DEC. 31
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 70, Penn Charter 46
  Mike McGlinchey was a no-show. With a wonderful "excuse." PC's star sr. C is bound for Notre Dame to play football and soon he'll compete in a national all-star game, and that was why he wasn't on hand for this tilt. Not saying he would have made a 24-point difference, but his absence made things difficult for PC due to the presence in Roman's frontcourt of two impressive sophs, the beefy Manny Taylor and the rather nimble TreVaughn Wilkerson. Anyway . . . I'd have to imagine Roman played its best quarter of the still-young season in the first eight minutes. The Cahillites, with the help of assistant coaches, went through some snappy pregame drills and carried that energy right into the game. Jr. WG Rashann London merely racked up 12 points while exhibiting talent in the open floor and from the wing (two treys) when fastbreaks were not available. Jr. CG Shep Garner added eight points, two assists and two steals in that stanza and, I'm tellin' ya, this was an all-cylinders performance by the Cahillites (22-10 edge). Though Roman lost the second quarter, 14-12, WG Matt Simon, the team's only senior, provided some neat eye candy by draining three consecutive treys. He's the sixth man and what a lift he can provide when he's sniping to that degree. Simon is also a baseball stalwart and the thought all along seemed to be that he was eyeing that sport for college. Now we're hearing he wants to play basketball and a number of D-IIIs are starting to play him in a box-and-one. Roman owned a 51-31 lead after three quarters and coach Chris McNesby decided to take a new approach in the fourth. The Cahillites went into a semi-spread with the idea, I'd imagine, of working on it for future reference. The momentum disappeared and PC rallied within 12 points before fading. Badly, in fact. I wasn't writing things down basket by basket, but it's possible (likely) Roman scored 14 of the final 16 points because I think that 12-point difference came when the score was 56-44. London posted 24 points while shooting 9-for-13 from the floor. Garner had 12 points, four assists and three steals. Taylor and Wilkerson claimed 11 rebounds apiece and, hey, whaddya know, each guy scored eight points. The main ballhandler (though Garner is always one pass away) is soph Traci Carter, a transfer from Prep Charter. He mixed six points, two assists and three steals. For PC, jr. PG Sean O'Brien fueled the fourth quarter comeback en route to achieving solid overall numbers (15 points, six rebounds, three apiece of assists/steals). In not nearly enough minutes due to foul trouble, sr. F Austin Williams battled for nine rebounds. PC's guard situation is the opposite of Roman's. The smaller guy, 5-7 soph Demetrius Isaac, plays mostly on the wing, and it appears he's developing pretty good chemistry with O'Brien. Jr. WG Alex Schwarz, the seventh man today, hit just one of his six shots en route to four points, but I liked his spunk. Among the witnesses: PC lensman John Burkhart, assistant AD Ed Foley, former baseball coach Rick "Tooth for Teddy" Mellor (long story, ask him about it; or ask his kids because he told them about it in the parking lot after the game -- ha ha) and Lansdale Catholic hoops boss Ed Enoch, who starred for PC ('72). The JV refs didn't show (or weren't assigned; who knows?) and Foley was one of the guys who served as a fill-in ref. Well, for the first half. Two of the varsity refs, having arrived a shade early, then took over. Roman assistant Thomas "Hockey/Puck/Nutman/Head Fakes" McKenna was NOT on hand. Coach McNesby told the Cahillites Nut was preparing a routine for the Mummers parade and I played along, telling a couple of the players, "Oddly enough, he'll be in the Comic Division." They were amazed, but they appeared to fall for it. Actually, the Puckster was at Judge to tape the Crusaders' game against SCH Academy. Happy New Year, everyone, and let's have a great 2013!!

DEC. 29
CONSTITUTION CONVENTION/NATIONAL DIVISION FINAL
Sayre 62, Constitution 46
  Well, lookie here. In the first title game today at Gustine RC, a team from Division C bumped off one from B. The spread was even bigger in this one because Sayre's in D and Constitution's in A. Pretty impressive. The Sabers' performance might have been the best I've seen all season in terms of effort and togetherness, especially when you mix in the fact that coach Eric Hooks basically used just five players. Can you say stamina? Twenty-one of Sayre's 27 field goals featured assists and that's an amazing percentage (.778). Sr. Darius Savage and jr. Javonnta Zimmerman are the main ballhandlers/distributors and they wound up with eight and three assists, respectively. Mostly from the wing, jr. G-F Qadir Wilson had five dimes and that total was matched by the team's lone inside player, jr. PF-C Antwan James. That wasn't all. James also posted 24 points (12-for-16 floor) and 10 rebounds and got most of his buckets just by creating hints of space for himself, then making gimmes off quick feeds from the other guys. A few of his field goals did come on face-ups, too. Sr. WG Richard Burton struggled from the floor in the first half, then heated up, big time, to finish with 18 points. He packed 10 into the fourth quarter and began his outburst with corner treys. He capped it with a dunk. He also had five rebounds and two steals. After losing the first six players from its state title team, Constitution is still feeling its way. Coach Rob Moore used 10 guys by halftime and maintained that approach pretty much throughout. The most interesting General is soph Ahmad Gilbert, a lefty wing guard. He has grown about three inches, to 6-6, and it'll be interesting to see what happens for him down the line. He could remain a wing guard or perhaps will grow (and add weight) and morph into a wing/even power forward. He had 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Soph WG Akeem King, mostly the seventh man last season, had nine points. Chad Andrews, a 6-6 soph F, has possibilities, too. As the eighth man, he grabbed six boards and appeared to be pretty nimble. Among the newcomers are WG Floyd Preito (from Westtown) and soph WG Tamir Watson (from Boys' Latin). Preito went an unsightly 1-for-12, but has the look of a dangerous shooter. Watson is the brother of BL '12 all-timer Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson, already a key freshman at Boston University. He hit two shots for five points. Early in the fourth quarter, Moore sent four of his main guys back into the game and I'm sure he was thinking the fact that they'd be fresh would help to spark a comeback from a 42-34 deficit. Didn't happen. Sayre merely added to its lead. Before the game, Hooks mentioned he hoped a strong performance against a Division A squad could give his squad confidence heading into the rest of the Pub regular season. Guess what? Now he'll have to guard against OVERconfidence (smile). Meanwhile, congrats to Moore and all of his helpers for the great job they did all week with this massive tournament (44 games, including JV and girls). The School District formerly ran something similar, but then lost interest. Here's hoping the ConHigh folks stick with it.

DEC. 29
CONSTITUTION CONVENTION/AMERICAN FINAL
King 51, Gratz 30
  This was my first look at King, now coached by former NBA player Sean Colson, but some of these guys certainly looked familiar. Not in King uniforms, however. At least six of the Cougars' top eight players did their ballin' for other schools last season and one, backup jr. PG Malik Smith, even did so THIS season. He checked in from Del-Val Charter shortly before Christmas. Despite all the flux, Colson is certainly reaching these guys. They're playing hard and together and even the bench guys are involved and noisy while supporting the starters. Though the hope was that Gratz would be able to make things interesting, it lasted only through three quarters. Shortly into the fourth, King exploded for nine points in a short span and, well, that was that. Sr. WG-SF Raquan Brown-Johnson (Roman) set the tone with a trey from the left corner. Then, the team's only holdover, sr. F William "Billy" Leak, drained one from the right corner off a feed from Brown-Johnson. Then, sr. WG Shakoor Woodson (Hope Charter, a block from King; dropped its program) grabbed a rebound and drove all the way downcourt to rack up a three-point play. That made the score 34-20. The Cougars' PG is a sr. from World Comm named Fa'Teem Glenn. Though a lefty, he's equally adept with his right hand and there's much to like about he fuels his team. He had three assists and four steals. B-J hit two treys en route to 14 points and was effective overall with eight boards, four dimes and three thefts. Jr. F Gregory Bennett (Imhotep), another lefty, had 11 points while sr. F C-Ron Jennings (Franklin) managed six boards. It was nice to see the veteran Cougar, Leak, do enough to feel part of things, and I'm guessing his positive approach has been helpful to Colson during all the changes. The other rotation guy is jr. PF Brandon McNair (seven boards). As mentioned in a report earlier this week, Gratz is also fraught with transfers. One, however, was denied eligibility -- Rafiq Marshall, from Lamberton -- and he wound up keeping the scoreboook. At haltime he stood out on the court to encourage the Bulldogs as they went through a shootaround and I decided to take his pic. At that exact instant he decided to spread out his arms while talking to one of the players. I snapped away and then showed Rafiq the picture while adding that the appropriate caption would be, "Why the hell was I turned down?" He felt it. Anyway, today's best Bulldog was sr. WG Donte' Winfield, thanks to 14 points and six rebounds. He showed classic form and poise on his shot and as time goes on I could picture the coaches installing some plays designed specifically for him, especially off inbounds. Sr. WG Dashante "DJ" Alexander had 12 points while jr. PG Malik Tyndale mixed two assists with six steals. Sr. PF-C Fulani Freeman, of football fame, claimed eight rebounds and sr. F John Sisco had six. At one point Sisco was battling for a rebound along the baseline close to where I was sitting (behind a basket, for pic purposes) and the ball popped against his eye. He winced and tried to convince the ref he'd been fouled. When play stopped, Sisco ran past my chair as he headed to the bench and said, in a low voice, "I ain't get hit, Ted." Ha, ha, ha. He might have deserved an Academy Award, though. Amauro Austin was on hand and kept the extra stats from the stands. Right by his side was his little daughter, Saige. Click here for a pic of the two of them. Niiiiiice.

DEC. 28
PHILLY-SOUTH JERSEY CATHOLIC SHOWCASE
St. Joseph (NJ) 55, Bonner-Prendergast 52
  Back when football all-timer Marvin Harrison (Roman '91) was in high school, Miami and some other schools would routinely come to watch his basketball games to get a read on how good of an overall athlete he was. Well, B-P sr. Christian Summers just finished a wonderful football season as a receiver and some I-AA schools are said to be pursuing him. I suggest they obtain the tape of this one and make sure to watch it closely. Again and again, both while trying to break up passes on defense or save his teammates' flips from going out of bounds, Summers showed wonderful timing, leaping ability and hands. Alas . . . with 15.8 seconds left and B-P down by 54-52, Summers stutter-stepped while beginning a drive from the right wing (probably his lone mistake of the night) and SJ added a free throw at 15.3. On the Friars' final possession, sr. PF-C Pat Vanderslice, who's bound for Temple to pitch, was a little short on a three-point attempt from the same general area where Summers had started his move. B-P led for much of the game -- never by a lot, this game was entertaining and hard-fought -- so the loss was tough to swallow. As most folks know, I'm big on using this space to discuss OUR players, but a kid from SJ (coached by Judge product Tim Gallagher) must be shown some love. Ben Mitchell, a soph, is listed at 6-1. He was likely the tallest Wildcat so he had to spend much of his time inside. B-P's big guys are semi-lumbering, so Mitchell was able to use his quick leaps and presence of mind to bob and weave and soar for 29 points. He also had two treys and went 5-for-6 at the line. Outstanding effort, young man! Vanderslice and 6-6 sr. C Nick Czibik had trouble dealing with Mitchell and wound up missing decent chunks of time due to foul trouble. Summers had 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. 'Slice claimed eight boards and Czibik had five. B-P's PG is soph Danny Ings. He managed 13 points, three assists and even seven rebounds, and it was good to see kid who obviously enjoys handling that role. So many PGs seem to have forgotten the true purpose of that position. Jr. WG Jack Carden hit a pair of treys. The best bench contributor was jr. F Tim McCaffrey (five rebounds). I'd like to see 'Slice be a little more ornery on offense. He has good strength and his shooting touch is pretty decent. Some of the Friars were a shade tardy making it to St. Augustine. All arrived by gametime, but as warmups began, maybe four guys were missing. Thanks for coach Tom Meakim for allowing the team pic to be snapped once everyone was present and accounted for. (It's 12:14 as I finish this report. Sorry for ending that previous sentence with a preposition -- smile.)

DEC. 28
LENAPE (NJ) HOLIDAY SHOWCASE
Ryan 66, Seneca (NJ) 38
  Here's guessing the Ryan guys will be begging me to attend one of their holiday games next season. Why? Well, in one game apiece last year and this, with yours truly on hand, the Raiders have merely knocked down 22 three-pointers! They went 11-for-19 last year in Wildwood, NJ, while thumping Ocean City (NJ), and today went 11-for-21 while doing a number on Seneca. Unbelievable. The 2011 performance was truly special because nine guys combined to hit those 11 treys and unless someone convinces us otherwise, that stands as a city record. In this one, Ryan's first six treys were hit by different guys and I couldn't help but think, "Don't tell me that record is going to be challenged." No. 7 was hit by one of the earlier marksmen, sr. G Tyler Reed, and the grand total of threeballers wound up being a half-dozen. Jr. F Brendan Horan posted three while Reed and a sub, sr. G Jason Snyder, had two apiece. By the way, Reed's second trey made the score 29-12, so all but eight of those points were ch-chinged onto the scoreboard from beyond the arc. The early catalyst was sr. PG Gage Galeone, who accounted for all of the Raiders' first 10 points with two buckets and two assists. He finished with six assists and three steals in addition to nine points. Sr. WG Bryan Okolo had eight points, three dimes and five thefts. Sr. G-F Shawn Miller had 11 points, as did Horan. The medium and late subs received extensive playing time and one with height, 6-4 sr. F John Parker, posted three boards and a swat. Another, frosh F Austin Chabot, went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, but no true bricks were part of his ensemble and his progress should be interesting to monitor. I didn't write down the exact details, but Ryan had a truly wonderful possession in the third quarter. Six, seven, maybe even eight guys touched the ball on one possession and I'm pretty sure it never hit the floor while going from this guy to that guy to this guy . . . You get the idea. A backdoor layup completed the possession. Coach Bernie Rogers' staff now includes his brother, Andrew, a first team All-City honoree in 2008. Of course, ex-website stalwart Anthony Magallanes is still part of the crew. As the day began, I was unsure whether to remain at Lenape for two games or leave after one (and head down to St. Augustine). Guess what? I left the decision to fate. Also to the person of another website legend, Malvern sr. manager Mike Higgins. At halftime of the Ryan game, I gave Mike a quarter and told him to flip away. Best of seven. If Malvern wins the flips, I stay. If not, I'm headed to St. Augie after the Ryan gane. Mike went with heads. The flips went against him, by 4-1. Malvern coach Jim Rullo, sitting nearby, was aware of what was going on. When Mike told him, "Coach, we lost," Jim, mindful that the Friars have experienced their share of rough moments this season, cracked, "That's a shocker." Then, we all had a pretty good laugh. Meanwhile, Mike finally made it into a Malvern team pic and this time next year you might see him on TV. He's hoping to become a manager at Notre Dame and Rullo has already put in a good word for him with ND assistant Martin Ingelsby, a former all-timer at Carroll. Niiiiice. That'd be great, Mike. Hope it works out!

DEC. 26
CONSTITUTION CONVENTION (TOURNAMENT)
Sayre 61, Mastery North 60
  Day-after-Christmas basketball can sometimes be butt ugly. Guys eat too much. Stay up too late. Haven’t practiced too often lately. Assuredly, this one had ugly moments, mostly because guys would make impressive drives and then blow supposedly easy layups. Or get to the line and send up not just bricks, but boulders. But when a game comes down to the last moments and the victory margin is only one point, you have to consider yourself lucky, right? DN ink went to sr. CG Richard Burton, a transfer from Del-Val and not the former husband of the late Elizabeth Taylor (Google it, young heads). He came out roaring, shooting perfectly from the floor and line en route to 10 first quarter points. Like all other Sabers, he was a non-factor in the second quarter as Sayre shot 0-for-11 from the floor and was outscored by 17-3. Ouch! He was back to his ol’ self beyond intermission and his overall log showed 20 points, two assists, five steals and three rebounds. Burton showed good lift on his jumpers along with balance on his drives and even used his off (left) hand a couple times to finish. He loves to be aggressive and often showed the skills to make that approach sensible. Sayre’s only player with height is 6-4 jr. C Antwan James, a kid with bulk. James showed good passing skills, especially to the opposite side, but he needs to have a little more faith in his ability to use his body to, first, “sit down” in the post and, two, chest-up defenders. He had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sr. G Darius Savage had 12 points and 13 boards in a frisky performance. Jr. G-F Qadir Wilson nailed two early threes and wound up with 13 points. Jr. G Javonnta Zimmerman settled for one point, but did dish five assists. The most impressive Puma was sr. WG John Washington. He was quick and fast and got to the hoop pretty much at will. One big problem: He just could NOT finish. Any time he sent flips toward the basket, it was as if someone said, “Sorry, dude. This ain’t goin’ in.” It was pretty freaky, actually. He managed just eight points while adding four assists and three steals. Soph G Cananchet Jordan had 16 points and two treys were part of the package. He also dealt four assists and likewise was good on the move. Frosh G Rodney Ross, a sub, showed confidence as a wing sniper and finished with 12 points. Sr. G Jeremiah Todd, the ninth man, hit two treys to make things interesting in the fourth quarter. MN had two true frontcourt players. Not thick, but at least semi-tall. Sr. Maxwell Sharpe claimed 13 rebounds. The other guy, sr. David Howard-Dean, chipped in with six points. In the waning moments, Wilson's layup off an open-the-floor approach made it 61-58. Howard-Dean's follow at 0:11 provided hope and Sayre opened the door to Disasterville with a blown double-bonus at 9.5. Alas, Washington could not can a layup off a hard drive and James seized his last board. Meanwhile, here’s guessing MN is the only school in the country with coaches named “Nip” (head man Terrence Cook) and “Snook” (assistant Gerald Johnson). Ha, ha. Congrats to Constitution coach Rob Moore for putting together this massive tournament – 44 games over four days for boys varsity and JV, and girls varsity – and to all of his helpers from ConHigh and Franklin. Franklin is also being used as a game site and that’s where Rob is a phys ed teacher. The day’s highlight was getting to hang out with longtime website stalwart Jon “Duck” Gray, who handled rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Duck is planning to pop up more often this year on the basketball trail and I KNOW all kinds of people will be happy to see him!

DEC. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Haverford School 66, McDevitt 54
  The crowd was pretty decent considering Christmas is two days away and the Eagles were playing the Redskins at roughly the same time. Oh, yeah. I forgot. Nobody cares about the Eagles right now (smile). You probably won't care about this, either, but here goes: This was my 50th season of seeing a game at McDevitt. Ouch! The first time, in the 1963-64 season, I was a seventh grader after our family moved from Germantown to Glenside/Oreland. During these five decades (ouch again) the gym floor has changed from linoleum (I used to call it "The Kitchen") to that rubbery stuff to wood. Like always in recent years, football coach/AD Pat Manzi provided access to the stage (Amauro was today's stat partner) so the ever-crappy pics would only be semi-crappy. Thanks as always, Pat! The teams showed good energy and went after each other hard. The game was entertaining and I could have watched, say, another three quarters. In a recent homepage note, I mentioned how three-point shooting had mostly been woeful in the first seven games I'd seen this season. Today? Well, the teams combined for 13 makes, so that was cool, but there were also 26 misses so the percentage was OK at 33, but assuredly not eye-popping. DN ink went to big-'un sr. C Sema'j Reed, who will soon be announcing a D-I football commitment. Though hardly a leaper, he uses his ample body to good advantage and shows good determination if his first shot doesn't fall. Also, he nailed a trey and if someone out there wants to make money, schedule a three-point contest between Sema'j and Penn Charter's Mike McGlinchey. Could you imagine that? Reed powered to 22 points and 12 rebounds and made five of his last six shots while keeping McDevitt at bay. Six-six jr. WG-SF Eric Anderson had 16 points and seven boards, and he went 3-for-5 on treys. He is a very relaxed shooter and that's always a super trait to have. He makes you think that HE thinks he's the only guy in the gym, and that the chore he's performing is as simple as tossing coins into a fountain. Soph PG Levan "Shawn" Alston, son of the former Gratz/Temple star, scored 13 points, but in one stretch missed 11 consecutive shots. Many were flips off impressive drives. He just wasn't finishing, folks. He did add 10 rebounds and three apiece of assists/steals and the loss by transfer of Sammy Foreman (Vaux) can only help because now he's playing what will likely be his college position; La Salle assistant Horace "Pappy" Owens was among today's witnesses. Who knows? The Papster also might have been checking out soph WG Sean Lloyd, the nephew of Philly legend Lewis "Black Magic" Lloyd. Sean is repeating 10th grade after transferring from Franklin Learning Center and Inter-Ac rules will prevent him from playing in league games. He was spunky and efficient, witness 12 points and five assists. The other main contributor was the sixth man, sr. G Chris "Where's Waldo?" Morgan. I'm calling him that because he missed the pre-game team pic (he was getting his hand taped; no one noticed his absence) and we had to take another one after the game (smile). Morgan missed his only three shots, but what an overall impact he had with four rebounds, seven dishes and three thefts. McDevitt's top performer, with 18 points (two dunks; one off a brassy, out-of-nowhere drive along the right baseline), seven boards and three blocks was jr. SF Tyrell Long. His emergence began late last season and his development has taken a few more steps. Nice to see! Sr. PG Kenyatta Long (no relation), a lefty, was ever-frisky with eight points, seven assists and three steals. Sr. F Carl Garner used two late treys to salvage an 11-point outing. He was 2-for-12 beforehand and, as he'll prove as time goes on, he's better than that. Sr. F-C Dan Hanagan, who's only 6-2, tried his best to bang with Reed. Sr. WG Rashawn Green scored eight points (two treys) in a third-quarter rush that advanced the Lancers within 40-38 and sr. G Tymere Wilder, the football team's lone star, posted two dimes during the fun times. In the second quarter, sr. G Tyreek Fairfax  nailed a trey while adding an assist. Hey, HS' coach is named Henry "Doug" Fairfax; first team All-City guard for the Fords in '99. Could it be? Doug mentioned that he thinks he and Tyreek are distant relatives. "Learn something new every day," he said. And here's what I now have to learn: How to put an accent make above somebody's name on a computer. The apostrophe in Sema'j should be an accent mark. Check back later to see if I experienced success (ha ha). Had a nice pregame chat with Dominic Damico, a star QB at the ol' North Catholic and later the coach at also-now-toast Cardinal Dougherty. He's now the head man at McDonogh, in the Baltimore suburbs, and is a cousin of Penn Charter grid assistant Brian McCloskey, formerly that school's head coach. Dom's back in Philly for the holidays. Great to see him! 

DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 53, Freire 36
  Every time Mike McGlinchey turns around, he sets a city record. Well, unofficially, at least. During football season he likely became the largest guy (6-9, 270) to throw a pass and rush for a touchdown. Now, a month-plus later, he's probably the largest hoopster in city annals to launch his first five shots in one game from beyond the arc. How cool is THAT!? (Well, not completely cool because none of those shots connected, but it was neat to see the Notre Dame signee -- yes, for football -- load up and fire away with confidence.) On those shots and even later, he appeared to be leaning slightly to his left and even falling back a smidgeon. But otherwise his form looked fine and by end of the season we want to add his name to the list of guys who've nailed at least eight treys in a game (smile). This one started with disappointment because Freire's star jr. SF, Jahyde Gardiner (this is actually his fourth year, but all seem confident he'll be granted a fifth year when the time comes), was nailed to the bench for violating a team rule. Coach John Brown waved Gardner onto the court for the second quarter, and he finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Alas, he also drew a very strange tech in the fourth quarter. After a whistle went against the Dragons, a timeout was called and Gardner appeared to bump into one of the refs as he began to walk off the court. Not sure whose fault it was, but the referee obviously thought there was intent on Jahyde's part. Gardner is pretty smooth and fluid, but on this squad he doesn't get to show TOO many of his away-from-the-basket skills because the presence of height is almost non-existent. Thanks to the spark provided by Gardner and his all-guards playmates, Freire used a 9-0 run to seize a 17-15 lead shortly into the second quarter. PC regrouped and extended, Freire came back, PC regrouped and extended again and Freire came back again. The fourth quarter was almost completely one-sided, however. McGlinchey finished with 10 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Jr. PG Sean O'Brien, who's drawing early interest from Penn, was effective and efficient throughout. He missed just two shots from the floor and one at the line while collecting 21 points. He added four assists and three steals. The WG is 5-7 soph Demetrius Isaac. He works well with O'Brien and gives the Quakers an extra ballhandler, when the situations demand. He had 10 points and four thefts. The other starters were soph F Chase Kumor (10 points, three assists) and sr. F David Huber (five boards). It always helps when each player is a respectable passer, and is skilled at looking opposite. Gardner was the only Dragon to reach double figures. Sr. G Darnell Preston (two treys) did knock down all three of his shots for eight points. Jr. G Shahid Adams is one of those born-scorer types, but in this one he settled for two points while adding four steals. Meanwhile, all of PC's managers must be on vacation. I didn't notice anyone keeping stats during the varsity game and would you care to guess which guy sitting at the table during the JV affair, keeping the official scorebook? Lynard Stewart, the varsity head coach! Legendary! Good to see 'Nard and assistant Shawn "Reds" Smith (they starred together at Gratz) as well as Gerry Sasse, PC's goodwill ambassador for sports, and scouting guru Allen Rubin. Make sure to check out PC's team photo. It might be the first to sport this setup in website history. While we were preparing, the guys were debating whether to smile or go with the hard-guy look. Smiles won, 6-3, in the first pic, then stormed to a 9-0 triumph in No. 2. Hey, that also might be a city record and, of course, Mike McGlinchey was part of it!

DEC. 19
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 48, SCH Academy 40
  Considering the fact that almost all of Wood's players are basketball-first (or only) kind of guys, and not too many of SCH's are, the losing squad had to be at least somewhat satisfied with the outcome. Coming down the stretch, I never quite experienced the ever-desired "heeeerrrre we go" feeling, but the Blue Devils did hang around and get to the doorstep of such. Back-to-back treys by football QB Michael Hayes, on passes by spunky soph G Paul Dooley, enabled SCH to draw within 35-28. Jr. WG Pat Smith converted a drive at the other end, but SCH gained a point in the exchange because the next bucket was another trey (by sr. F Andrew Dowds) on yet another feed from Dooley. Then came a backbreaker. Wood's Luke Connaghan, a soph F and the brother of former SCH star Pat Connaghan (well, the school was still called CHA when he went there), missed a pair of free throws. One big problem. No one boxed out Smith and he attacked the glass for an easy follow. That pushed the lead back up to eight and the balloon really missed that air. Smith and jr. PG Tommy Rush halved 30 points. Smith is usually a dead-eye shooter, but he hit just three of nine attempts in the first half, with an 0-for-4 result on treys. To his credit, he began to look for openings and his only three shots thereafter -- all successful, by the way -- came off penetration. En route to his 15 points, Rush hit three treys and went 6-for-9 at the line while adding four assists and two steals. Major props to Rush on how he has expanded his skill set. The lefty was basically a stand-still mad bomber in his earlier varsity days. Now he qualifies as a true floor leader. Very quick guys will present some challenges, but I suspect he'll survive. The night was a lost cause for 6-7 jr. C Joe LoStracco. He missed his only three shots and was limited to six boards, in part due to foul trouble. Soph WG Cody Fitzpatrick managed nine points, all in the first half. His hair is kinda long and he holds it in place with . . . well, here's what a Blue Devil student yelled at him multiple times, "Hey, my sister wears a headband!!" (smile) Connaghan had five boards. Jr. F Eric Walsh, son of coach Jack Walsh, added grit, two assists and a steal while the seventh/eighth guys, srs. T.J. Kuhar and Shane Neher, combined for seven rebounds. For SCH, the receiver-QB combo, sr. Bobby Keyes and Hayes, totaled 22 points. Keyes drained four threeballs en route to 14 while Hayes hit two while reaching eight. Dowds packed nine of his 10 points and four of his seven rebounds into the fourth quarter, and he sacrificed his body all night. Sr. PG Frank Jackson had four assists and Dooley wound up with five. Jr. WG Jordan Watson, a jr. transfer from McDevitt (he'll be ineligible for league games, per Inter-Ac rules), couldn't find a groove (1-for-9, two points). SCH has no one who even remotely resembles a true inside player, but first-year coach Jamie Chadwin's squad is definitely frisky and the Kingsley Krazies (student rooters; great job guys and gals!) are relentlessly supportive. Tonight's most legendary spectator? No contest. That would be Nick Barile, this website's Best Teammate in the 2010-11 school year. (Hey, at least we don't play favorites, right? Ha, ha.) The first stop today was New Media Charter, for pics purposes only as the Jaguars hosted La Salle. I stayed for a half, then headed over to SCH. Well, first I headed east on Stenton Avenue. Reason? There's a Checker's across the street, and up a little, from Martin Luther King and I love those french fries. The first person who accuses me of eating healthy will be the first. One of the tasks at SCH was to hand Neher a plastic bag filled with nine Football Player of the Week t-shirts. Wood's was named our Offensive Line of the Year and Shane was one of the rotating tight ends. One problem: I only had three XXL shirts remaining and no XLs. So, some of those big-'uns will have to squeeze into Ls. Coach Steve Devlin said he'll send a picture. Could be interesting . . . One last tidbit: At NM, there was a strange call. Refs James Smith and Bill Ciavarelli simultaneously called a block and charge after a drive by a New Media player. They talked things over and then reached this decision: the basket counted and BOTH players were assessed personal fouls. Ever see that? Didn't think so.

DEC. 17
PUBLIC A
Vaux 78, Comm Tech 67
  At halftime, coach Phil Martelli, of Saint Joseph's University, walked over to say hello and wound up telling a funny story. During the first half, one of the players went really hard to the hoop in animated fashion and a kid sitting next to Phil blurted out, "He looks like George Gervin." Phil was amazed, understandably, and said to the kid, "How do you know about George Gervin?" The kid responded that he just knew that Gervin was a guy "who liked to take crazy layups." Phil added, "I wanted to give the kid a scholarship just because he knew who George Gervin was." Ha, ha, ha. Maybe 40-50 years from now, a kid watching a high school game will see something that causes him to blurt out, "He looks like Rysheed Jordan." Far fetched? Time will tell, but I wouldn't bet against it. Jordan, a 6-4 combo guard who's down to Temple, St. John's and UCLA, hustled and bustled his way to very impressive stats in this game between Schools That Are Supposedly Gonna Close in June. Aside from tallying 22 points, he snatched 17 rebounds while adding seven apiece of assists and steals. That's what he's supposed to do, make a difference, and did he ever. His boardwork was especially appreciated because 6-6 sr. F Keith Fletcher saw almost zero action in the first half after drawing two quick fouls. LOTS has been written, locally and nationally, about Jordan, but I'll add two cents. I love the great lift he shows on his jump shot and the fact he's still able to retain a feathery touch. In his earlier days, his shot seemed a shade "heavy" but it appears he has made the necessary adjustments. I also like that he's able to maintain ball and body control even while using a long stride. Sometimes, guys who do that are quite susceptible to turnovers. Not 'Sheed. And I LOVE the fact that he plays within himself, even though MANY folks in attendance are there for one reason: To see HIM. He wasn't the least bit piggish and at times even made passes when he was close to being wide open. He knows he has to bring along the other guys if the Cougars are to enjoy overall success. Talk about a new crop . . . All of the other starters are transfers: soph PG Sammy Foreman came from Haverford School. Sr. WG Lester Mattox waved bye-bye to Fels. Jr. F-C Trayvond Massenburg ditched Imhotep. And Fletcher formerly strolled the hallways at Northeast. Foreman had 13 points and two assists and, like Jordan, made some crisp passes that led to free throws. Mattox is mostly a jumpshooter. His best sequence came late. After being fouled on a right corner trey, he set up shop at the line and made all three attempts. Then, he planted himself in the right corner again and drained a trey. Massenburg was not a major factor, but at least he made all free throws on back-to-back double-bonus situations in the late going. Very important, especially because big guys often get hacked when teams are trying to catch up. Fletcher finished with 11 points; his performance was highlighted by two springy dunks. Jr. WG Karon Snead shot 3-for-4 en route to seven points. When he sets himself for a trey, the fans start purring, "Ooooooooo!" As if they know it's going in. Sr. WG Daron Johnson also hit a trey. For CT, soph CG Samir Doughty, who plays with the passion of someone who wants to be The Next Rysheed Jordan, had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. He's still growing and his grit is evident. Jr. SF Hyking Brisbon, a lefty, had 11 points, eight boards and four steals. Sr. WG David Johnson packed 15 of his 20 points into the second half and led a comeback from a 41-24 deficit. He went 2-for-7 on threes. Jr. Briheam Anthony, another lefty WG, appears to be a quality shooter, but he was slightly off today. Foul trouble helped to limit sr. SF Terrence Brown to seven points. In the second quarter, a whole bunch of lights flicked off and no one batted an eye. At halftime, Ross and others again tried to get the side baskets to retreat toward the ceiling and, yes, finally, it worked. Alas, the backboard at the west end moved up slightly and some strings had to be pulled to get it back into position. There were no problems thereafter. Next year, the CT kids will be at Bartram (maybe; there could be major resistance) and the Vaux kids will be at Franklin (supposedly). I trust I'll get to see these teams again later this season, but one can never be sure . . .

DEC. 13
PUBLIC C
Germantown 76, Masterman 71 (OT)
  If ever a basketball team needed a brush with good luck . . . this was that day for Germantown. In the morning the students and teachers learned that G-town will be shuttered this June, if the School District has its way. But by 5 o'clock, somehow, a gloomy day had turned pretty darn rosy. The visiting Bears not only won this contest, they did so by storming back from a 10-point deficit over the final six minutes of regulation. Amazingly, the hero was a kid, jr. WG Malcolm Jenkins, a lefty, who went scoreless during the first 24 minutes and then pumped in 15 points over the final 12, thanks to 4-for-5 sniping behind the arc. That wasn't the most incredible development, however. Masterman's two best players, sr. WG Gary Bryant and sr. CG Mike Sturdivant, combined to score 63 points, in addition to 47 of the first 49! Late in the second quarter, sub jr. G Justin Murray hit both ends of a one-and-one. Point No. 50 was recorded by sr. F Malcolm Carrington with 4:27 left in regulation, thanks to success on the second part of a double-bonus. Over the entire 36 minutes, just one other Blue Dragon notched a field goal and that was Murray with 0:29 showing in OT. As far as I know, only once in city history have two players scored all of a team's points. That occurred at St. Joseph's Prep in 1983 when Rich Conboy (24) and Manny Carlis (22) paced Carroll to a 46-41 win. This would have been the second time, then, that two kids combined for all of a team's field goals. There was one other occasion when the all-by-two thing almost happened. In '98, the Whitworth brothers, Tom (30, a senior) and Tim (34, a junior), combined for 64 of Chestnut Hill Academy's 66 points in a 10-point win over Haverford School. Jim Costello had the other two on a layup early in the fourth quarter. That game occurred on a Friday night and the first version of the boxscore, as reported to Score Service, had the Whitworths scoring ALL points. I was able to reach coach John McArdle to ask him about the amazing circumstances and he reported that the Whitworths had NOT scored every single point. (Sorry for the history lesson. Kinda cool, though, right?) In this one, G-town fell into a 9-0 hole in rather quick fashion and Bryant scored all of those points. By halftime the deficit was down to six, at 30-24, but when the buzzer sounded to start the third quarter, the Bears were nowhere to be found. Unless you went upstairs to their locker room. Despite having no halftime warmup session, the Bears shot respectably in the second half and OT. Nevertheless, they appeared headed for a loss until Jenkins began draining threeballs after taking passes from sr. G-F Kevin Norris (eight assists) and sr. PG Paul Gunter-Scott (six assists). The bucket making it 60-60 came with 0:39 left in regulation as Gunter-Scott nailed a flip shot on a pass from sr. PF Alpha Togba. Bryant missed a contested right-wing shot at the buzzer. G-town scored five of the first six points in OT and Jenkins was front and center -- well, on the wing, actually -- with a trey. He also converted a pass from Gunter-Scott for a regular that made it 72-64 and wound up serving as a death knell. Sr. F Imir Bailey added 10 rebounds to 13 points. Togba (16), Norris and frosh G-F Quadere Allen (10 apiece) also scored in double figures. Allen joined Bailey in the 10-rebound club. Bryant shot 11-for-22 and 7-for-9 (three treys) for 32 points. Sturdivant went 7-for-22 and 16-for-23 (one trey) for 31. The best play was a fastbreak slam by Bryant off an alley-oop from Sturdivant. That one had Masterman fans exploding slightly onto the court. Bryant is mostly a smoothie while Sturdivant is a perpetual motion machine. Both expended incredible amounts of energy. Sturdivant has a weird habit of falling forward into the lane almost every time he takes a free throw. That's much preferred to leaning back, of course, but once he did so too soon and the ref called him on it. Sturdivant also had four assists and seven steals. Sr. F Harry Taggart, perfectly attacking his good-soldier, do-little-things role, claimed eight boards and never did take a shot. Due to outrageously severe foul trouble, the lone Blue Dragon with height, 6-6 sr. C Jack Christmas, was a non-factor. It was nice to see Masterman's three-pack of good guys -- coach John Gannon, scoreboard operator Vic Otarola and athletic director George "Phiiiiiillllllllll!" Phillips. They formerly coached hoops at Roberts Vaux and William Penn, respectively, and Vic is Masterman's baseball boss. Congrats to the G-town guys and coach Matt Wahl on a stirring win, which capped a very rough day. Sitting close to Big Steve and I were former Masterman stars Brandon Abney and Labeeb Muhammad. As a senior in '02, Labeeb  poured in 27 points per game. That average was second only to the 32.1 rung up by Mansion's Maureece "The Scorelord" Rice, who the next season would blow past Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook '55, 2,206) and become the top scorer in Philly history (2,681). A few times, Brandon and Labeeb referenced Corey Dickinson and Shawn Munford, who averaged 23.3 and 22.9, respectively, for Masterman in the '97 season. Gary/Mike might leave those digits in the dust.

DEC. 11
PUBLIC B
Dobbins 55, Esperanza 53
  Ah, that didn't take long. On Day 1 of the 2012-13 league season we had the first . . . you got it . . . Only in the Pub moment! (smile) Though it wasn't raining, there was a small leak in the ceiling in Dobbins' legendary gym. It created a wet spot just inside the middle of the arc, at the west end, meaning coach William Johnson (sometimes) or injured sr. G Darnell Butts (mostly) would hustle out there every so often -- when the ball was at the other end, of coyrse -- and wipe up the moisture with a cloth. Luckily, no one slipped. This one was like a lot of early-season games: Sloppy and tough to figure. Dobbins stormed to a 14-2 lead in the first 3:15 and continued to impose its will through the first two quarters, which ended at 40-20. Then, Esperanza scrambled back big-time in the third quarter, winning that one by 16-4. Though the comeback pace wasn't as quick in the fourth, the Toros (not Toro's; geez, who ordered the misspelled warmup shirts AND jerseys?) kept nibbling and nibbling and Dobbins helped out by missing three front ends in the last 22 seconds. Sr. G-F Dequan Jackson, the recipient of DN ink, missed the final one at 0:03 and the rebound went to Esperanza sr. G-F Ravi Sinanan. He whipped the ball to halfcourt -- toward the stands -- and soph G Lamere Jones launched a push-shot heave. He was jostled, but there was no call and the attempt did not come close. A big play occurred at 2:04 when jr. F Robert Edwards, a lefty, got the ball in the right corner and started a hard drive to the hoop. Challenged hard in midair, he had to shift the ball before releasing it, yet wound up posting the bucket while drawing contact. He then hit the free throw to provide a hint of comfort at 55-48. Meanwhile, sr. CG Stanley Whittaker, likely Sinanan a transfer from Mastbaum, hit a dead-on trey to make it 55-53 at 0:05. First, seven seconds were showing on the clock, but the officials (correctly) reduced the time to 0:05 during a short break. Actually, 0:04 might have been more realistic. Jackson finished with 15 points, two steals and three apiece of rebounds and assists. He has a good story: Unable to enroll at Dobbins out of eighth grade, he improved his academic profile in one year at Olney and then was able to gain admittance. He does great in the classroom and has offers of partial academic scholarships. Very nice, young man. Keep it rolling! Sr. PG Marquell Tate, the kind of gritty kid Dobbins ALWAYS seems to have, hurt his left ankle while taking a charge shortly into the game. He was a spectator until the fourth quarter and wound up going scoreless. Didn't even take a shot, in fact. Tyron Roberson, a jr. F with some strength, mixed 17 points and nine rebounds. Jr. G Devante Laws dished six assists. Sr. swingman Wanya Barren had 10 points, six boards. Whittaker, a good jumpshooter and driver, did his scoring in bunches. He had seven early and 10 late for 17 points while adding five assists and three steals. Sinanan scored 11 points while claiming 13 rebounds. I liked that he never lost confidence, but a few of his shots were rushed and his totals were 3-for-15 (floor) and 4-for-9 (line). He'll be a true force once he lets the game come to him a shade more. Sr. PF Alwell Agbara, a lefty with strength, had nine points, six boards and seven blocks. If I remember correctly, he notched two of those rejections on one, quick sequence. Nice. It was great to hang out again with stat man Big Steve Reid (one of these years, we'll convince him to do football; heck, he lives around the corner from the field used by Dobbins/Franklin!) while the legendary Amauro Austin was also in the house. John Sullivan and Lou Zambino, Dobbins' current and previous football coach, were also on hand. Back on the football practice trail tomorrow at Wood, then another Pub hoops game on Thursday, then the Wood-Cathedral Prep AAA state final on Friday in Hershey. If I call a touchdown a rebound by then, please forgive me (smile).