JUNE 26
NBA DRAFT
Some Extra Thoughts From Wayne Ellington Sr.
   One of the things I never try to do in this business is talk to someone for a while and then not use their quotes in the story. Can’t help feeling guilty when that happens. The hope last night, of course, was that Wayne Ellington (Episcopal, North Carolina) would be picked somewhere in the middle of the first round, maybe even by the Sixers at No. 17, and that everything would go smoothly. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and he slid to No. 28 (Minnesota). Thus, the story had to focus on the draining wait and all of the assorted emotions that were displayed along the way by Wayne and his family/friends. Right when the draft began, however, I had maybe a five-minute interview with Wayne’s dad, who’s also named Wayne and was gracious all night, about some of the ins and outs that had brought them to this night. So, here we go . . . “It’s been a fun kind of hectic. We’ve been talking to various people, trying to get a notion of where he might get picked. I’m just really anxious. Wherever he ends up, we’re going to be good with it. Because it’s all a blessing.” . . . About the fact that all of this was actually happening for HIS son: “I’m dumbfounded. It’s been years and years of AAU. Riding buses to game after game after game after game, and then going through the college thing. Now here we are at the end. But you know what? It’s the beginning, too. I’m enjoying the ride.” . . . When Dad realized that his son could someday be an NBA player: “When he played his first varsity game as a ninth-grader for Daniel Boone, near Reading (he attended there for one year before transferring to Episcopal). I saw something there that was special. I love the game and I know it. I remember thinking, ‘If he loves the game, it could happen.’ Never knew it would DEFINITELY happen, but I had a good, strong feeling that this could become a reality.” . . . On how basketball is in the blood. Dad mentioned that he attended Germantown High and played a little bit of basketball, but was more so a football player. He lived while growing up on the 400 block of West Mt. Airy Avenue, off Lincoln Drive. Meanwhile, as Wayne Jr. was playing at UNC, the family was based for the last three years in Cary, N.C. “My dad’s brother, Russell Ellington, coached the Harlem Globetrotters for years. He’s deceased now, but he’s in the Georgia Hall of Fame. From Savannah. He was around in the Curly Neal/Meadowlark Lemon era. The Globetrotters have those two teams, the one that travels abroad and the one that goes around this country. He was with the big team.” . . . I checked out Russell Ellington’s bio on Wikipedia. What an amazing career he had! Anyway, thanks to the entire extended Ellington family for being so gracious with their time last night, and for not making the media folks feel like annoying outsiders. And special thanks to Wayne Sr. for agreeing to the short, early-draft interview, which is recaptured here. Best wishes to all!

APRIL 5
ALL-STAR LABOR TIDBIT
  The instant I first took a look at the rosters for this doubleheader, the thought hit me: Dayna McCrewell, a player for Cheltenham, HAS to be the daughter of former Germantown High football and basketball star Dana McCrewell (class of 1979). Today, before the girls’ game began, I went over to Dayna and asked her, “Is your dad named Dana? The guy who played for Germantown?” She answered yes. “Is he here today?” She pointed him out across the way, maybe five rows up in the stands, pretty much at midcourt. I had to go over to say hello. We talked briefly and I mentioned that I’d never forgotten the classic picture that ran in the Daily News the day Germantown beat Central in a baseball game. (Yes, G-town was good back then.) It was taken by good-guy staff photographer E.W. Faircloth, known to all of us as “Wayne” or “Cloth”, and showed Dana, in his football jacket, ringing up a Central batter, as an umpire would (with extra flair, of course), at the side of the batting cage (the game was played at Germantown’s field). After I got back to the Daily News tonight and finished the two stories for the paper and downloaded the assorted game pics, I told myself, “I’m gonna look for the picture.” It didn’t take long to find it. I have forever saved stories month by month by month in envelopes and, for whatever reason, I started searching for this one in April. There it was, early in the pile. Not just early. On an incredible date. The story, highlighting winning pitcher Ricky Ford, appeared in the DN that was published April 6, 1979. As did the photo of Dana McCrewell. So, yes, that means Cloth took the picture April 5. EXACTLY 30 YEARS AGO TO THE DAY! Amazing. Cloth has been retired for a while now. A former photo department co-worker had his number and I called him at about 9:50, just to run the story past him and to inform him that I’d be doing a blurb for the website. It was good to hear his voice again. We always got along well because No. 1 he was a friendly, easy-going guy and No. 2 he never treated high school assignments like something he’d stepped in. Always appreciated. This picture is a classic example of that. Cloth saw something different and snapped a tremendous pic! Dana was a character and his antics this day stole the show (ha ha ha). As a side note, Ricky Ford holds a place in city history. One year earlier, also against Central (on May 28, 1978), he was the losing pitcher in a double no-hitter. The winning hurler was Joe Starosta. In THIS game, G-town won, 6-3, and two of the Central runs scored on a homer by a soph third baseman named John Marzano. John, now deceased, moved to catcher as a junior and went on to make the major leagues. Anyway, I couldn’t help detailing all of this. I did make copies of the page and sent them to an address I found for Dana. Hope he enjoys them. Continued success to Dana and Dayna and all family members. As well as to Cloth and his loved ones. Here's the pic . . .

MARCH 21
PIAA CLASS AA FINAL
Imhotep 75, Pittsburgh North Catholic 67 (2 OTs)
  For 36 minutes, the Imhotep Panthers stood NEAR or even AT the edge of a cliff and allowed/dared PNC to push them off. Luckily for them, it never quite happened and they stormed comfortably ahead in the second OT to capture a state title in the school's fifth year of Pub existence (and the league's third in five years, coupled with Prep Charter's successful efforts in 2006 and '07.) While trying to collect your school's most important win ever, this is not a good idea: Falling into a 12-0 hole and not even coming close on most of those early missed shots. But in the last 11 seconds, at least the Panthers managed to post five points as soph G David Appolon turned a halfcourt steal into a layup. He then stole the inbound pass, got fouled and made a free throw at 3.9. He missed the second, but sr. PG Parrish Grant grabbed THAT rebound and was fouled at 1.2 and hit both to make it 12-5. There was a strange atmosphere for this game. PNC had a large rooting section, including students, but their noise output was not off the charts. Imhotep had maybe 100, counting students who were bused to Penn State and others who came on their own (about 25 of those supporters, assumedly family members of the players and school personnel, sat in the first couple rows right behind press row.) The rest of the spectators merely sat and watched. It was eerie. They never developed a rooting interest in either team. So, although the action was pretty good, it largely went unappreciated. PNC had direct involvement from five guys named Long -- the coach, his son(s) and nephews. Four of the Longs were starters -- Joe, Jesse, Martin and Matt; the coach's name is Dave. Until the latter stages, when foul trouble claimed two starters, PNC used just six players. Imhotep coach Andre Noble used 10, so you could definitely make the argument that the Panthers were fresher when they needed to be. One of those lesser lights, sr. G Tyree Morgan, made a couple of very big contributions. He comes in for defense and he saved the Panthers MAJOR lingering embarrassment at the end of the first OT. With 8.7 left, after a PNC turnover, Appolon was ready to inbound. But he darn near sprinted along the baseline and, tweet, of course the whistle blew because PNC hadn't scored. Imhotep was up by two. Now it could lose on a trey. Oh, baby. But on PNC's inbound, Morgan briefly tied up Henry Pwono and knocked the ball off Pwono out of bounds. Grant's follow-up inbound pass went to Morgan, who was fouled at 5.2. Imagine what was going through this kid's mind. He hardly ever shoots and now he had to walk all the way upcourt and try to make a pair. Double-bonus. The first one missed. Appolon said something to him and Morgan let out a chuckle. Hey, at least he was relaxed. He then hit the second shot. Good thing he did, too, because Jesse Long, with sr. F Ivory Wells right in the neighborhood, swished a right-wing trey at the buzzer! Morgan was momentarily devastated as he came to the bench. He was thinking, of course, "I had the chance to put them away." Hey, after missing the first, at least he regrouped in terrific fashion to nail the second. In the second OT, Imhotep went ahead for good, at 69-67, on a double-bonus by sr. WG Sam Prescott (Marist, fouled on a follow). Prescott and sr. G-F Kenny Battle added two more points apiece on free throws and Appolon tallied the final two on a layup. Prescott hustled for 21 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and five steals. He packed eight of those points into the fourth quarter and had four more in the second OT, going 8-for-8 total at the line. Clutch! Especially since the game's other players combined to shoot 15-for-30 at the line during those 16 minutes, leaving most of the misses short, usually a sure sign of nerves, and his teammates went only 7-for-17. Four Panthers joined Prescott in double figures. Appolon had 15 (plus four steals). Battle had 12 (4-for-5, 4-for-6) to complete a great final-week effort (he'd scored in the semis). Sr. WG Will Adams had 11. Grant, also a starter for Prep Charter's '07 crew, managed 10, along with six assists. Not to be overlooked is 6-8 soph Erik Copes. The arena's official stat crew had him with seven blocks. I had him with 11! Along with 11 rebounds. Like always, he was an afterthought on offense and didn't mind at all. Great attitude! He took one shot apiece in the first and second OTs, and hit them. So, Imhotep finishes 32-1 and ends the season with 31 consecutive wins (after a loss to Chester). It's the city's best record since Gratz went 31-0 with Rasheed Wallace in '93 and the highest number of wins since Overbrook went 34-0 in '80 (after going 34-1 in '79). The Panthers did not exactly storm through the state tourney, as their five wins came by an average of six points. And shortly after this win, Noble said with a laugh, "We DO make things interesting, don't we?" More fun that way (smile). Congratulations to everyone! And when time permits, we'll set up a celebration page. Except for all-star games and Conshohocken, and the release of our Daily News all-star teams (TBA), that wraps up the basketball season. As always, thanks for paying attention.

MARCH 20
PIAA CLASS AAA FINAL
Carroll 75, Greensburg Salem 54
  A strong, winning argument could be made for this statement: This was the most significant day in city scholastic sports history. At 10:30 a.m., Frankford played Washington in a Public League baseball game at the Disney World Complex, in Florida, marking the first time two Philly schools had ever played a league game WAY out of the area. By afternoon, we were getting word that Malvern’s Gamp Pellegrini, the winningest football coach in city history, was being replaced by his son, Kevin. And I’m pretty sure that’s a first, too. (Will have to cross-check later.) And then tonight at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan, after O’Hara’s girls failed to make their mark in the first game of a doubleheader, Carroll’s boys became the Catholic League’s first state champions. One little tidbit about the Pellegrinis: They certainly have amazing timing. Gamp took the Malvern job in February 1978, coming off having won the City Title in his eighth season at SJ Prep. The announcement of his move to Malvern occurred on the same day that Overbrook bested West Philly, at Overbrook, to terminate the Speedboys’ state-record, 68-game winning streak. I’d been at the Daily News for about two months at that point, and you can imagine how busy THAT day was. Our deadlines were in the morning back then, as we were considered a mid-morning paper, and I was just getting home when the sun came up. Things are just a liiiiiiittle different now (smile). Anyway, O’Hara’s hopes to break through first were crushed when star sr. C Steph Holzer collapsed to the floor with a reoccurrence of right-ankle miseries. The Lions were up by three points over Mt. Lebanon when it happened early in the third quarter. They lost by 67-58. If anyone from Greensburg Salem happens to read this report, I hope they don’t take things the wrong way, but I was amazed, even before the game began, that this team had advanced to the state final. So many of the kids were short/skinny and/or had the faces of 12-year-olds. I couldn’t help but think of a No. 1 seed going against a No. 16 in the NCAA tournament. The Golden Lions were feisty. No doubt about that. And the banging home of some threes made things a game through one quarter. The Patriots then imposed their will, and pretty much coasted. If coach Paul Romanczuk had been inclined, he could have won this one by 40. He sprinkled in deep subs early and eventually cleared his bench. The biggest lead was 57-31, and that came with 1:40 left in the third quarter. DN ink went to soph G Juan’ya Green, who has been playing for the longest with a tender left knee. The problem is tendinitis and it prevents him from going full blast both on the floor, and upward. Nevertheless, the prime Villanova target, who said he continues to weigh his options, is still a major factor. He was wonderfully balanced in this one, thanks to 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Three other Pats also reached double digits in points. Sr. bully Kasheef “Da Beef” Festus had 18 points, six boards and two blocks (and maybe 75 pounds on the guy trying to cover him – smile). He finished his career 16 points short of 1,000. Jr. G DJ Irving added 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and seven steals. Most of his thefts came out front as GS was trying to organize its offense, and easy fastbreaks resulted. Sr. F Andre Wilburn had 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals. And jr. F Ben “Mistletoe/Lotsa Dough/Say It Ain’t So” Mingledough (he said he doesn’t mind the goofy nicknames I give him – thanks for being a good sport, Ben) mixed eight points with six boards. Wonderful balance overall, but especially on the glass. All five guys clutched from five to seven caroms. Sr. F Pat Daly and sr. G Trevor McNulty halved four points for the subs and sr. G Mike Lauer was the far-and-away leader in fan reaction. The Carroll kids were calling for him even before halftime. Ha, ha. And when he came in, one student ordered him not to pass. Lauer first tried for assists, but later launched a couple of treys that failed to connect. Long after the game ended, AD Fran Murphy said he was going make SURE he’d leave the arena with the championship trophy. I was on deadline and slightly distracted, but I think he said something about a CL plaque disappearing after a championship game a while back (baseball, football? Not sure) and having to track it down two weeks later in Jersey. Phew! Click here for a Tribute Page. This was a fun team to watch, and chronicle. And don't forget, the Patriots weren't even assured of a state spot off their regular season and CL playoff performance. Though four teams advanced in AA and AAAA, only three did so in AAA. They first had to win a consolation, winner's-in, loser's-out game with Gratz.

MARCH 18
PIAA CLASS AA SEMIFINAL
Imhotep 53, Hughesville 46
  It was a Battle, and Kenny finally won it. The fight for DN ink, that is. Kenny Battle was scheduled to get a story back on Jan. 29  after a sidebar game covered by website legend Amauro. But he didn’t have his own cell phone at that time and the number he gave for a teammate’s cell phone kept ringing and ringing when I called it, never going to voicemail, and a person who answered his house phone said he wouldn’t be home until maybe 10. Oh, well. The second story that day instead went to Haverford School FB player Shomari Watts, who had committed to Rhode Island. Kenny understood and we even kidded about it a few times thereafter. Then came this tilt: The opportunity again presented itself. With 10 points, Battle reached double figures for the first time this season in a Public League or state playoff game (maybe overall, too.) The sr. swingman scored 10 points in impressive fashion, mostly with aggressive hole-attacks that featured lefthanded finishes in traffic. Kenny was a co-star with Maalik Wayns on a middle school runner-up team at Leeds Middle School, right across from Germantown’s football stadium, and he was mostly a starter for Imhotep in the previous two seasons. His skills had pretty much leveled off, though, and as others became more prominent he sucked it up and learned how to help his squad in little-things ways. So many guys could learn by watching, and appreciating, his approach. Well done, young man! This game was played at East Pennsboro High, in the Harrisburg suburb of Enola, and a school official said the gym holds 1,436, when every seat is taken. It was filled, folks. Imhotep’s rooters numbered 27. Hughesville’s numbered 1,409. Smile. Well, there WERE some neutral observers. But late in the game, when Hughesville was rallying and creating spine-tingling drama, the cheerleaders and student rooters implored everyone around the arena to stand up and damn if everybody didn’t, almost. The noise level was deafening. Truly amazing. Hughesville is 10 miles east of Williamsport, so it’s not exactly down the block from Harrisburg. Maybe a two-hour drive? So these folks are truly to be applauded for their support and passion. But now it’s on to baseball season while Imhotep prepares for a Saturday date, 2 p.m. at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center, with the Pittsburgh version of North Catholic. We’ll get to the stretch in a moment, but there was one key earlier sequence that I felt was very important to ‘Hotep’s survival. As the first half wound down, sr. F Ivory Wells attempted a left-corner trey. But he launched with a little too much time still left on the clock. Hughesville was able to grab the miss and bank home about a 24-foot trey at the buzzer. That created great momentum going into halftime and the Spartans certainly hoped (even expected, I’m sure) to build on it into the third quarter. Sr. PG Parrish Grant had other ideas. Zip! Grant executed an open-floor theft close to midcourt and steamed in for a layup and there went the momentum, immediately. Big play! With 4 minutes remaining in the game, Hughesville got a layup to ease within 47-44. That was when the fans went berserk. Incredible noise! Coach Andre Noble called time at 3:23 and decided to spread the floor. It was a ballsy move because that’s a long time to protect such a scant lead. His faith in ballhandlers such as Grant, sr. Sam Prescott and soph David Appolon (to a lesser degree, but he did some of the handling) was rewarded as the Panthers closed out their 30th consecutive win while moving to 31-1 overall. There was a glitch, with the score at 49-46, when Prescott made a hard move toward the middle of the lane, coming from the right wing, and was called for walking. Huh? I didn’t see it. Anyway, sandwiching a held ball that went in Hughesville's favor, the Spartans' most dangerous treyballer, Rezin Davis, missed a pair from way out. My eardrums were thankful. I can only imagine how much LOUDER the place would have gotten if Hughesville had tied the score. Grant calmly converted a one-and-one at 49.3. Brian Gerney failed on another bomb. Grant fired ahead to a leaking Wells. Easy layup. Ballgame. Grant really orchestrated things. He’s supposed to, of course, but his performance this night was special on both ends. He had 17 points along with six assists and five steals. Prescott (11) joined Grant and Battle in double figures. Two of Battle's ex-Leeds teammates, Wells and sr. backup G Tyree Morgan, also made contributions. Morgan is a walking body double of the guy he covers. It’s fun to watch him damn near attach himself to the guy during dead-ball situations and stare right into his face. It’s like, “Get used to me, dude. You ain’t shakin’ me.” Also large in the victory, literally, was strong 6-8 soph Erik Copes. After taking no shots and collecting three rebounds through 24 minutes, he bordered on manchild in the fourth with four points, six boards and two blocks. It was great to see him blossom like that in such a key portion of the game and served as a glimpse of what we’ll witness these next two seasons. So now it’s on to Penn State. This is the Pub’s fifth year of PIAA participation. Two AA titles have already been won (by Prep Charter in ’06 and ’07). Are the Panthers ready to join that special fraternity? Hey, they hold the answer. Here are the stats for Imhotep:

MARCH 17
PIAA CLASS AAA SEMIFINAL
Carroll 65, York Suburban 57
  You gotta love the electronic age. It helped get Carroll to the state championship game. Back in the day, I guess it’s possible someone with Carroll ties would have seen the print version of the York newspaper and called coach Paul Romanczuk, or someone else with close ties to the program, to inform them of something that could be used to motivate sr. C Kasheef “Da Beef” Festus (6-5, 245). But the paper is online (aren’t we all?) and some of his buddies peppered Festus with text messages about the fact YS intended to cover him with a wing guard. A wing guard? Festus scoffed. As he noted for my DN story, Kasheef felt disrespected. (And, yes, he used the full word – not “dissed.” Smile) Then he went out and tallied 19 points, shooting 4-for-4 from the floor and 11-for-13 at the line. During that latter endeavor, he used a new technique. He imitated Kobe Bryant and placed both feet at the line. Previously, he’d been using the one-foot-up, one-foot-back stance while adding in a deep knee bend. Wasn’t going so great. Festus posted two free throws and a three-point play in the early going, in addition to grabbing four rebounds, and the tone was set. Carroll led after one quarter, 18-9, and did exactly what needed to be done the rest of the way. OK, there were semi-hiccups, but the Patriots never lost their composure and, best of all, they were clutch at the line in the fourth quarter, when they made MANY visits (19 for 26). Festus also grabbed 11 rebounds and made a pair of steals. Through the first half, there were signs of possible trouble. Soph WG Juan'ya Green picked up his second personal after just 2 minutes, 50 seconds. Jr. PG DJ Irving joined him three minutes later while sr. F Andre Wilburn and Festus did so by halftime. Some involved regular offensive fouls. Others were illegal screens away from the ball. Romanczuk had to be wondering: Oh, baby. Is it going to be one of THOSE deals? In the second quarter, sr. backup C Pat “Folks Get a Charge out of Watchin’ Me Take Charges” Daly posted a bucket and a pair of rebounds. Sr. F Romance Turner’s first-half contributions included a rebound, assist and blocked shot. Sr. G Trevor McNulty took a charge. The boat wasn’t springing any leaks. The halftime score was 26-23. Third quarter? Nothing memorable. But at least Carroll won it, 12-7. Just 19 seconds into the fourth, it was time for one-and-ones. And the double-bonus procession began with 5:03 left. The deal for Carroll became rather evident: make the free throws and we’re headed to Penn State (along with doing other things correctly, of course). The Patriots led by 12 with 3:42 left and, following a timeout, began to spread the floor. Green and Irving then proceeded to break defenders’ ankles! (smile) They put on a great dribbling exhibition on that possession and you could see a hint of desperation in the YS kids’ faces – as in, it’s going to be tough to get steals. To the Trojans’ credit, they did not do an el foldo. Mitch Kemp, a lefty, hit a trio of treys and since Carroll could at most get two points on its foul-line visits, the math wasn’t working in its favor. For my money, the key moment came when YS was down five (I think) and had the ball. Kemp was covered well, at first, but he used head/ball fakes to get the defender up in the air, and then away, because he came down kind of awkwardly. I thought immediately, “Here comes another successful threeball.” But instead he passed and the chance to create true late-game nervousness for the Patriots went with it. Carroll had about 50 students in attendance and they should thank Bonner player Brian Boyle for helping to get their pic on the site (smile). I was standing on the balcony above their rooting section before the game and they were facing away from me, toward the court. I’m not really the type to yell down, “’Hey, kids, turn around!” Brian was sitting right behind some of them and happened to look up where I was, waving hello. I then motioned and he scrambled up the stands toward me. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind going down to the Carroll kids, and asking them to turn around. That Brian Boyle is a good kid! Thanks! Carroll AD Fran Murphy said the school sent three buses to Reading High’s Geigle Complex – one apiece for players, fans and faculty members. I’m guessing Carroll had about 150 supporters in attendance (but maybe as few as 125). A couple of the building’s long-time employees, who were cleaning up afterward as I wrote the DN story, said they figured 1,400 watched the Carroll-YS game (it followed the Class A semi between Girard College and Scotland School for Veterans’ Children). So, yes, Carroll was greatly outnumbered. Murphy said many of Carroll’s students are involved in spring sports and that practices usually end at 6; that bus left at 5:30 because of traffic miseries usually present on Route 422. He said no cheerleaders were present because that group’s “season” ended 10 days ago after a Catholic schools’ competition. (They couldn’t have hung around? C’mon, gals. You can do it. Smile) Though Murphy hopes for a good turnout Friday in State College (and maybe even Saturday; Carroll’s girls are back at Geigle Wednesday night for THEIR semi), several factors are working against that. The girls’ lacrosse team is in Florida. The boys’ lacrosse, baseball and softball teams also have games and baseball, in fact, has LEAGUE games. Should be innnnnnnnnteresting . . . Can’t go without mentioning that I drove to Reading with the legendary Thomas “Below the Radar” McKenna. I wanted to dump him along the side of the road after two minutes! Ha, ha. He was two feet away from me in the passenger seat, of course, and since he can’t grasp the concept of lowering his voice, I darn near needed ear plugs. Not the first time! Up around Spring-Ford High, I decided we should call Huck and congratulate him on the fact he successfully predicted the identity of all 65 teams in the NCAA tourney. Yes, all 65. So, I punch in the numbers and reach to hand Puck the phone and he goes, “Nah, c’mon. I donn wanna talk to Huck.” Then he slaps at the phone and it goes flying into the back seat! I might have cursed him out. Several hundred times. He starts babbling, “Ooh, where da phone? You got it?” Me: “It’s in the back, you idiot!” We finally pulled over and I found the phone amidst maybe six empty McDonald’s bags on the floor behind my seat. (Car cleanliness is not my strength. Ask ANYONE. Hey, it’s a CAR. Not a church. At least I don’t litter – smile). I called Huck back and explained what had happened. He said, “Yeah, I could tell there was scrambling going on.” Ha, ha, ha. The Puckster was lucky there wasn’t some head bashing!! . . . We didn’t publish a full box in the paper, so here are the totals for Carroll’s players:

MARCH 16
KILLING SOME TIME ON A SLOW DAY
  With the help of info from my website server, I'm able to look up detailed breakdowns on how many people visit the site, how often, what times of the day are busiest, etc. Another section shows what search word(s) people entered on search engines when trying to reach this site. Anyway, I know my last name isn't as easy as Smith or Jones, but it's not exactly Szycvbywinskikowski, either, and it's only six letters (smile) . . . For fun, I'm listing some of the variations people entered (often, these were followed by ".com.") There were many more variations. Phew!

"ted salary" . . . "tedisalry" . . . "ted sillary" . . . "ted saliry" . . . "ted siary" . . . "ted sialry" . . . "tedsaliry" . . .
"ted saliary" . . . "tedsiliary" . . . "tedislary" . . . "tedslary" . . . "tedisialy"   "tedsaliary" . . . "tedsiary" . . . "tedsality" . . .
"tedilary" . . . "tedslariry" . . . "tedsailry" . . . "tedsalry" . . .

MARCH 14
PIAA CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
Imhotep 58, Prep Charter 55
  Yes, it came down to a last shot, and I guess that's all you can ask. Know what? I want more and this game didn't offer it. There was almost no flow and eye-popping plays were scant and it just never had the feel of something special, which a game this late in a state tournament is supposed to have. There were maybe 125 people in Southern's gym when the game commenced and only PC had cheerleaders in attendance. Later, Duck and I estimated that as many as 350 people were on hand. Not fully horrible, but certainly nothing special. Both schools are relatively new, so there's not much of an alumni base. And neither has a player whose skills are so special that folks are going to turn out just because HE'S involved. So, it was what it was -- somewhat drab atmosphere, uneven play, not a memory-maker. Ah, but as mentioned, it did feature last-second drama. At the very end, soph G Ameen Tanskley was called for walking at 4.8 when he drove hard from the right wing toward the top part of the lane and was guilty of a bunny hop. PC was down one at the time. Imhotep sr. PG Parrish Grant was immediately fouled on the inbound play and walked to the other end for a double-bonus at 4.3. Splash. Splash. PC needed a trey to force OT. Sr. G Zaahid Holloman, a lefty, took a short inbound pass and sped upcourt, bobbing and weaving slightly along the way. He pulled up a shade to the left of straight-on and fired . . . ah, alllllllllmost! The shot hit the heel of the rim. Ballgame. Monday DN ink will go to Grant, who finished with 16 points, five assists, two steals and even six rebounds. He exploded for 10 points in the first quarter, going 4-for-4 (with two treys), but two just two more shots. He said he didn't want to force and merely felt content being a true-meaning point guard. He converted one other late double-bonus, so he was certainly clutch. With 14.4 left and Imhotep nursing a 56-55 lead (following a tough drive by Holloman), Grant loaded up and fired a long inbound pass to soph F David Appolon. One problem: the throw was TOO long and Appolon streaked across the baseline while making the catch. That play preceded Tanksley's walk. With the win, Grant still has a chance to win state titles with two different teams, and three total. He was a starter for PC in '07 and a rotation sub in '06. Sr. WG Sam Prescott (Marist) had 14 points, six boards, two assists, three steals and four blocks. He also had a wicked, explode-off-the-floor-out-of-nowhere dunk from a spot along the left baseline. Coach Andre Noble got seven rebounds apiece from his centers, soph Erik Copes (also four blocks) and sr. FB star Saledeem Major. Sr. WG Will Adams (Towson), still battling illness (and coughing/yawning a lot -- smile), scored 13 points in a substitute role. Jr. F Jamal Jones was absent due to a team suspension, Noble said. Sr. F Ferg Myrick (14), Tanskley (13) and Holloman (10) scored in doubles for PC. Myrick added nine rebounds. Sr. F-C Tyree "Chuck" Harris, who has experienced a disappointing senior season, finished impressively in terms of rebounds with 15, but shot 2-for-9 from the floor and at the line. Soph G Chris Stokes, in a starting role, hit a pair of fourth quarter treys and the second made it 53-53 with 1:20 left. Appolon converted a drive at 1:01 and Harris went to the line at 44.1 for a double-bonus after rebounding his own miss. Strangely, PC coach Dan Brinkley opted to put no Huskies on the sides of the lane. Harris missed both and the second one kicked out semi-long. Appolon rebounded and sr. WG-SF Kenny Battle, who played strong defense on the taller Myrick over the final four-odd minutes after Imhotep abandoned a 1-3-1, hit the second of two free throws. Early in the second quarter, the Panthers were threatening to blow it open when Adams' layup on a pass from Prescott made it 21-13. PC climbed back nicely, though, scoring 11 in a row. One last thought: I'm not going to go berserk over this because all three refs on hand today -- George Geiss, Kevin McKinley, Tim Tirabasso -- were competent guys very deserving of working in state playoffs. But all three are white. This game featured all-black teams -- well, PC does have a white guy WAY down the pecking order -- with all-black coaching staffs. You mean to tell me there are no black referees who could have been assigned to this game? Not just hard to believe. Impossible to believe.

MARCH 11
PIAA CLASS AA SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
Hughesville 61, West Catholic 58
  If Rob Hollomon never eats chocolate again, we’ll all understand. Hershey has to be his least favorite place in this ever-cruel world. Two days short of three months ago, the first dagger went through Hollomon’s heart when the football Burrs, overwhelming favorites in many folks’ minds, lost the state title tilt. That happened right up the road from Hershey High, site of this crazy affair with rough play and brutal officiating. (Once, a Hughesville kid touched the ball TWO different times on its way out of bounds. Whistle. Possession Hughesville. Huh??!!) There were all kinds of curious calls and you could probably make the case that each team’s coaches/players/fans (not that West had many supporters – maybe 12 to Hughesville’s 800, at least) were scratching their heads with equal passion, and frequency. These Hughesville people redefine rabid. When I arrived at the gym a shade before 5 p.m., about 15 of them were waiting outside the front door. Huh? That really threw me. Don’t tell me they’ve switched the order of the games? Hughesville-West is going to be first? Nope. These folks just showed up WAY early and also took in the first game of the doubleheader, Prep Charter vs. Loyalsock Township (which is actually IN Williamsport; Hughesville is 10 miles east). Hollomon, of course, was a first-magnitude FB star as a rusher, returner and d-back. He said for my DN story that the site of this game didn’t really hit him until it got closer and that all he wanted to do, in effect, was erase that memory, or at least lessen it, with something nice from tonight. Rob went hard for 18 points, four assists, five steals and three rebounds, but he struggled with his shot (5-for-20) and even missed 11 in a row before making a flip shot late in the third quarter for his second field goal. He also came down hard on his left leg and sprained his ankle. The injury at first looked very serious and no one expected him to return. But shortly into the fourth, there he was again (though noticeably limping). Showing true warrior traits, Hollomon helped to rally the Burrs after H-ville built a 53-40 lead with 4 minutes left. Even with a shade over 90 seconds left, West was still down eight. After soph PG Aquil Younger made a steal and gave it up, Hollomon got one of the points back with a free throw. Then the opposite happened: steal by Rob to Aquil for a layup. Aquil departed shortly thereafter after committing his fifth foul on a charge, but thankfully for West, H-ville kept bricking free throws. At 24.1, Rob drove for a three-point play and now the deficit was only two, at 56-54. One FT for the Bad Guys. Rebound by fellow FB star Haleem “Peanut” Hayward, a sr. WG-SF. Fadeaway on the left side of the lane by Rob at 0:14. 57-56. Oh, baby! This time H-ville got a clutch performance at the line as some dude hit both ends of a double bonus. West would need a three. Rob would launch it from the left wing. It would be slightly long, not that Rob got to see it. He was mid-air bumped after releasing the shot and fell to the floor. No call. (Since it definitely happened after the shot was well gone, a whistle might not have resulted in three shots anyway.) With one tenth of a second left, the H-ville rebounder was fouled and a tech was called. On them! Huh?! Well, a few H-ville players had scrambled onto the court in early celebration. The H-ville guy and Rob each made two apiece. While Rob was making his, a guy up behind us (Huck and his legendary buddies, Cauls and Bert, were sitting along the first row opposite West’s bench) bellowed at the refs, “Make sure you talk! It’s gotta be a tip! You can’t get off a shot in one-tenth! Make sure you're on the same page!" Not that it mattered. West had to inbound from close to midcourt. Rob did the honors, such as they weren’t. He passed somewhat nearby to Hayward, who had his back to the basket anyway. Ballgame. Honestly, West had itself to blame for the loss. From the time I got back into the gym, in the opening moments of the third quarter (after doing the Prep Charter story in a hallway outside), to the end of the game, almost every H-ville basket was a layup. Two exceptions were threes shortly after my arrival. They sandwiched a follow by West sr. C Ade Barek and gave the Spartans a 35-29 lead. Another trey a short time later made it 40-30. But then for Hughesville, it was all Layupsville. After the game, Rob was classy enough to endure an interview session. He expressed his love for West basketball and his disappointment over not being able to fully get the job done. He also confirmed what Cauls had mentioned during the game: he’ll be spending next school year at Cushing Academy, in Ashburnham, Mass., with the hope of earning a D-I football ride. He’ll also still play basketball there. Now it’ll be that school’s fans’ turn to experience all kinds of fun. Some other numbers: Younger had 20 points, five rebounds and four steals and went 11-for-12 at the line. Barek had seven points, six rebounds, two blocks. Hayward had four points, seven boards. Brandon Williamson had five points. Kiwan Murray added four points, five boards . . . As I was in the home stretch of writing the story for the paper, sitting at the scorer’s table in the mostly empty gym, a maintenance guy came over and asked, “Is it OK if I take that chair?” Only in the Hershey High. I finished the story while standing up (smile) . . . As always, Huck was vital to the process and of course we'd be glad to post his thoughts on the game and/or a Burrs' season recap.

MARCH 11
PIAA CLASS AA SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
Prep Charter 73, Loyalsock Twp. 67
  Sr. F-C Ferg Myrick is nearsighted and his contacts tend to irritate his eyes, so he sits at the front of all his classes. The contacts get popped into place before he’s ready to walk on the court. When they’re available, that is. My DN story focused (focused, get it? – smile) on Myrick’s harrowing night among the sightless. Well, the semi-sightless. He couldn’t find his contacts as the Huskies’ team bus was arriving in Hershey and all he could figure was that he’d lost them on a SEPTA bus en route to school this morning. Anyway, he played and did his best, considering the circumstances, and ultimately was able to help nail down this win because he shortened the court, so to speak. After going a long stretch with only misses on his shooting resume, Myrick began attacking the hole – nearsighted, remember? – with a series of calm, collected moves along the baseline or near part of the lane. He had 11 of his 15 points over roughly the last 11 minutes. He also finished with a total of 12 rebounds and felt pretty dumb a couple other times because, as he put it, “I was still going for rebounds before I realized my teammates' shots had gone in." Soph G Ameen Tanksley, so wonderful that day at Strawberry Mansion, again was impressive. The strong lefty rang up 25 points, shooting 7-for-10 (three treys) and 8-for-10, while adding three assists and two steals. I love that he’s already a solid foul shooter. With his great body control, he’ll be making MANY visits to the line over these next two seasons and marksmanship there will easily add 100 points to his career total, at least, over what a foul-line slacker would accumulate. It’s the little things, people! Sr. G Zaahid Holloman, another lefty, had nine points and six dishes, along with five rebounds. Sr. PG Kyle Stanton packed all of his nine points (three treys) into the second quarter and had a great sequence right before halftime. At one end, he leaped across the baseline and made a save while thudding the ball off a Loyalsock player. At the other, he beat the buzzer with a left-wing trey. Gs Khalil Raines and Chris Stokes also hit treyballs, so the Huskies finished with eight in all.  Very uncommon, but appreciated/necessary. Though Myrick has D-I skills and is receiving offers/interest from New Hampshire, Howard, LIU and Boston University, among others, he said he’ll likely attend a prep school next year. In the first 1:55 of the fourth quarter, he had six points and two apiece of boards and steals as PC went up by 13, at 58-45. From there it was only a matter of whether the Huskies would exhibit the required amount of poise to collect the win. No sweat . . . Well, a little.

MARCH 10
PIAA CLASS A SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
Greenwood 54, Math/Civics/Sciences 51
  There are regular cardinal sins and then there are stand-out-in-bold-relief cardinal sins. MC&S was guilty of the latter in this game played in a beautiful facility at Garden Spot HS, in New Holland (10 miles west of Morgantown). What was it? Not being in comfortable command near the end, thus setting up the possibility that several key calls could go against it. The Mighty Elephants were mighty disappointed/perplexed/pissed over the late whistles, but as as coach Danny Jackson put it, "We did numerous things to bring about this loss. That was the turning point, but that wasn't the sole reason." Do the math. It costs $6 to get in. MC&S had maybe 30 people in the stands, and roughly half of them were cheerleaders (they probably got in free). Greenwood (it’s about 30 miles northwest of Harrisburg) had at least 300, maybe 400. Do you think the PIAA is upset that a school with a scant following lost to a school from a town with a large following? Ch-ching. You hear that, too? The sound of a cash register? I’m only kidding (I think). I didn’t suspect that the refs were guilty of participating in any kind of money-driven fraud. THE play of the game was definitely a head-scratcher, though. With 15.2 left, a Greenwood dude hit the back end of a double-bonus to make it 54-51. MC&S sr. WG Jose Ortiz got the ball on the left wing and embarked on a hard drive along the baseline. He veered back into the lane and, tweet! The ref closest to the play, stationed along the baseline not far from my second-half location, signaled a blocking fall. "Hose” would be going to the line for a double-bonus. Um, no he wouldn’t. Another ref, opposite MC&S’ bench, stepped forward to say he had called a walk BEFORE the contact. Ugh. Jackson’s thought on that: "Clearly, the ref along the baseline had a better look at the play than the one standing out by halfcourt . . . Of course I feel it wasn't the proper call." Danny went no further, either on or off the record. Greenwood had an FLC slant in that sr. C Ethan Pellman was probably the only Wildcat who would have started for MC&S. Pellman missed six of his first seven shots while mostly operating on the inside, and sr. C Jeff Lord was much/most of the reason. Later, the agile Pellman almost exclusively stationed himself at the high post and mostly uncorked drives featuring a turned back and spin moves to his left. The low posts were left unoccupied and the Wildcats took advantage with back-door layups or regular drives by Pellman or others. The MEs had early foul trouble, sometimes incurred while trying to double (even triple) Pellman or prevent layups in help situations. MC&S roared early, posting leads of 8-2 and 18-9 after one quarter. Of course, that momentum wasn’t sustained. MC&S hurt itself by going just 8-for-16 at the line in the second half, and two of those misses were front ends of one-and-ones. (Then again, Greenwood was 8-for-18 from the stripe in the final 16 minutes.) DN ink went to the 6-7 Lord, who totaled 14 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Somehow, he took just one shot in the second half. He’s being recruited mostly by D-2 schools and now will work on improving his SAT-ACT score. He’s still thin. As long as he retains his athleticism while adding weight, he’ll be a college force. Ortiz settled for 12 points and was unable to bag a field goal in the second half. His career total is 1,084 and now he'll focus even harder on the couple more ACT points he needs to be able to accept a scholarship offer from NJIT. Sr. WG Zaahir Smith hit an early trey, then scored the rest of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. His total: 1,166. Sr. PG Ramone Williams, one of the early victims of the foul trouble, was limited to three apiece of assists and steals. Oh, on MC&S’ next-to-last possession, a call also went the wrong way. Like we said, the MEs were guilty of a stand-out-in-bold-relief cardinal sins. As the state tourney moves along in other levels, here’s hoping no other D-12 teams go the copycat route.

MARCH 8
CLARIFICATION
  In the report below on yesterday's Roman-CB South game, I mentioned that a plastic bottle of sports juice was fired toward a referee right after the game ended and landed near his feet. I worded things the way I did -- " . . . came flying out of the stands where the Roman students were located" -- because there was no way to know which person threw it; I was in the first row of that section and it came from the right. This morning I received an email from John Pensabene, Roman's assistant athletic director. He reports that the bottle was thrown by an adult who was located in that same section next to where the student group was located. He said the tossing was witnessed by Roman's athletic director, trainer and disciplinarian. John noted, "Roman students should not be held responsible for something they did not do." Agreed.

MARCH 7
PIAA CLASS AAAA FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Pennsbury 51, North Catholic 26
  This was an argument for the start of baseball season. To use just one word, North was woeful. Pennsbury's baskets came on a series of barely contested treys and mostly easy layups and the City Falcons (as opposed to the Suburban Falcons) did not log their first steal until 6:35 remained in the game. Unbelievable. On offense, 6-9 soph Rakeem Christmas took no shots in the second half mostly because he had NO touches. At least none that I remember. He finished with four points on four shots and four rebounds. He might be finished at North, too. Like almost always this season, the transfer rumors are flying and now they're using a big jet plane. You name the school, that's where he's going. We'll see how this plays out. Xmas and jr. PG Woody Redding each incurred two fouls within the first 2:09 and jr. SF Jack O'Neill had to sit down for a while after suffering a left-ankle twinge. The first quarter ended with Pennsbury up, 11-9. North tied it up on a dunk by Xmas and then surrendered the next 17 points. Ugh. With 0:42 left, jr. G Mike Terry hit a trey on a pass from Redding and the skid finally ended. The momentum, such as it was, did not carry into the third quarter. By game's end, only O'Neill had more than four points (10) and more than four rebounds (five). The City Falcons had just 14 boards for the game. Pennsbury, coached by former SJ Prep star Frank Sciolla, did a great job in all areas. And they didn't even need great contributions from West Virginia-bound franchise wing guard Dalton Pepper, who tallied just eight points and didn't hit the scoring column until it was 19-11 (on a breakaway dunk). For the game, the SFs shot 19-for-35 from the floor. Meanwhile, I guess I've seen this somewhere along the line through, lo, these many decades on the high school trail, but I can't remember an instance: North shot NO free throws. Not a one. As in zero. Though North had many decent ingredients back from a championship team, and a talented addition in O'Neill, this season must go into the books as a disappointment since the Falcons went meekly in the CL semis and this state first-rounder. There were no seniors and everyone is slated to return. Will that happen? If it does, will the hunger be there? Check back next winter, folks.

MARCH 6
PIAA CLASS AAA FIRST-ROUND GAME
Neumann-Goretti 98, Steelton-Highspire 71
  Only one punctuation mark was fitting after this clash between hyphenated schools -- the one that traditionally follows "Wow!!!!" And, yes, we went with four of them (smile). The Saints frolicked; not that I can tell you too much about how it happened. My back was to the action during the first 12-plus minutes, as I was camped out in the southeast corner of Southern's gym while writing the FLC-Strath Haven story. The ever-trusty Amauro was sitting at the end of N-G's bench at the northeast end, keeping stats and enjoying the show immensely, I'd imagine. We joined forces for the second half. Jr. G Tony Chennault (Wake Forest) finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in a wonderful performance (had to be if he posted those stats, right? -- smile). Jr. PG Tyreek Duren (14) and sr. C Andre "Scooter" Gillette (12, bound for Niagara) also scored in double figures. Jr. F Danny Stewart had eight points and six boards. For me -- and I'm sure, many others -- the highlight of the evening was watching the second- and even third-liners get chunks of playing time. It was especially gratifying to see how the starters and other rotation guys encouraged the lesser lights. DN ink went to sr. F John Brennan, a personable 6-4 lefty who describes himself in two ways -- captain of the second team and class clown. He said he avoids demerits because he's friends with everybody around school and especially tight with the principal (ha ha). John had four points, as many rebounds, three assists and a steal and his two buckets gave Neumann 94 and 96 points. The score reached 98 on a layup by tiny junior Justin Smith on a pass from classmate Will "Take My Picture . . . Did You Get My Picture?" Huff. Sr. F Bradford King added six points while jr. G Mark Squilla had two and frosh G Billy Shank (admittedly a borderline bomb-squader; he's usually the eighth man and sometimes makes rotation appearances) managed five. Smith's points were his first of the season. Jr. F Najee Verdell could have joined him, but was unable to hit a pair of free throws. As he shot, the starters and others were standing at the bench, ready to explode in celebration. Maybe he'll/they'll get another chance in the next round. The place was almost totally filled. Just N-G's cheerleaders can accomplishment that feat (smile). How many girls are in that group, 100? I'd bet the total is 35, at least. Spent some time talking with two Neumann legends from the '65 championship team -- Joe Russell and Mike Barrett (a good-guy former ref). They said they were turned away before gaining entrance to the gym and had to kill some time in a nearby establishment. My guess was that no more people were admitted until spectators on hand for the FLC-Strath Haven game began to leave and empty things a little.
Here's the recap from the '65 City Title game. As you can see, Joe and Mike were quite productive.
At the Palestra
Neumann 75, Lincoln 66
This time it was the PL representative's turn to miss posting a perfect record. The 26-0 Railsplitters were spanked as Mike Barrett (22), Frank Gillen and Joe Russell (17 apiece) handled the major portion of the scoring and Joe McBride and George Belka split 30 rebounds. Larry Cannon scored 28 points for Lincoln.
  Among tonight's spectators were ex-Saints Antonio "Scoop" Jardine and David Burton. I was able to exchange a quick hello with Scoop while heading out to the parking lot. Great to see him! Steel-High's Jeff Davis had 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and SEVEN dunks, all of the jump-from-far, power-it-home variety. Let's finish the way we started: Wow!!!!

MARCH 6
PIAA CLASS AAA FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Strath Haven 76, Franklin LC 66
  Which phrase should we use? Any one would be a cliché, but all would fit. After much thought let’s go with “false sense of security.” That’s my opinion on what FLC felt last Saturday after coming so close (80-78) to knocking off Neumann-Goretti in the Class AAA City Title. We’re talking about shooting-wise, folks. The Bobcats sniped like crazy that night, going 19-for-35 overall and 4-for-10 on treys. I’m not around too often, of course, with 84 schools to cover, but to see FLC shoot like that was shocking. Well, it was a mirage. Despite their willingness to hustle and heartfelt attempts to complement star sr. G Denzel Yard (Siena), these guys are not high-percentage shooters and it showed tonight. On Night One of state tourney play for ’09, the Bobcats were D-12’s only loser. Lack of marksmanship did them in (along with an absence of early defensive intensity and, if you listen to them, inconsistent officiating). SH did live at the foul line in the second half (22-for-31), but FLC was behind by 8 to 10 pretty much throughout and those things happen when a dent cannot be made. Before advancing any further, an issue must be addressed: As the clock wound down, Yard walked toward FLC’s bench and stopped for a hug with coach Will Wright. He then turned and strode purposefully across the floor toward the northwest corner of Southern’s gym and right out the door, then downstairs to the locker room. Didn’t shake hands with SH’s guys. Didn’t even mingle/commiserate with his teammates. It was one of those things that was obvious to MANY in the gym and, to be honest, it didn’t look good. Because so many people saw it and were commenting about it, I mentioned to Denzel that it would have to be addressed in my DN story. He understood and said he’d left because he felt the game had been “handled unfairly” by the refs. He said he’d meant no disrespect to Haven’s players or fans. He did NOT say this, but I got the sense he felt that if he’d stayed he might have blurted out a comment he would have regretted. The kid’s as fierce a competitor as you’ll find and we know he was feeling frustration. Here’s hoping that decision will be the last unwise one of his career. Yard finished with 21 points, finalizing his career total at 1,031. The lefty went 8-for-19 from the floor (two treys) and 3-for-8 at the line. He added four assists (all early), three steals (also early) and a team-high eight rebounds. Amauro and I felt Denzel could have been a shade more assertive in the second half, but he was being played in a box-and-one and, as mentioned earlier, his mates HAD shot great in the City Title. Mostly by being active around the basket, both on original shots and follows, sr. F-C Nasir Jones managed 21 points and seven rebounds. Soph WG-SF Basir Fulmore had 11 points while sr. Jamil “Cousin of Curtis” Drake had three pilfers; also all early. An early-third-quarter sequence was a killer. As star sr. WG Calvin Newell (classic lift-release form on jumper!)  tried a layup, Jones nearly decapitated him. Whether he intended to pound him, who knows? It didn't LOOK good, though, and an intentional foul was called. Newell hit both free throws, then Avatar Jones drained a three-pointer off a snappy inbound pass from Dan Morris, making it 49-39. Newell finished with 32 points. Born and can-do-it-all-day scorer. I also loved jr. C Jack Roberts. He had the best shooting touch on the floor, incredibly, and his fundamentals were perfect. No wasted motion and he always kept the ball high. Pleasure to watch. He’s thin, so his body needs work, but if this kid has grades, it’s Ivy alert time for next year, baby! (smile) Morris was also an effective floor leader. Kudos one last time to FLC and coach Will Wright for an outstanding season. Yard was the only returning starter. Not much was expected. MUCH was provided, though.

MARCH 3
CLASS AA PLAY-IN
Prep Charter 75, Devon Prep 48
  For my money, PC coach Dan Brinkley had the perfect approach against this team from the deep Philly suburbs: Play an aggressive man-to-man at the outset to make sure the Tide would not rain down a bunch of white-boy treys (smile). Overall, that decision worked like a charm even though it did result in early foul trouble for the Huskies’ second best player, soph CG Ameen Tanksley (wound up scoreless, but did have other stats). Brinkley now has a deep rotation with a lot of younger kids mixed in. There’s not much to choose between many of them, honestly, so he ran them in and out and all were instructed, I’m sure, to get after it defensively or sit. DP went just 1-for-7 on treys in the first half and didn’t hit its other three treys until garbage time. By that time the Huskies were mostly trapping out of a zone and were up by 20-odd points and most of the DP guys had long since lost their legs and/or gumption. DN ink went to sr. WG Zaahid Holloman. From afar, he’d always given off a good soldier vibration and, honestly, he became a starter this season only because three would-be headliners transferred near the end of last school year. The senior lefty “gets it,” though, and I was honored to tell his story because he does great classroom work, wants to become a pharmacist and has already been offered full academic scholarships to West Chester and East Stroudsburg. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice! Holloman led the defensive effort with five steals while also contributing three assists. He had only four points. Didn’t care, either. D-1 prospect Ferg Myrick, a sr. SF-PF, depending, scored a quiet 22 points, if that’s possible. He did nothing of an eye-popping nature while shooting 9-for-11. He added eight rebounds and two apiece of assists and steals. An important, late-second-quarter rush was fueled largely by jr. F Matt Hankerson, who wasn’t used for about the first 13 minutes. (Coming off injury/illness? Being disciplined? Not sure, but he’s usually a starter or early sub.) He scored eight of his 12 points down the second-quarter stretch. Frosh Laquan Stephens provided late-game highlights with seven points and two assists. In the regular season game at Imhotep, he scored a couple of quick baskets, too. This kid might bear some watching. Soph John Longo, rumored to be a quality baseball player, missed a late front end. I kiddingly told him afterward he missed a chance to become the first Pub white guy to score a point in a state playoff. Know what? Might be true. That’ll take some research, folks (smile). I’ll get back to you . . . Update: The Pub record for white-boy points in a state playoff is two! FLC's Jake Wasco, now at UMBC, posted that number last year in a first-round game against Greencastle-Antrim. So far, in five years of PIAA involvement, he's the Pub's only Caucasian scorer. Quite a legacy, eh? Maybe John will get more chances and fire one in from Longo distance to outdo Wasco (ha ha).

MARCH 1
CLASS AAAA CITY TITLE
Roman 60, Southern 48
  In recognition of the fact that The Spectrum soon will go out of existence, we bring you two teams at opposite ends of it -- Southern and FLC. The way the latter overachieves is the way the former underachieves. Not sure why it happens, but the pattern continued today and it created frustration for those who had to see it and it made this third of the City Title Series resumptions by far the worst and, wouldn't you know it, this was the one that was televised by Comcast. Southern appears to have the necessary elements in a talented, aggressive guard (jr. Deshon "Biggie" Minnis), a high-rising post player (jr. Jamir Hanner), a wing sniper (sr. Lamar Speller), an energetic, difference-making guard sub (jr. Shaquille Gaskins, though he had to start today since another guy was being partially disciplined) and a usually reliable ballhandler (jr. Haywood Henderson). A strong, space-eating off-side rebounder would help, but how many teams have those in these watered-down days? Annnyway, Southern still has a chance to impress in the state playoffs, but for the moment the head-scratching continues. Here's something to chew on: Though Roman was again without franchise sr. PG Maalik Wayns (Villanova, still recovering from recent meniscus surgery) and jr. star WG Rakeem "Rahk" Brookins, in part due to foul trouble, boasted just TWO points, it owned a 17-point lead (42-25) with a minute left in the third quarter. Unbelievable, right? Also, jr. SF Kevin Regan, who has been known to approach double figures, also had just two points at this juncture (and that was what he finished with). So, which guys filled in the blanks? A pair of big-'uns and a medium'-un in the person of frosh swingman Andre Horne, a season-long starter who goes back and forth each day from New Castle, Del. Horne, the subject of DN ink, totaled 20 points and 13 rebounds and packed 14 of his markers into the first 12 minutes as the Cahillites claimed a 25-14 lead. Overall, he went 4-for-5 on treys. Andre's not especially fast or quick in a pure-athlete kind of way, but I've thought all season that he's quick when it comes to reactions and flashing to spots where he knows he'll be able to make something positive happen. Horne could have earned the trophy for game MVP. Instead it went to sr. C Koron Reed, and it was NOT as if he didn't deserve it. His numbers approached Horne's (18 and 10, plus two blocks) and no doubt he impressed the selection committee with FIVE dunks. (My camera also enjoyed his skywalking -- smile). Reed had uncommon room to operate and received nifty passes from the likes of Regan (eight assists) and Brookins (seven). Also thriving today was jr. PF-C Anthony Mayo, another leaper who doesn't too often receive extended playing time. He went for 10, six and two. While Brookins incurred his first two fouls seconds apart with two minutes left in the first quarter, Hanner was handed his second and third a few seconds apart (charge, then block) with seven minutes to go in the second. Well, Southern missed him much more than Roman missed Rahk. Jamir came back for the start of the second half, but hacked Mayo just 2:09 in. Any hopes were gone thereafter, truthfully. Southern did win the fourth quarter by five to at least save some face. Minnis led that rush with eight of his 19 points. Wayns at least suited up for this one. When the Cahillites came back from their halftime talk, Maalik and Rahk walked down to the basket at the east end of Temple's Liacouras Center to stage a short shootaround. Maalik is still limping slightly. I know he HOPES to be back for Saturday's first-round state playoff. We all do. But if that happens, please don't expect miracles. A knee operation is a knee operation. Even a supposed "minor" one. The "crowd" (term used very loosely) was again disappointing. There were definitely fewer people than turned out for Neumann-Goretti/FLC last night and even that assemblage was disappointing. The moral: it's going to take time for the City Title Series to regain momentum. I'm not even sure a matchup of true champs (N-G/Imhotep) would have drawn an impressive amount of spectators. Guys in my age group, or somewhat close to it, care about this stuff. Youngheads haven't yet caught the fever. Here's hoping D-12's financial bath didn't approach tsunami proportions.

FEB. 28
CLASS AAA CITY TITLE
Neumann-Goretti 80, Franklin LC 78
  Couldn’t have gone much better, right? The first round of City Title resumptions gave us a pair of sweethearts. The Pub champ, Imhotep, was taken to OT by West Catholic in Game One at Temple’s Liacouras Center and N-G, the CL kingpin, was extended and extended and extended some more before winning this one by the next-to-slimmest of margins. Shame more people couldn’t have turned out. I’ll have to check with District 12 honchos, but I doubt that more than 600-700 saw this night affair. Once again, FLC overachieved thanks to a spirited, cut-your-heart-out performance by Siena-bound sr. PG Denzel Yard. Not to beat a dead horse, but if you gathered the players on both teams for a few days of tryouts, Yard would be the only Bobcat to earn a spot in the combined starting lineup. How does this guy do it? I hope you’ve seen him play and have come to appreciate not only his skills set, but his uplifting presence. This was a momentous occasion for Yard and N-G jr. CG Tony Chennault (Wake Forest) from a personal standpoint as each one surpassed 1,000 points for his career. Pretty cool, right? Imagine if the CTs had resumed not in a PIAA contest and the milestones had been reached in final games. Yard, a lefty, reached 1,000 in exactly-on-the-number fashion with 3:03 left in the third quarter, as he drained a trey from a shade to the right of straight-on. The shot gave him 19 for the night and even lifted FLC into a 51-42 lead and, yes, the Saints were reeling. Six more points apiece, the margin was still nine, of course, but N-G was about to rebound dramatically. In the first three quarters, FLC helped itself immensely by nailing nine treys. Now it would be N-G’s turn, as it hit five over the last eight minutes. Two early big moments: soph WG Lamin Fulton, the subject of DN ink, hit a threeball on a pass from sr. C Andre “Scooter” Gillette (Niagara) to draw his squad within 57-53. Yard picked up his fourth foul moments later at 6:27 as he hacked jr. PG Tyreek Duren on a fastbreak layup. Denzel played hard thereafter, of course, but one has to think his mind-set, and that of his team, was altered somewhat from this point forward. At 5:34, Gillette’s three-point play off a follow gave the Saints a 61-59 lead. When Duren took a great kick-out pass from jr. F Danny Stewart and drained a left-wing trey at 2:47 to make it 70-66, the thought was there: N-G’s on a roll and this is probably it. But no! FLC would have none of it, at least for the moment. We got to 70-70 at 2:10 as Yard hit both ends of a one-and-one. Nine seconds later, Chennault went to the line owning 999 career points. He hit both shots – no announcement was made; one had been made for Denzel – and N-G received a bigger boost at 1:30 as Duren hit a left-corner trey on a snappy feed from Chennault. The lead even reached six at 79-73 on two TC FTs at 39.8. The final was achieved at buzzer time as Denzel loaded up from afar and hit his seventh trey. What a wonderful performance! He shot 10-for-14 total and 7-for-9 on treys and for once his marksmanship was contagious as the other Bobcats combined to snipe 19-for-35 overall and 4-for-10 on treys. Denzel also had five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Chennault, the game MVP, scored 22 points on 6-for-13 (two treys) and 8-for-16. Weird department: every time he went to the line, he either made both or missed both. No middle ground. Duren had 18 points and five dishes. Fulton (13) sniped 5-for-6 with a pair of treys while adding two apiece of assists and steals. Stewart (11, six rebounds) and Gillette (10, five) had almost bookend numbers, though the latter added three blocks. Chennault’s extra numbers included a game-high nine rebounds, five assists (tied for game high with Duren) and a game-high four steals. Jr. WG Mustafaa Jones added six points. For FLC, sr. C Nasir Jones was the only other guy in double figures (13). Ah, but three other guys had eight – sr. wing players Karl Riley and Marquis Purnell-Childs; jr. F-C Jerrod Johnson – and soph WG-SF Basir Fulmore had six. Also, sr. WG Jamil Drake, cousin of West Catholic QB Curtis Drake, scrambled for a team-high seven boards off the bench. The only guys who underperformed were the refs. They created their own miseries by calling some early ticky-tack fouls. Thereafter, all you heard all night was this fan or that fan (or the coaches – smile) screaming, “If you’re going to call it against us, you have to call it against them!” As the third quarter ended, a female N-G fan right behind press row screeched, “Yo, ref! What’s up?! For real!” Ha, ha, ha, ha. (I’m writing this Sunday morning while sitting on the sofa. I read that sentence to the wife and from what she calls the “passenger-seat side of the sofa,” she said, “What’s N-G?” I told her, “Neumann-Goretti.” She shot back, dryly, “Oh, I thought maybe fans of your podiatrist were there.” Yes, the guy’s last name is Ng! That’s it. Just an N followed by a g.) Keeping the full stats was a three-pronged effort from different parts of the arena. I sat across from N-G’s bench, keeping track of shots and turnovers while taking pics. Puck sat down the row at midcourt and bothered only with rebounds/assists/steals/blocks for N-G. The animated Duck was over by FLC’s bench keeping R-A-S-B for the Bobcats (when he wasn't pumping up the fans or snapping out over referees' calls -- ha, ha, ha.) Next up for both squads will be first-round games in the state tournament.

FEB. 28
CLASS AA CITY TITLE BONUS LIST
  Here's a list of firsts in the resumption of City Title games after 29 years . . . (in order they happened).
  Won tap -- West's Ade Barek tapped the ball to teammate Haleem "Peanut" Hayward.
  Personal foul -- Imhotep's Erik Copes (on layup attempt by Aquil Younger).
  Free throw -- Younger made both shots.
  Missed field goal/rebound/successful field goal -- Imhotep's Sam Prescott followed his own miss for a basket.
  Turnover -- Imhotep.
  Steal -- Prescott.
  Assist -- West's Brandon Williamson (to Rob Hollomon).
  Missed trey -- Imhotep's Parrish Grant.
  Successful trey -- Imhotep's Will Adams.
  Dunk -- Prescott (with 4:51 left in third quarter).

FEB. 28
CLASS AA CITY TITLE
Imhotep 59, West Catholic 53 (OT)
  Maybe we should have made this a game of two-on-two -- Imhotep's Sam Prescott (Marist) and Will Adams (Towson) vs. West's Rob Hollomon and Aquil Younger. They combined for 89 points, with the former group ringing up a 48-41 advantage. Prescott shot 10-for-19 (one trey) and 5-for-6 for 26 while Adams managed his 22 on 8-for-13 (three treys) and 5-for-6. Hollomon led West with 24 (5-for-17, 14-for-19) while Younger, a soph (the others are seniors; all are guards), posted 17 (5-for-16, one trey, 6-for-7). At least along press row, we were not surprised that West was able to not only hang, but almost steal the win in this first City Title game since 1980. Imhotep couldn't help but be a little full of itself coming off a Pub title, especially when facing a West squad that had been eliminated in the CL playoffs in the quarterfinal round. Plus, as coach Andre Noble noted afterward, four of his Panthers were battling flu-like symptoms. How'd this happen? The Burrs were aggressive throughout -- well, almost; more on that in a second -- and gave not one iota of ground. Hollomon and Younger are very quick/fast and among the Panthers, only Prescott comes close to possessing those qualities. That made West a tough matchup. As he did in the Pub final, Prescott showed major brass and timely heroics. He totaled 22 other stats! As in, 11 rebounds, six steals and four blocks. Sr. PG Parrish Grant had a wicked shooting day (1-for-9), but did deal six assists and was effective down the stretch, when his team needed him to be. Plus, he ALLLLLmost won the game with a halfcourt bomb at the very end of regulation. The ball rattled hard against both sides of the rim before popping out. To backtrack a little . . . West owned a 15-9 lead with 6:10 left in the second quarter when coach Bill Ludlow opted to slam on the brakes and force Imhotep into defensive adjustments. Uh, oh. You know what happened, right? But of course. A turnover. Imhotep regrouped and scored 10 of the next 14 points. Pretty much the same thing happened in the Pub semis. MC&S was spanking Imhotep, in all honesty, when the brakes went on. A turnover followed and Imhotep went on to win by 29. West did not suffer that fate, of course, but I still have to wonder why coaches often insist on making decisions that disrupt or even halt momentum. Ride the wave, baby! smile. OK, off the soapbox. In the fourth quarter, West came back from a 36-31 deficit to get to OT. Hollomon and Younger, mostly off hard drives that led to baskets or free throws, combined for 16 of the Burrs' fourth quarter points. Younger's three-point play off a hard drive made it 45-42 with 1:25 showing. Grant hit the front end of a double-bonus at 1:13 and sr. WG Kenny Battle made a big play at 42.2, taking a charge on a slightly out of control Younger (he went 1-on-3). Prescott did hard-drive duty at the other end and kissed a bad-angle, contested layup (by 6-7 sr. C Ade "London" Barek) off the glass at 0:23. West's final shot, out of a timeout, was a left-short, right-wing trey by sr. SF Haleem "Peanut" Hayward (only his third shot to that juncture). Battle rebounded and then Grant, off an inbound play that began at three-quarter court, had his almost-miracle-shot experience. West had two good looks to open the OT scoring, but both shots missed and Adams hustled for a three-point play on a pass from Prescott. The nail -- a giant-sized one -- came with 16.1 seconds left on yet another three-point play. After Hollomon couldn't can a layup. Imhotep leaked and sr. SF Ivory Wells whipped an outlet pass that almost went out of bounds in front of the Panthers' bench. Not only did Adams make a great leaping save, he went in for the aforementioned three-point play. Jones finished with 11 rebounds while batting the much taller Barek (also 11 boards). Noble became the first African-American coach to win a City Title. There weren't too many black head coaches through 1980. The next year, Franklin's Kenny Hamilton became the first to win a Pub title.

FEB. 25
CLASS AAA D-12 CONSOLATION
Carroll 63, Gratz 39
  So, I’m walking along the sidewalk, parallel to Ryan’s gym, when I see a girl in uniform step outside and bend over right outside the door in some kind of distress. Maybe about to throw up? Maybe having an asthma attack? As I get closer, I ask her if she’s OK. Yes. Want me to get the trainer? No. Then I enter the gym and see this sight: Wood’s girls have a 57-14 lead and there is ONE sub on Roxborough’s bench next to coach Bob Stowman. The seventh girl was the one outside. The final was 70-22, if I remember correctly. Who would have predicted that the final spread in the boys’ contest would be half of that outrageous one? Phew! Since the early 1980s, when it got good then great again after a brief lull, I can’t imagine Gratz has suffered a 24-point defeat too often, if at all. The Bulldogs shot 18-for-47 from the floor and 0-for-5 on treys and no one reached double figures in scoring. Very sad end to a season that began with turmoil surrounding the firing of coach/athletic director Leonard Poole over some in-school issues. The game wasn’t a blowout throughout. Carroll was up by only 29-24 at halftime, but the Patriots rolled to a 19-6 edge in the third quarter and brandished a last-second dagger in the form of a trey by DN inkman DJ “One Teacher Still Calls Me Desmond” Irving. The Patriots had also gotten a basket right at the end of the half – a follow by jr. pogo-sticker Ben “Mistletoe” Mingledough. In this session, Irving had made it 37-27 on a long drive by Irving that followed a steal by sr. F Andre Wilburn, who constantly seemed to be rubbing the small of his back on the right side; hope he’s OK. Soph WG Juan’ya Green, mostly quiet to that point, then drained a trey on a pass from Lotsa Dough and the Patriots started giving off that we’re-about-to-kick-butt aura. Then they did. Irving, who like Wilburn hails from Chester, water-bugged his way to 25 points with an impressive mix of drives and treys (three) and a 6-for-8 showing at the line. He has strange form there: kind of snaps the ball toward the basket. Green had nine points, three assists and four steals. Wilburn settled for two points, but mixed three assists, five steals and two blocks. Touch Your Toes had 13 points, three steals and two dunks. (I love this kid’s name. Can you tell? Smile) Early, Amauro and I were anticipating a down-low big-'un battle between Carroll sr. Kasheef Festus and Gratz jr. Antoine “Ness” Bland. There were only occasional glimpses. Festus shot 6-for-7 for 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Bland went 2-for-4 for four points and managed the same number of boards. The two best plays by Carroll’s subs were recorded by sr. Mike Lauer – a pass, made from beyond the arc, through traffic for a layup and a rejection down low. For Gratz, sr. F-C Joe Reid recorded nine points and as many rebounds and did his best to rally the troops, leadership-wise. At one juncture I heard him saying to a point guard just into the game, “When you call out the play, do it loud so we can hear you.” He also performed gather-together duties before free throws, etc. Jr. F Leroy Evans blocked four shots. Gratz’ main problem was that it had no outside presence at all. Knowing the Bulldogs wouldn’t be hitting, or even launching much, from distance, they backed off and successfully defended against drives and dump-ins. Carroll’s student section consisted of five kids as the game began. Later it swelled to maybe 10 or 12. The total crowd for this game was a shade over 100, we’d estimate, not counting Gratz’ cheerleaders and others who “had” to be there. Ryan’s gym is brighter now, thanks to some new lighting. Nice gesture by the mother of Ryan sr. C Jerry Smith, who runs the concession stand. There were lots of pretzels left over and, near game’s end, she made sure they were distributed to Carroll’s student fans and Gratz’ cheerleaders. She signaled over to offer me one, too. I passed. Now if those pretzels had been Tastykakes . . . Let’s just say no one else would have gotten one (smile).

FEB. 23
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Neumann-Goretti 86, Roman 53
  Well, Roman now holds this off-the-wall Catholic League record – biggest point differential in championship-game romps, 77. Very ironic that Marvin Harrison parts ways with the Colts on the same day his former school almost breaks the CL mark for biggest title-game loss. In ’91, Marvin was a star guard for Roman – the South MVP, in fact – and the Cahillites slapped La Salle, 70-36, for the crown. And then in this one, Roman lost by 33. Ouch. How’d it happen? Very simple. Neumann played great and Roman struggled mightily. As mentioned in my DN preview, there were many emotional/psychological factors at work. Star Roman guard Maalik Wayns had a 4 p.m. visit to the doctor to see if he’d be allowed to play after recent meniscus surgery. The answer was no. Not surprising, overall, but kids are eternally optimistic and I’m sure Roman’s players and fans, no matter how much they “knew” deep down, envisioned Maalik trotting onto the court to thunderous applause and then maybe, oh, about a 50-point outburst. Instead, all he could do was stand at the end of the layup line and exchange hand slaps with the various Cahillites. N-G’s performance mirrored the one it had against North in the semis. Jr. Gs Tyreek Duren and Tony Chennault penetrated at will and the offense got whatever shot it wanted. There were not as many dunks this time around, but I doubt anyone minded. The Saints shot 34-for-60 from the floor and even 15-for-20 at the line and four starters reached double figures. Duren, who said he wants to attend Miami and is hoping a scholarship offer will eventually be forthcoming, was sensational. Though he’s righthanded, he goes to his left almost every time and no one comes close to preventing that. Chennault (Wake Forest) has a higher profile, but Duren was THE MAN tonight. He shot 10-for-16 (two treys) and 4-for-4 for 26 points while adding six rebounds and five apiece of assists and steals. Also, and more importantly, he was the primary defender on Roman jr. G Rakeem “Rahk” Brookins. Without Wayns in the lineup, Brookins is Roman’s only surefire scorer. In this one it was more like misfire scorer, though. Rahk made only eight of 31 launches (most ever in a CL final; Dougherty's Cuttino "Cat" Mobley fired 25 times in '92) and was 2-for-11 on treys. A 6-for-8 showing at the line enabled him to finish with 24 points. Even early, it wasn’t hard to notice that Brookins was landing nowhere close to where he’d left the floor for what are almost always his patented, sweet-looking jumpers. Shade to the right. Shade to the left. Thus, he never was in a comfort zone. Duren bothered him, yes, but he also must have been thinking about the possibility of last-second fly-overs by the big buys, sr. C Andre “Scooter” Gillette (Niagara), jr. F Danny Stewart and Danny’s frosh brother, Derrick. Gillette did have four blocks while Derrick managed two. With Wayns unavailable and Brookins experiencing the worst shooting miseries of his career, what chances did Roman have? Exactly: none. I will mention this in Brookins’ defense, though: He might have been hobbled, slightly. With just under 5 minutes left in the second quarter, he missed a left-corner trey not far from press row. He landed kinda funny and then and was limping slightly in the moments immediately afterward. I’m no trainer, of course, but it appeared his groin (or maybe thigh area?) was bothering him. N-G scored 12 of the game’s first 17 points and had its way from there, basically. Somehow, Roman missed 31 of its first 43 shots en route to going 20-for-65. Chennault finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He was out of sync early. When that’s happening, I never get the impression that Tony is forcing shots because he’s being selfish. It’s more this vibe: That he’s always thinking, “I have to star. I have to star. I have to star.” No, he doesn’t. We all know he’s a star. He just has to take the shots that come naturally and otherwise make the smart decisions that everyone knows he’s capable of. Danny Stewart had an almost-perfect shooting night (6-for-7, 4-for-4) en route to 16 points. Gillette went 7-for-9 (and 0-for-3 – oh, well) for 14 points. Jr. WG Mustafaa Jones had three assists, as did soph WG Lamin Fulton, the sixth man. Otherwise for Roman, sr. C Koron Reed and jr. F Kevin Regan halved 18 rebounds and frosh SF Andre Horne had 15 points. The strangest/funniest moment occurred late in the first quarter when Roman sub Abdul King went up for a follow . . . with his shirt covering his FACE! No idea how that happened. Maybe he was in the process of pulling it up to wipe away sweat when the ball came his way? Or a Neumann guy yanked on it? Can you imagine? Taking a shot with your shirt pulled up over your head!! Crazy!! The shot, a follow layup, was unsuccessful. N-G will meet Franklin LC on Saturday, 7 p.m., in the Class AAA City Title game at the Liacouras Center. Roman-Southern meet Sunday at 1 o’clock (same site) for AAAA honors. The state playoffs begin the weekend of March 6-7.

FEB. 21
PA. INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TOURNAMENT FINAL
Friends' Central 60, Gtn. Academy 58 (OT)
  This thought hit me on the way home and I can't be sure it's true (because I wasn't around from the '50s on back; contrary to popular belief -- smile), but I strongly suspect this GA squad is the first outright I-A champion EVER to end the season with almost everyone in tears. The hoops portion of the league began with the 1923-24 school year and postseason games were never permitted from the early 1960s on up, not even those that would have broken a tie for the title. Some teams wound up feeling devastation on the final day of the league season when losses forced a title tie, but was it. If a team clinched the title at 9-0 (or 11-0 or 13-0) when the league had more teams, and then lost on the final day, OK, there would have been disappointment, but not devastation. I-A bigwigs started the postseason tourney in '03. In the first five years, outright champs also won the tourney. Last year the league ended in a tie and CHA topped GA in the final. This year the I-A tourney was scrapped in favor of this 16-team affair for I-A and Friends League squads, plus some others. So there you have it: The setup for today's 4:45 final at Malvern. After the game, the pain was deep. Every member of GA's rotation left the locker room in tears, or at least it was obvious that each had been crying due to red eyes, etc. Even coach Jim Fenerty broke down when the realization hit him that he'd no longer be coaching his son, sr. G Jimmy Fenerty. "For the rest of his career (at Dickinson), I'll be a spectator," Jim said. "A damn proud one." The two exchanged a long hug in the hallway and Jimmy even stuck to protocol by saying to his father, "Sorry, coach." This one especially hurt because GA "appeared" to be in command both near the end of regulation (four-point lead in the last minute) and OT (five-point lead with exactly 1:00 showing). Ultimately, FC's hero was jr. swingman Travis Robinson. Remember that name? Yup, the same kid who formerly played for Penn Charter. He scored six of FC's nine OT points and posted the winning basket on a layup with six seconds left. With 1:00 showing, jr. CG Cameron Ayers (14 points, seven rebounds, two apiece of assists and steals) converted a double-bonus to make it 58-53. Robinson followed his own miss for a bucket at 0:43 and sr. F-C Jeff Holton (24 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal) went to the line at 40.7. He missed both. At the other end, sub G Malique Killing hit a trey to make it 58-58 at 0:23. As he tried to stop short to the right of the top of the key, jr. PG Austin Curry slipped and fell and the ball was thieved by Robinson. Travis blitzed downcourt for a layup at 0:06 and GA's final possession, on the fly, ended with a missed left-wing trey by Ayers. (I don't think he took a trey on purpose. Might just have been where he was when he realized he'd better launch it or risk being too late.) Ballgame. The Phoenix people rushed the court and there was some taunting, mostly by adults, directed at GA's student rooters, who, let's be honest, had come out with some frisky comments during the game. There was no incident, thankfully. Late in regulation, maybe a dozen FC fans had come hustling over to the stands behind the east basket, where the GA kids were. One girl walked back and forth several times in front of the GA group and I heard her say shortly thereafter, "Some girl keeps lookin' at me. She's lookin' at me so hard, she knows what color my gum is. I know I look good. Now she does, too." Ha, ha, ha. This loss created so much pain for GA mostly because it had fought so hard to reverse early miseries. The Patriots trailed, 31-22, early in the third quarter and, truthfully, were on the verge of suffering a butt-kicking. But they regrouped and embarked on a 23-8 run, thanks mostly to Holton (19 points after halftime). GA's starters aside from Holton and Ayers were sr. Fs Eric Yuschak (seven points, five boards), Jack McDonnell (four assists) and Dean Melchionni (six points, seven rebounds). Fenerty, sr. F Pete Haines (five points) and Curry played off the bench. Among the spectators were Big 5 head coaches Phil Martelli, Fran Dunphy and John Giannini, along with former La Salle boss Billy Hahn, now an assistant at West Virginia. However, today's legend-sighting award goes to good-guy ex-Edison coach Howard Ratinoff. Howard's wife, Loren, is a second-grade teacher at Friends' Central. She taught one of FC's current players (I forget which one she said) and even the coach, Jason Polykoff. When was that, five years ago? smile. Jason looks very young.

FEB. 20
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Imhotep 49, Franklin LC 43
  You know the on-court action isn’t exactly stirring the juices when the biggest fan reaction is going to guys doing dances in the stands during timeouts (smile). So it was for much of the night at Temple’s Liacouras Center. But as has happened a few times this decade, a mostly forgettable Pub final eventually became VERY entertaining and hearts were racing throughout the facility during the last few minutes. You could ask for more, right? But at least it was something. This was the first Pub final in history that did not involve at least one neighborhood school. Sign of the times, folks. FLC, a veteran of title-game visits, is a special-admit school. Imhotep, a five-year Pub member at 21st and Godfrey, not far from La Salle University, is a charter school. Over the previous few days, I mentioned to a few people, including sidekicks Amauro and Duck (FLC grad), that sr. PG Denzel Yard is the only Bobcat who would start for Imhotep and that only one more of his teammates, sr. F Nasir Jones, would also be a member of the Panthers’ rotation. No one disputed that assertion. In the game preview for the Daily News, I wrote that Imhotep should play Yard in a box-and-one or maybe even a triangle-and-two – yup, just on him – and that I wasn’t kidding. Imhotep went the straight-up route and almost paid the price. As PA announcer/website legend Mark “Froggy” Carfagno noted, Denzel did serious Yard Work, almost singlehandedly willing his team back into the game down the stretch. OK, so the Siena-bound lefty with the knuckleball shot – there’s sideways spin on his jumpers – went only 8-for-20 from the floor and 3-for-13 on treys. But when he HAD to be clutch, he was. Here we go with some play-by-play: Imhotep sr. WG Will Adams (Towson), 0-for-8 to this point with a dunk try among the misses, made it 41-34 with 1:41 showing on a slam off a pass from sr. PG Parrish Grant, who’d made a great save of a loose ball along the sideline opposite the benches. FLC was just about dead. Bang! Yard drained a left-corner trey, keeping the Bobcats alive. A short time later, Denzel did have a bad moment off an inbound play under FLC’s basket. His lobbed inbound pass was too high: sr. WG Sam Prescott (Marist) picked it off and scored an easy field goal. Again, Imhotep appeared to be sittin’ pretty at 43-37. FLC jr. F Jerrod Johnson hit two free throws at 1:06, then soph SF Basir Fulmore followed with a steal and Yard hit another trey at 42.3. The ball did a shake-rattle before rolling in. At the beginning of a subsequent timeout, I saw Yard standing in front of the bench and pointing directly over toward us. I don’t know that he was pointing at ME, but I suspected so. As in, “You picked against us. Look what’s happening!” Hey, Denzel, didn’t I say Imhotep should put two people on you at all times? (smile) I knew what you were capable of doing. To this point, Prescott and sr. sub WG-SF Kenny Battle had been taking turns on Yard. But Grant asked coach Andre Noble for the assignment in the waning moments and the Bobcats would get only one more point, a free throw by Johnson. Prescott, meanwhile, hit six of eight freebies and one of them followed a steal of a pass by Yard that sailed almost the complete width of the court and was picked off by jr. F Jamal Jones. The game began in spectacular fashion: Just 16 seconds in, Yard powered home a dunk after making a steal and driving slightly more than half the court. Imhotep committed four turnovers in just the first 63 seconds. But FLC wound up with its own turnover miseries and wasn’t shooting too well, either. The Bobcats were stuck on nine points for an eternity and halftime arrived with the score at 24-11. As the third quarter began, Noble opted to have two players stand way out front and draw the Bobcats out of their zone. What happened? A turnover. I thought immediately, “OK, here we go. We’re going to have a game.” Why’d I think that? Well, just the other day in a semifinal at Southern, MC&S was spanking Imhotep in the second quarter when coach Danny Jackson did the same thing. What happened? A turnover. Imhotep woke up and rolled to what became an easy victory. I never understand why guys do this. It’s like a football coach who sees his team roll down the field on runs and then, near the end zone, thinks he has to call a pass just to mix things up. An interception follows. Ugh. Leave well enough alone, right? Only change your approach when it's not working anymore. Because it was forced to chase, FLC loosened up. The kids didn’t have time to think about being nervous. They merely PLAYED. FLC didn’t get back into contention immediately, but at least prevented Imhotep from extending the lead. As Amauro mentioned, “They’re still in this. Couple quick baskets and we’ll have a game.” That eventually happened, of course. In the DN story, I made sure to give Yard his props while also chronicling the ins and outs of Imhotep’s first title. Prescott and Yard halved 48 points. Prescott earned game MVP honors by shooting 7-for-13 and 10-for-15. He also notched 13 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Yard went 8-for-20 and 5-for-6 while adding four boards, two assists and three steals. They’ll be playing college ball in the same conference and Sam promised not to tease Denzel about this result. Yard’s percentage of FLC’s points (55.8) was the highest in a Pub final since FLC’s Rasiheed “Noot” Arnold managed 60.7 (34 of 56) in ’94 vs. Gratz. Overall, Yard poured in 132 points in the five Pub playoffs for 44.3 percent of 298. In this game he was the only Bobcat with more than one field goal and the other guys combined to shoot 6-for-26 (ouch). Grant finished with 10 points, five assists and two steals while likely becoming the first player in Pub history to start for championship teams at two schools (also Prep Charter in ’07). A year ago, North Catholic’s Velton Jones had become the first guy to start for title teams in two leagues (Gratz in ’06).

FEB. 19
CLASS AA CONSOLATION
(Winner to State Tourney in March)
Strawberry Mansion 85, Communications Tech 79
  Well, folks, the "undisclosed location" was Roxborough and, by game's end, 18 people not connected with either squad (nor the media) were watching. The atmosphere was strange, but the subject of DN ink, sr. PG Darren "DL" Lawrence, said he liked it, in effect, because the nutty Mansion fans weren't babbling non-stop in his and his teammates' ears (smile). For whatever reason, I tend to see Mansion in home games and that place is kind of cramped. Roxborough has a full-sized gym with tremendous lighting and DL certainly put on a show, going for a career-high 33 points and packing 21 into the second half. Don't think that he was hogging the ball. He just penetrating and getting out in transition and if nobody bothered to really D him up, heck with it, he fired or kept going until he got bumped and went to the line. DL said he was mostly motivated because he at least wanted to assure Mansion would return to the state tournament after last year advancing all the way to the title game. Mission accomplished. Lawrence shot 11-for-18 from the floor (one trey) and 10-for-12 at the line. His wing partners, jr. Devonte "DJ" Newbill (16) and srs. Marcus Grimes (12 points) and Marcus "Worm" Johnson (10, three assists) also played well. The assumption has to be that most of the college coaches in attendance were making evaluations on Newbill, or at least making sure he knows they're sincerely interested. Sr. C Bilal Kelley added eight points and three blocks while sr. F Lawrence Elliott had nine rebounds. CT's coaches mentioned beforehand their concern for the seniors' motivation level. G Chris Jones, who's actually in his fifth year (don't worry, he was approved -- smile), definitely got after it. His 23-point effort included four treys, along with five rebounds and two assists. Jr. F-C Sherman Blanford had 15 points, 11 boards, five assists and two blocks. Sr. PG Antonio "Gee" Monroe, who didn't make his first appearance until late in the second quarter, had 15 points (three treys). Jr. WG Shaquille Shannon scored 10 of his 15 in the first quarter. He also peppered the stat sheet with six boards, six assists and four steals. Sr. F-C Lijah Thompson (Robert Morris) managed seven points, nine boards, two steals and three blocks. Mansion was in comfortable-lead mode through almost the entire second half. CT pushed hard near the end, twice drawing within three points. DL's one free throw made it 83-79 at 12.4. As the Phoenix, with no timeouts remaining roared upcourt, Monroe knew the deal. So as he neared the arc on the left wing, he tried to jump into the defender, Johnson, with the hope of getting the call while also throwing one in. Didn't work. Johnson stole the ball and passed ahead to Lawrence for a game-ending layup.

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Roman 63, Carroll 59 (OT)
  The first half of the game was only a rumor. There it was, going on right in front of me on the Palestra floor, but I looked up only occasionally while slapping together the DN story on game No.1 of the doubleheader, N-G’s win over North. Sitting behind were Huck and Amauro, who did the stats, and Frog, who snapped pics. It’s all about teamwork, baby, and there are no better teammates! Having finished, I was able to watch/pic the second half and write down play-by-play details while Huck/Amar stayed with boxscore duties and Frog performed extra-set-of-eyes miracles. I’m writing this two days later and I doubt Carroll’s guys have stopped kicking themselves mentally for not nailing down what could have been a win. The Patriots owned a 42-36 lead with 39 seconds left in the third quarter after soph WG Juan’ya Green posted a three-point play on a fastbreak pass from jr. PG DJ Irving. They scored just seven more through regulation and committed a traveling violation with :08.5 showing and the score tied at 49-49. Luckily for them, jr. CG Rakeem “Rahk” Brookins could not connect on a 10-foot floater at 2.4 and the game went to OT. Carroll was probably pretty hopeful, considering Roman had to go without its only big starter, sr. Koron Reed. But the first points went to Roman on a drop-off pass from a hard-penetrating Brookins to little-known sub Abdul King for a layup and that would mark the final lead change. Roman scored, in effect, six of its OT points off the glass: follows by jr. SF Kevin Regan and frosh PF (kinda) Andre Horne made it 53-50 and 59-54, respectively, and Horne added two free throws at another juncture after claiming an offensive rebound. Those developments especially had to rankle coach Paul Romanczuk, who was such a stickler for rebounding position (and toughness) during his playing days at Malvern (briefly), Carroll and Penn. At least Carroll somewhat turned the tables when sr. bully Kasheef Festus scored on a follow at 0:20, moving the Pats within 61-59. At 8.3, Horne succeeded twice from the line (he rattled in the first one) to provide the it’s-all-over feeling of a four-point lead. DN ink went to Regan, who he’d pretty much been in a season-long shooting slump. Here the lefty (also Roman’s QB) went 10-for-15 total and 4-for-7 on treys en route to 24 points and, over one prolonged period, he nailed seven consecutive shots. He also had eight rebounds and four steals. Brookins didn’t shot well (5-for-18, 13 points), but was terrific overall with five boards, nine assists and five steals. Horne had 12 points, six boards. Reed managed seven, six and four blocks. Soph G Kawaun Chavis was a defensive pest, notching three steals. Some Carroll stats: sr. SF Andre Wilburn (14, 10); Green (13, eight); Festus (12 and 12); Irving (10, four assists) and jr. pogo-stick Ben "Mistletoe" Mingledough (eight, seven). The Roman/N-G championship game will be very interesting. Roman franchise G Maalik Wayns, slated to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game, is scheduled to see the doctor at 4 p.m. Monday. It’ll be decided right then whether he can play in the game four hours later. EITHER way the news will have a big effect on his teammates. Adds an amazing element to everything.

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Neumann-Goretti 77, North Catholic 62
  My thought going in was that North would be able to hang because of an advantage in depth. Unfortunately for the Falcons, jr. WG Mike Terry is a shell of his usual self due to ongoing back miseries and – hey, lookie here – Neumann has developed a quality seventh man in the person of frosh F-C Derrick Stewart, brother of jr. headliner Danny (same positions). This is a much different Neumann team than we’re used to seeing and it begins beyond the arc. Every non-inside guy is capable, even proficient, at mad-bombing and that makes such a difference. Jr. CG Tony Chennault (Wake Forest, way early commit) has been a known commodity for a while. And like any PG, hopefully, Tyreek Duren hits the occasional treyball. But jr. Mustafaa Jones and soph Lamin Fulton live for it. Jones, a righthander, has a very long delivery that begins with the ball by his left hip. He’ll need to shorten that over the next year as he prepares for college ball (he’s said to have Ivy-quality grades – tremendous!), but for now, if guys don’t run out on him quickly enough, it’s successful bombs away. His is more of a semi-set shot while Fulton launches classic jumpers. When they’re on – and even if they’re not, truthfully – they create space for Danny Stewart and Niagara-bound sr. C Andre “Scooter” Gillette. Duren and Chennault (I love how he’s letting the game come to him, lately) have become quite masterful at making partial penetrations and then dumping to Stewart/Gillette for dunks or short flips or dishing kick-out passes to Jones-Fulton for treyballs. It’s a wonderful formula. DN ink went to Danny Stewart, who unfurled five dunks en route to 18 points. He also claimed eight rebounds. His best moment was a high-flying dunk right down the middle of the lane. Damn, it was nice! I mean, he POWERED that crap home. Smile What followed was just as impressive. At the other end, 6-9 North soph Rakeem Christmas had ideas on matching the feat, at least to some degree. But as Christmas rolled in along the right baseline, Derrick Stewart jumped and met him mid-air and rejected the would-be dunk. The Neumann fans went nuts and Danny enjoyed it immensely, as well. N-G zoomed to leads of 15-7 and 20-10. Each time the baskets that created those scores were treys, first by Jones (nine points, four assists) and then by Fulton (nine points, all on treys; also three steals as he did a great job on North jr. PG Woody Redding). N-G wound up nailing 10 of its first 16 shots. Jr. SF Jack O’Neill (18), Christmas (14, seven rebounds) and Redding (11) scored in double figures for North. Jr. F Josh Stevens (nine) and O’Neill (eight) were even more productive than Xmas on the boards. North’s season isn’t over. The Falcons will be the CL’s No. 2 entrant in the down-the-road state playoffs. Their fun isn’t over, either, since no seniors are on the roster. Notice how we worded that? Didn’t use “everyone will return next season.” In these crazy basketball times, where guys transfer the way they change socks, or just plain disappear (whatever happened to Xavier Harris? -- don't email me, I know what happened; just a figure of speech), NO ONE can assume ANYTHING.

FEB. 17
PA. INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TOURNEY, FIRST ROUND
Academy New Church 65, Episcopal 50
  Chestnut Hill made its debut in this tourney the other day, but the Inter-Ac’s five other schools were playing today against assorted opponents from outside the league. Why’d I choose this one? Dan Dougherty. Some folks seem to think EA’s wonderful coach (and human being) will be retiring because this was his 30th season there (over two stints; it’s a round number) and at least he’s gotten to coach one year at the school’s new campus in Newtown Square. Dan is 73 now, but still has great juice and interest in his young people and if wife Mary Ellen has her way, he’s going nowhere (smile). It is so cool to watch her, sitting across the way, yelling out encouragement and even instruction to the assorted Churchmen, all of whom she views as sons. Unfortunately, EA lost this one by surrendering the final 15 points of the game and the setback was its eighth in a row to end the season. As Dan and assistant Bud Tosti mentioned beforehand, the Churchmen were pretty much IN every game all season. But since the team had no classic point guard/floor leader, late-game issues were a constant. DN ink went to sr. CG Cory Goodman, who said he’s been battling flu-like symptoms for about three weeks. He looked quite sluggish in the first half and took just two shots from the floor en route to one point. He finished with 18 and three treys, as did jr. CG Omari Grier. Interestingly, they had just one assist between them. Grier did add five boards and two steals. Six-seven soph Isaiah Baker, son of former ABA player Jimmie Baker (Olney ’71), had seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks. He had some good moments, but was also a shade intimidated, it appeared, by ANC’s two inside guys. No wonder. One of them, Malcolm Gilbert, was maybe 6-10/6-11. The other, Savon Goodman (no relation), was an active/savvy inside leaper and EA had no answer for him (25 points). Sr. SF Sean Toner had four rebounds. Sr. Gs Paul Ramagano and Richie Rosati had two assists apiece, as did jr. F Allen Heggs. Among ANC’s starters was jr. WG-SF Warren Gillis, whose dad, also named Warren, is a Pub referee in football and basketball. He watched the game from a spot behind ANC’s bench (folding chairs, actually) with good (best?) buddy Keith Davis, who’s also a Pub ref. Keith was chirping non-stop, baby! “Let’s go! . . . Pick it up! . . . Let’s see some energy! . . . It’s OK. Forget that play. Worry about the next one!” The stands are maybe 20 feet, if not more, behind the chairs, but there’s no doubt Keith’s voice was more audible than coach Kevin Givens’; he’s the father of Fels star Shannon and budding Drexel star Samme. Shannon is also Drexel-bound. On the way out, I was kidding around with Warren and Keith and said Keith’s babbling was going to START the website report. Not quite, but at least he got a mention, right? (smile) By the way, he shouted nothing negative. He piped down for a while in the second half and, wouldn’t you know it, Episcopal crept back into the game. “Blah, blah, blah.” His resumption of blurting out assorted comments coincided almost exactly with ANC’s closing rush. Legendary.

FEB. 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Southern 69, Bartram 65
  There are times when the Pub is still the Pub and you can look around the gym and be reminded why you fell in love so much with this league in the first place. Franklin’s gym was filled with passionate fans from both schools as well as the kind of no-rooting-interest spectators who showed up just because they knew they’d see something cool; maybe some were drawn by top-flight jr. G Tyrone Garland of Bartram. Franklin’s gym is tough for crowd control because the main stands are opposite the entrances, so people have to walk across. And near the end of the game, you know how some people are: they think they’ll be viewed as idiots if they remain in a gym where the outcome has already been decided. I don’t know what THAT’S about, but in the last few minutes there were delays as people kept shuffling along the baselines. Also, Southern fans, especially, left their seats to stand along the south side in anticipation of running onto the court. D-12 chairman Robert Coleman at one point grabbed the microphone and said the game would not continue until everyone sat down. He didn’t follow through on his threat, though at least the peeps moved back. DN ink went to sub jr. G Shaquille Gaskins, a quality two-sport athlete (also QB-DB) with a heart as big as all outdoors. Shaq’s biggest play, and a focus of the story, was taking a charge on Garland early in the fourth quarter. It was his fourth foul and changed his approach thereafter. He settled for treys and didn’t hit them. (A side note on that. Well before the game began, Tyrone could be spotted taking a bunch of 40-foot jumpers. He even hit some. But I couldn’t help thinking at the time, he might need that energy later. Doesn’t make sense to be doing this. Sure enough, almost all of his late misses were short.) Shaq also hit a pair of treys in the fourth quarter (he figured he had only three all season beforehand), made a mid-range jumper after Bartram went man, fed jr. F-C Jamir Hanner for a wicked dunk . . . Dude was doin’ it ALL! With the stoppages and foul-line brickin’, the stretch run left a lot to be desired and Southern didn’t absolutely end the suspense until sr. WG Lamar Speller hit a free throw at 1.2 to make it a four-point spread. The foul shooting on both sides was woeful: Bartram was 22-for-42 and Southern was 12-for-27. Southern was at least respectable from the floor while Bartram was atrocious there as well (17-for-63). Gaskins finished with 13 points, five assists and a steal. Hanner had 15 points, 12 boards and five blocks. Jr. CG Deshon “Biggie” Minnis had 16 points and three assists and several outstanding breakdowns of defenders. Speller, always much more of a factor against zones, had 15 points and six assists. Jr. PG Haywood Henderson was effective with six assists, but he HAS to better than 1-for-6 at the line. Garland shot just 6-for-22 (2-for-12 on treys) for his 22 points. He was 8-for-13 at the line. On this day you could have said Bartram’s best performance was turned in by sr. F-C Danny Walker, who claimed six rebounds almost before the game began and finished with a whopping 19. He also had nine points and two apiece of steals and blocks. Also impressive in little-things/toughness ways was soph G Al-Hajj Shabazz (nine points, nine rebounds). He’s the guy who began this school year as Bok’s starting QB, then transferred after three weeks. Many thumbs WAY down to Pub honchos for scheduling the semis for Wednesday, when the CL will also be playing its semis at the Palestra. Anybody ever hear of common sense? You guys are in the same district now. How about a little communication? The CL had to lock in its Palestra date long ago. Would it kill the Pub to wait until Thursday, especially since only Pub sites (Franklin and Southern) are being used? Bruuuuutal.

FEB. 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Franklin LC 51, Gratz 48
  These teams met on Opening Day of the regular season and FLC became one of the few squads in recent times -- even not-so-recent times, actually -- to drop the Bulldogs on their own floor. Gratz at that time was still reeling from the firing of coach Leonard Poole and ex-assistant Roland Wharton was still feeling his way in his new role as head man. The Bulldogs have improved since then and the FLC guys haven't gotten any taller or stronger (smile), so conventional wisdom said a reversal was entirely possible. Well, the verdict did come down to the very end but one thing that didn't change was that sr. PG Denzel Yard was still wearing dark blue and light blue, and THAT made the difference. The first time around, he scorched Gratz for 37 points and 19 came in a fourth quarter that began with FLC down by seven. All the Siena-bound lefty did this time was post 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists and make THE play of the game when it HAD to be made. You expected otherwise? With 1:01 left, Gratz sr. F-C Joe Reid grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. He made the first, missed the second and Yard rebounded. The Bobcats decided to hold. In the sports writing world, at the high school level, we like to kiddingly call this "holding for the last turnover" because so often that's what happens. It's hard to turn it over when no one is playing defense, though: the Bulldogs opted to sit back in a zone and let the clock run down. FLC had the advantage in foot speed and had used it well all game. Soph WG Basir Fulmore at first had the ball out by halfcourt in Franklin's gym (the Bobcats were heading westbound; Fulmore was near the scorers' table.) As time dwindled, Yard came out to accept the rock and begin what he hoped would be mastery. The tension heightened as the clock ran down. The Bulldogs doubled. Just when it appeared they might steal the ball or force a walking violation -- zip! -- Yard fired a beautiful pass through the thicket of arms to a spot near the basket, where soph Turhan Griffin was standing. Laaaaaaaayup! (In the pic, taken from the other end, Reid made a valiant attempt to block it, but was a moment late.) The refs put 2.1 seconds back on the clock, but Gratz' inbound pass was thrown away. Jr. F Jerrod Johnson created the final with one of two free throws and when the buzzer sounded, Yard looked right toward me and started pounding his heart while growling. Nah, not at me. Ha, ha, ha. At the Gratz fans sitting all around who'd been razzing him down the stretch, especially by claiming he has no right hand and imploring the defenders to make him go right. Where he went was right to the semifinals (smile). Fulmore also had a strong performance, especially early. He finished with 11 points, eight boards and four steals and Yard-Fulmore were the only two Bobcats to score in the first half. For Gratz, jr. WG Tyree Smith went for 17 points, though he shot just 5-for-15, and Reid and jr. PF-C Antoine “Ness” Bland halved 20 rebounds. Looking at the boxscore, I’m surprised that the teams combined to shoot just 34-for-101 from the floor. It didn’t seem THAT bad while the game was unfolding. There was a great Pub atmosphere in the gym. Lots of noise and juice and everyone behaved. Even Duck, kinda (smile). Since he’s the all-time FLC fan, he stood behind their bench and lived/died with every up/down moment while keeping track of rebounds/assists/steals/blocks (I handled shooting stats and turnovers and writing down the details of key moments, as necessary.) Rumor has it Pub officials several times had to tell Duck to tone down his, um, commentary about the refereeing. And then afterward, like the first time these teams played, he rushed over to repeat his thought that there’s no one around these parts as good as Yard!! You gotta love the Duckster’s passion.

FEB. 14
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Roman 73, La Salle 49
  More people than the opener, even less of a contest. The defining moment occurred on the final play of the first half as a La Salle player, after grabbing a rebound, was victimized for a quick steal and buzzer-beating layup by frosh Andre Horne (10 points, seven boards, five steals). That gave us a double-the-score spread, at 32-16, and the turnover was La Salle's 15th of those first 16 minutes. Not a recipe for success. Even without franchise guard Maalik Wayns (he said he's hoping to receive clearance to return to action Feb. 23), the Cahillites are athletic and dangerous and aggressive and, yes, intimidating. They bullied the Explorers again and again and I guess we shouldn't be surprised that one La Salle player who did have some success, with nine points and three steals, was FB player Mike Donohoe. Roman jr. CG Rakeem "Rahk" Brookins led the way with 31 points, shooting 9-for-15 (three treys) and 10-for-13. Jr. SF Kevin Regan, who lives close to Ryan and had a family rooting section including half the people in attendance (smile), was tremendous overall with 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Soph WG Kawaun Chavis had six steals. Soph PG Eddie Joyner-Mitchell, who can go forward at warp speed and will be wickedly dangerous once he adds some swivel to his arsenal, had 12 points. Sr. WG Todd Stokley hit two treys en route to 12 points. Roman's student rooters were standing right behind us and came out with some funny lines. At the other end, La Salle had MANY more kids but very little juice. From what I saw, only one kid stood up and that was to try to distract guys shooting free throws. A Roman kid, seeing that, said, "At least somebody down there cares. Go invite him to come down with us." I'm writing this Sunday morning. Gotta do some boxscores and other chores before heading to Franklin for one of the Pub quarterfinal doubleheaders. Sorry for the short report.

FEB. 6
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 75, Carroll 58
  I can’t imagine N-G has slapped together a better performance this season. The Saints seized control early and remained relentless. This was the first game in Carroll’s refurbished gym and a large crowd, with MANY students, was on hand, so if the Patriots had been within striking distance down the stretch that could have made a difference. Didn’t come close to being an issue. We don’t keep this kind of city record, of course, but I can’t imagine too many teams – especially in the Catholic League – have ever posted 16 field goals on treys (nine) and dunks (seven). The Saints took almost no bad shots and showed not only excellent spacing on the floor, but admirable teamwork. If a guy was standing pretty much alone, he KNEW the ball was coming his way. If this kind of mindset continues, we could be looking at a state champion. Annnnnyway, DN ink went to 6-8 sr. C Andre “Scooter” Gillette, a Niagara signee. He shot 6-for-9 for 12 points and consumed the same number of rebounds as jr. F Daniel Stewart (seven). Scooter outdid Daniel in the unofficial dunk contest, 4-3, but also happened to pound an early one off the rim and no doubt will hear about it for a long time from amused teammates/schoolmates/friends/neighbors. Jr. CG Tony Chennault (Wake Forest) was responsible for the good vibrations right from the beginning. In the teams’ first meeting, he became involved in a personal battle vs. Carroll soph WG Juan’ya Green and, frankly, got tuned up. He played perfectly tonight, beginning with snappy passes and later taking only the shots that were MEANT to be taken. End result? Nineteen points and eight assists. A wonderful job. Jr. PG Tyreek Duren, who often wound up in the corner, sniped 3-for-3 on treys en route to 17 points. He added six assists and three steals. WGs Mustafaa Jones (jr.) and Lamin Fulton (soph) hit two treys apiece while scoring 11 and six points. Gillette was prominent in the game's most meaningful sequence. His throwdown on a feed from Duren gave the Saints a 44-32 lead shortly into the third quarter. Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk, who'd been complaining to the referees about illegal screens, was slapped with a tech barely seconds into the stoppage. The comment that got him in trouble was directed at one of two fresh-faced young’-uns who worked the game with solid vet George Geiss. Something to the effect of the guy not being ready to handle a game of this caliber. Tweet! Jones then hit both free throws and when N-G inbounded, Gillette notched another hammer-home on a feed from Chennault. Carroll’s starters scored from eight to 13 points. Here’s a VERY telling stat, which speaks to the fact that N-G’s defense had Carroll out of sync: jr. PG DJ Irving had NO assists. With Villanova coaches Jay Wright and Doug West watching, Green took just nine shots (and only three in the second half). Sr. PF-C Kasheef Festus had nine boards. Had nice talks with ex-Carroll coach Barry Kirsch and ex-O’Hara baseball star Mike Essery and bought a pre-game hot dog and soda from ex-O’Hara FB star Brian Giacobetti. (My man does make the Delco CL schools rounds. Went to O’Hara. Is a football assistant at Bonner. Works the concession stand at Carroll. We might have to resurrect St. James, in Chester, so he can go 4-for-4. Ha ha.) After the interview, I was hustling through the gym toward the parking lot when – screech – I put on the brakes to talk for several minutes with the Ingelsby brothers, Tom and Fran. Tom starred at O’Hara and 'Nova and played in the NBA and coached Romanczuk at Carroll (a title was won in ’95). Fran spent the ’98 season as Carroll’s coach after Tom stepped away. It was great to see them both.

FEB. 6
PUBLIC B
Furness 65, Franklin Towne 36
  Furness coach Tina Wiggins said she knew the deal beforehand, but didn't feel it was proper to tell her players. During the school day, from what someone else told me, the principal mentioned over the sound system that a win would get the Falcons into the playoffs. Not true. The Pub has been known to produce strange circumstances, and this was definitely one of them. Even though "Towne" got hammered and was never in the game, it can "earn" a playoff spot Monday if it wins a coin flip over West Philly. Furness, FT, West and Penn all finished 6-8. None of the four was 3-0 against each other, so strength points came into play. Strength points=the total number of wins accumulated by all of the teams you've beaten. FT and West tied for first in that race thanks to wins over Bok, which won eight games. Anyway, not much to talk about from the play-by-play standpoint. Nothing, actually. The Falcons, Wiggins said, finally played smart and unselfishly and noted, of course, that the season would have gone much better if they'd done this all along. Furness had advantages in quickness, height and bulk and once it started off well, the momentum increased. DN ink went to 6-5 sr. Blaire Chesterfield, who grew up on Long Island and is only in his second year of playing organized ball. He's raw, but improves daily and should reward the D-III coach who takes him. Admittedly, FT had no one to contend with him, but 16 points are 16 points and 13 rebounds are 13 rebounds. The small and smaller guards (but brassy), srs. John Johnson and Vince Bullock, were impressive in running the show in transition, as well as in halfcourt sets. Johnson, also a FB star, had 11 points and two assists. Bullock had 10 and five. Sr. F Andrew Bailey, who has a hint of bulk, added nine points and as many boards. Jr. F Sam Byrd, also a baseball star, had six and seven along with two assists. For Towne, only sr. F Randy Emerson reached double figures (15) in points. He also claimed six boards. Jr. PG Scott Davis shot 3-for-9 on treys for nine points while dealing four assists. Except for those who had to be there, there was ONE spectator as the game began. Later, the crowd "swelled" to maybe 15. Three of those folks were West Philly players -- Keith West, Dwayne Coppage and Antoine Buck. As happened during my previous visit this season to Murphy RC, 4th and Shunk, the sun was shining brightly outside and, filtered properly, made the court area nice and bright. Well, at least the east end. The pics are actually respectable. The performer of the day was NOT FB player Aamir McCleary (smile), who was operating the scoreboard. Three times in the first half, the refs had to admonish him for neglecting to start the clock. When it happened for the second time in the second half (yes, that's a total of five), he received you're-outta-here orders and another kid finished up.