secure in the knowledge that even a Masterman story would be acceptable because the place is filled with terrific kids bound for great things in life. Well, guess what. Kelley was not in uniform. Rumors have been swirling for a while that this might be the Holy Family signee’s fifth year in high school and coach Kyle Epps acknowledged he is holding D-L-deen out until the situation is completely untangled. Even without him, though, the Bulldogs had enough juice to win their Pub debut, and the inkman was a quite deserving Sam Starks, a sr. lefty PG who is the very definition of energetic and competitive. Holy Family, Bloomsburg and Cabrini are checking him out and there will be more, trust me. This is no exaggeration. If his teammates had caught his passes and/or finished in more successful fashion, Starks could have ch-chinged his way to 15-16 assists. He had to settle for four, along with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. When the pace picked up slightly in the fourth quarter, he totaled five points, eight boards and two apiece of assists and steals. He was everywhere, doing everything. D. Kelley’s brother, 6-8 Bilal, a junior, scored six points and I remember that two baskets came on follows. He added 10 boards and six blocks. He’s raw and unassuming, but does show occasional hints of reasons to have hope. The other productive Bulldog was sr. WG Brandon Suarez. He was not around the first time I saw Bracetti. He gets good lift on his jumper and appears confident. He went for 15 points, nine boards and three dimes. For Masterman, 6-3 sr. Jordan Perkins was a relentless (and fearless) inside worker. He had 11 points and 16 rebounds. Each time he got the ball and pondered his move, his face bore an expression that seemed to say, “OK, this guy is 5 inches taller than I am, but here we go and let’s see what happens.” Spirited performance. Soph combo G Kirk Wynn shows good potential. One problem: he couldn’t finish to save his life. He used quick, strong moves to challenge for points in and around the lane, but went just 3-for-19 from the floor. The poise and concentration it takes to finish will be gained over time. Jr. PG Sam Jung was a pleasure to watch, though he also had trouble in the marksmanship department. MANY dives and sacrifices of the body, though. Jr. G Bryan Stevenson had four steals. Notice a missing word in Masterman’s stats? You are correct, sir. The Dragons had just two assists and both went to a F, sr. Evan Hunt. I had a nice pregame conversation with Masterman coach John Gannon, long one of the good (and efficient) guys, and also with former William Penn coach George “Phil” Phillips, who now teaches at Masterman. Another cool guy! Masterman’s upstairs gym is a treat. There are lots of windows on the north side, so it’s very bright. There are no stands, so the kids (and adults) sit atop piles of individual mats that are used during gym classes. In the southwest corner is a rock-climbing wall! Gotta love that, right? A decent number of faculty members were in attendance. Always nice to see. That’s a telltale sign that the teachers care about the kids.

JAN. 2
BOB MIZIA UPDATE
  He is still in the ICU unit at Jefferson. It looks like he will be in the ICU for at least two more weeks. His family is requesting no visitors while in ICU. Please continue to keep him in your prayers while he recovers. Please contact Jack Rutter at jackrutter2@comcast.net for further updates.