If your name is misspelled on a TEAM PAGE, please speak up. Send an email to silaryt@phillynews.com or leave word on my voicemail at 215-854-5814.

SPECIAL NOTE
  To all scorekeepers: PLEASE try to make sure that correct info on scoring is called into the Score Service (215-854-4570). Part of my daily routine, especially after full-scale Pub days, has turned into this: answering multiple emails from coaches/players reporting mistakes in boxscores. We are reaching the point of no return. For years I've asked the leagues to make a rule that would force scorekeepers to sit next to each other with the scoreboard operator to one side or the other. It would thus be much easier for the scorekeepers to coordinate fouls/timeouts, not to mention cross-check info on which players actually make the field goals/free throws. Supposedly, that IS now the rule in the Pub, but many refs aren't enforcing it. Please remember, we want the info to be correct and making that happen is only fair to those involved. When the game is over, the scorekeepers should confer and make sure that their point totals for all players match up. Sounds simple, right? (smile) One more thing: Generally, it's better for us when the winning team calls in the results. That way we get info to explain HOW the game was won because representatives of the winning team will usually be in a better mood (just human nature) to provide extra details such as rebounds, assists, etc., or the identity of someone who maybe hit a winning shot. Thank you.

DEC. 31
NON-LEAGUE
Judge 77, Penn Charter 68
  Had to adjust the number; we'd recorded one of GA's 2011-12 results incorrectly. Thanks to assistant Marty Weiss for the heads-up.
  So, are you looking for a lucky four-digit lottery number to take you through 2012? May we suggest 2432? Though it's possible I might have missed someone, head coaches representing at least 2,432 varsity wins at Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac schools were in the gym today! I repeat: 2,432!! Speedy Morris (Roman/PC/SJ Prep) is now up to 608, the No. 2 total in city history. Bill Fox had 545 at Judge. Jim Fenerty (Egan/Gtn. Academy) now owns 491. Bill Ellerbee, now PC's director of basketball operations, rang up 450 at Gratz. The other six contributors: Jim "Flipper" Phillips, 135 at PC; Brother Jim Williams, 82 at North; Frank Cahill, 52 at Judge; Sean Tait, up to 49 at Wood/Judge; Rich Miller, 15 at Judge; and Lynard Stewart, 5 so far in his first year at PC. If I failed to notice that someone else was in the gym, please let me know and I'll adjust the numbers. Thanks . . . Anyway, this was a pretty cool game to close out 2011. The teams went at it quite hard throughout and there was an appealing mix of inside-outside scoring. The best eight minutes were probably the first eight as PC rushed to a 20-19 lead. Surprisingly, the next eight produced some yawns because the teams combined for just 13 points. Defensive adjustments were part of that, but so was generalized brickin'. Entertainment returned for the third quarter, and remained. THE biggest sequence occurred as regulation ended. Judge jr. CG Steven Griffin was fouled on a left-wing trey at 7.7 and went to the line for three shots. He hit the first two and Stewart then called an ice-him timeout. Griffin indeed missed, but soph F Malik Robinson soared/competed for the offensive rebound and curled home a reverse layup to create a 60-60 tie and force OT! The teams halved eight points in the first extra session and the final shot (unsuccessful) was a right-corner, turnaround trey by Griffin. Just 25 seconds into the second OT, PC lost 6-8 jr. C Mike McGlinchey to a fifth personal. Sr. F Grant Shaffer then was disqualified at 1:38 while trying to draw an offensive foul and two free throws by jr. CG Sean Hanna put the Crusaders ahead for good, at 70-68. Though he looked somewhat clumsy en route, Robinson made another huge contribution at :57 when he canned a layup and added a free throw to make it 73-68. That pretty much did it. As the game ended, I stood up in the corner near the end of PC's bench to take the traditional handshake-line pics and Stewart pointed out the big disparity in free throws. How big? Well, Judge shot 32 and PC settled for seven. Not remotely similar, of course, but it must be pointed out that Judge was great AT the line (26 makes) while PC was brutal (two makes; none after the first quarter). It was enjoyable to witness how much of a transformation Griffin has made. Honestly, he'd always hit me as someone who cared about scoring first, second, third, fourth, fifth . . . and he WAS good at it. But he's now spending large chunks of games at the point and he's showing this: He really does get it. In all, he had 19 points, six assists and even seven rebounds, and I'm sure the college coaches will be more intrigued by the new Steven Griffin. Sr. SF Brian Hennessey tallied 21 points and 12 came early on four corner treys. His fifth field goal? A dunk. Nice! Robinson, the sixth man, battled for 12 points and seven boards. Jr. PF-C Joe Robinson (no relation; that I know of) had seven points and as many rebounds. Jr. Jeff Seigafuse nailed two treys en route to eight points and sub sr. G Connor Donohoe mixed three steals with a pair of opportunity field goals. McGlinchey, star football lineman, totaled 14 points, six boards, three assists, five steals and three blocks. How many burly 6-8 guys can attempt threes without getting immediately yanked? Mike can, because he has a soft touch (though his three attempts in this one did not connect). He can also play man-to-man reasonably far from the basket and how many Man Mountains can do that? Sr. PG John Moderski had some good battles with Griffin en route to 19 points, two assists and two charge-takes. A few times he was too athletic for his own good, using tricky, last-second moves to uncork layups and keep himself from getting to the line. Soph WG Sean O'Brien, cousin of former Episcopal/Malvern football star Chris O'Brien, was on fire early with nine first quarter points. He did not score again. Sr. WG Nick Lamb had 10 points, three assists and four steals. Shaffer managed six points, seven boards while jr. F David Huber was steady throughout en route to 10 points, nine boards. He's roughly as tall as McGlinchey, though much thinner. It'll be interesting to watch his progress. In '94, Lynard Stewart was our City Player of the Year, and after starring at Temple enjoyed a long career overseas. His chief assistant is ex-Gratz PG Shawn "Reds" Smith, the floor leader of the '93 Gratz squad that featured Rasheed Wallace and finished 31-0. Their coach, of course, was Ellerbee. Website contributor Famous Amos Leak was among the spectators. Amos just completed his master's degree at Delaware State and that, my friends, is very, VERY cool. Major congrats, Amos! . . . And Happy New Year to all!!

DEC. 30
MASTERY NORTH TOURNEY FINAL
Mastery North 64, Sayre 54
  Well, the streak of nutty goings-on continued. With 2:43 left in the second quarter, MN sr. G Aaron Johnson was preparing to shoot a free throw when he leaned over and, oops, dropped the ball over the foul line. Tweet! The nearest ref called a violation. (Aaron said later the ball slipped out of his hands because the base of his left thumb was bothering him.) Then, 16.8 before halftime, sr. F David Wright did not get to shoot the first of two free throws because another violation was called. One of the Pumas was caught standing inside the arc behind and to the left of Wright. Phew! MN is located in the former Pickett Middle School, at Wayne and Chelten in Germantown, and the gym is VERY dark. I was changing the settings on the camera throughout, but luckily I was able to sit behind one of the baskets and the flash helped immensely. This game was decent, but never quite became great. Things looked promising with 2:32 left when Sayre star sr. PF-C Ikeem Dickerson bullied his way to a follow and cut the deficit to 54-47. At the other end, though, jr. G John Washington drove for a three-point play and the foul, called on Dickerson, was his fifth. So much for that . . . This game followed the championship game of the JV portion of the tourney, which was great. Lots of noise and cheering and it was terrific to see the varsity players, some standing right behind the basket, supporting the JV guys the way they did. Alas, Boys' Latin triumphed in OT and the juice level was never matched in the varsity tilt. The tourney MVP was jr. combo F Michael Foster, who has decent strength and leadership qualities. He shot 8-for-11 (two treys) for 18 points while adding five rebounds. He also blurted out some classics. Just before halftime, sr. G-F Khalik Long drained a left-corner trey on a pass from sr. PG Myles Brooker -- yes, the same guy who starred at WR for Germantown's football team. Next trip down, Long again launched from that corner and, with the ball in the air, Foster bellowed, "Another one!" Correct. The ball swished. Foster then hit his own trey from the right corner. Late in the game, a Sayre player grabbed a rebound by reaching over Foster. Michael thought the foul call on him was incorrect and told the ref, "He was smackin' me in my 'fro!" Ha, ha, ha. Wright, nimble in tight, had 15 points (dunk included), four rebounds and four assists. Brooker dished five assists and showed good floor-general qualities. Having heard good things about him, I wanted to get a look at Dickerson. Shortly before the game began, coach Eric Hooks spoke in glowing fashion about Ikeem in terms of his behavior and team-first ways, etc. Then the game began and Dickerson several times made great passes. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't catch two of them and weren't ready for a third. Dickerson has large hands, wiry strength and is ALWAYS going forward on the balls of his feet. Seriously. I'm not even sure his heels touched the floor. He got two of his buckets on manchild follows. Here's hoping the D-2 guys give him a look. He finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Soph F James Suber has decent potential. He's gangly for the moment, but if he grows into his body and adds polish . . . He had 10 points and 12 boards. Sr. PG Hakim Williams (11 points, three steals) mostly played under control through three quarters, then went to the hole pretty much non-stop in the fourth upon realizing such aggression was the only way to go. Raul McIlwain, a sr. WG, managed seven points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Ex-Bracetti coach Kyle Epps is an assistant at MN, and the head coach is former Overbrook player Lateef Green. Best of luck to everyone going forward!

DEC. 30
WHAT A THREE-DAY RIDE ON THE TRAIL
  Here's a recap of the crazy things I've seen over the past three days . . .
  Dec. 27: Malvern's Jimmy Gordon tried to check into a game vs. Moorestown wearing a blue undershirt instead of his jersey.
  Dec. 28: Bracetti (Jorge Quinones, Chris Morgan and Luis Cirilo) and Fels (Casey Bell, Jordan Grant and Kyree Westbrooks) started a total of six lefties. Also, at different times, two Fels players (TJ Scott and Lester Mattox) had to change their jerseys because the original ones were splattered with blood.
  Dec. 28: West Philly attempted 32 free throws (making 15) in just the FIRST HALF vs. Overbrook . . . and then lost, 65-64, when Marquize Speight beat the buzzer with a halfcourt bank shot from right in front of the scorers' table.
  Dec. 29: NINE Ryan players hit three-pointers in a win over Ocean City -- two apiece for Gage Galeone and Shane Kelley; one apiece for Kyle Slawter, Christian Rivera, Brian Okolo, Brendan Horan, Sam DuMond, Shawn Miller and Tim Raucheisen.
  Dec. 29: Wood's T.J. Kuhar was supposed to shoot a double-bonus late in a win over Pennsauken. Instead, Tommy Rush snuck his way up to the line and hit both ends (the refs didn't notice) to expand a six-point lead to 59-51 with 55.6 seconds remaining.      

DEC. 29
BOARDWALK BASKETBALL CLASSIC
LEWIS BRACKET FINAL
Wood 62, Pennsauken (NJ) 52
  The best part of the Wood portion of the visit to Wildwood occurred well before the game. While walking through the front hallway, I bumped into '07 grad Fran McGlinn and found out he was in the house not just to support the Vikings, but because he's now on the staff. EXXXXXcellent. Fran was the center of attraction for perhaps (definitely?) the best spirit-lifting moment in Catholic League history and here's a link that will tell you all about Fran's story. Best of luck with X-and-Oing, Fran! Maybe Fran's the assistant in charge of gritty, in-your-face defense out by halfcourt because the Vikings played that from the very beginning and it set a wonderful tone. Sr. PG Kyle Adkins (of football fame) and soph CG Tommy Rush, with help from sr. sub Colin Davis, were the guys who again and again challenged Pennsauken's guards the instant they ventured into the frontcourt. If not oodles of turnovers, they caused disruption and sent a message, "We're here to BALL, too. Get used to it." Though 62 points are a respectable amount, only one Viking scored in double figures and that was soph SF (semi-WG) Pat Smith. After the game, as the Vikings headed back to their locker room, I said to jr. PF Shane Neher, "Here's your assignment for the rest of the night. Get Pat Smith to show even a hint of an expression. Any chance that'll happen?" Neher laughed and shot back, "Probably not." Talk about stone-faced! His face did not change at ALL throughout the game. He did keep changing the numbers on the scoreboard, though. Smith poured in 25 points thanks mostly to 13-for-14 marksmanship at the foul line. Pretty sure every make was a perfect swish, too. I'd love to see him engage SJ Prep's Stephen Vasturia (still a junior and a Notre Dame commit) in a foul-shooting contest. Smith also hit two treys and grabbed five rebounds. Rush, a lefty, has become very proficient with his right hand for dribbling purposes and he showed well all night en route to eight points and three assists. Foul trouble helped to limit Neher to six points while soph C Joe "Man Mountain" LoStracco posted eight points, seven boards, four blocks and two assists. Jr. F T.J. Kuhar and frosh G Cody Fitzpatrick (nephew of childhood buddy Jim Fitzpatrick . . . G-town 4-ever!! -- ha ha) halved eight rebounds. Kuhar, meanwhile, was part of a successful scam! With the lead at 57-51, Kuhar grabbed a defensive rebound and was immediately hacked with 55.6 seconds remaining. He strolled down the other end to the VICINITY of the foul line, but not to the line itself, as Pennsauken used the 30 seconds to replace the fouled-out player. When the action resumed, Rush was at the line and nailed both free throws to make it 59-51. Sing it all together now, "Three blind mice . . . Three blind mice." Yup, the refs didn't catch it. Neither did Pennsauken's coaches. You gotta love fraud (as long as money isn't lost)! (smile) Another great part of the evening was catching up with Charlie McErlane, a back-in-the-day hoops assistant at Dougherty. He lives in deep South Jersey now and is recovering from an illness, Guillain-Barre syndrome, that left him paralyzed for about nine months. He watched the games from a wheelchair, but was able to walk around at least a little. Charlie was a fun, energetic guy during his Dougherty stint and was able to transfer his passion to the players. Terrific seeing you, Charlie. All the best as you battle back! . . . Meanwhile, apologies to the Comm Tech guys. I had to write my DN story on Ryan's Christian Rivera while you guys were playing. Thus, no pics or report. CT bested Oakcrest (N.J.) in a Lewis consolation, 54-49, behind Rich "Eggy" Hoskins (14 points, four steals) and Kevin Brown (13 points).

DEC. 29
BOARDWALK BASKETBALL CLASSIC
OSBORN BRACKET FINAL
Ryan 52, Ocean City (NJ) 33
  People long familiar with coach Bernie Rogers' ever-patient offense tend to believe he wants only back-door layups that are flipped home after 74 passes. Not exactly. Yes, the Raiders almost always take their time, and they enjoy driving defenses crazy, but if the cuts and good ball movement can lead to open treys . . . hey, bomb away, baby! While pretty much coasting to an easy win, Ryan sniped 11-for-19 beyond the arc. And it wasn't as if one-two guys did the damage as the others merely watched. NINE guys took part in the successful mad bombing and how often do you ever see that? Sr. G Gage Galeone (son of Glen, the Raiders' former football coach) was the lone starter with two and the other guy to nail that many was a very late sub, sr. G-F Shane Kelley. The other starters with threes were sr. PG Kyle Slawter, sr. C Christian Rivera and sr. WG-SF Brian Okolo while soph G Brendan Horan, jr. G Sam DuMond and jr. G-F Shawn Miller hit one apiece for the regular subs and sr. G Tim Raucheisen did so for the very lates. Slawter, a lefty, led in assists (four) and steals (three) while sr. F Nick Aughenbaugh, another lefty, had three dishes. Rivera shot 5-for-8 from the floor en route to his 11 points. Okolo added 10 points. Star football lineman Chris McMonagle had a strong second quarter off the bench with two assists and four of his five boards and Raucheisen had assists on Kelley's treys. Ryan hit seven of its first 12 treyballs and the last one provided a 29-15 lead. The one interesting tidbit out of the Rivera interview was his mention of the fact that Ryan's whole team spent Wednesday night at the Wildwood Crest home of Rogers' dad, also named Bernie. Christian said he slept on a couch, and that some Raiders got beds though most wound up on the floor. As I told some of his teammates, Christian, who deserves major credit for how well he does game in, game out, against much taller/stronger guys, will not make any all-interview teams. I kiddingly added that we might wind up with a four-inch story. Lo and behold, it was at least double that (smile).

DEC. 28
WEST SIDE HOLIDAY CLASSIC FINAL
Overbrook 65, West Phila. 64
  How often have you seen this? A guy hits a buzzer-beating miracle trey and everyone immediately asks, Why didn't they foul him (before he had a chance to launch said miracle shot)? With 2.3 seconds remaining, 'Brook was awarded a timeout right after West sr. F Cameron Estrada followed a miss by jr. G Desmond Sams to provide a 64-62 lead. 'Brook would have to go the length of the court and West had multiple -- yes, multiple -- fouls to give. Coach Jermaine Snell said afterward that he reminded his players to hack away, but . . . After receiving an inbound pass from sr. F Kevin Wallace, jr. G Marquize Speight (5-8, 135 pounds) was able to take a dribble basically uncontested and release a halfcourt push shot from right in front of the scorers' table. It banked in!!! Speight was immediately tackled/covered by delirious teammates right in front of West's bench and it's likely no one in attendance will forget this finish in the first 'Brook-West game played in the new school at 49th & Chestnut (or "Chesnut" as it's spelled on several signs in prominent areas around the school -- ugh). The editors were expecting only one story out of me today, on Fels-Bracetti, but I figured I'd at least do a mini-interview with Speight and pray some extra room could be found in the paper. I called the office from the parking lot and, yes, all was OK. Thanks, guys. Under Tina Wiggins, who formerly coached at Furness and Audenried, 'Brook received strong efforts from sr. G James Harrison (18 points) and jr. G Raymond Mills (15). Harrison was almost exclusively a driver and almost always showed good sense. He would stop short just in time and complete flip shots straight into the net or off the glass. Mills was mostly a jump-shooter and, honestly, was the only guy on either team who looked truly comfortable/confident behind the arc. He hit four treys. Sr. PF-C Shafeeq Coleman, a true big-'un body-wise, claimed nine rebounds and showed good hands several times. West faces an interesting dilemma. Though there's much to like about soph PG Lamar Strand, the offense thrived when Sams was serving as the floor general. He's a football star with decent strength and all kinds of brass and defenders just naturally give him room. He goes through/around them and can score/dish at opportune moments. Sams collected 11 points/boards along with seven steals. Sr. F Donte Watkins (11 boards) and Estrada halved 32 points while sr. F Marquese Hill had 12. Ultimately, West fell because it went an unsightly 22-for-45 at the line, including 15-for-32 in the first half. This was my first visit to West's new gym and it's very appealing. The natural light pours in. At least for the moment, however, the scoreboards don't work and the time/score had to be kept on a mini-contraption at the table. Barry Strube, Olney's former football coach, is West's new AD and the guy running the metal detector was Larry Bledsoe, the Speedboys' offensive coordinator. Other legends on hand: website stalwart Amauro Austin, former William Penn scoring machine Anthony "Hubba Bubba" King, ex-West hoops coach Ed Wright and -- drum roll, please -- ex-'West star Carl Lacy. Carl was a starter for the 1956 Speedboy team that won the Pub title (and featured future NBAers Ray "Chink" Scott and Hubie White) and his son, also named Carl, was a starter for 'Brook squads that reached the final and a semi, respectively, in '77 and '78. The headliner on that first squad, Lewis "Black Magic" Lloyd, also reached the NBA. It was great seeing Carl for the first time in forever and I appreciate that he came over to say hello. Like everyone with fond memories of the 'Brook-West rivalry, he'd love to see both schools return to city prominence. We can hope, right?

DEC. 28
NON-LEAGUE
Fels 60, Bracetti 54
  Ah, nothing like a basketball game with a starting time of 10:30 a.m. This one was first scheduled for 3 o'clock at Bracetti, but the building became unavailable and Fels coach Mark Heimerdinger, also the AD, received permission to play host, as long as everyone departed by 1 o'clock. At one point in the early going, Bracetti coach Matt Hartman turned to the bench and muttered at the subs, "This is like a JV game . . . This is like a JV game." No wonder. Only 12 people were in the stands and sounds like snap, crackle and pop were not exactly prominent. But as the "crowd" grew (well, to 20), the game got better and at least a medium time was had by all. DN ink went to sr. G-F Rahamon "TJ" Scott, who was effective on the baseline and near wings with a mixture of jumpers and brassy drives. He hit three treys en route to 19 points and also led the Panthers in rebounds (11). A year ago, Scott, who hails from Jamaica and lived for a spell in NYC, was quite the knucklehead and came close to getting banished from the program. "Ding" has turned him around, though, and he now serves as a captain. Somehow, Scott (No. 11) and teammate Lester Mattox (No. 22), a jr. G, both wound up with blood on their shirts and had to switch to Nos. 31 and 32, respectively. Don't see that every day. (Or morning.) Scott suffered his cut, on the forehead, after making a layup and colliding with the teeth of teammate Jordan Grant, a soph. Ouch! Also vital to the win was sr. G-F Nijay Kelly, the star wideout and a first team Daily News All-City selection. Late in the game, Kelly gathered in an alley-oop pass from sr. WG Casey Bell and wolfed down a ridiculous dunk while completing a 13-point, four-assist effort. Though Kelly has the brass to play power forward, he spent a decent chunk of time running the offense and did very well from the see-an-opening, make-things-happen standpoint. Sr. G-F Kyree Westbrooks was important throughout in the little-things area and soph WG James Cottrell scored all seven of his points after halftime. Bracetti has only one player with even a hint of height, sr. Chris Morgan (maybe 6-5?), and honestly, he's not polished enough to be a go-to guy. Thus, all but three of the points were scored by guards, sr. Luis Cirilo (24), jr. Jorge Quinones (14) and soph Malik Jackson-Wallace (13). Quinones hit four treys. Oddly, he nailed two in a row near the end of the first quarter but did not attempt his next shot (a two) until right before halftime. No one had more than five boards for the Bulldogs. Each team started three lefties -- Bell, Grant and Westbrooks for Fels; Quinones, Morgan and Cirilo for Bracetti. The latter's sixth man, Jackson-Wallace, was also a lefty. Crazy! Heimerdinger, as always, blurted out a gem. After a Bracetti player drove for an easy bucket, "Ding" bellowed, "Is that Chris Paul?!" Fels assistant Mitchell Kurtz, former head man at Lamberton, was his ever-interesting self -- we can always share a good story, or three -- and Kyle Epps, Bracetti's previous boss, came out to watch his ex-players. Always good to see that because it means the guy cared during his time as the coach.

DEC. 27
SHOWCASE EVENT
Malvern 67, Moorestown (NJ) 39
  You know how we roll. If it’s legendary enough, the nutty stuff always goes first. With that in mind . . .
  With 4:44 showing in the first quarter, jr. WG Jimmy Gordon was going to be Malvern's first sub. But when he stood up, removed his warmup and strode to the nearby scorers' table, everyone could see he wasn't wearing his No. 24 uniform top! Instead, his top half was covered only by a dark blue undershirt. As everyone buzzed, Gordon turned red and sat back down and jr. F Ryan Ammerman instead wound up earning first-sub status a short time later. That happened just as Gordon returned to the bench, in fact, after running downcourt to the locker room, finding his shirt and tugging it on. Gordon, now decked out correctly, joined the fray with 2:54 left in the quarter. After the game, the snafu was explained. Until shortly before warmups began, the Friars were going to wear gray tops. But it was decided gray was too close to Moorestown's white and the switch to blue was made. Gordon said, “I was so pumped up for the game . . .” Yup, he didn’t even realize he never replaced the gray 24 with the blue 24. Only in the Pub (rare Inter-Ac version)!! No doubt, Jimmy will be telling this story for the rest of his life. A classic!
  OK, back to the regular stuff. Moorestown usually has respectable teams, but it was no match for the Friars. Malvern was taking medium control through the first quarter and then, right near the end, there was a quick, four-point outburst, making it 18-9, that was highlighted by a dunk from sr. WG Brendan Kilpatrick (Vermont). There’d be no recovery. This showcase event is organized by a referees’ group in South Jersey and some of the guys were sitting nearby to both sides. Two guys, independently (there was no way they could have heard each other), said of Kilpatrick at different junctures, “He really sees the floor.” Indeed. Though he’s known more for shooting and using his loosey-goosey body to get to the hoop on effective drives, he’s also a terrific passer and he showed that often tonight. A couple were even of the no-look variety. Kilpatrick had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists for the 10-0 Friars. Even better, he sacrificed his body to draw three charges, and he got absolutely plastered on one. In the DN story, meanwhile, we had fun with the fact he was almost late due to a wild and crazy drive from Norristown. His dad, Jerry, frontcourt sub for one of the coolest teams ever (Bishop Kenrick’s 1976 Catholic League champs; watching and writing about that team was LOADS of fun), was at the wheel. Sr. PG Steve Perpiglia (eight points, five assists) and sr. F Tom Pitt (five points, four rebounds) also return as starters for coach Jim Rullo. Perpiglia showed a strong left hand on several occasions. Taking advantage of others’ floor vision, sr. G-F Dennis Gabert was able to get to the right spots and  score 10 points. Once he got past the shirt fiasco, Gordon had eight points. Of the deep subs, guards Ryan Bonner (sr., three assists) and Sam Ramagano (two field goals) were the most productive. Even with the starters watching from the bench, Malvern ran a crisp, effective offense and I dare to say not one bad (read: selfish) shot was taken all night. One of the deep guys was jr. F Denis Ostick, the latest athlete in that great family. Brothers Brian and Paul were on hand, along with dad John and others, and it was especially nice catching up with Paul, a Malvern product and 2-year starter at center (’09 and ’10) for Cornell’s football team. He’s now teaching disadvantaged kids at a school in San Diego, as part of a special program. Very nice! And it doesn’t surprise me at all that Paul would follow such a help-the-community path. As a Friar, he was pretty much the Mayor of Malvern. (smile).

DEC. 26
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 90, Palmer Charter 56
  Let’s say the scoreboard had not been working, and that flip cards had not been available. Just going purely on observation, I doubt anyone would have set the victory margin at 36 points. Yes, the Burrs were, relatively, in control by halftime at 41-32, but it just didn’t seem as if this game wound up being a major crush job. The Hucks – oops, the Lions – were missing an inside starter in jr. Azheem Wilcox, but their major problem was taking care of the ball. For whatever reason – maybe the close quarters, maybe the noise – clean games almost never unfold in the Burrdome and Palmer was guilty of 26 turnovers, including NINE apiece by the two main ballhandlers (ouch). DN ink went to sr. WG Mark Perez, who was impressive from the get-go en route to a career high of 29 points. Though Mark’s build would appear to say “strictly a jump-shooter,” such an assessment is dead wrong. He has become much more agile, even while adding strength, and his left hand is now almost as good as his right. He torched the Lions’ man-to-man defense with an assortment of treys, drives and pull-ups (newly added to the repertoire) and you never would have thought he’d wolfed down three big meals in the last, say, 28 hours (smile). Mark has great grades and coach Guy Moore has reached out to Colgate in an attempt to stir interest. He’s the kind of prospect who has to grow on you, but there’s much to like about his expanded skill set and ever-present dogged approach. Perez shot 12-for-15 from the floor (2-for-4 on treys) and 3-for-5 at the line, in addition to totaling six rebounds and three steals. He rang up seven points in the first 2:41 as West bolted to an 11-6 lead. He also contributed 12 of his team's first 18 points, then converted a layup off a pass from sr. F Anthony Fleet to provide the initial eight-point lead, at 27-19. Fleet also had a good night and just before I started this report, Huck sent a text to say that “Ant” ranks sixth in the class. Nice! The 6-5 Fleet is still thin, but he’s playing with more confidence than he showed in 2010-11 and though I would hardly call him a leaper, he is pretty bouncy and that’s always a desirable quality. The lefty had 16 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and also two apiece of assists/steals. The two main ballhandlers, soph Anwar Epps and junior Marquese Daniels, scored seven points apiece and were mostly responsible, of course, for hounding Palmer’s guards into the TO avalanche. Epps added four assists and six steals. Soph G Malik “Bloodlines” Tyndale (Mark, his brother, starred for Gratz-Temple), no doubt scored more than a point a minute in his appearances. He used some very aggressive/polished drives to total 12 points. Sr. swingman Isayas Habtu knocked down a pair of fourth-quarter treys. Palmer’s best was sr. SF  Quamir White, who posted 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sr. WG Malik Burbage added 13 points before fouling out with 3:44 remaining. Sr. PF Richard Gaines managed 11 points, six boards. Huck was accompanied by his partner in Burrs sports, Matt “Cauls” McCauley. Had interesting conversations with football coach Brian Fluck and assistant Albie Crosby (off the record, of course) about what could happen to their coaching career if the Archdiocese indeed closes West. We’ll see how it all plays out. Somehow, the PA announcer kept referring to the game as something in the “Catholic League regular season.” Huh? Palmer is a charter school in the Pub.

DEC. 23
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 62, Imhotep 54 (OT)
  Visiting La Salle, it turns out, is not a great idea for Pub powerhouses. Ready for some semi-ancient history? One of the very best high school players in Philly history was power forward/center Gene Banks, of West Philadelphia (class of '77; later excelled at Duke and played in the NBA), and his three-year varsity career produced a 79-2 overall record along with three apiece of Pub and city championships. One of his losses was suffered AT La Salle in early December of 1975 (yes, I was there; in my last days of covering sports for a newspaper chain based in Ft. Washington) and the star of the game, with 26 points if I remember correctly, was a center-forward named Mike Finley. Imhotep, as you might know, has captured the last three Pub crowns and is still very good despite the loss of four starters and seven members of the nine-man rotation. But like those 1975-76 Speedboys, the Panthers left with a loss in a game that entertained throughout and was mostly well played. Thirty-six seasons ago, the visitors would have won this one, 52-51, counting the extra session. How so? Well, La Salle nailed 11 treys and Imhotep settled for two. That made a major difference, of course. Plus, the Explorers shot a respectable percentage, going 11-for-27 from Deepball Land. Imhotep, meanwhile, barely bothered, attempting just seven. We'll jump to crunch time, then circle back, OK? La Salle made it 49-49 with just over a minute left in regulation as jr. F Matt Rodden, a transfer from Neumann-Goretti, accepted a right-corner pass from jr. CG Amar Stukes and buried a trey. Imhotep opted to milk clock in the person of jr. CG Brandon Austin. Trying to disrupt the Panthers' flow, La Salle committed fouls at 29.5, 5.8 and 3.2 and that last one was the fourth on jr. SF Steve Smith. Imhotep called time and decided to change its approach. Out by halfcourt, sr. PG Kamani Jordan (one of four lefties in Imhotep's rotation; there are five total on the squad) inbounded to sr. WG Khyree Wooten, who made a hard drive along the right side of the lane but kissed the layup a bit too hard off the glass. La Salle seized control by scoring the first five points of OT, thanks to a right-wing trey by sr. F Matt Murphy (right-down-the-lane uncontested dunk early in the fourth quarter) and a second-chance bucket by Stukes. How'd he get that second chance? Because sr. PG Darnell Artis, all 5-6 of him, darted into the lane and grabbed the rebound after Rodden missed a trey! (In between La Salle's points postings, Austin was called for a walk.) La Salle's "control" did not last, mostly because Stukes had some troubles at the line (1-for-4 total with two missed front ends). In fact, Imhotep even stormed within 55-54 on a drive by Austin with 0:36 left. Next, however, Artis hit Stukes for a three-point play and the Panthers were cooked after Austin missed a drive at 0:14 and Smith knocked down both ends of a double-bonus at 0:11. La Salle, which also got pummeled by graduation (four of five starters, six of top seven), has an interesting mix. Unlike last year, there's no true center, but even the taller guys can be trusted with the ball away from the basket. How often do you see three guys 6-3 or taller combining to launch almost nothing but threes? Rodden, mostly (totally?) from the corner, shot 5-for-8 (or 9; tough to be positive on one of his launchings) on treys. Murphy went 1-for-3 and Smith, who's listed at 6-8, went 2-for-9. I got the impression he is a very good/confident  shooter and has free reign. On his misses, he was slightly off-balance. Three inches this way. Four inches that way. His makes came off launchings where he jumped/landed in pretty much the exact same spot. Stukes was muffled to some degree by Wooten's aggressive defense. To his credit, he didn't force and wound up with seven assists (along with five rebounds). Artis also dished seven assists. Meanwhile, guess who turned in a top-star performance . . . Footballer Ryan Winslow, a jr. F. Coming off the bench, Winslow was perfect from the floor (5-for-5) and line (2-for-2) for 12 points. He simply maneuvered into empty areas and knocked down his shots. Every year, you hear basketball coaches talking about how the football guys "need to get their legs under them." Winslow is a star kicker-punter. Hey, if he doesn't have in-shape legs, who does?? (smile) The frisky Wooten, a lefty (though he often uses his right for inside stuff), totaled 18 points. Oddly, he had a tremendous mini-burst to complete the third quarter (left-corner trey, hard drive finished with his right hand, off-balance leaner from the left of the lane at the buzzer), then went scoreless the rest of the way while attempting just two shots. Austin had 12 points and five assists in his ever-calm fashion. This guy always looks like he's half asleep. Don't be tricked. He plays for keeps and one senses he'll be turned loose more often as the season goes on. Coach Andre Noble used 10 players total and there was a lot of mixing/matching. Footballer Shakur Nesmith had six points and at one point I noted, dryly, "He's gotten more passes tonight than he did all football season." Shakur is bound for Temple and Imhotep's QBing greenness had to make for a difficult senior season (just 10 catches). Dymir Logan, a frosh F, had seven points in the first quarter, then none the rest of the way. La Salle had a decent student-fan turnout and those guys, mostly gridders, probably drove coach Joe Dempsey nuts asking to see sr. F Colin Buckley (also a receiver) again and again. Didn't happen. Imhotep's rooting section consisted of maybe six-seven young ladies and a few times the La Salle kids yelled from across the way, "We can't hear you! We can't hear you!" Then the gals would respond, "Let's go, 'Hotep, let's go! Let's go, 'Hotep, let's go!" (That's the abridged version of what the school calls itself.) That phrase did not compute with the La Salle guys. A few of them yelled, "WHAT are you SAYIN'? WHAT are you SAYIN'?" (That's why I'm here, folks. To untangle Pub/Cath mysteries -- smile) Lots of college coaches on hand to check out the various prospects: Rutgers assistant Jim Martelli, Delaware assistant Phil Martelli Jr. (they're you-know-who's sons), La Salle assistant Horace "Pappy" Owens, Saint Joseph's assistant Geoff Arnold, Binghamton head coach Mark Macon . . . and no doubt there were others. And perched at the scorer's table, handling La Salle's book, was website legend Danny Spinelli, one of the mangers. Had a fun time hanging out with Roman fan Aurelius "Cous" Cousar, scouting guru Norm Eavenson and superfan/statman Dave "Not the Hammer" Schultz. And then, there he was . . . The Puckster! He'd been taping the game for Roman, and he was in full babble mode once he came across the court at game's end. When maybe the 700th word in three minutes came cascading out of Puck's mouth, Norm expressed this thought. "Somebody has to get Tommy on YouTube. He'd be a sensation." No doubt!! Meanwhile, Merry Christmas, everyone!

DEC. 22
PUBLIC B
Eng. and Science 42, Freire 29
  Shortly after this one ended, E&S assistant Phil Brown asked good naturedly, “Did we keep you awake?” I told him, “Barely . . . Barely.” Go back 20 to 30 years and this was a Catholic North tussle. Without the emotion. E&S had a rather impressive fan turnout (the stands were filled to about 85 percent), but those spectators mostly sat on their hands. Once you’ve seen seven passes around the defense, you’re not breathlessly awaiting No. 8 (smile). Coach C.M. Brown and assistants Rich Yankowitz and Phil Brown deserve all kinds of credit for, first, being brassy enough to use this approach in the Pub and, second, for getting the kids to carry things out without complaint. DN ink went to sr. PF-C Brandon Brown, who competed for nine points (all in the second half), eight rebounds and two assists. As the 6-2, 195-pound Brown well knows, if he hopes to play college ball he’ll need to rework his skill set as time goes on and he’s confident he can do that. He does well in school and performs a bookend tandem with another sr. veteran, Dijon Eggleton (also nine points and eight boards). The most recruitable Engineer is sr. combo G Tahjere McCall, who’s listed at 6-3. He has one of those  loosey-goosey bodies, complete with long arms, and appeared to have a nice feel. Shortly before the game began, he was dribbling up and back, up and back, in E&S’ warmup area with TWO basketballs. Didn’t see him committing any turnovers (smile). He could blossom into a terrific college player for someone. (In a game this slow-paced, it's hard to be sure about the potential level, though.) McCall had 11 points, six rebounds and three steals. Also handling the point for large chunks of time was sr. Sibley Robinson, who’s kind of a poor man’s Brandon Austin (Imhotep star). He had four steals and followed one of those with a three-quarter-court drive for a layup, providing the fans with their only true opportunity to go nuts. Jr. F Omari Franklin also claimed eight rebounds. Freire’s top player is handyman Jahyde Gardiner, who’s listed as a soph on the roster but is actually in his third year of high school. At some point, he’ll likely apply for an extra year of eligibility. The slender Gardiner played everything from PG to PF-C. He had NO inside help and, in fact, claimed 10 rebounds before any of his teammates even swept one. Seriously. I would not lie about that. Another Dragon (jr. G Brian Williams) finally grabbed a rebound 2 seconds before halftime, and didn’t even have to jump. The ball kicked out toward the foul line and he gained possession as it bounced off the floor. In all, Gardiner had 13 of Freire’s 23 rebounds and no aside from him managed more than three. Gardiner scored all seven of his points in the first quarter. Then, maybe he just got bored. He shot 0-for-7 from the floor thereafter and also missed his only two free throws. Sr. CG Carlton Wright (12) was the only Freire player to score in double figures. He added two assists. Nothing spectacular, granted, but the Dragons totaled just nine field goals and he had five of them. Can’t tell you too much about anyone else, folks. No one did anything. E&S is still behind in terms of season progression. As coach Brown noted, the gym was unavailable for the longest because of water damage that necessitated the replacing of half the floor (at the south end). Everything’s fine now, thank goodness. Good to see Arcadia assistant Justin Scott and Rosement head coach Ryan Tozer. E&S always has good kids with solid academics and the D-III/D-II coaches long have made sure to at least touch base with coach Brown to see what he has. Meanwhile, did I call Justin “Raheem”? I’m thinking yes and if so, ugh, and sorry Justin. Justin played for E&S and hails from an area, if I remember correctly, not far from King, where Raheem Scott starred. Got my wires crossed. Further proof: Knucklehead should be my middle name.

DEC. 20
PUBLIC A
Phila. Electrical & Technology 68, Comm Tech 63
  In the first half, especially at the north end where Big Steve and I were perched, this one resembled a playground battle in Brooklyn. Or maybe the Bronx or Harlem. Why? Well, New York is known for developing hard-drivers and almost all CT did was go to the hoop again and again. Somehow, the Phoenix launched 47 shots and many were follows after blocks and/or regular misses. My rough estimate is that no more than seven of those shots were attempted from beyond layup range. The guess is that CT was trying to force PET’s two big guys, sr. CF David George (6-8) and jr. PF-C Jai Williams (6-9, 240), into foul trouble. But those Chargers and others mostly exhibited good timing and, led by Williams’ eight, PET finished the half with 12 rejections. Amazing, right? Things mostly settled down after intermission as the teams worked primarily out of halfcourt sets. DN ink went to Williams, who has improved his stamina and now owns offers from La Salle and James Madison, with others to certainly come. Early in the game, he set up on the low post and easily converted a layup after accepting a dump-in pass from George. For mysterious reasons, that play was not repeated the rest of the game even though CT had minimal height. Williams posted 17 points, the same number of rebounds and nine blocks. He mostly stayed low, but at one point accepted an entry pass about halfway to the foul line and flipped in a shot while using his left shoulder to keep the defender at bay. To some degree, though he’s not yet as advanced, Williams resembles ex-Imhotep star Erik Copes, who’s now a freshman at George Mason. It’ll be interesting to watch him develop and, assumedly, achieve better chemistry with George, a star student who’s being eyed by Columbia and Penn, among others. George settled for four points, but did grab 13 rebounds. Jr. G Hakeem Baxter showed all kinds of brass en route to 24 points (12 in final quarter) and three assists and the game’s best sequence was posted by small sr. PG Khaleem Taylor, exactly when it was needed the most. We’ll get to that in a little bit. Sr. swingman Emmanuel Brown had nine points and seven boards off the bench. CT’s three-headed monster features sr. WG Rich “Eggy” Hoskins and the sr. Parker twins, Tony and Terrell. At least today, CT did not appear to have a true point guard and Tony often wound up with the ball at the top. Otherwise, he worked from the wing, as did Terrell and Hoskins. The latter was ultra aggressive in the first half, but had major problems getting the ball to drop (2-for-17). Tony mostly had to carry his ballclub because Terrell was felled by early foul miseries. Hoskins (17 points) missed just one shot in the second half while playing much more under control. Here’s a rundown on what happened down the stretch: CT created a 58-58 tie with 1:28 left on a layup by Terrell Parker (pass from soph G Kevin Brown). PET went ahead for good, at 61-60, with 0:41 left as soph PG Koran Snead hit the front end of a one-and-one for his only point. CT came up empty and the slight, 5-8 Taylor made perhaps the play of the game, going strong to the hole and overcoming the efforts of two frisky defenders. Not only did he make the basket, he then sank the free throw. At 5.0, CT jr. G Basil Malik hit a left-wing bomb (right near a wet spot that was toweled all game by PET manager Andre Worthen) after the ball was barely nudged toward him by a prone teammate at the left side of the lane. Sandwiching a walking violation in the backcourt by Tony Parker, right after an inbound pass, PET then went 3-for-4 at the line. Worthen had to wipe the wet spot at least 100 times. Once, he was doin’ his thing when a steal took place and he just stood there, stoically, as the players rushed past him en route to the hoop (smile). I spent part of the pregame moments chatting with CT coach Lou Biester about the departure of his one tall player, Jerimyjah Batts, who now can be found at Abington Friends. I won’t get into specifics, but Lou is definitely hurt/upset about the turn of events. This was a horrible day for the Daily News’ sports (and overall) family in light of the accusations made against long-time baseball writer Bill Conlin. I first learned of the controversy, via WIP, right before heading into the EOM facility, which PET calls home. My body was literally shaking . . .

DEC. 19
NON-LEAGUE
Robeson 49, Bartram 46
  For reasons that remain mysterious, in its infancy Robeson was a Bartram annex . . . even though it's nowhere close to SW Philly and is VERY near University City and the former West Philadelphia. Plus, coach Rob Powlen first hit the Pub coaching scene as a Bartram assistant (we used to call him "Bartram Bob" - smile). In addition, in the Pub's new ability grouping setup for divisions, Robeson finds itself in B while Bartram is stationed in A. So, yes, the Huskies were able to cite major motivation as they entered this non-league contest in Bartram's ever-intriguing gym (main quirk: at both ends, walls are the out-of-bounds "lines"). Since the game was still in doubt as the clock hit 0:00, we'll flash to the stretch run. With 2:08 left, Robeson sr. WG Marquise Richards (20 points) nailed his sixth trey to create a tie at 45-45. A turnover put the visitors in business again at 1:40 and Powlen decided to hold. Bartram coach James "J.B." Brown elected to stay back in a zone until less than a minute remained and Robeson followed with a pair of misses. Bartram called time at 35.9 and jr. WG Terrieck Williams, off a dump-in pass, was fouled on the left block at 28.7 He hit the second of two free throws to make it 46-45. Then, from the left wing, Robeson sr. PG Acquil Craft-Brown converted a hard drive yo make it 47-46 at 0:18. Bartram came up with a great possession . . . or Robeson played poor defense; whichever way you choose to look at it. Somehow, sr. F Bo Murray found himself all alone on the left block, took a nice feed from sr. G Jared Bryant and . . . no other way to put it, folks. He shuffled his feet and was called for walking. No basket. With only four team fouls, Bartram had to hack at 6.8, 5.0 and 4.0 to finally put a Robeson player at the line. Sr. G-F Nate Hargust perfectly drained the front end, then missed the second with the rebound going to jr. CG Mailik Noel. Bryant got a pretty good look on a semi-long heave from the left side, but the shot was a little long as the buzzer sounded. This game featured a strange development. Even though Richards is Robeson's best player, the Huskies experienced their best run with almost no involvement from him. Pointswise, anyway. And then, when he tried to assert himself a little more, Bartram went on a 10-0 run to create a 45-42 lead. Richards mostly operated out of the right corner and shot 6-for-14 on treys. He displays a perfect arc on his shots and you can tell he bubbles with confidence. He didn't drive enough to get to the line even once and Bartram isn't exactly loaded with tall people. Great long-distance shooters are usually death at the line as well, though. Hargust (10 of 12 points) and Craft-Brown (six of eight) were the best Huskies down the stretch and their help was especially needed because the only inside player, sr. PF Richard Lemon, was sent to the bench with a foul-tech combo roughly midway through the fourth quarter. Lemon finished with eight points and five boards. Craft-Brown added four assists and five steals. Hargust had four steals. During its best run, Robeson had success with double-teams on the outer wings, which led to fast breaks, while Bartram mostly thrived with breaks off defensive rebounds. The top Brave was Noel, a lefty. He needed just four attempts to hit three treys and totaled 18 points overall. Also, he seemed to have pretty good chemistry with Williams (12 points). Gerald Evariste, a 6-5 jr. F, managed seven points. I'm still trying to get the handle on using this new camera indoors, especially in a dark gym. The flash takes a long time to reset. Ugh!

DEC. 15
PUBLIC A
Constitution 58, Boys’ Latin 56
  Day One of the new version of Division A certainly turned out to be memorable. Especially the Night One portion. Back in the day, A was based on geography. That later changed to enrollment (A featured the Class AAAA schools) and now we have ability grouping. The idea is to allow the league’s better teams to bang heads again and again in competitive games instead of playing too many that produce embarrassing victory margins. In a 5:30 start at Imhotep, the Panthers scored five points in the final nine seconds to force OT and then edged MC&S, 63-62. At Franklin (that’s where Con coach Rob Moore teaches), the outcome was still in doubt until the very last instant. At the east end, with a large crowd making major noise, Con sr. CG Daiquan Walker had the ball out front and Moore was bellowing for a timeout. The refs didn't hear him. Out of a scramble, sr. F Craig "Poppy" Slade gained possession to the right of the lane, spun around and -- lo and behold! -- there was sr. F Fajion Jones, standing alone on the right block. Slade shoveled Jones the ball and the layup was good at 0:17. At the west end, after several snappy passes, jr. WG Yahmir Greenlee launched a buzzer-beating trey from a shade to the left of straight ahead. It didn’t quite connect and a classic opener was in the books. The night’s first big shock was walking into the gym to the sight of Moore also coaching the Generals’ JV squad. Say what? I forgot to ask him for an explanation, but a couple of Franklin kids in the stands said Rob always coaches the JV. HIGHLY unusual. Later, I was waiting outside BL’s locker room to take their team pic when, say what again, I saw Walker strolling into the gym. Only 5:50 remained in the JV contest, which certainly would have been cutting things close. As it turned out, Daiquan said he’d already been inside, but had gone outside to speak with his mom, who’d stopped by en route to work. She missed a goody. The 6-2 Walker, owner of a national profile, generated 24 points, five rebounds and two assists, and was part of an outstanding sequence right before/after halftime. Walker drained a VERY long trey right before the buzzer to draw Con within 34-30. As the second half began, he hit two more regular treys and then passed to sr. PF-C Savon Goodman, another big-timer formerly of ANC, for a serious thunder dunk. BL was scoreless during this sequence so the momentum experienced a major swing. This game’s major subplot was the battle between the Pub’s top two returnees, Walker and BL sr. PG Maurice “Doo-Wop” Watson (Boston U.). The teams did not play man-to-man throughout the game, but did so on occasion and it was interesting to see W & W go at it. Daiquan said afterward that they’re great friends. Watson had 16 points (two treys), four steals and seven apiece of rebounds/assists. Early, due to the presence of long-armers such as Walker, Goodman, Slade and Jones, and the fact that BL has no true inside force, Con had some success with a 1-3-1 zone. The Warriors mostly bombed away, as evidenced by the fact they went to the line just twice all game for two-shot fouls (and only twice for one-and-ones). They shot 8-for-25 on treys, and hit none in the last quarter. It was tough to get much of a line on Goodman’s overall skills. His first four (of six) field goals were dunks, mostly off dump-in passes. He did make a couple mini-moves in the fourth quarter to post field goals and he finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Slade, formerly of Monsignor Bonner, shot 4-for-5 for eight points and sr. G Tamir Bolger mixed four assists with five steals and six points (all in the first quarter). The Generals used just six players and at least a hint of depth will have to be developed or these guys will be exhausted come late February/March. Though sr. WG Amonie Holloman has shown some mad-bombing skills in the past, in this one he went 0-for-4 on treys. For BL, sr. F Carlos Taylor (UMass-Lowell), mostly operating out of the corners, had 17 points (three treys) and eight boards. Greenlee had 15 points, but was 1-for-9 after halftime. He has shown some very clutch tendencies in the past, and he’ll be fine as time goes on. Jr. PF-C Eric “Not With a k” Lark claimed seven rebounds. Former Bonner coach Brian Daly, now an assistant at Penn State (after a stint at BU), was in attendance, assumedly checking out Walker and/or Goodman. Daiquan’s situation is still very fluid, but he said he’s mostly in contact with Temple, UConn and Central Florida. Before walking up to Franklin, I was sitting at my desk, totaling stats from the Palumbo-Central game and good-guy photographer Yong Kim happened to stop over. Seeing the camera on my desk, he yelped, “Take my picture, Ted!” So I did and at the bottom of the frame were pics of All-City teams from 1997 and 2009. At the right in the latter pic was Bartram star Tyrone “Braidheart” Garland, now playing for Virginia Tech. Guess what? Home for a mini-break, he was at Franklin, and a pic of Ty/Amauro completes the set. In the pic of Yong, the 1997 guys, in case you’re wondering, L to R, are Na’im Crenshaw, Marvin O’Connor, Jarett Kearse, Lynn Greer, Victor Thomas and Martin Ingelsby. On the right, L to R, are Denzel Yard, Jesse “Booge” Morgan, Maalik Wayns, Sam Prescott and Ty.
Here's Rob Moore's JV explanation, as emailed the following morning . . .
  Apparently there is no money for new sports and technically we do not have a JV team. We aren't in the Public League JV schedule. There is no funding.  So it all falls under the umbrella of the Varsity program.  I've somehow scheduled over 20 games for JV this year with no budget, no coach, etc.  We all take turns coaching the little guys but most of my assistants were not even at the game as they were doing a bunch of last minute stuff preparing for the trip to Florida today (for a tournament). Yesterday was easily one of the most stressful days of my life between the games, work and preparing to take 19 kids to Florida.

DEC. 15
PUBLIC C
Palumbo 60, Central 57
  No need to dime the kid out, especially with the season in its infancy, but a Central player received a late tech for mouthing off in response to a call against a teammate. The surprising thing was, the kid looked like someone who wouldn't say two words in a week. Oh, well. Live and HOPEFULLY learn, right? The tech occurred with 39.1 seconds remaining and Palumbo sr. PG Demetrius Davenport (D-II alert! maybe even higher) hit the double-bonus and then added two more points with the techs. That made it 60-52 and though things then got hairy, the Griffins held on. This was my first trip to Palumbo, at 11th & Catharine in South Philly, and the gym is pretty cool. It's close to regulation in length and threes can be shot from the corners, though the place is definitely narrow. Spectators sit on stools behind the baskets and there is NO room on the sideline opposite the benches. If nothing else, this was Tall-Drinks-of-Water Day in terms of the coaches. Palumbo's Steve Gittleman and Central's Haviland Harper are in the 6-9/6-8 range. There was much to like about the 6-2 Davenport. Though he shoots mostly lefthanded, he is also skilled with his right hand and that makes him quite the defensive challenge. He showed a good change-of-pace dribble several times and appeared to have long arms. He also seemed like a born-leader type. He went for 26 points, four assists and six steals and, best of all, he drained nine consecutive crunch-time free throws. Jameal Tucker, a 6-5 jr. F, also had good moments en route to 17 points and seven rebounds. He was pretty light on his feet and showed great instincts on one drive when, sensing defenders in the area, he used the rim for protection and curled in a reverse layup. Reggie Hill, a 6-4 sr., was the off-side, little-things guy. He had 10 points. Central's mainstays were jr. WG Kyle Lafferty (forced to play some point because there's really no one else suited for that role) and sr. F Richard "Tre" Drayton, of football fame. Lafferty is old school, as in he knows how to stop and pop. At the same time, he also can mad-bomb (witness five treys). Thanks to three treys, he saved 13 of his 23 points for the last quarter. The semi-beefy Drayton made nice overall contributions with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Honestly, the Lancers were pretty much a mish-mash otherwise. Harper used 10 players by halftime and they all seemed to be wings guards/small forwards. The one exception, Chris Bing, a promising 6-6 soph, did not get many touches. He made two of his four shots for four points while also grabbing six boards. Somehow, the Lancers made it deep into the game despite committing 23 turnovers and dealing just six assists. Late, after Central hustled for five quick points to make it 60-57, Palumbo jr. WG Calvin Francis was sent to the line for a double-bonus. After Francis (scoreless on the day) missed the first, Gittleman called time to map his defensive plan (everybody dropped back). Harper then called time with freezing him in mind. Francis indeed missed the second and the rebound went to Drayton. Soph G Walter Pegues, a budding football star, heaved one from distance and -- oh, baby! -- the ball hit the backboard and nearly banked in. Got a chance to talk briefly before the game with Furness football franchise Sharif Smith, who attends Palumbo and does play basketball there. It's an every-so-often kind of thing, though, because Sharif recently obtained a part-time, after-school job at a sporting goods store. Yo, I need new kicks! (just kidding). Also chatted briefly with Palumbo student AJ King, who worked the clock. He hung out with me one afternoon last baseball season to learn about journalism. We went to Central and he wound up taking a legendary picture. In case you missed it the first time around . . . It looks as if the very tip of the SHADOW of Bryan Reiss' bat is hitting the ball!! Legendary!!

DEC. 13
PUBLIC D
Kensington 86, Mastbaum 78 (two OTs)
  Ever hear of Kevin Hart? He’s a nutty comedian/actor from Philly as well as a former basketball player for George Washington High. Well, today I might have met the next Kevin Hart. Kensington sr. F Elijah Ingram is certifiable, folks. Statman Steve Reid (nice to see you again, big guy!) and I sat behind the basket used by Kenzo beyond intermission and we could hear Ingram talking pretty much non-stop, even right before he readied himself to shoot free throws. The Mastbaum kids even found him funny and, given the chance, Elijah probably would have talked until midnight during the interview. All at a VERY rapid pace. The DN story could have filled three pages, but of course we had to keep things to normal length (smile). Much earlier, disappointment reigned. Mastbaum has always been a favorite stop on the trail because of interesting players and energetic fans. But today, no student spectators (except for Mastbaum’s JV players) were allowed in the gym because of fan misbehavior during the season opener last Friday. Ugh! Then the game began and it pretty much stunk for a while. Kensington scored 18 of the first 27 points and it was hard not to think a blowout was in the offing, especially since Kenzo had more kids with height (though admittedly not a whole lot of it; ‘Baum has none). Thankfully, the Panthers regrouped and, little by little, this became very entertaining. The game’s best performer was Mastbaum jr. PG Stanley Whittaker, who whirlwinded his way to 28 points, a team-high 11 rebounds, five assists and seven steals. He was everywhere and created major headaches for Kenzo at both ends of the floor. The only thing he did wrong was expend so much energy, and try so hard, that he ran out of gas toward the end and was unable to hit the scoring column in the OTs. Most of his shots were short, a sure sign of fatigue. While scoring 25 points, Ingram went 9-for-9 at the line. He also posted 11 rebounds and two blocked shots and was especially effective down the stretch. Often going head to head with Whittaker was jr. PG Julius VanGuine (17 points, six rebounds, three assists), who received complementary help from jr. WG Jamie Betancourt, a wiry guy with long arms and the ability to bob-weave around defenders (VanGuine is more of a power guy). Betancourt had 21 points and four apiece of assists/steals. In a little-things role, soph G Anthony Brown added 12 points and 6-5 sr. PF Jaleel Robinson managed 11 points and as many rebounds. Robinson’s raw and it was hard to make much of a judgment, but coach Jason Skovronski is very high on his potential. For Mastbaum, meanwhile, jr. WG Donald Avery mostly slashed to 18 points, often in transition, and sr. WG Keenan Tookes drained three treys en route to 15 points. He launches the ball from his right shoulder and one of his makes was a straight line drive. Jr. F Ravi Sinanan, the only Panther with even a hint of height, mostly experienced the day from hell. After sinking  his first shot, he missed 11 in a row before regrouping in OT to make a basket and go 6-for-6 at the line. It was outrageous. This kid had NO luck. Lots of in-and-outs and almosts. He did keep hustling while notching 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Jim Taylor, Mastbaum’s coach through last season, was in attendance. It was good to see him and AD Drew Knasiak, who has provided occasional stat help during football season. Late in regulation, Big Steve counted 29 people in the stands. Roughly half were members of the JV basketball squad and coach Marshall Murphy. Before OT started, that crew headed upstairs to the old gym for practice. Here are the pertinent play-by-play details, as mentioned in the DN story . . . A three-point play by Betancourt made it 63-63 with 37.3 seconds left in regulation. After Brown forced a turnover, Betancourt was unable to convert a hard drive from the left wing. The first extra session ended 72-72, thanks to a right-wing trey (pass from Whittaker) by Tookes; the Panthers had stormed back from an early six-point deficit. In OT No. 2, two free throws by  Sinanan made it 74-72. Betancourt then fed VanGuine for a threeball and the Tigers would not be tamed.

DEC. 12
NON-LEAGUE
Swenson 58, Masterman 53
  Any minute, a city official might corner jr. G-F D'Andre Parmley and demand that he pay property taxes. Why? Because in the second half of this entertaining contest, Parmley OWNED the left baseline at the west end of Masterman's gym. Again and again, he got the ball in the left corner and made hard drives to the basket that, somehow, were rarely challenged. He scored 19 of his 21 points after intermission and his performance mostly produced victory for the Lions. Only Parmley and sr. WG Jay Hardy (13, also seven rebounds) scored in double figures for Swenson, but the most impressive player overall was 6-7 sr. C Marcus Tillery. How many points did he score? Juts two, folks. Despite major foul trouble, he added 12 rebounds and five assists and showed a great feel for how to play the game; as in, he constantly involved his teammates with look-opposite passes to good spots. Sr. PG Haneef Hardy, who gives off a tough North Philly-style aura, had nine points and four assists and sr. F Maurice Dickerson claimed eight boards. Masterman will play again tomorrow in a Pub opener, but I'm betting MAJOR time during Wednesday's practice will be spent at foul lines. The Blue Dragons hit just one of their first 14 attempts (ouch!) and finished 11-for-32 (brutal). The team's best player, jr. CG Mike Sturdivant, was the guilty party on nine of those misses and even bricked his first three after getting hacked on a trey. In all, the frisky Sturdivant scored 25 points while adding four assists. He's a tremendous student and is sure to draw interest over these next two seasons. He can use either hand on authoritative drives (always a good thing) and is equally adept at regular jumpers and stop-and-pops. He does twist his wrist slightly, however, and I'd like to see him leave behind that habit as time goes on. To his credit, Sturdivant became more of a floor leader when Tillery was on the bench because he knew inside shots would be more available. Jr. C Jack Christmas had 14 points and as many rebounds. Jr. F Malcolm Carrington had five boards, sr. PG Terrell Skipper was mostly efficient with the ball, jr. WG Gary Bryant contributed nine points, jr. sub F Harry Taggart accumulated six stats in limited action (three boards, one apiece in the assist/steal/block categories) and sub sr. G Augie Legido (famous forever as the guy whose foul ball broke my camera last baseball season!! -- ha ha) bombed home a trey while dishing two assists. Masterman trailed, 42-29, before slapping together a rally and things did not look for Swenson when Tillery fouled out with 3:28 left (and was hit with a tech for frustratingly removing his jersey as he neared the bench). Masterman edged within 53-52 with 2:03 left and Christmas followed with a clean block (then rebound) at the other end. Bryant forged a tie with a free throw, then coach John Gannon's ballclub got a chance to take the lead when Sturdivant made a steal. Following a timeout, Sturdivant was called for walking at 0:56 and coach Pat Durkin's squad went ahead for good at 0:44 as Hardy picked up a loose ball in the lane and converted a flip shot. Sub soph G Naykwon Phillips then made a steal and Parmley nailed two free throws at 20.8. Phillips hustled for one more big play, grabbing a rebound at 11.9 after Bryant could not connect on a right-corner trey. He then hit one free throw . . . During halftime, I wrote down some thoughts and one was about Hardy: Smooth yet aggressive. So then the Lions came back onto the court for warmups and he was wearing a white T-shirt. On the back: J Smooth. Yes, that's his nickname!! Ha, ha. Swenson was missing one of its better players; he's serving a one-week suspension. Ugh. Behave yourselves, guys! Never know when one of the spectators might be a college coach or talent evaluator. There are 66 teams in the Pub. You might have only ONE chance at making a positive impression. One of the refs was former Bok football/basketball star Jon White. It was great to see him! Jon's brother, Dwayne, a Southern product, played in the NFL and now lives in Florida. Also a cool dude! Meanwhile, remember how Legido broke the website's official camera with a foul ball last baseball season? We let him snap the first pic. Also, click here for a pic of what's likely the most colorful shooting background in the world!