MARCH 19
PIAA CLASS A SEMIFINAL
Vaux 83, Math/Civics/Sciences 66
(At Ben Franklin)
  So far it hasn't been done, but now there's another chance. What's that? We're in Year No. 9 of the Pub's involvement in the PIAA and no state basketball championships have been collared by neighborhood schools. Six of the seven have gone to charters (three for Imhotep, two for Prep Charter, one for MC&S) and the other has been claimed by a special-admit (Constitution). But now, just three months from its closing, Vaux is headed to Hershey for a final -- 2 p.m., Friday, at the Giant Center vs. Johnsonburg -- and all of Lower-to-Mid North Philly (the west side, that is) should be excited. The Cougars captured this game in surprisingly easy fashion, storming to a bulge that reached 25 points (54-29) midway through the third quarter and then semi-frolicking in the fourth after MC&S used an opening six-point burst to advance within 58-47. Soph G Sammy Foreman, the recipient of DN ink, made big plays both times and they were part of a performance that was impressive pretty much from beginning to end. These teams had slapped together great games in the regular season (win by MC&S) and Public A final (win by Vaux), but as Foreman was nice enough to note, the Mighty Elephants were at a big disadvantage without star guard Malik Starkes (ostracized from Pub play because of indiscretions after the A final). Vaux is filled with guards and they mostly had their way. Plus, MC&S experienced major shooting problems from beyond the arc (0-for-15) and even in front of it on mid-range jumpers. With his once (and maybe future?) coach Henry "Doug Has Kinda Died Out as His Nickname" Fairfax, of Haverford School, looking on, along with ex-teammate Levan "Shawn" Alston and dad Levan, Foreman turned in an aggressive, yet heady performance while collecting 28 points (two treys), three rebounds, two apiece of assists/steals and even three blocked shots. He posted 12 of his points in the 25-12 second quarter and sr. superguard Rysheed Jordan added six of his 18. Sr. WG Amir Butler had provided the early spark, scoring six of his 11 in the first quarter. After avalanching 45 points in the overall Pub final, a loss to Imhotep, Jordan had played in strangely understated fashion through Vaux' first three state playoffs, accumulating just 24 total points. Scoring isn't everything, of course, but when you're accustomed to seeing a guy do so pretty much at will, it throws you for a loop when he opts not to shoot for quarters at a time. Anyway, 'Sheed was feisty and effective and at times seemed to be playing with a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder, as in, "Don't forget who owns this city!" Aside from his 18 points, he had 12 rebounds, eight assists and two steals. A 'Sheed worthy outing, indeed! Butler and sub soph G Khalief Tinley halved 22 points while jr. F-C Trayvond Massenburg claimed six rebounds and sr. G Daron Johnson made three steals. For MC&S, sr. F Jeremiah "Lump" Worthem banged for 21 points and 10 boards (somehow, he missed five of his first six free throws, then nailed his last 10), sr. WG Britton Lee had 13 points and sr. PG Shafeek Taylor mixed nine rebounds and four steals with 10 points. Sr. PF-C Quadir Welton had a frustrating finale. Late in the second quarter, he was hit with a backcourt foul for his third personal and he then slapped the court, hard, to pick up a tech. Not sure if he was mad or frustrated, or both, but those were his third and fourth fouls and the sequence definitely hurt the MEs' cause. He settled for nine points (4-for-4 floor) and seven boards. This game, played at Ben Franklin, started at 6 o'clock and the stands wound up being packed. As always seems to happen at Franklin, no matter who's playing, once the fans "know" the issue has been decided, zip, they start to bolt. And that causes problems because many walk across the baselines and make continuing the game quite difficult. Tonight's "Franklin Walkouts" (as we call 'em) occurred with 3:43 left (70-54) and then with 1:51 left (81-60). Amauro and Frog were on hand for stats/details purposes and, later, Huck was sending texts with updates of tilts from around the state. Thanks as always, guys!

MARCH 16
PIAA CLASS A QUARTERFINAL
Holy Cross 75, Constitution 61
(At Allentown Parkland)
  There were a few early signs that this would not be Constitution's day. Two Generals made steals and set sail on drives of more than half the court only to . . . miss the layups. Also, HC sr. C Josh Kosin -- strong, aggressive, good balance/footwork -- missed a short shot on the right side and immediately flashed across the lane to the left side, where he grabbed the rebound and converted the follow lefthanded. Kosin would go on to score 31 points and send all three of ConHigh's big guys to the bench with five personals. He shot 9-for-16 and 13-for-18 and even was called upon to shoot techs. Plus, his teammates proved to be largely competent from beyond the arc and at the line. In the first three quarters the Crusaders went 17-for-28 (61 percent) and six of the field goals not posted by Kosin were treys. Meanwhile, ConHigh grabbed just FOUR rebounds before intermission and the big guys had none, as in zero. Pretty disturbing. The final board total was 14. Soph F Ahmad Gilbert, who enjoyed some special moments this season, picked up his second foul with 2:25 left in the first quarter. With the game already slipping away, coach Rob Moore took a gamble and sent Gilbert back onto the floor 4 1/2 minutes prior to halftime. Foul No. 3 came at 4:02. He picked up his fourth foul, trying to score on a follow, with 4:46 left in the third stanza, then sat down for good with 6:36 left in the fourth. He had four points, one rebound and two assists. Jr. PF-C Raheem Liggins had departed 16 seconds earlier and soph C Chad Andrews would join the day-is-done club at 3:31. The one productive General was jr. WG Floyd Preito, who scored 28 points. He missed six of his first seven shots and, admittedly, many of his special moments came well after the issue had been decided, but he did look impressive with a mixture of jumpers (three treys) and hard drives. When the game began, ConHigh had no more than five supporters in Parkland's wonderful facility. HC (in Dunmore, near Scranton) likely had close to 1,000. ConHigh's total later soared to 15 (smile). The school sold no tickets to students and two adults were ejected with 1:34 left for berating the refs. Some HC students camped out in the balcony above the basket used by ConHigh in the first half. They had some fun busting the Generals' chops before the game began and especially targeted Gilbert because of his yellow sneakers (greenish yellow, actually). This game started at 1 and was followed by a girls' game. Hmm, what was THAT deal? Girls' games usually go first in doubleheaders. The 1 o'clock start was requested by Moore. He had to be in Media, Delaware County, by 4:30 to serve as a groomsman in a buddy's wedding. It was snowing today and the turnpike's Northeast Extension was a little dicey, so let's hope he made it there safely, and on time. ConHigh never did adjust to the strict refereeing. Moore and the players/fans were especially upset by calls made by the secondary refs, as in guys not the closest to where contact (allegedly) took place. That happened at least five times. Saint Joseph's assistant Geoff Arnold and Rutgers assistant Jimmy Martelli were in the house.

MARCH 15
PIAA CLASS A QUARTERFINAL
Vaux 68, Church Farm 64
(at La Salle High)
  Hard to believe, but star sr. G Rysheed Jordan TRIPLED his point total over the final 46.5 seconds. If your mind is racing, tell it to stop. It wasn't as if his total somehow soared from, say, 10 to 30. Nope. All it did was creep upward from three to nine. You read that correctly. For the third straight game, since exploding for 45 points in a spectacular losing effort in the Pub final, Jordan settled for being one of the guys instead of THE guy. In the first half, he went just 1-for-6 and 1-for-2 for three points and then took nary a shot from either locale in the third quarter. His first shot of the fourth quarter, an unsuccessful 8-foot banker, came with 5:40 remaining and he later added a missed trey. The last six points were free throws as the Cougars protected their lead. Aside from nine points, Jordan contributed six apiece of rebounds/assists and three steals. Despite the four-point final spread, Vaux won this tilt in something approaching comfortable fashion. Even down the entertaining stretch, there was never an uh-oh feeling. Yes, Church Farm was playing hard and continuing to bring it, but Vaux was doing enough to keep the visitors from Chester County at arm's length. The Cougars won, in part, because they showed great patience/ball movement and had decent success from beyond the arc. They hit nine treys in 20 attempts and sub sr. WG Lester Mattox was the leader, hitting four of five attempts. He had a weird night, too. He scored 11 points in the first half, then didn't take HIS first shot of the second half until right after Jordan launched his. It was a trey and went bang! Mattox also collected seven rebounds and three assists in what might have been his best outing of the season; he has pretty much been a mad-bombing specialist. Soph PG Sammy Foreman had seven points and four assists and sr. WG Amir Butler totaled 17 points while jr. F-C Trayvond Massenburg mixed eight points and six rebounds with three blocks. Getting back to the Jordan thing . . . Long-time buddy Jerry Greenberg, who'd been in NYC to watch La Salle University in the A-10 tourney, wound up plopping down in a folding chair right next to me during the third quarter. He asked, "Which kid is Jordan?" and I told him, "No. 23." As the game continued and 'Sheed passed/passed/passed, "Greenie" said with a laugh, "What's going on? I've heard so much about this kid and he's not even taking a shot. Is he trying to be Wilt Chamberlain?" (Old heads will get it. Young bucks won't. The short version: Trying to prove he could do more than score in avalanches, Wilt led the NBA in ASSISTS one season). If you're a Catholic League fan and Church Farm's coach looked vaguely familiar, there was a reason. Marc Turner was the boss at now-defunct Kennedy-Kenrick in the 2000-01 season. Among tonight's visitors: Sixers TV analyst Malik Rose (Overbrook '92) and St. John's coach Steve Lavin, whose school is part of Jordan's Final Three.

MARCH 15
PIAA CLASS A QUARTERFINAL
Math/Civics/Sciences 71, Sankofa 59
(At La Salle High)
  Ever since District 12 was created for the 2004-05 school year, the basketball teams have been warned about officials in games played upstate: They tend to call things much tighter and many fouls can result. Hey, since when is La Salle High upstate!?!? The officiating left much to be desired and the worst thing was, these guys were locals. The teams combined to shoot 65 free throws and the parade to the foul lines began almost immediately. Sankofa had six team fouls within 3 minutes, 19 seconds, and after the first eight clock minutes required 25 real minutes, PA announcer Dan Spinelli sarcasmed, "At the end of the longest first quarter in recent memory . . . " Ha, ha. Good stuff, Dan! Game 2 between Vaux and Church Farm was scheduled for 7:30. Guess what? At 7:30, there were still six minutes left in Game 1, plus the lengthy warmup session would have to take place. Again: BRUTAL. The next time anyone shows up to watch the refs will be the first. In Philly, we're supposed to let guys PLAY. Can't imagine what the observer wrote down on his sheet during/after this one. Anyway, Sankofa, a decided underdog against a team with three D-I signees, put up a valiant fight despite major foul trouble. Its rooters were involved/noisy and no doubt played a role in some runs that came just when it appeared MC&S was prepared to dash away and hide. Cyber attention went to sr. CG Britton Lee (Robert Morris), who held star WG Dache' Talbert to one point (0-for-9 from floor) and scored six points after the Warriors' last impressive stretch moved them within 56-50. Lee was mostly a mad bomber at his previous school, Roman, and it's nice to see how complete a player he has become. Lee's future Robert Morris teammate, sr. F Jeremiah "Lump" Worthem, shot 7-for-14 (one trey) and 10-for-14 for 25 points while adding 10 rebounds and five steals. Jr. WG Louis Myers had 10 points, sr. PF-C Quadir Welton (St. Peter's) notched four rejections, sr. CG Shafeek Taylor had five assists and three thefts and sr. F Jeffon Powell claimed seven boards. Sankofa's leader was jr. G-F Anthony Wright-Downing (16), who's showing more and more skill in the open floor, and a pair of subs, sr. G Tydeus Ellison (15) and sr. G-F Juwan Milliner (11). Wright-Downing added six steals while Ellison totaled six rebounds. Sophaun Brown, the 6-9 soph, got a start and made an early impact, blocking a shot and forcing a turnover. He was then nibbled, hard, by the foul bug (wasn't everybody?) and things could have been VERY interesting if he'd been able to play more total minutes.

MARCH 13
PIAA CLASS AAA SECOND ROUND
SJ Prep 72, York William Penn 55
(At Coatesville)
  In Catholic League history, five guys have ch-chinged their way to as many as 1,700 career points. The newest member of that club – no surprise, right? – is sr. G-F Stephen Vasturia, who’ll be strictly the former at Notre Dame. On the first of two free throws with 2:10 left in the first quarter, Stevie V raised his total to 1,700 and he finished the night with 1,714. The first four guys are Bonner’s Jeff Jones (1,923, class of 2007), Roman’s Reggie Jackson (1,895, ’78; he scored 1,861 there and had the rest as a freshman at St. Thomas More before it closed in June ’75; points for four games are missing) and Roman’s Lonnie McFarlan (1.842, ’80). Like Vasturia, Reggie and Lonnie were coached by Speedy Morris in his first, long-ago Catholic League go’-round. Vasturia also contributed nine apiece of rebounds/assists and was a major reason the Hawks mostly coasted and borderline frolicked. Another important factor, especially early, was soph F Chris Clover, who has become quite the extra banana during this get-used-to-varsity season. Earlier in the season, Clover tended to lay back and wasn’t always productive. The shell has been broken, though, and he’s way outside it. The recipient of DN ink earned six rebounds and two thefts in the 15-7 first quarter and then notched his first assist shortly into the second, when Vasturia drained a trey to make it 20-7. And then, while I was interviewing Chris in an area outside the locker room, sr. sub F Mark “Huuuuuueb!” Hueber announced that Chris had earned a free dinner for posting a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds). You’ll have to read the good, ol’ Daily News story to see where they’ll be heading (smile). Meanwhile . . . the Hawks were ornery and I was LOVIN’ it!! Early, Vasturia was called for a backcourt violation and right after the whistle blew, a York player snatched the ball out of his hands. Stevie V stared him down, hard, at a minimum. His back was to me, so I couldn’t tell if he muttered a choice comment or three to the kid, but here’s hoping he did. As the night wore on, jr. WG Kyle Thompson was called for a tech after absorbing a hard foul, sr. PG P.J. Kelly was hit with an intentional foul when he roughed up a guy on a fast break layup and sr. sub F Dan Sherry, of football fame, was involved in a double-foul call resulting from pushing. Cool! Ha, ha. Thompson, a lefty, poured in 22 points. He went 4-for-5 on treys and hit one in each quarter. Overall, he was 6-for-7 from the floor and, hey, likewise at the line. Sr. G-F Miles Overton (Wake Forest) managed 12 points and three apiece of steals/blocks despite major foul trouble. Kelly hit a trey and went 4-for-4 at the line for seven markers while Sherry contributed five points and “Huuuuuueb” hit the first of two free throws with 14.9 seconds remaining. Alas, he didn’t quite drain a trey a shade beforehand. The crowd was decent, but nothing outrageous. Neither school appeared to have much of a student following. Guess we shouldn’t be that surprised since it was a school night and both schools had to travel a decent distance. Elsewhere, King fell to Lower Merion, 63-50, so Prep is D-12’s only still-alive AAAA school. Its next opponent will be Coatesville, with the details TBA Thursday. This is D-12’s ninth year and only five AAAA teams have advanced to quarterfinals – Gratz in ’07, Southern in ’08, Roman in ’10, La Salle in ’11 and now the Prep. How many have triumphed? Just one – that '07 Gratz squad. Something to shoot for, Hawks.

MARCH 12
PIAA CLASS AAA SECOND ROUND
Carroll 57, Pope John Paul II 40
(At Elementary School Behind Plymouth-Whitemarsh)
  When a guy comes within a whisker of a triple-double, and is considered our city's top soph, and is ranked No. 13 nationally in that class by ESPN, it's impossible not to give him the ink, especially since he'd received none beforehand. But I'll go out on a semi-limb here and say the night's coolest play was made by jr. G Joe Mostardi. PJP had fallen to Bonner-Prendergast and Lansdale Catholic in non-league games, so the Carroll guys were in danger of entering this one in WAY-overconfident mode. Coach Paul Romanczuk no doubt made the no-one-can-be-taken-lightly-at-state-tourney-time speech while urging his guys to get after it from the get-go. So, what happened? Soph WG Nick Jones scored immediately off the tap and PJP came upcourt looking to create a tie, or perhaps even drill a trey. No way, Mostardi said. He got down in a defensive stance and dogged the Golden Panther with such passion, a five-second call was made right in the open floor. Outstanding! Carroll then stormed to eight more points in rather quick fashion and Mostardi continued to exhibit major spunk at the defensive end. Later, he even drained a pair of treys as the Patriots rang up a 22-7 lead after one quarter. Next? Did you have to ask? No doubt thinking they were already firmly entrenched in Cakewalk City, the Carroll guys took their feet off the Panthers' throats. After racking up 22 points in eight minutes, they managed just 13 over the next 16. Major ouch! Fortunately, soph F Derrick Jones was consistent throughout in the extra categories and Carroll never did relinquish the lead while advancing to the quarterfinal round. The numbers? The springy lefty had 16 points, TWENTY rebounds and NINE blocks and experienced the very good fortune of not committing his first person until 5:18 remained. By then he already boasted eight blocks! Having a supreme shot-blocker who also manages to avoid foul trouble is the dream of every coach and Romanczuk is experiencing it. Derrick said he has fouled out just once apiece in the last two seasons. Pretty darn amazing. PJP, which still has a heavy Kennedy-Kenrick flavor (from coach Jack Flanagan to best players Brent Mahoney and Jamel Stinson; sixth man Nick DeMeno spent two years at Lansdale Catholic), edged as close as 33-30 late in the third quarter as Mahoney caught an airball and hammered the ball right through the rim. D. Jones ended the session with a bucket off a pass from N. Jones (no relation) and Carroll rolled home from there. N. Jones (10) was Carroll's only other double-figure scorer, but three others (soph PF-C Ernest Aflakpui, jr. G-F Armand Sorrentino, sr. PG Yosef Yacob) posted eight points and Mostardi notched seven. Aflakpui edged Yacob in rebounds, 8-7, and N. Jones dealt five assists. Mahoney, a lefty with good swivel and brass, was impressive. He'll get even better in college and I'd have to think the local/state D-IIs will come calling (if they haven't already), and maybe even the academic low Is (he's strong in the classroom). Mahoney had 13 points while Stinson had eight along with seven boards. Sixers coach Doug Collins was in attendance (he's Romanczuk's father-in-law) and the Carroll kids chanted toward him as halftime began, "Let's go, Sixers!" Then they added, "We want AI!" (very briefly -- ha ha) and sang a bit of the back-in-the-day Sixers song that everyone knows and loves. Aside from Flanagan, it was great to see Mike Santillo, K-K's last football coach (and now PJP's), and Mike McTamney, Santillo's predecessor. Meanwhile, my scorebook's doing fine, thank you. In the first half, the ball hit against it with decent force (Amauro and I were right behind the basket; great for pics but in harm's way) and it flopped to the floor as everyone howled. Earlier, I stopped at King for some practice pics. The girls' badminton team was practicing at one end of the gym, so . . .

MARCH 9
CLASS AAAA FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
Norristown 79, Roman 66
(At La Salle HS)
  Only in District 1. The brass today allowed some of Chester's players to also toil for Norristown! What? That didn't happen? Could have fooled many in La Salle's within-a-whisker-of-being-packed gym. In certain stretches, the Eagles performed in whirlwind fashion. They zipped upcourt on impressive fast breaks, posted flurries of steals/turnovers thanks to quick arms/hands/feet and were relentless on the offensive glass; I'm guessing 10 to 12 buckets were scored on follows. Plus, their fans and cheerleaders were loud and energized and the gym was really alive. Roman's cause was hurt, irreparably, by the severe foul trouble experienced by soph PG Traci Carter. With Carter missing so much time (and fouling out with 4:32 remaining), Norristown counterpart Luke Kelley wound up truly thriving. He's a feisty kid with surprisingly quick feet and he basically owned his end of the court. He racked up 28 points and five assists and claimed four steals, as well. Roman had that many as a TEAM. Carter hit two early treys, but incurred his second foul with 4:43 left in the first quarter. With Norristown swooshing non-stop, Roman coach Chris McNesby took a calculated risk and waved Carter back onto the court at 1:13. Bang, he hit a trey. Lookin' good. Tweet, he was hit with his third foul at 42.3. Lookin' bad. On a play that defined the day for Roman, one of Norristown's lesser lights, pretty much standing by himself, canned a follow right before the halftime buzzer. Ugh. In the third stanza, just when Roman was showing hints of putting up an admirable fight, Kelley hit a trey and quickly added a steal-layup to make it 54-36. About midway through the fourth quarter, Roman did advance within seven as jr. WG Rashann London nailed a right-corner trey. Hopes for a classic finish did not last long. With the help of a late rush, jr. CG Shep Garner was able to finish with 18 points. London (13), Carter (11) and jr. sub F Carnell McGirt (10) also reached double digits. London had eight boards while McGirt and soph PF-C Manny Taylor halved 12. With all due respect to Kelley, N-town's most impressive player was sr. F Josh Johnson. Numerous people said the kid is playing hoops for only year No. 2. Amazing! He's lithe and perceptive, and he totaled 18 points along with 21 rebounds. A few state schools are said to be on him. Guess what? They'd better get a commitment NOW because this kid will wind up in D-I, otherwise. He has a young face/body, so there is all kinds of potential. Congrats to D-12, which went 13-2 in first round games. One of those losses was unavoidable, of course, because Del-Val played Conwell-Egan in the opener of this twinbill. Some extra tidbits . . . Chuck Knowles was lovin' this doubleheader. He's Norristown's AD; he was formerly the football coach/AD at C-E; his uncle, Fran McMenamin, was Roman's basketball coach for six seasons ending with '64; and he's a graduate of La Salle High! Congrats to La Salle's AD (and baseball coach), Joe Parisi, for being so organized. The double dip went great and the Explorers' gym proved to be just big enough. Joe said the PIAA's how-to-host-playoff-games handbook is 52 pages! Phew. Headed afterward to Dalessandro's, in Roxborough, for a cheesesteak (place was PACKED) and ran into two guys. First was John Miller, a CL boys' coach in a former life and for seven years the coach at all-girls Mount St. Joseph Academy, in Flourtown. His squad lost Friday night in a first-round playoff and now owns a two-game losing streak for the first time in John's stint. Pretty amazing. Also in the great-grub house was John Connor, a first team All-City outfielder for Roman in '84 and a first team All-Catholic QB the previous fall. Not bad, eh? Great to see both guys!

MARCH 2
CLASS AA CITY TITLE
Comm Tech 70, Conwell-Egan 60
(At SJ Prep)
  In checking out the stats from this reasonably entertaining tilt, it's not easy to figure out how C-E stayed close. Three of the main players, freshmen LaPri Pace (G-F), Vinny Dalessandro (F-C) and Stevie Jordan (G), combined to shoot 8-for-36 from the floor. That's 22 percent, folks, and it usually means you're getting crushed. But the ever-spunky Eagles not only hung tough while playing their first game since Feb. 11, they even flirted with pulling off a major upset. Catholic League people have been complaining about the fact that only two of its teams (Roman, SJ Prep) will be competing in the AAAA state tourney, leaving out the likes of La Salle and Ryan (identical 15-8 overall records). Pub folks have been saying C-E does not deserve a spot in the AA tourney, citing the Eagles' 3-10 record in CL play and 8-14 overall mark. Maybe that talk will now fade away. The first half ended with CT holding only a 27-23 lead. Then, led by the very aggressive Pace, who showed a good blend of perimeter/low-block skills, the Eagles stormed to a 32-31 lead; Pace posted seven of the nine points. CT then got serious, going on a 13-4 run, and a pair of third-chance buckets provided a spark. So did a trey by sr. wing sniper David Johnson and a tight shot by Johnson on a crisp, last-second pass from sr. SF Terrence Brown. The Phoenix held serve from there but, again, C-E fared well enough to no doubt leave the building with some good feelings. Brown earned game MVP honors thanks to 19 points and six rebounds. Ten of his points, with a dunk mixed in, were posted in the 26-22 fourth quarter. Johnson, a lefty, also scored 19 points while adding three assists and four steals. There's much to like about this kid's skills and demeanor and college coaches will love the fact that he never, ever misses a free throw (well, almost never). Jr. F Briheam Anthony, another lefty, had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jr. F Hyking Brisbon added 10 points and as many rebounds. Soph PG Samir Doughty mostly laid back and let his teammates have the scoring fun; he had five assists and four steals. For C-E, Pace went 6-for-6 at the line while registering 18 points, and snagged nine boards. Jordan had five assists and sr. G Ryan Pepito hustled for four steals. Soph G Jordan Burney, Brown's brother, served as C-E's ninth man and totaled eight points. Thanks to Jim Murray, Prep's AD, for letting me use the fax machine to send some boxscores to our office. Also, it was fun to talk with Kevin Kelly. C-E loyalists are probably saying, "Our former football coach was there?" Nope. Different Kevin Kelly. This guy was Neumann's passionate-blocker fullback in the 1983 season and happens to be the father of P.J. Kelly, the Prep's current point guard. Big Steve Reid was back in the stat-helper flow today and came out with a good one early in the game. After an in-traffic rebound was grabbed by a C-E player, I said, "That was 24, Dalessandro." Big Steve cracked, "Tell his family to hook us up with a steak." He was referring to Dalessandro's Steaks & Hoagies, in Roxborough. Don't know if Vinny is related, but his last name IS spelled the same way -- without an apostrophe or capital A, etc.

MARCH 1
CLASS AAAA CITY TITLE
Roman 69, King 53
(At Saint Joseph's University)
  Just last Sunday, Rysheed Jordan exploded for 45 points as Vaux fell to Imhotep, 67-66, for the Public League crown. That game was played at Temple and the Owls are hopeful 'Sheed will head there for college (St. John's and UCLA are also in the mix). Tonight's brightest star was jr. CG Shep Garner and guess where HE might play his college ball? You got it. Hawk Hill. The Cahillites were assigned Saint Joe's locker room and Garner must have felt like fellow Chester native Jameer Nelson because he led his squad in three main categories (and came close in the fourrth) while Energizer Bunnying his way to what was likely his best effort of the season. He had 21 points, eight assists and four steals and his six rebounds were second only to the nine that were posted by jr. sub F Carnell McGirt. Garner and his teammates certainly were able to draw upon motivation. Recently, of course, Prep coach Speedy Morris torched the CL's complicated points system, which allowed Roman to place first among the AAAA teams even though it lost to Prep in a semifinal. Imagine if Roman had lost tonight, or had even gotten blown out. The Prep folks really would have been gabbing. The Shepster made sure there'd be no more drama. He roared to Roman's first 11 points in the second quarter and the capper was a three-point play, off a steal by soph G Traci Carter, that provided a 26-22 lead. The Cahillites had trailed, 20-15, after one quarter. Roman received strong performances from its guards -- jr. Rashann London is also part of the crew -- while King's guys experienced struggles. In the second half, Carter nailed three consecutive treys en route to 12 points. Though London (14) shot just 5-for-15, he did dish three assists and he'll given a little bit of a free pass because he suffered a wicked fall in the first half. To the naked eye, at least, it appeared he hit his head and he did look slightly dazed even after returning to action. Best of all for Roman was the fact that it went more than two full quarters without committing a turnover! As best as Huck could remember, they racked one up with roughly three minutes left in the first session. The next one didn't occur until 35.4 was showing in the third, and the lead at that time was 12 points, at 54-42. King's guards, srs. Fa'Teem Glenn (point) and Raquan Brown-Johnson (wing), a transfer from Roman, have been largely terrific this season. In this one, though, they combined to shoot just 7-for-24 from the floor (2-for-12 on treys) and 4-for-11 at the line. Glenn did manage seven assists. Sr. WG Shakoor Woodson, the sixth man, picked up some of the slack with 11 points and jr. SF Gregory Bennett had 15. Roman received some important inside buckets from soph PF-C Manny Taylor (10) while classmate TreVaughn Wilkerson experienced relentless foul trouble after providing an early spark with a pair of baskets off follows. The final score was a shade misleading because Roman rolled to 10 of the last 14 points.

FEB. 28
D-12 CLASS AAA SEEDING GAME FOR THIRD PLACE (LOSER ELIMINATED)
SJ Prep 70, Bartram 42
(At Southern)
  It's becoming an epidemic! Is it possible guys are refusing to shoot because they think it might lead to DN ink? (smile) For the second time this season, and third time over the last two, the story-grabber was a player who failed to score. This time, he barely looked in the basket's direction, let alone fired a shot. But sr. PG Patrick James "P.J." Kelly dished eight assists and they likely produced as many as 20 points since some of the buckets were treys. Kelly said this was time No. 2 this season that he went the no-shots route and that he's probably averaging two to three attempts per game. According to the stats printout provided by Prep assistant Joe "Lad" Donahue, P.J. has fired 53 shots in 21 games (for a 2.5 average). All but 10 have been three-pointers. Pretty amazing. Since the three-point rule went into effect for 1986-87, I wonder how many starters -- and Kelly plays LOTS of minutes -- have owned just 10 regular shots this deep into a season? Legendary, right? The previous scoreless ink-getter this season was Lansdale Catholic sr. Chris Rudisill off a pre-playoff vs. Conwell-Egan. Last year it was Wood sr. G Kyle Adkins. The trendsetter, back in 1991, was Episcopal sr. PG Toebe Hinckle. (I swear there was someone else through the years, but I can't come up with the name. Ugh.) Unlike in previous years, this was an elimination game because D-12 now gets just three AAAA state playoff spots as opposed to four. That fact probably helped the Prep from the motivation standpoint after Monday produced a stinger of a 60-42 loss to Neumann-Goretti in the CL final. This one was over early and, truthfully, since there was little fan involvement and the teams mostly went up and down, it felt like a summer league game. All we needed were visits by ice cream/water ice trucks and pesky mosquitoes. Sr. G-F Stephen Vasturia led the way with 32 points, shooting 12-for-17 (three treys) and 5-for-5. Sr. G-F Miles Overton (12) and soph F Chris Clover (10) also reached double digits while jr. WG Kyle Thompson (nine) just missed. Overton (nine) and Vasturia (seven) led in rebounds. Overton spent close to two quarters on the bench after making some unwise early decisions and his dad, Doug, the former Dobbins/La Salle star and long-time NBAer, did not appreciate Miles' body language as he sat on the bench. Mostly because there was none. So, at one point he walked a pretty good distance, stationed himself across the way from the Prep's bench and semi-yelled across, "Yo, cheer for your team." When Miles made it back onto the court, he was the essence of good decisions. He posted an IMMEDIATE assist to Vasturia and later had a classic feed, using a late hand-slap to get the ball to Thompson for an easy bucket. As the early part of the scenario was unfolding, no doubt Miles wasn't the happiest guy in the gym. But everything wound up great and important lessons do need to be learned on occasion. Sr. F James Suber (14, seven rebounds) and sr. G Terrieck "My Sneakers Light Up the World When Hit by the Flash of a Camera" Williams (12) topped Bartram while sr. G Malik Noel dealt four assists. Two regular rotation guys were inactive tonight and since I forgot to ask coach James "JB" Brown or one of his assistants what was going on, I won't mention their names in case the reason for their absence was legit. Meanwhile, we almost had a perfect night at the line! With a shade over a minute left, as the subs were streaming in, referee Joe Brogan wound up maybe 10 feet from where Frog and I were sitting. I kiddingly told him, "Joe, don't call any more fouls. We're perfect at the line!" Soon, Prep jr. F Rick Slusarczyk got the ball on the left block, tried to let loose a layup and . . . Tweet! Brogan couldn't help it. The kid got clobbered. He strolled to the line and . . . goooooood! Shot No. 2 was . . . not goooooood! The teams' first 23 free throws had succeeded -- 19 for Prep, four for Bartram. (There were no free throws after Slusarczyk's.) Oh, well. Can't have everything.

FEB. 24
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Imhotep 67, Vaux 66
(At Temple’s Liacouras Center)
  Much respect goes to Imhotep, which has now won four Pub crowns in five years! But only a fool would start this report with anything other than a recap of the performance turned in by Vaux sr. G Rysheed Jordan, who is expected to sign (eventually, he’s taking his tiiiiiiime – smile) with Temple, St. John’s or UCLA. You can imagine how many championship games have been played in high school ball in Philly from Pub to Cath to City Titles. Well, Jordan poured in 45 points and that’s the best effort ever! Overbrook’s Wilt Chamberlain notched 40 vs. Northeast in the ’54 Pub final (his junior season). An interesting tidbit: Wilt’s teammate and life-long best friend was a man named Vince Miller. In 1988, Miller coached Frankford past West Philly, 71-64, in four OTs (what a game THAT was; each team lost four starters to foulouts), for the Pub crown and one of Frankford’s stars was guard Jamie Ross. Know what school he coaches now? Vaux! Anyway, Jordan, often against a box-and-one featuring sr. G Deryl Bagwell, shot 10-for-21 from the floor (4-for-9 on treys) and 21-for-23 at the line (.913 percentage). To boot, he made his first 17 free throws and almost every one was a perfect swish. By game’s end, however, he was lucky to still be standing – he put out SO much energy – and two of his last six freebies were unsuccessful. ‘Sheed also had six rebounds and as many steals and, truthfully, it was rather stunning to see him NOT hit the last shot. The whole afternoon just had that look: Somehow, he was going to will Vaux to victory. OK, now for the Panthers . . . Back on Jan. 22, in their own gym, they were skunked by Vaux to the tune of 73-51. Not good. I saw the Panthers a short time later for a game at Frankford (only for a half) and they went what seemed like forever without even scoring a point. And it seemed as if no one could hit a jump shot. However, ‘Tep also blanketed the Pioneers and that dedication to defense became something to build on. In the quarters and semis, Imhotep sucked the life from the games and made them classic boredom jobs. So, what happened after this one? Coach Andre Noble came over and said with a smile, “Please don’t call us boring anymore.” Honestly, for a long time, this one wasn’t a classic from the entertainment standpoint. Imhotep DID have its foot on Vaux’ throat, except for Jordan, and even his heroics were in danger of being lost in the shuffle. The halftime score was 36-29 and ‘Tep posted the first four points of the third quarter. It held serve throughout that session and even increased the pad to 11. Then the final eight minutes began and . . . bang, a trey by Jordan! Turnover. Two free throws by Jordan. Turnover. A drive by sr. WG Lester Mattox for a three-point play (offset by a ‘Tep free throw). Ah, heeeerrre we go! The Vaux fans were now FULLY involved and all observers were positive that this game would go to the wire. Aiding Vaux’ cause was the fact that it found itself in double-bonus territory with 5:41 remaining. Jordan hit two FTs to draw Vaux within 55-53. Imhotep scored 12 more points, of course, and six came on treys, one apiece by sr. CG Brandon Austin (Providence; a bank shot, no less) and Bagwell. The second one came with 2:42 left (pass from Austin) and provided a 62-58 lead. Here are the key moments thereafter: Jordan roared in along the right baseline and missed a tomahawk dunk; sr. F Amir Butler bailed him out with a follow . . . Massaley converted a drive . . . Jordan buried a DEEP trey, drawing Vaux within 64-63 . . . Jordan made a steal at :52 and Austin committed his fifth foul at 49.5, with Jordan hitting the second of two free throws for 64-64 math . . . Far out front, Massaley was fouled and hit the first of two at 33.5 . . . Jordan was hacked on a layup attempt and nailed both freebies at 27.2, making it 66-65 . . . Jr. SF Basil Thompson was unsuccessful at trying to curl in a layup, but a momentary Vaux rebound was negated when jr. G Jakwan Jones wrested free the ball and ‘Tep used its last timeout at 0:19 . . . Noble called the play for Massaley and Abe delivered, roaring to a layup at 0:12 . . . In the person of Jordan, Vaux immediately headed in the other direction and Massaley was able to get his hands on the ball. After a mad scramble, the ball bounced over the baseline, possession to Vaux, at 1.1 . . . Butler inbounded on the south side of the east baseline. Jordan got the ball on the right wing and Thompson lunged toward him. ‘Sheed did a step-back and cut loose with a jumper. Alas, it did not come close . . . Austin, the game MVP, had 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Bagwell, who’d been mostly been a shell of his Northeast self from 2011-12, hit four treys en route to 15 points. Thompson mixed nine rebounds with as many points. Soph F-C Dymir Logan had six and six. Six of the Cougars scored two or four points while Butler claimed 10 rebounds. During the game, plans to make the AAAA and AAA City Titles a doubleheader next Friday night at Saint Joseph’s University were finalized. The order will be determined by Monday night’s CL final. With that in mind, Noble made another light-hearted comment. “Hey,” he said, “tell (N-G) assistant John Mosco his team better win so we can have a real City Title (with the league’s two overall champs). He was putting pressure on us, so now I’m gonna put it on him. Make sure that’s on your blog.” Blog? Last time I looked, this is a website! Ha, ha.

FEB. 23
DISTRICT 12 PLAYOFF
(For 3rd Seed in Class A; Loser Eliminated)
Sankofa 60, Strawberry Mansion 47
(At Ben Franklin)
  Other guys had bigger moments, but no one stood taller. And since prospects with height are so few and far between these days, we'll start this report with some info on Sankofa soph Sophaun Brown, who's thin, but goes about 6-8 (maybe even 6-9) and looks like a cross country runner while going up and down the floor. Make no mistake, his inside skills are very raw. But he made a number of good off-side, kick-it-out, dump-it-to-cutters passes from the high- to medium post, swished about a 15-foot jumper, knocked home two follows and claimed nine rebounds. Once again, he is RAW, but there's potential and he seems very much interested in playing the right way, so we'll see what happens. Sankofa has guard brothers named Shyheim (sr. "Smoke") and Ra'Shawn (jr. "Spark") Ladson and they were terrific defensively through the first three quarters. Smoke is a beefy kid with brass and he really stalked promising Mansion soph Donavan Barnes, who went just 1-for-11 from the floor in those first 24 minutes. Spark helped out and sr. G Shavoy Murray also had some good moments. Barnes did scramble for 15 points over the final eight minutes (19 total), but Mansion was too far behind going in (20-point deficit) and advanced no closer than 10 points. With the deficit at that amount, and with about four minutes left, the Knights, who posted NINE steals in the fourth quarter, missed treys on consecutive possessions that could have made things very interesting. Hampered by foul trouble, jr. G-F Anthony Wright-Downing was limited to 13 points. Sr. wing sniper Dache Talbert (16 points) hit two treys and was perfect (6-for-6) at the line. Smoke added 11 points and six assists. Talbert had four thefts. Sr. Fs James Jefferson and Juwan Milliner halved 14 rebounds. Jr. WG Raekwon Dial had 15 points for Mansion. Sr. WG Brandon Jiles, jr. F Marcquis Graham and soph F Anthony Askins-Pickney thirded 18 boards.

FEB. 23
DISTRICT 12 PLAYOFF
(For 4th/5th Seeds in Class AA)
Sayre 41, Del-Val 40
(At Ben Franklin)
  Del-Val had three times as many assistant coaches as Sayre had substitutes. The numbers were 3 to 1 and the 1 was for show, or in case of emergency, because sr. G Tahir Jones never saw action. I'd have to think this is a city record: SIX players in uniform for a playoff game. St. Joseph's Prep used just five guys Wednesday night in a Catholic League semifinal vs. Roman at the Palestra, but all kinds of kids were on the bench. Sayre coach Eric Hooks said he brought only six players to Ben Franklin's gym because others had misbehaved or fared poorly in the classroom. Del-Val coach Jason Harrigan was also missing some guys, but the reason for their absence, he said, was the fact that they'd been cutting practice. Meanwhile, a short time before the game started, Harrigan walked over and said, "Would you mind if I asked you to leave?" He then smiled and pointed out that it has been a long time since D-V has won with yours truly in the house. I guess the jinx is still in effect. I refuse to take the blame, however, especially since I did not shoot 0-for-11 from the floor in the third quarter or 12-for-49 overall (smile). Sayre's Fab Five included four guards -- srs. Richard Burton (impressive body control and mid-range game) and Darius Savage; jrs. Javonnta Zimmerman and John McCloud -- and jr. inside force Antwan James. One guy (Zimmerman) came close to fouling out and two more (Burton, James) finished with three personals. Burton (14), James (12) and McCloud (10) led the scoring parade while Zimmerman (four) and Savage (one) completed it. James had 15 rebounds while getting help from Zimmerman (seven) and Burton (six). Zimmerman added five assists and James managed four blocks. Burton hit two free throws with 21.7 seconds left to provide a 40-38 lead. D-V could not convert a drive, but the ball was knocked over the baseline by Sayre. Jr. G Clayton "C.J." Wolfe inbounded for D-V, but the ball was deflected by Savage right back toward Wolfe. He tried to direct it to someone else, but the nearest ref ruled -- correctly, it appeared -- he had not set both feet back onto the playing area. James was hacked at 6.5 and hit one free throw, with the rebound of the second shot going to soph F Karl Lewis. Soph G Bariq London, who today made his first varsity appearance, was fouled at 1.1 and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Jr. F Darius Wallace converted the follow, but that left the Warriors one point short. There is always much debate on how coaches should handle that kind of late-game situation. Hooks decide to foul instead of perhaps seeing D-V hit a tying trey. It worked out. For D-V, only frisky sr. WG Michael Human (12) reached double figures while Wallace had nine. Lewis had 12 boards and received support from Wallace and soph Kaleem Lovelace (eight apiece). Just the other day, I wrote a story about Imhotep's Brandon Austin after he scored his 1,000th career point. He said his first points came on a trey immediately after he made his varsity debut. Guess what? This was London's first game (promoted from JV) and seconds after he stepped onto the court, bang!, he drained a trey from the right wing at the west end of the gym. I'm thinking he'll remember that moment forever (especially since he can print this report and keep it someplace safe -- ha ha).  **Found out Sunday morning: Bariq's dad is Eric "Rabb" London, an all-Public guard for Franklin in '87. Cool!!**

FEB. 22
CATHOLIC SEMIFINALS RESEARCH
  After Wednesday night's Catholic League semifinals, I gave some thought to the fact that one of the games (sometimes both) almost always turns out to be at least partially non-competitive (sometimes very), and that it surely didn't seem to be that way "back in the day." So, I decided to do some research . . .
  The last time the total point differential in the semis doubleheader was 10 points or fewer was in 1992! Three points in one; two in the other. Since that year, the differential has been 15 points or fewer just three times and the number has been 20 or fewer just four more times. In that 21-season span, individual games have featured spreads of at least 15 points 16 times and the margin has been at least 20 points nine times.
  Beforehand? Well, from 1980 through '92 (13 seasons), six times the total differential was 10 points or fewer and three more times it was 15 points or fewer.
  Wanna go WAY back? I have scores for CL semis going back to the 1941-42 season (72 years).
  Here's the breakdown:
Total differential for both games . . .
  10 points or fewer -- 12 times.
  11 to 15 points -- 15 times.
  16 to 20 points -- 15 times.
  21 or more points -- 30 times.
  As for individual games, before '94 only seven semis featured victory margins of at least 20 points. Since then? There have been nine (and six more with margins of at least 15 points).
  I'm not sure what this all means because we still get some upsets, but there's definitely not as much total nail-biting in the modern era.

FEB. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Vaux 71, King 68 (OT)
(At Southern)
  When a team misses eight free throws in overtime, its final point total usually winds up on the wrong side of the hyphen. Ah, but the V-Cougars also made seven and added three field goals and that enabled them to top the K-Cougars and advance to the championship game for the first and final time (this is Vaux’ seventh season as a Pub member; it’s scheduled to close come June). As this one started, I was sitting in the southeast corner of the gym, pounding out the Imhotep-CT story for the Daily News. Maybe seven seconds into the game, the spectators were already more excited than they’d been at pretty much any moment of that first tilt; well, except for the two late dunks by Imhotep jr. F Deion Evans. Much of the reason for this game’s juice was sr. CG Rysheed Jordan, who owns a national profile and, as Amauro mentioned, has managed to unite assorted, outrageously-competitive North Philly neighborhoods because everyone likes the kid and wants to see him do well. At halftime, with the score at 26-26, Frog provided first half details and the only major one was that King had jumped to a 5-0 lead. Otherwise the game had gone back and forth. Vaux seized control to start the second half, rolling to seven straight points. The mainstay in that run of success was sr. WG Lester Mattox, who posted a basket and an assist. King recovered and forged a tie, at 39-39, on a tip-in by sr. PG Fa’Teem Glenn. Vaux scored eight of the next 11, and the capper was a three-point play by soph G Sammy Foreman. Next? King stormed to eight in a row, taking a 50-47 lead, as that capper was a follow by sr. G-F Raquan Brown-Johnson. It was THAT kind of game, folks. Nobody was gonna run away and hide. As a Vaux assistant yelled several times, “That’s where you live, ‘Sheed,” Jordan hit two free throws with 1:20 left in regulation, tying the score at 58-58. At 0:58, Vaux posted a steal as jr. F-C Trayvond Massenburg poked the ball toward jr. G Karon Snead. Jordan then stood near midcourt toward the west side, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling as the seconds melted off the clock. Time was called at 17.7. The Vaux fans came scrambling out of the south stands and tried to press against the court and they just KNEW who’d take the final shot. Many were holding up cell phones to snap pics or video. Pub czar Robert Coleman then seized the microphone and bellowed, “Everybody off the floor! Sit down!” He promised the game would not continue until the area was cleared. Little by little, that happened. The final shot? It was NOT taken by Jordan. Facing all kinds of resistance, Rysheed passed to Mattox in the right corner and he lofted a trey. It hit the heel of the rim. Maybe Rysheed and coach Jamie Ross were hoping for a rerun. In the teams’ earlier double-OT contest, Mattox had won it, 87-86, with a last-second corner trey. Amazingly, the ball had skimmed the backboard while making its wonderful journey toward the net. Anyway, OT was tight throughout and featured all kinds of hard drives by the assorted participants. Vaux got calls, but as mentioned earlier it experienced woes at the line. The 5-4, 113-pound Snead, the recipient of DN ink, made two gigantic steals and his best was a leaping version out near the SFBN table. He also hit two free throws at 1:18 to provide a 68-64 lead. Breathing room? Not quite. Brown-Johnson scored a quick bucket off a pass from sr. F William Leak. Vaux sr. SF Amir Butler hit the front part of a double-bonus at 52.4 to make it 69-66, then King jr. F Gregory Bennett rebounded the missed second shot. Despite the three-point deficit, the K-Cougars chose to shorten the game. Glenn stood out front, flipping the ball from hand to hand while dribbling. Finally, he made a move to the hoop and was fouled at 13.3. Despite the pressure, he perfectly swished both shots. I figured King would immediately try to send Vaux back to the line, especially since the V-Cougars’ performance there had not been outstanding. That didn’t happen and Vaux called time at 7.6. This time, there was a foul (at 6.2) and Jordan drained both shots. As the clock wound down, Bennett would up with the ball on the left wing and tried to set up Glenn for a tying trey. One problem: Vaux played sticky D and the buzzer sounded before Glenn could uncork. Jordan finished with 28 points, six rebounds and five apiece of assists/steals. Butler and Foreman halved 26 points. Foreman added six points, four assists and three steals. Brown-Johnson hustled for 23 points and eight boards. Glenn had 11 points and eight assists. Bennett contributed 13 points and six boards. Sr. WG Shakoor Woodson had 11 points, nine boards and two apiece of assists/steals. Jr. C Brandon McNair managed 10 rebounds and four blocks. King, which lost two players to foulouts, did a great job at the line (23-for-27). The championship game will be played Sunday, 3 p.m., at Temple’s Liacouras Center. Enjoy! Tonight's posse, aside from Amauro and Frog, included stat man Big Steve Reid and lensman Joe McFadden, who took pics during the first half. Good stuff, Joe! Thanks to everyone.

FEB. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Imhotep 66, Comm Tech 40
(At Southern)
  About 3 minutes into this baby, stat man Big Steve Reid grumbled, “Wake me up when this game’s over.” Honestly, he could have slept for all 32 minutes. Though a very good crowd was on hand, the action (or lack thereof) did little to stimulate the spectators and, at times, the place resembled a church. If Imhotep’s cheerleaders had not been working hard, the place often would have been DEAD silent. It was like everyone in attendance viewed Vaux-King as the varsity tilt and this one as JV fodder. Very eerie. Though not to the exact same degree, this one reminded me of Chester/Neumann-Goretti. Know why? ‘Tep was forever active defensively and its cookie-cutter big to medium guys kept sticking arms into everything CT tried to do. CT has some respectable offensive players, but you would not have known that tonight. Especially early. The Phoenix missed 23 of its first 26 shots! Ouch and ouch again. No need for any blow-by-blow descriptions. That was how lifeless, and one-sided, the available viewing was. DN ink went to sr. PG prospect Brandon Austin, who is bound for Providence. Austin has a habit of lurking, lurking, lurking, then exploding for an impressive burst and he did that again, packing 11 of his 18 points into the third quarter. Point No. 5 in the session, and No. 10 overall, was a free throw with 5:59 showing, and it lifted his career total to 1,000. Congrats! He finished with 18 points (1,008), eight rebounds and two apiece of assists/steals/blocks. Jr. SF Basil Thompson has been impressive/productive lately and he went for 12 points, 10 rebounds. Sr. WG Deryl Bagwell added three steals to two early treys while sr. PG Abraham Massaley, the sixth man, had seven points and three assists. Jr. F Deion Evans provided some late-game excitement with a pair of jump-through-the-basket dunks. CT’s only bright light was sr. WG David Johnson, a lefty, who scored 18 points. No one else had more than six. Jr. PF-C Mohamed Sherif snagged nine rebounds. Here’s an example of how difficult it was for CT to achieve offensive cohesion: Only two assists were posted. Yes, two. Had a great pregame talk with mid-‘80s King star Bernard Smith, who went on to work in the NBA and was an assistant for the Sixers. He tore his Achilles last summer and is making the long climb back. Great to see you, Bernard, and good luck with everything!

FEB. 20
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Neumann-Goretti 57, Carroll 34
(At the Palestra)
  Perhaps the Saints need to have their butt kicked by a prominent local foe more often. Remember how, on national TV, they were sliced and diced by Chester? After that one, were you wondering how’d they respond? Did you think they might head to Oblivionville, and maybe get upset in one of the first two rounds of the 2012-13 playoffs? Um, not quite. N-G will be playing for its fifth consecutive title Monday night at the Palestra and its margin of victory through the quarters and semis is 54 points. Thirty-one over McDevitt and 23 over Carroll. Pretty dang impressive. Except for occasional glances, the first 13-odd minutes of this one were a rumor since I was writing the DN story for game No. 1, the Prep’s success over Roman. But when I asked Huck to catch me up, his tidbits were pretty amazing. Carroll had won the first quarter, 14-7, but had yet to hit a shot in the second as N-G surged to a 21-14 lead. The Patriots were 0-for-10 in that stanza before jr. WG Joe Mostardi hit a trey to make it 22-17. It got no better, folks. Carroll finished 12-for-55 from the floor and 16 of those misses were punched/deflected/whatevered. Yes, N-G recorded 16 blocked shots and jr. F Tony Toplyn was the far-and-away swat leader, with seven. Sr. PF-C John Davis added four. DN ink went to jr. WG Troy Harper, a sub. He contributed seven points to the second quarter party and enjoyed making THE play of the night – maybe of the season, especially since he’s only 6-1 – in the third quarter – a wolf-down dunk off a follow! He came running in from the left side and his timing/body control were impeccable as he hammered that crap! It was a moment he will never forget, no matter how much basketball success he goes on to enjoy. Jr. WG Ja’Quan Newton had 18 points and eight rebounds. Davis hustled for 11 points and 13 boards in addition to his four blocks. Sr. PG Hanif Sutton dealt six assists. Soph F Derrick Jones topped Carroll with 11 points and as many rebounds, and he also happened to show the way with assists (four). In the third quarter, soph C Ernest Aflakui had a spurt of impressive aggression and it led to all five of his points. He also claimed seven total rebounds. Carroll has now dropped 27 of its last 28 meetings with N-G, but that one win was certainly noteworthy. It came in a 2009 AAA state quarterfinal – not long after the Saints had won the CL championship – and from there the Pats went on to become the first CL team to claim a state title. That hiccup still sticks in N-G’s collective craw, especially since it prevented four state crowns to match the quartet it has won in the Cath. Again, thanks to Huck, Frog and Amauro. For this one, Amauro handled camera duties until almost halftime. Legendary!

FEB. 20
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
SJ Prep 57, Roman 50
(At the Palestra)
  Eleven guys launched shots in this game and just one managed to hit as many as 50 percent. That someone was jr. G-F Kyle Thompson and his percentage was WAY better, as in .714, and, more importantly, he sniped 4-for-6 beyond the arc. His marksmanship was highlighted in my DN story, in part, because it would have been impossible to come up with a performance when Roman defeated Prep in the regular season. Thompson does much of his best threeball work from the corners and corner treys, of course, are not possible in Roman’s skinny gym. But in the wonderful Palestra, he had to room to operate and three of his threebies were launched from corners. Better yet, from the Hawks’ standpoint, two were posted quite early and no doubt enabled them to plow forward with the utmost confidence. For whatever reason (maybe youth; the team has no senior starters), Roman was discombobulated and/or timid in the beginning and the Prep took full advantage, roaring to a 30-16 halftime lead. HOW that score was finalized was pretty amazing. As the half wore down, sr. PG P.J. Kelly missed a semi-lengthy trey from the left of straight-on. Roman soph bully Manny Taylor grabbed the rebound and whipped the ball out of harm’s way . . . or so he thought. Instead, it went directly back to Kelly, who beat the buzzer and . . . oh, my goodness . . . banked in a trey! Through those first 16 minutes, the Cahillites took very few shots that weren’t contested and Prep did a great job putting bodies on the inside guys. Roman finished the first half 6-for-24 from the floor and got to the line just once. The Prep held serve through three quarters – Thompson hit two more treys – and there was no real sense that we’d eventually have a serious ballgame. With roughly four minutes left in the game, sr. WG-SF Miles Overton (Wake Forest) kissed home a soft bank shot and the lead stood at 10, 50-40. Then it happened. Roman ratcheted up the pressure and the Prep kids, for the most part, became turnover machines. It was pretty amazing to watch, especially since the Hawks had been so cohesive/effective. But here came Roman. And here it came some more and some more and it was impossible not to envision, at least a little, the ol’ snatch-victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat scenario. Coach Speedy Morris used just five players and now fatigue was being joined by nervousness. With 1:08 left, soph PG Traci Carter hit a right-side pullup to edge Roman within 51-48. Thompson then was called for walking and that true uh-oh aura was prevalent. Um. Not for long, though. Roman tried a cross-court pass. Kelly jumped and . . oh! . . . got his fingertips on the ball right in front of Roman’s bench (west end, if you’re trying to picture it) to record a steal. Soon, sr. G Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) was converting a one-and-one. Roman jr. G Shep Garner then missed a trey, Thompson rebounded and Vasturia strolled back to the line to add two more points and effectively seal the deal. One much-discussed sequence took place after Carter hit a free throw at 2:12. The Prep got 15 seconds to get the ball past halfcourt! There was lots of craziness with scrambling and diving and fumbling and such, but it never appeared that Roman had momentary possession, which would have halted the 10-second count. At least no one in our section of press row (and behind) saw things that way. Roman coach Chris McNesby is still probably livid. Anyway, Overton (17) and Vasturia (16) joined Thompson (14) in double figures while Vasturia claimed nine rebounds and Vasturia/Overton dished four assists apiece. Roman’s double-digit scorers were Garner (15) and soph F TreVaughn Wilkerson (10) Wilkerson edged Garner, 8-7, in the rebound category. Garner (four) and Carter combined for seven assists. The Prep had an unbelievably impressive student turnout; probably twice as many kids as Roman. At some point Thursday, I’ll try to see how long it has been since a team used just five guys in a CL playoff game. ***UPDATE: The answer is O'Hara, in a 52-50 loss to Roman in a 1992 semifinal. Those five guys were Adonal Foyle, John Watson, Steve Dougherty, Brian O'Donnell and Brian Patterson. Foyle had come here from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A sophomore, he then bolted to upstate New York and later spent a LONG time in the NBA. In case the scenario is repeated Monday, the last team to use just five giuys in a final was La Salle in '74 (lost to Roman, 50-42). Those five were Ted Gutowicz, Joe Mihalich (yes, Niagara's current coach), Bob Carber, Ed Mearion and Matt Mihalich (Joe's brother).***  Meanwhile, if Prep had lost, Speedy would have dropped below .500 against the school where he first earned coaching fame. In 13 seasons at Prep, he’s 13-12 against Roman. He won seven of his first eight before the Cahillites regrouped. Thanks to Huck, Frog and Amauro for their help all night with assorted duties. Those guys are the bestest!! Smile

FEB. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL/CLASS A FINAL
Vaux 62, MC&S 61
  I was going through the pics, preparing them for posting, when this one caught my eye. The camera was on a low setting, and the pic is semi-blurry because a lot of the guys were jumping around. One guy wasn't. See him a shade to the left of exact middle? He's the picture of calm and his name is Rysheed Jordan. After a 5-minute delay, caused by overanxious Vaux fans at the south end of Southern's gym, Jordan stepped to the line and drained a pair of free throws, creating a 61-61 tie with 10.7 seconds remaining. Then, as Mc&S prepared for what it hoped would be a game-winning shot, Jordan zipped into the play from out of nowhere, posted a poke-it-out/recover-it steal and called time at 4.7. The Cougars had to go the length of the court. Sr. G Amir Butler, wearing No. 3 because his No. 4 had been bloodied, inbounded to Rysheed and . . . off to the races he went! Up the left side. Angle toward the middle. Blow to the hoop. Draw a foul (soph G Tyrese Hester grabbed his arm) with one-tenth of a second remaining. Jordan launched the first free throw and . . . missed it! Was he nervous? Not even a little bit. He swished the second, the fans stormed the court and MC&S was no longer the city's No. 1-ranked team. ****Meanwhile, at about 11:30, Pub czar Robert Coleman called to say MC&S wing guard Malik Starkes, a senior who's hoping to get an extra season of eligibility due to hardship, would be facing disciplinary measures for improper behavior in the waning moments, and immediately afterward. Coleman said Starkes "will miss at least one game; it could be two" and that he wouldn't have things finalized until sometime Sunday.****. As for Jordan, the sr. CG, expected to (eventually) pick Temple, St. John's or UCLA, had 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, and he bagged 10 of his extra numbers in the fourth quarter, right when his team needed him to big-boy it the most. Man, it was stirring to watch him step up and up and up as the pressure increased by large amounts. To a large extent, MC&S was guilty of self-destruction. Vaux had seven steals in the final eight minutes while outscoring the MEs, 19-13. The Mighty Elephants owned a 56-49 lead with 4:16 left before trouble set in. Down the stretch, sr. WG Lester Mattox helped immensely with a trey off a pass from Jordan. Soon, Jordan was missing a threebie and Starkes was wolfing down a dunk off a pass from sr. PF-C Quadir Welton. Vaux moved within 60-59 at 0:26 as Jordan followed a missed flip shot by soph PG Sammy Foreman. Then, Vaux got possession at :17 after jr. G Karon Snead was able to bat the ball out of bounds off of sr. CG Shafeek Taylor. Jordan made a move along the left baseline, but was tied up by sr. PG Britton Lee at 14.5, with possession going to MC&S. Starkes went to the line at 13.0, hitting the second of two shots to make it 61-59. We've already laid out the sequence from there. As always, the Pub folks were guilty of way too many idle threats. Assorted people kept announcing that the game would not continue until all spectators returned to their seats. Didn't happen. The guys on the baseline did back up, thankfully, but many were inches from the sideline on the west side. Thankfully, everybody behaved when it mattered most and there were no ugly incidents. Butler had 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Foreman had nine points, two assists and four steals. Snead also posted four thefts. Taylor, who did his best to stalk Jordan, shot 6-for-9 (two treys) and 3-for-5 for 17 points. Starkes added 15 points, but went just 5-for-11 at the line (with two front ends among the misses). Jr. WG Louis Myers, off the bench, created a stir for his South Philly fan club by scoring 12 points. Sr. F Jeremiah "Lump" Worthem had 11 points and seven boards; he also had to change jerseys due to blood stains. Congrats to the Pub for making the smart move and changing the semis from Wednesday to Thursday. Now, change the site to somewhere with decent enough lighting to not make my pictures look so crappy! (smile)

FEB. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL/CLASS AAA FINAL
Imhotep 51, Phila. Electrical 43
  This isn't a great weekend to be a star. SJ Prep's Stephen Vasturia and Roman's Shep Garner hardly scored for long stretches in CL quarterfinals yesterday and the underproductive bug bit Imhotep sr. CG Brandon Austin (Providence) for this one. Two early fouls kept him nailed to bench for a long stretch and even when he was playing, he was experiencing rough sledding against sr. WG Austin Hawkins. Hawkins is very energetic (even a little nuttyscary? -- smile) and he truly took pride in his assignment of trying to shut down Austin. Brandon owned just one field goal through three quarters and finished with just seven points and his inability to get rolling, pointswise or floor-generalwise (one assist total), kept the Panthers within elbow's length. Luckily for coach Andre Noble, jr. G Jakwan Jones spent much of the game out front and he used VERY quick feet, and more than a little brass, to pick up the slack. He had 16 points and four steals and several times exploded right around defenders. In the fourth quarter, the big wheel was jr. F Basil Thompson. He scored eight of his 10 points while quietly converting crisp passes and doing some things on his own. THE big play occurred with 2:06 remaining. Fouled on a follow, Austin went to the line for two shots. He made the first and then I could hear a kid two rows behind (at the west end) saying, "Miss it, cuz." I was thinking, "If Austin's his cousin, why would he want him to miss?" Austin did miss, but Thompson looped right around the guy on his side (left) of the lane, grabbed the offensive rebound and EASILY dropped in the layup, making it 46-41. (Austin wasn't the kid's cousin. It was just the generic use of the word "cuz" -- ha ha.) Imhotep is a strange ballclub. Noble shuffles guys in and out like crazy and it's tough to get a line on anybody. Many of his players are decent, but not world-beaters, and I'm sure that's why he tries so many combinations. Soph F Dymir Logan was the leading rebounder, with seven. For PE, sr. CG Hakeem Baxter displayed his ever-visible brass while totaling 23 points and 11 rebounds. Alas, his shot was slightly off as he went 7-for-21. Sr. WG Steven Griffin hit just one of 11 shots. The Chargers played without two injured starters, sr. PF-C Jai Williams (Saint Joseph's) and PG Marquise Daniels.

FEB. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL/CLASS AAAA FINAL
King 63, Bartram 46
  King, a former Germantown annex, joined the Pub for the 1976-77 season, at just about the same time my favorite movie of all time was being released. The name? Car Wash. The theme song and others that were included in the movie? Tremendous. Anyway, when the Cougars were warming up, some of the players started clapping. Clap . . . clap . . . clap, clap, clap, clap, CLAP. I recognized the beat right away. It was the beginning of the Car Wash song! Ha, ha. No idea who came up with that idea, or even if the guy had a clue he was stirring memories of Car Wash. But it was very cool and, in my book, after hearing that, it was automatic that King would win (smile). To some extent, the Cougars got Bartramed. Meaning, they got caught up in the helter-skelter style that seems to mark all of the Braves' outings. They rushed things sometimes and didn't play with the same focus they'd exhibited in other contests. However, they did enough things right to prevail and that was especially so over the final 2 1/2 minutes after King forced Bartram to abandon its 2-3 zone by going to a spread offense. Sr. PG Fa'Teem Glenn was a controled whirlwind during that stretch and Bartram had no prayer of preventing him from doing exactly what he wanted to do. He even played great right beforehand, and he helped the Cougars close things out with an 18-3 run over the final 6 1/2 minutes. Glenn, a lefty who also uses his right hand a lot, especially near the hoop, collected 21 points. Sr. WG-SF Raquan Brown-Johnson went for 24 and made a lot of big buckets. They combined for 26 of King's 29 second half points. Sr. WGs Khayri Washington (16) and Malik Noel (12) topped Bartram, which was guilty of 26 turnovers. The other stats can't be listed for the moment because we experienced a mixup on which guy would keep them. Ugh! Plans are being made to track them down from the coaches and they'll be posted at some point Sunday, hopefully. Sorry 'bout that.

FEB. 11
CATHOLIC LEAGUE PRE-PLAYOFF (10th Place)
Lansdale Catholic 50, Conwell-Egan 35
(At La Salle High)
  As this one wound down, LC coach Ed Enoch kept shifting sr. C Chris Rudisill into and out of the lineup and I kept muttering, "Just leave him on the bench, Ed. Don't wreck the upcoming story line!" (smile) What story line? Rudisill's journey to Toebe Hinckle Territory. Hinckle was a guard for Episcopal Academy in the 1990-91 season and he received DN ink after a game in which he went scoreless (but did lots of other cool things). Wood guard Kyle Adkins matched that feat just last season and I'm thinking it might have happened one other time through the years (it's not coming to me, though). Anyway, Rudisill posted a goose-egg -- he took just one shot, a follow -- but was prominent in LC's first CL postseason appearance because he swept 14 rebounds and recorded three blocks. Often, he winds up in foul trouble, but he neatly avoided that fate tonight and the players and coaches were thrilled to hear he'd claimed those 14 boards. Rudisill is bound for Drexel to major in engineering, but his name will appear on our annual recruiting list -- already submitted; not sure what day it will run in the paper -- in case some D-IIIs want to try to get him to change his mind. This game had two other strange elements: The teams were playing for the second consecutive night (LC went into C-E Sunday night and triumphed, 50-47) and C-E's top three scorers wound up being freshmen. G Stevie Jordan hit three treys for nine points. F LaPri Pace had eight points. C Vinny Dalessandro managed seven after missing his first six shots. In that struggle, he was hardly alone. C-E hit just one of its first 16 attempts, a first quarter trey by sr. G Ryan Pepito, and not connect again until 4:09 before halftime. That success was a follow by Dalessandro, who was fouled on the play. He added the free throw and LC's lead was sliced to 22-6. Not to worry. C-E did slap together a mini-run to start the third quarter, edging within nine, but no hints of drama appeared. LC's early headliner was jr. WG Andrew Riviello, who nailed two treys and a regular en route to a 10-0 start. Jr. PG Brian Rafferty then was dominant the rest of the way, notching all 17 of his points. Riviello used a late run to finish with 18. Jr. WG-SF Corey Kirk had 10 points and sr. handyman Jim Rock had five. Rafferty added eight rebounds and five assists in a strong overall effort. Rock had four rebounds and two assists. Sr. G Cole Sagan hustled for three steals. Dalessandro posted eight rebounds and three blocks while Pace grabbed six boards. Thanks to Jon "Duck" Gray, who was making his first lifetime visit to La Salle though he lives nearby, for the extra stats. A feel-good moment for the Eagles came in the late going as jr. G Justin Forktus swished a right-side trey for his first varsity points. Due to the fact that Lansdale is semi-close to La Salle, the Crusaders had much better student support. Though the numbers certainly were not outrageous. C-E could not have had more than 10 kids on hand. At halftime, a couple kids apiece from each school tried to hit shots from spots IN the stands, right across the court from each other. Talk about an airball festival! Ha, ha. The Crusader then bounced onto the court and stuck a couple jumpers. By the way, C-E's season isn't over. There were only two Class AA teams in the CL this year. West went winless, so C-E will meet the Pub rep for the City Title on March 2, then compete in the state playoffs.

FEB. 10
SHOWCASE EVENT
Chester 58, Neumann-Goretti 41
  Was I dreaming (or "nightmaring") or did Chester always have six guys on the court? Sure seemed like it. Aside from being quick and aggressive, many of these guys were also tall and lanky (and motivated) and N-G took VERY few shots that were not contested, often by multiple players. Also, when the Saints would go for rebounds, this Clipper would flick the ball, then that Clipper would flick the ball and . . . well, things just were NOT easy. You have to sympathize with the Saints. Of course, you get very excited to play on TV (ESPN was here) and it has to be quite disheartening to lay a giant-sized egg. One play likely summed up the evening and it made the score 47-22 right as the fourth quarter began. A Chester guy missed a free throw and what should have been a sure rebound for N-G did not happen. Instead, sr. F James Kirksey grabbed the board and made a pass to sr. G Rondae Jefferson, who wolfed down a dunk. Ouch. Jefferson (Arizona) worked in perfect harmony with sr. F Richard Granberry. Jefferson is a quite interesting player in that just when you think he's slightly uncoordinated he shows LOTS of coordination while doing things that border on spectacular. He finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Granberry had 14, 14 and five. Chester hit no treys and barely launched any. No need, folks. For N-G, sr. PF John Davis settled for five points but grabbed 15 of the toughest rebounds you'll ever want to see. Jr. WG Ja'Quan Newton never got going (eight points; got off just nine shots). Here's a fact that'll show how nimble Chester's inside players were: N-G did not shoot its second free throw until 4:36 remained in the third quarter. (For the game, the Saints went 6-for-15 at the rumored-to-be-a charity stripe.) I can't imagine N-G has scored just 41 points too often in coach Carl Arrigale's tenure. Lots of emotion was poured into this matchup. It'll be interesting to see how the Saints perform in the Catholic League playoffs. The regular season showed that they're no longer invincible. Are they still the CL's best? Well, they are the No. 1 seed . . . Great to see long-time buddy Mike Flynn, the original Huck Palmer (remember him? smile) in the area of stat-keeping. Like Huck, Amauro Austin (on hand tonight to keep the official book) and Mark "Froggy" Carfagno, Mike is a West Catholic grad. Former N-G stars Tyreek Duren (La Salle) and Tony Chennault (Villanova) were also in Neumann University's wonderful facility. I mentioned Tyreek first because he got to sit on the stage and Tony, perched in the stands, looked a little jealous (ha ha). Vaux standout Rysheed Jordan was also on hand. Best of luck to former North Catholic star Joe Rapczynski, who's Neumann University's interim coach. He's off to a 4-0 start. Nice!!!

FEB. 8
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
McDevitt 56, Bonner-Prendie 45
  OK, so we're halfway through the third quarter, roughly, and B-P sr. SF Christian Summers receives a tech for offering a shade too much advice to an official. A guy sitting next to me notes, "Uh, oh. This could be the turning point." Jr. F Tyrell Long steps to the line and hits two free throws. Sr. F Carl Garner matches that feat and McDevitt owns a 29-25 advantage . . . It remained in front the rest of the way. The Lancers won the third quarter, 18-8, and Garner was, by far, the mover and shaker. He rang up 13 of his 19 points in that stanza while shooting perfectly from the floor (3-for-3, two treys) and line (5-for-5). There's much to like about Garner's potential. At times he hits me as someone who's not completely confident, but he should be because his ball skills are respectable, his shooting touch is often feathery and he has pretty good instincts. Once he gets to college and adds weight/muscle, he should be a headliner. What level? Probably D-III, but a D-II coach with patience and a large supply of Tastykakes could do much worse (smile). Long had a weird night. He made his first two and last three shots, but missed the seven in between. He added eight rebounds. Sr. PG Kenyatta Long (no relation) had five assists. Sr. WG Tymere Wilder, not known for scoring, drained two early treys and had three total assists. Sr. G Tyreek Fairfax, who has become an important sub, totaled 12 points and grabbed some tough rebounds in the fourth quarter. Summers remained on the bench for the rest of the quarter, then notched eight of his 10 points in the fourth while displaying his usual bursts of athleticism. Sr. F Pat Vanderslice had 12 points and eight boards. Sr. PF Nick Czibik, a lefty, enjoyed making steady, game-long contributions -- 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists. Jr. WG Jack Carden, as the first sub, notched 12 points (two treys) and claimed five rebounds. No one else scored. Because of snow concerns, this wound up being a varsity-only, boy-girl doubleheader. In the opener, B-P's gals dumped Carroll. A neat twist followed. The senior members of the dance team, girls' squad and boys' squad were honored in succession, along with their parents/guardians. Nice touch. The student section was reasonably rabid, but since I was sitting across the way I couldn't make out any choice, biting remarks that might have been directed at the Lancers. Sunday's game will be at O'Hara. Get the digs ready, guys! Ha, ha. Congrats to the Vanderslice family. Dad Tim (Bonner '77) mentioned that he's had sons in the program for 10 consecutive seasons thanks to Tim ('07), Dan ('10) and Pat ('13). Pat, by the way, is headed to Temple to pitch. Tim the Dad said he'll still come around to games. Let's hope so. Always good to see him.

FEB. 8
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 71, O'Hara 39
  This was a challenging day on the trail. Many night games were moved up one hour because of the snow threat and it was hard not to think, "The way things are these days, with widespread panic at the sight of the first flake, the night tilts might get postponed." Thus, I headed to Roman with the idea of writing something for philly.com on this afternoon game unless doing so would qualify as a ridiculous misjudgment. Yes, the undersized and underbeefed Lions did get waxed, but sr. PG Mike Louden slapped together a nice performance while showing brass and since his dad, Mike (O'Hara '85), was also a star, the story flowed. Roman has already received three stories this season and more could be in the offing and WG Matt Simon, a k a The Students' Choice, is the team's lone senior, so I doubt anyone will send me hate mail (smile). Louden, who's being pursued by numerous D-III schools, scored 19 points on an assortment of hard drives and proper-form jumpers. He added two steals and as many assists. His brother, Drew, a freshman, is also a varsity starter, and it'll be interesting to watch his development. Sr. WG Sean Havink hit a pair of treys and wore a very cool mask to protect a broken nose. He even wore it for the team pic. Legendary! Ha, ha. Jr. F Mark Plousis, the only guy who can even remotely be considered an inside player, had seven points. Jr. WG Rashann London, who looks better and better by the week, led Roman with 26 points while slashing, jump-shooting (one trey) and even throwin' one down. Sophomore bully Manny Taylor added 17 points and nine rebounds and he received many dump-it-in passes in the first half. Soph SF TreVaughn Wilkerson had eight points and nine boards and twice (maybe three times?) finished with his left hand after making nimble moves. Jr. PG Shep Garner struggled with his shooting, but distributed six assists. Simon hit two treys en route to eight points and, even in warmups while merely making layups, he drew major noise from the kids on the stage. The Cahillites also gave Senior Day honors to manager Tom Gallagher, who could be performing the same duties at Marshall or Wheeling Jesuit, and former manager Nate Thomas, who passed last offseason after battling a long illness. He would have graduated this year. Nate's dad, mom and sister were in attendance, as were many other friends/family members, and some wonderful words were said about Nate. The older Nate Thomas was a guard for Roman in the late '80s and holds a special place in Cahillite annals. Why? Well, in one of those seasons, Roman traveled to Hawaii for a Christmas tournament and Mr. Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna made the journey. And Nate did an all-time imitation of the famous Puckster!! Not sure if the video is still out there somewhere, but it was beyond hilarious. If I remember correctly, Nate put on his show while the team was waiting for boats to take everyone back to shore from the USS Arizona Memorial, in Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile . . . On that same trip, when the Cahillites were in the airport, about to head home, the check-in process was taking too long for The Puckster's liking, so he blurted out, as only he could, "What? Dey tink we gotta bomb?" He's lucky he's still not in jail over there (smile). Roman's then-principal, a priest, had to explain to the authorities that Puck is, um, unique/nutty, and definitely was not trying to cause any trouble. The police evaluated the Puckster some more and reached the same conclusion. The Cahillites' traveling party then headed home.

FEB. 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 73, Lansdale Catholic 41
  The game wasn't competitive, so we'll throw out numerous Tedbits to hopefully entertain you. In no special order; as they come to me . . . Dan Spinelli went head to head with Dan Spinelli. Son is one of La Salle's student managers, as well as a reporter for this website. Dad is an assistant to LC coach Ed Enoch. Son said before the game, "I love my dad, but La Salle can't afford to lose." . . . La Salle's students did a great job supporting a 10-year-old special needs kid named Sam Quinn, an honorary captain via Athletes Helping Athletes. At halftime, at least 30 times, Sam tried to make underhand shots from close range. He only made two (maybe three?), but the kids exploded in glee each time he succeeded. Very nice, guys! . . . Early in the game, the refs thought one of LC's players might have had a bloody nose. A La Salle student yelled, "(So-and-so) has a Band-Aid! It's used, though. Kinda gross." . . . Seven La Salle players wound up scoring, in perfect harmony, 12-11-10-9-8-7-6 points (and four others combined to flesh out the scorebook). In order: Malik Janifer, Steve Smith, Pat Cooney, Amar Stukes, Jon Naji, Ryan Winslow and Alex Cuoci . . . Cuoci and sub Jalen Herdsman had dunks . . . Winslow, who's bound for Pitt to punt, fell hard, exactly on his entire back, after trying to block a shot. The incident was VERY scary, but he was able to get up and walk off the court after having his left knee examined by trainer Dave Crowe . . . Naji, a football standout, was treated like a rock star while shooting 4-for-4 for his eight points; he added a rebound, two steals and a blocked shot. The La Salle guys always beg coach Joe Dempsey to put Naji on the floor and when Jon was having his fun moments, one of the kids yelled over toward the bench, "See what you've been missing, Demp!" I told Joe about that line after the game and he said, "Those kids ARE witty." . . . Meanwhile, the kids were rooting "against" Stukes, in all kinds of playful ways, because they don't want him to reach 1,000 career points before Sunday's Senior Day tilt with Carroll. The nine lifted his total to 974 and Friday night's game will be at Ryan. Thanks to Joe Parisi, La Salle's AD (and baseball coach, of course) for providing the early tip about what was going on. Joe knows how things work, and for years he has been tremendous about providing background info that'll make for good stories . . . Bob Long, who has also written for this site, was in the house. Check out HIS cool site: boblongsports.com . . . OK, a little bit on the game: Stukes also had seven assists and four steals. Janifer hit two treys while adding three assists. For LC, jr. CG Andrew Riviello hit one trey per quarter en route to 14 points while sr. WG Jim Rock mixed eight points with four assists and two steals . . . Major props to John Steinmetz, La Salle's defensive coordinator. He drove jr. LB Zaire Franklin all the way out to Pitt for an unofficial visit. How nice is that?! VERY!! . . . Almost everyone asked me why I'd decided to cover this game. The truth: I would have gone to West-O'Hara, but for whatever reason it was moved to Tuesday night. Oh, welllllll . . .

FEB. 4
NON-LEAGUE
Robeson 84, Lamberton 67
  It's not too often a team gathers for a celebratory pic after a basically meaningless non-league win. Ah, but Robeson is ticketed to close (as is Lamberton) and this was the last home in the Huskies' gym, so a release of emotion was understandable. Robeson will hit the road in tomorrow's preliminary round of the Pub playoffs (at GAMP) while Lamberton will play Elverson at Shepard Rec. Since neither team has anyone remotely considered a true inside player in its starting lineup, and since Robeson's court is not exactly as long as, say, the Ben Franklin Bridge, this was up and down throughout and three guys rarely touched the ball in the same possession. No problem. The teams were frisky and there were some interesting performances. Robeson's headliner, in part because he mostly avoided foul trouble, was jr. SF Jihaad Fluellen. He showed pretty good bounce and fluellen-idity while totaling 24 points and 19 rebounds. He also got semi-scolded by his mom (ha ha) during a late timeout. As coach Rob Powlen and assistants Adrian "Pinky" Burke and Greg Penn discussed strategy away from the bench area, Mom walked over and told Son, "Tuck in your shirt!" You'd better believe he obeyed. Jr. G LeRon Epps did have to miss a decent chunk of time, but managed to generate 17 points (three treys) and three steals. Sr. WG L.J. Crenshaw was an early terror, collecting 12 points and six rebounds in the first half. The foul bug bit him, too. Sr. SF Raymond "Usher" Jefferson, of U. City football fame (as a wideout), had six points and four steals. Sr. PG DeJuan Buttler, who got very emotional during the pregame ceremony for the seniors, dished six assists. Frosh swingman Jelani Mauge made all four of his shots for eight points. Frosh G Gus Sephes, who appears to have good potential, posted a quick five points to seal the deal, getting a layup and then a three-point play off a steal. For Lamberton, sr. WG-SF Loavel Summerville, an impressive skywalker, pounded home a dunk off an alley-oop pass and drained three treys, as well. He had 20 points, seven boards and four steals. Sr. PG Kevin Cooper mixed 12 points and five assists. Jr. WG Darell Ellis, who shot early and often, wound up with 21 points. Sr. WG Anthony Fagan managed 14 points, but struggled from beyond the arc (2-for-14). Robeson's gym reeked to high heaven. The place smelled like 100 wet/muddy football uniforms had been left in there for three months. I hope the reason for the smell wasn't mold because the health of people who work in there every day could be in jeopardy. Absolutely brutal. I'm writing this report in La Salle's auditorium. The Explorers host Lansdale Catholic tonight. Not anticipating a classic, but you never know . . .

FEB. 3
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 62, SJ Prep 58
  Some football game's on TV right now, but there's a report to be done! Ha, ha. I can glance up every once in a while. Roman's gym was nearly full even 20 minutes before the start of the noontime JV game and, in time, not even nooks and crannies were spared. What'd everyone see? Not quite an all-time classic, but this game was definitely worth watching and sweaty palms were joined by nail-biting down the stretch and that's always the goal, right? We'll flash right to THE biggest moment. With 23.2 seconds left, jr. WG Rashann London hit two free throws to stake Roman to a three-point lead. Threes cannot be shot from the corner in Roman's skinny gym, of course, so a trio of sr. guards -- Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame), Miles Overton (Wake Forest) and P.J. Kelly -- stood out front beyond the arc and whipped the ball back and forth, and forth and back as the seconds ticked off. Finally, with six remaining, Overton lofted a trey from a shade to the right of dead-on. The ball hit nothing and went over the baseline at 2.8; possession to Roman. The response from nearby Prep fans, and from the coaches across the way, was intense. They were positive that the shot had been tipped by soph F TreVaughn Wilkerson, who'd jumped toward Overton. The nearby ref deserves credit. He could have easily ignored everyone and headed downcourt with an attitude, as if to say, "Hell with you people. I saw what I saw and that's it." Instead, he asked for help from the ref who'd been on the opposite side. Had he seen a deflection? Nope. The call stood and sr. WG Matt Simon drained the front end of a double-bonus at 2.1 to end it. Later, Wilkerson said he HAD tipped the ball. A Roman assistant kidded that Wilkerson gave that answer only because he wanted the block for his stats. Hey, who knows? I can only ask questions. Not strap guys to a lie detector (smile). The end became so dramatic because the Hawks rallied hard after falling into a 55-46 hole with 2:50 left. Four times they got points in threebie bunches thanks a trey by Vasturia and three-point plays by Overton, Vasturia and soph F Chris Clover, who is becoming more and more authoritative. Roman used a combination of man and zones to frustrate the Prep. And on a smaller court, Vasturia and Overton did not have as much room to completely do their thing. Vasturia had 22 points, but went 7-for-20 from the floor. Overton (13) went 5-for-22. Each guy experienced lengthy dry spells as Vasturia missed nine shots in a row and Overton went through a stretch with one make in 11 attempts. In man, London mostly played Vasturia, and he was impressive at the other end, too, shooting 5-for-9 and 11-for-13 for 21 points while adding four assists. Also, he made lots of nifty plays that led to free throws for soph C Manny Taylor (17 points, 11 rebounds) and others. He also showed some spunk. Once, he and Overton were gettin' after it and, finally, Rashann stuck a jumper in Miles' face. As he backpedaled downcourt, Rashann shook his head from side to side as if to say, "Don't even think about trying to stop me." Late in the game, meanwhile, Overton made a pass that led to Stevie V's three-point play and roared toward Roman's student rooters, perched on the stage, "Let's go!! . . . Let's go!!" Roman soph PG Traci Carter was out with an ankle injury, so jr. CG Shep Garner mostly ran the show. Check out this crazy coincidence: Until 5:13 remained, according to sidekick Amauro Austin, Garner and Wilkerson had NO stats aside from points. That was when Shep made a steal, then got fouled. He missed both shots and Wilkerson grabbed an offensive rebound. Garner entered with 997 points. He had an early regular, then swished a buzzer-beating trey at the end of the first quarter, lifting his total to 1,002. Congrats, Shep! (Kudos also go to his mom, who sang the National Anthem.) With Simon starting in place of Carter, more minutes were available for jr. F Carnell McGirt and he came through with seven rebounds. The Prep's feel-good performance of the day belonged to jr. WG-SF (by default) Kyle Thompson, who had five points, three assists and nine rebounds; all of those boards were posted beyond halftime. The DN story had some fun with Roman's cheesesteak promotion, as backed by coach Chris McNesby. Afterward, the players wolfed some down, as well. A few times when the Hawks shot free throws, a chubby kid right behind the basket pulled up his shirt and jiggled his belly rolls. Even the Prep fans were laughing at that one. There was a nice moment right before the game: Joe Driscoll, a former Roman player and 1942 grad (first team All-Catholic as a senior; I checked the list on some website -- smile), was presented a No. 24 jersey. He received a nice round of applause from everyone.

FEB. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Lincoln 59, Swenson 56
  OK, so this wasn't exactly Gene Banks and West Philly vs. Rasheed Wallace and Gratz. But I have NO complaints. The kids played hard and unselfishly and the outcome was still in doubt until the very last instant. Holla! Lots to like about Lincoln's frosh PG, Blair Bowes. He's smart and instinctive with decent feet and a good shooting touch/range, plus he can use his left hand. He made a handul of correct, last-instant decisions, even in heavy traffic while collecting 11 points, three assists and four steals. Another jr., WG Raymond Fred, also had some good moments and was pretty light on his feet, not to mention fearless (despite his skinny frame). Sr. F Khalil Outen bagged six points and seven rebounds in the first quarter. Sr. PF Adonis Rosario posted 12 points and six boards. Swenson's headliner was sr. WG D'Andre Parmley. He came right down the middle on a break and registered a SERIOUS wolf-down and his passionate play enabled the Lions to battle WAY back into contention when it appeared the deep subs would finish out the game. Fifteen of his 18 points and many of his other stats came in the second half. Overall, he claimed eight rebounds while adding three assists, seven steals and three blocks. His face featured a never-ending sneer to scowl and he really meant business. Sr. PG Dervin Buckery also came to life, big time, in the second half, and he was just as brassy as Parmley (despite being much smaller). He posted 14 points and two assists. Bowes knocked down both ends of a double-bonus with 6.8 seconds remaining and Swenson had to go for a tie with a trey. Jr. WG Naykwon Phillips missed from the top of the key and the ball fell to the left side. Parmley grabbed it and headed for the left corner as the clock approached zero. His shot did not connect, as Rosario and Bowes provided leap-toward-him defense. Today's legend award goes to Pat Durkin, Swenson's former coach. He turned out, mainly, to see Parmley and Buckery, guys he'd coached last season.