JAN. 29
PUBLIC C
Audenried 66, Masterman 61
  Nice atmosphere at this one. Congrats to the Audenried folks. A decent amount of spectators witnessed the game and the senior players/cheerleaders were honored beforehand. That's almost always a staple at teams' final home football game, but it doesn't always take place along the basketball trail. Shortly into the game there was a VERY freaky moment. Coach Dave Pauley, of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, was standing right next to my chair along the baseline, and he happened to mention he was checking out Audenried sr. G Jameer Johnson. No more than ONE second after Dave said, "All he does is make the right play," Johnson fired a bounce pass through traffic toward the right block. Easy layup! Further proof: Dave is the Man! (smile) DN ink went to sr. WG Qaadir Nock, who shot 8-for-13 overall and 4-for-9 on treys for 20 points. He's a three-year mainstay for the Rockets and will sniff 1,000 career points. (Before the game, coach Wali Smith provided boxscores for two games that had not been reported.) Nock is a springy jump-shooter with a quick release and expects to attend a prep school somewhere in the D.C./Virginia area so he can, hopefully, stir some D-I interest. I'm not saying he's nearly as good, but his game does resemble Tyrone Garland's. With added weight and strength, who knows? Sr. PF Thomas "T.J." Thompkins (11), jr. CF Kerry Scott and Johnson (10 apiece) also scored in double figures for the Rockets. Scott (15) and Thompkins (eight) led in rebounds while sr. PG Tyreese Allen distributed eight assists. Also, sr. G Kylil Harris had all seven of his points and three of his four steals down the stretch. Though the officiating was shaky, and Masterman coach John Gannon had every right to be occasionally livid, the Blue Dragons lost this one because they often could not throw the ball in the ocean. The top two players, sr. Gs Mike Sturdivant and Gary Bryant, went a combined 13-for-44 from the floor and five guys joined unimpressive forces to go 8-for-19 at the line in the last quarter. Sturdivant is like an old-school Pub player, the type who would go to the hole again and again and dare people to stop him. He can hit the three also, though. One of the state schools was in the house to catch his act. Bryant missed his first eight shots and some did not come remotely close. He never could find a groove. The one true inside player, sr. C Jack Christmas, totaled 16 points and 20 rebounds while sr. Harry Taggart, a PF by default, worked like crazy to snag 16 boards. He took just two shots (both on follows) and made one. Sr. G Malcolm Carrington had four steals. Masterman kept hangin' around and hangin' around and Sturdivant restored drama with a late trey, cutting the lead to three (at 64-61). Allen stepped to the line and converted a one-and-one at 5.4. Ballgame. Marvin Stinson, former star WG at Dobbins, is an assistant at Audenried. He buttered me up pretty nice to one of the Rockets. Ha, ha. Thanks, Marvin. Good luck over there!

JAN. 28
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 65, Conwell-Egan 53
  Wow, wow and wow some more! It's now 11:30 and I still can't believe what happened in this game. Wood nailed its first EIGHT attempts from beyond the arc, all in the FIRST quarter. Think about it. There are many occasions when teams don't make eight consecutive layups in warmups. Yet, the Vikings succeeded again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again (that's eight agains, right? -- smile) from Three-Point Land with assorted hands in their faces. Well, not always in their faces, but at least nearby. At halftime, I called the office and asked statmaster Boop Vetrone if he had time to do some digging. Colleges don't play quarters, but the NBA does, of course, and here's what he found after flipping through the NBA record book. That league's record for threes in one quarter is 11 (accomplished four times). Guess what? Wood's sniping is more impressive!! NBA quarters are 12 minutes long. The high school versions are eight minutes. So, Wood averaged one trey per minute and no NBA team has ever done that! Jr. WG Pat Smith led the way with five triples while jr. PG Tommy Rush, sr. F-C Shane Neher and soph WG Cody Fitzpatrick added one apiece. In all, the Vikings launched nine treys in that quarter and the first and only miss was by Fitzpatrick with 1:14 remaining. Again, truly amazing! Smith added two more (in the fourth quarter) while finishing with 30 points. In all, he sniped 7-for-13 on treys. The team was 11-for-21 and the one not mentioned already was hit in the second quarter by jr. WG Eric Walsh, son of coach Jack Walsh. The interview with Smith focused solely on shooting and basketball in general for maybe the first five minutes, and then I asked whether he would like to discuss the recent passing of his father. He did and their relationship -- dad as demanding shooting instructor; son as willing and relentlessly dedicated pupil -- became the focal point of the story. Like everyone, let me wish Pat and his family the best of luck going forward, and I appreciate the fact that he felt comfortable enough to address the subject in depth . . . Meanwhile, at halftime there was something that could have produced an even more amazing development than the eight treys. Impossible, you say? Probably so, but have a listen, OK? Maybe 15 kids, who are already registered to attend C-E next school year, were given a chance to have their first-year tuition cut in half!! From roughly $6,000 to $3,000. "All" they had to do was hit a half-court shot. From behind a bunch of small orange cones, most did regular heaves while a few settled for baseball-type throws. Almost all shots missed badly. But one kid's effort -- Seth somebody? -- hit the right side of the rim. Phew! I was at the far end of the gym, taking pics. Doing the rebounding was C-E's athletic director, Ray O'Hara. After that one shot came close, I'm pretty sure Ray said, if I read his lips correctly, "Can you hear my heart?" As in, almost pounding its way through his chest (smile). The halftime score was 40-21, but C-E began the final 16 minutes with a nice, little run, fueled mostly by sr. CG Mike Kelly. He scored seven of his nine points in those early moments and the Eagles scrambled within eight. The drama was short-lived, however, and the lead was back to 14 by the end of the quarter. Smith added four rebounds and three blocked shots while two subs, soph F Luke Connaghan and sr. F T.J. Kuhar, were the rebound leaders with six and five, respectively. Rush distributed four assists. Freshman C Vinny Dalessandro (13) and frosh CG-F LaPri Pace (12) led C-E in scoring. Pace, in fact, posted all 10 of the Eagles' first quarter points. The late-game headliner was sr. F Uriah St. Lewis, who hustled for a pair of buckets. Ambur Guidotti, the gal who sang the National Anthem, was incredible. Perfect rendition! She's a 2012 C-E grad. The lighting in the gym was horrible. That'll soon be fixed, according to O'Hara and C-E's president, Janet Dollard. Also, the school is about start a sports Hall of Fame and info on that will soon be posted on the calendar page. As always, it was great to see former baseball boss Rich Papirio, who handles PA duties. Oh, and here's a final tidbit that I absolutely swear is true. In the basement at C-E, there's a bathroom stall, with a door that can be closed, that includes a toilet AND a urinal. I kid you not. A toilet AND a urinal. In the SAME stall. That might be more legendary than eight consecutive treys in one quarter or the chance to slice your tuition in half (smile).

JAN. 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 61, McDevitt 58
  Though this game came down to a last shot, perhaps it wasn't even the best played today in Mickey D's gym. How so? The JV tilt was a classic! The young'-uns went at it hard and how often do you see 143 points in a JV contest? McDevitt won, 74-69, and if the Lancers' coaches want to send along the names of the leading scorers, they'll be added here.
 McDevitt's JV scorers, courtesy of coach Dave Luby . . .

  The varsity contest was semi-strange. McDevitt got crunched on the boards, 38-21, and its best player, jr. F Tyrell Long, had to settle for 11 points before fouling out with 2:45 remaining, and it even trailed by eight points two different times late into the contest, but . . hey, it was one of those days. DN ink went to soph PF-C Manny Taylor, who packed 15 of his 17 points into the second half and scored exclusively on follows or layups off dump-in passes. He's a thick dude and the Lancers flat-out could not prevent him from imposing his will once he convinced his teammates and coaches to give him the damn ball! Ha, ha, ha. He did have to beg a little. Taylor, exclusively a hoopster before this school year, now plays football as well and it'll be interesting to see what path his sporting life takes. He added 11 rebounds and was outdone only by his teammate/good buddy, soph F TreVaughn Wilkerson (15). Jr. CG Shep Garner had 20 points (10-for-10 at line) and four assists and was spectacular in a couple of stretches. Uncommonly, he also made a couple curious decisions that bordered on gunning. Jr. WG Rashann London seemed headed for a big day until he picked up his second foul 6:50 before halftime. He never did regain his stride, though he did manage 12 points. For McDevitt, T. Long and sr. F Carl Garner halved 22 points while sr. PG Kenyatta Long posted nine. But THE man for the Lancers was sub sr. WG Rashawn Green. The game was thisclose to becoming a rout in the second quarter when Green sniped the Lancers back into it. He buried consecutive treys from the corner and then stepped out to the top of the key (left) and . . . bang again! The sequence was very cool and the fans were going nuts. Such heroics are special no matter who supplies them, of course, but when it's a lesser light . . . Just seems better, right? Green wasn't the only non-star to came up huge, and with that we'll recap the nitty-gritty: sr. WG Tyreek Fairfax, another sub, drained a trey at 1:10 along with three free throws at 26.8. Soon, Fairfax was hitting the somehow-unguarded K. Long for a layup at 0:09 and the deficit was one. Garner made both ends of a double-bonus at 7.9 to push the lead back to three. McDevitt had to go the length of the court. Green wound up with the ball on the right wing, maybe three feet behind the arc. He uncorked a trey, with Carter flying at him, and the ball did one of those duh-duh jobs, glancing off the near part of the rim before skidding off the far part. Imagine if that baby had succeeded and the Lancers had emerged from OT with the win. I wonder if McDevitt has ever beaten Roman? For decades, of course, they were members of different divisions, so any meetings would have been non-league contests. Not sure if I can do complete research on this, but if an answer can be determined, it'll be posted here later. Maybe in the late '60s? . . . ***UPDATE: Well, McDevitt has at least one win over Roman in its 50 years of CL membership. And guess what? It goes back to the very first season! The two played a non-league game in December 1963 and McDevitt won, 59-56. They also played in the 1961-62 school year, when McDevitt was still in what was called the Suburban Catholic League, and the Lancers took that tilt, 50-38. Not sure beyond that.*** The other day, after watching a non-league tilt at Cohocksink RC, I posted a pic of the boards that run along the north end of the facility and mentioned that they're there for floor hockey. Innnnnnncorrect! They're there for indoor soccer. Thanks to Roman's former (and wildly successful) basketball coach, Dennis Seddon, for the heads up. Dennis formerly worked at Cohox, as it's called. Winner of the Legendary Spectator of the Day contest was Sean Woods. Sean was a VERY talented writer for this site during his days as a McDevitt student (class of '03) and still wouldn't mind finding a job in journalism. His brother, Kevin, a junior, is the starting point guard for Upper Dublin, so Sean has mostly been hitting the Suburban One hoops trail. Great to see you, Sean! Click here to see an example of Sean's writing/humor skills from the 2003-04 season.

JAN. 24
PUBLIC B
Gratz 64, Southern 61
  Several things to mention before we get to game details. Andre Griffin, a star forward for Gratz' title teams in '90 and '91, is now the Bulldogs' coach. He guided the squad in the beginning of the season as Aron Cohen spent time on administrative leave. Cohen then returned, but he and the school have parted ways and that leaves Griffin in charge. Southern, meanwhile, has only THREE of its students on the squad. Southern is in year No. 2 of a cooperative sponsorship with Furness, which no longer has a varsity program, and nine of the Rams are Furness students. The last two are members of a credit-recovery program that's housed in Southern's building. However, when those students earn their diplomas, the listed school will be the one they originally attended. Also, Southern's squad has FIVE lefties, one short of the acknowledged city record held by -- drum roll, please -- Southern's 1982 squad. Three guys -- soph F Jamir Lomax, sr. F Kelvin Bain and sr. PF-C Ralik Wise -- were starters and a fourth (sr. F Jamil Stokes) saw significant playing time off the bench. The fifth lefty is sr. G Dwi Limantaro, a deep sub who saw no action. As for the game . . . very good! But it was very distressing to see so few people (maybe 40?) in the stands. Back in the day, and even just a few years ago, the place would have been packed, or close to it. But I guess the indifference on the part of Southern's student body is understandable since so few of the players are familiar to them. Oh, well. DN ink went to sr. WG Donte' Winfield, who played last season for Palmer and has become quite the polished sniper. He went 5-for-7 on treys en route to 25 points and also drained all six of his free throws. He and fellow sr. G Dashante "DJ" Alexander (ex-Lamberton star) are similar players and, it turns out, they work out daily for hours and hours on end. Alexander had 12 points while jr. PG Malik Tyndale (11) and sr. WG Shaakir Gibbs (10) also reached double figures. Gratz has very little height, but a jr. F Qasim White has some weight and huge gonads and, boy, did he earn widespread respect. He took four charges and could have logged two more if whistles (for other stuff) had not intervened shortly beforehand. This was likely the brassiest charge-taking performance I've ever seen. Great job! Southern's headliner was Wise, who's strong and listed at 6-5. Big Steve and I got into it a little about Ralik's outing. Steve was saying, "Gratz is so small. He's not doing this against anybody." True, the Bulldogs are small. But I was impressed with Wise's footwork, not just his power, and more than once he smoothly maneuvered his way around smaller guys who should have been quicker. Also, Wise once soared into the picture -- from out of NOWHERE -- to block a right-corner shot. Wise accumulated 25 points and 22 rebounds. Another star was sr. WG Wayne Brunson, better known for his football exploits (first team All-City running back). He's solid and athletic and totaled 15 points (two treys) along with three steals. Alas, Wise (top of key, slightly left) and Brunson (left corner, after getting the rebound and running back out beyond the arc) missed treys in the waning moments while trying to force OT. Small sr. PG Robert Leonard had six assists and three steals. It was good to see the three guys who are working hard to support coach Doreen Coleman, who celebrated her birthday today and was feted by the team right before the game. Ex-Rams boss George Anderson is back to help out while ex-player Arthur "Bunky" Russell and film guy Bill Williams are continuing their lengthy associations with the program. For the moment, Griffin is going it alone. Let's hope someone steps forward to help him. This was game No. 2 in his second stint as the coach.

JAN. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Carroll (Pub) 68, Douglas 60
  It's not too often you can attend a basketball game and wonder whether someone will wind up in the penalty box. You see, this game was played at Cohocksink RC, in Port Richmond, and boards run the length of the court on both sides (maybe 6 feet) beyond the sideline because floor hockey is one of popular activities. Nah, no one received a penalty for boarding. One or two guys might have bumped slightly against the board on the north side (main entrance) after trying to save loose balls, but nothing major happened. This meeting was the teams' second of the season and likely their last since the School District has tabbed both for extinction. Carroll also won the first one, which counted in the Division E standings. The main attraction was Carroll jr. CG Jamier Cross, who now needs just 20 points for 1,000. Coach Mike Gardner mentioned that Cross is actually a senior in terms of eligibility and would have to win an appeal to spend another year somewhere else in the Pub. Jamier's current thought, Gardner said, is to go the prep-school route. He finished with 29 points while always going forward and making snappy plays, both for himself and others. After much thought, I'm thinking he most compares with Philly Electric sr. G Steven Griffin, formerly of Judge. A few times he hit turn-away, turn-back jumpers, eeeeeeeasily drilled a very deep three at the end of the third quarter and converted an alley-oop pass for a guide-it-in layup. There was lots of congestion in the lane, but he soared amidst it and impressively made the play. Cross shot 12-for-21 (one trey) and 4-for-6 while adding three assists and four steals. In the first half, the most impressive player on the court was sr. WG Josue Falu (ho-sway fah-lou). He made the correct decision pretty much every time he touched the ball, whether the situation called for a shot or a pass to Cross/others. Beyond halftime he forced things a little, so if someone taped the first half, that's the one to send to coaches (smile). He managed 16 points and four assists. The only semi-tall player, soph F-C Jerome Blume, had 12 points, 14 boards and three blocks. In two years, he could be the next Jameal Tucker (talented senior for Palumbo), if not more. He got off his feet pretty quickly. Jr. WG Tylor Colville had four points and eight boards and, guess what, he's the first Pub white boy to score in my presence this season! (ha ha). His one field goal came on a lefthanded layup. Tylor said he's good buddies with former N-G sniper Billy Shank. Sr. G Johnny Richardson had six boards and sr. G Jose Rios provided good bench energy with four steals and three assists. Sr. PG Jaquan Hayward wound up leading Douglas with 22 points and he whirlwinded his way through the fourth quarter with 15 of those. The game was more up tempo at that point, and defense was more of a rumor, and he took full advantage. Sr. F Basheer Hairston and soph F Eric Johnson scored 10 points apiece. Johnson also did MUCH more with 13 rebounds and eight steals. Hairston added 10 boards, four steals and three blocks. Douglas' bench-energy guy was soph SF David Otero. In the first half, especially, he wound up in the middle of positive moments. It's nice to finally meet guys you only "know" through emails and today that meant Gardner (he teaches at FLC) and Will McKant (Douglas). Christopher McKant, Will's brother, is one of his assistants. They both attended Bishop McDevitt. Ours, not the Harrisburg version. One of the refs, Frank Harte, introduced himself as the nephew of Dan Dougherty, the all-time coaching legend formerly of Malvern and Episcopal (among other stops). Frank joked that he's not sure Uncle Dan likes him, since he never liked refs (ha ha). Also got to meet Jerry Gaul, who's the boss at Cohocksink. His son, Gerald, works for Philly.com and I only know him via email, also. On Friday nights, stories are sent to him (and/or others) for posting on the website.

JAN. 20
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
McDevitt 64, Judge 61
  This game offered a perfect example of how important quality three-point shooting can be. Judge looked like Ryan! (And Ryan coach Bernie Rogers was in attendance, doing some scouting.) The Crusaders nailed 10 treys and here's an all-time oddity: Sr. WG-SF Jeff Seigafuse hit five (in seven attempts) for 15 of his 25 points, and he'd never managed more than 13 in a varsity game. Sr. F-C (by default) Brandon McGuire and soph sub G Aaron Higgins hit two apiece and sr. CG Sean Hanna, who's usually the team's most effective sniper, settled for one. Sorry for starting off with Judge data, McDevitt folks, but the nailing of 10 treys in one game is a pretty cool occurrence. Oh, here's another oddity: jr. F-C Tyrell Long scored McDevitt's first nine points of the game. Then, as the second half started, sr. SF Carl Garner scored 10 of the Lancers' first 11 points thanks to two apiece of regulars and treys; he'd only posted two points (on free throws) in the first half. Meanwhile, if you're wondering why Seigafuse exploded to such a degree, the reason was foul trouble for McGuire. He incurred his second personal just 2:53 into the game and sat for the rest of the half. The open looks instead went to Seigafuse and, boy, did he ever respond! It's always fun to see a kid have "the game of his life" (which I'm guessing this was) and congrats go out to Jeff. DN ink could have gone to any of three Lancers, but the sweepstakes winner (smile) was sr. PG Kenyatta Long, a four-year starter and participant in all but ONE game through all that time. The peppery lefty had 10 points, six assists and nine rebounds (yes, nine; he's 5-7), and he did a fine job of not only maintaining control but milking hot hands. Tyrell Long turned in a wonderful performance with 26 points (10-for-15, 6-for-7), nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals. At halftime, I noticed Garner having a short talk with someone who looked like his facial double (except older). Whatever tips were relayed certainly worked as he shot 5-for-7 (three treys) and 5-for-7 in the second half. He also had six total rebounds. Sr. G Tyreek Fairfax was efficient while scoring eight points and sr. G Tymere Wilder was an all-out defensive pest against Judge's much taller Malik Robinson. After scoring 11 points in the first half, Robinson finished with 13 (along with six boards). Hanna and Higgins halved 16 points while McGuire managed seven. As far as pertinent play-by-play goes, T. Long canned a follow to break a 43-43 tie as the third quarter ended. He opened the fourth with a layup off a hard drive along the left baseline and soon K. Long, oh my, with no Crusader seemingly paying attention, was making an uncontested layup off an inbound pass from Wilder. Garner then drained a three-pointer and McDevitt led, 52-43. Even with 48 seconds left, the Lancers still owned a seven-point pad, at 58-51, thanks to two free throws by Fairfax. But triples by Seigafuse, Higgins and Seigafuse again lit up the gym thereafter and the spread was only three after T. Long missed the back end of a double-bonus at 3.9. Judge's last gasp was a trey by Seigafuse from a spot toward the scorers' table and maybe two steps inside halfcourt. We didn't get to see it swish, clang off the rim, bruise the backboard, whatever. The shot was deflected by the soaring T. Long. Long-time website stalwart Jon "Duck" Gray was able to join me on the stat-helping trail today and his presence made the afternoon extra enjoyable. Thanks for taking the time, Duck. As for the guy whose nickname rhymes with Duck, click here (ha ha).

JAN. 19
SHOWCASE EVENT IN MASSACHUSETTS
Neumann-Goretti 63, Orlando Christian Prep 40
  By the latter stages of this one, only two questions needed answers. Would John Mastrando make it onto the court? If so, would he nail a trey? The answers: Yes and yes! Mastrando, a sr. WG, is just outside N-G's rotation, but if a win is assured coach Carl Arrigale tries to get him into the game and the other guys love watching him bomb away. Today's trey was launched from the right corner, and it was perfect. OCP is a long-time power in Florida. Guess what? N-G is a long-time power in Philly. Our Guys rolled. The Saints led throughout, taking great care of the ball and thriving in transition. Often in high school games, dunks don't take place until the latter moments of one-sided affairs. But of N-G's five, three were posted in the second quarter. No. 1 belonged to sixth man Jamal Custis, a jr. F who stars in football and whose senior brother, Sharif, has committed to UMass for that same sport. Impressive it was, too! Custis made a steal and drove about two-thirds of the way downcourt before uncorking his pow! Sr. F-C John Davis (from sr. PG Hanif Sutton) and jr. Tony Toplyn (also from Sutton) had the other throwdowns. Davis was especially terrific in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second quarter, posting four rebounds and two blocks in addition to his flush. The second half pretty much belonged to jr. WG Ja'Quan Newton. Aside from scoring 13 of his 17 points, he notched four of his six rebounds and two of his four assists. By the way, Custis took just five shots and made them all -- 4-for-4 floor, 1-for-1 line. Davis finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Sutton dealt four assists. Toplyn was almost perfect, shooting-wise (3-for-4, 1-for-1, seven points). Soph WG Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble, who's known mostly for sniping, had just five points (one trey), but contributed three apiece of assists/steals. Jr. WG Troy Harper, the seventh man, also had some good moments. His best was the Saints' final dunk, which he uncorked in backward fashion! This game was played with a 30-second shot clock, though it didn't seem to have any effect. It was aired on thebasketballchannel.net and the broadcast was kind of primitive. Through the first quarter, the sound only worked when a floor-level camera was being used. But the announcer's voice was tinny. When the upstairs camera was being used? No sound. Those two issues were fixed later. In the fourth quarter, my ancient laptop started downloading virus-protection software and that . . . made . . . the . . . video . . . slow . . . down . . . like . . . crazy. Ugh! Very frustrating. Thankfully, the downloading didn't last too long. The wife arrived home from errand-running during the second half and I convinced her to pose for a pic watching the game on the laptop. Of course, she had to approve it before allowing it to be posted. You know women . . . (smile).

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner-Prendie 55, West Catholic 52 (OT)
  This was my first look at West this season and, truthfully, there were some strange goings-on. When the players were gathering for the team pic in the locker room, there was absolutely no juice. Guys usually joke around during the setup period, and sometimes debate whether to smile or not smile, etc. It was like a morgue in there. Then, early in the game, a B-P player inbounded and the guy defending him stood there almost dead still. Say what? Guys almost always hop around, frantically wave their arms, something. Not this time. The defender merely stood there and if I say he moved his arms one-tenth of an inch, I'm probably exaggerating. OK, I understand that marching through a difficult season is not easy. But when you're playing a team in a similar boat, shouldn't the energy level be UP there? In time, thankfully, the aura improved and the Burrs joined B-P in gettin' after it. Notice we didn't say gettin' after it in pristine fashion (smile) because large portions of the game were sloppy. But overall, I have no complaints because the stretch run of regulation was interesting and the tilt went OT, so that's cool, right? Cyber attention went to sr. SF Christian Summers, of football fame AND basketball fame (at least when I'm in attendance -- ha ha). Once again he turned in a special performance with 23 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and four steals, and he combined with sr. F-C Pat Vanderslice, who's bound for Temple for baseball (RHP), for all 10 of the Friars' extra-session points. Aside from skill, Summers has a certain take-no-cwap edge (as Puck would say) and that's always good to see (if not taken too far). Summers did wind up sitting down for a while after exchanging quick shoves with West jr. PG Anwar Epps. Luckily for B-P, Vanderslice was not jinxed by my presence this time. He shot 7-for-17 (one trey) and 3-for-4 for his 18 points, and added six rebounds. He played on the balls of his feet and constantly went forward, which was good to see. Sr. PF-C Nick Czibik had six boards and four assists while Tyler Higgins, a 6-4 soph, snatched five rebounds off the bench. For West, soph combo F Brandon Cole, who recently returned to duty after overcoming knee miseries, totaled 14 points and nine rebounds. Epps had 10 points, five assists and eight steals while jr. CG Torey Green (rather lean, like his grit, though) complemented nine points with seven rebounds and five thefts. With eight points and five rebounds, jr. combo F Jalil Branch also had good moments. With :38 showing in regulation, Summers' backdoor bucket on a pass from Czibik created a 45-45 tie. Just before that session's buzzer, Cole wound up missing a possible game-winner. In OT, West seized a 52-49 lead as sr. WG Chris Baysmore, a lefty sniper, hit a trey on pass from Branch. Summers hit a layup on a pass from Czibik at 1:13 and followed his miss for the game's next points at :24. Chasing a loose ball, Branch made a spectacular save by jumping over the baseline and whipping the ball back out top to Epps, who missed a trey. 'Slice snagged the board and converted a one-and-one at 4.5. Epps attempted another trey while trying to force OT, but could not connect. Among the spectators: Bonner ('84) all-timer Rod Blake, who now teaches at Bartram. He sat behind the Friars' bench and was brought into the locker room after the game by coach Tom Meakim, so he could be introduced to the players. Rod was one of the all-time contrast-interview guys. He would say almost nothing about himself, but would gush about his teammates. Also, he played the piano at his church and that was fodder for one story. (And the accompanying pic showed him doing just that.) Great to see you, Rod! And it would have been great to see you, too, Huck. (smile) The Burrs' long-time stat man has backed away this basketball season -- he does have a very active toddler -- and it was strange to cover a West game without interacting with him. Huck's best buddy, Matt "Cauls" McCauley, was present, however, and he went along with a request to pose for a pic that would mock Huck's absence (ha ha). Today's first stop was West Philly (four blocks away on the site of the ol' West Catholic boys' school) for the Speedboys' non-league game vs. Frankford. One problem: Frankford's bus never showed, so the squad hopped the El to get to West. After exchanging phone calls with Brian Fluck, I headed to WC for a quick photo session with Brian and Pitt-bound T Jaryd "Burger" Jones-Smith. I made it back to WP in plenty of time to catch the start of the game.

JAN. 16
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Ryan 59, McDevitt 50
  Ninety-nine divided by three is 33 and there's a message in there somewhere. In the first 99 seconds, Ryan was perfect on a trio of three-point attempts and -- kinda, but not really, of course -- the game was over then. Sr Gs Bryan Okolo, Gage Galeone and Tyler Reed, in order, did the mad bombing, which provided a 9-1 lead and forced McDevitt to abandon a 3-2 zone in favor of man-to-man. Though the Lancers are bigger than Ryan, and most of the guys have respectable feet, it's not easy to chase five guards for 32 minutes, especially when many of those guys are "on" and outstanding camaraderie is being displayed. To reinforce the notion that I wasn't completely serious above about the game being "over" so early, McDevitt did charge within 36-33 late in the third quarter on a follow by jr. F Tyrell Long. As it seemed to do all night, though, Ryan mounted a quick answer. Sr. G Shawn Miller converted a layup off Galeone's steal/pass combo and Reed then hit a trey. Into the fourth stanza, the Raiders added six of the next eight points and the capper was a right-wing trey by Galeone off a feed from Miller. Ballgame, for real. Meanwhile . . . Anyone have some disinfectant? The Puckster was in the house to tape the game for Roman and he needed to use my cellphone at halftime. I think a fungus is among us (in my ear - ha ha). DN ink went to Reed, a former (and future; in college) PG who's playing the wing this season because Galeone now occupies the point. Reed has always given off a man-of-few-words aura and I wasn't sure how the interview would go. He did great in terms of perception AND humor. Reed did most of his damage in a 30-22 first half, posting seven of his 12 points, two of his three rebounds and four of his five assists. Overall, Galeone and Okolo halved 32 points while Miller (10) also scored in double figures. Galeone added three assists and six steals. Okolo and Miller posted matching rebound totals (six) and jr. G Brendan Horan dished three assists. McDevitt was hurt by a decent number of in-and-out shots from close range. As the first ended, though, sr. F Carl Garner did swish a trey from halfcourt. Jr. F Tyrell Long (16), sr. PG Kenyatta Long (12; no relation) and Garner (10) reached double figures in points and T. Long snagged 10 rebounds. Sr. G Rashawn Green added some late juice with a trey and two steals. Rus Slawter, father of three Ryan athletes (Rus and Kyle previously; Austin is a frosh sub), reports that Horan is his next-door neighbor. Football coach Frank "Five" McArdle reports that some of his guys (he mentioned lineman Ed Bier and RB Jeremiah Agrio for sure; apologies if I'm forgetting someone else), could soon be committing to D-II schools. Niiiiiice! Also, how cool is this? Former website writer Phil Consalvo, who'll graduate from La Salle this spring, has already been hired as an assistant producer by Comcast SportsNet, where he's been serving as an intern. VERY happy for you, Phil! Go get 'em! Thanks to his dad, Phil, for that tidbit.

JAN. 15
PUBLIC C
Olney 37, Central 36
  This is too freaky. Earlier today, while researching the Speedy Morris Era at Roman, I came across a game result of 15-14! If I remember correctly, that tilt was played in 1970 and Roman guard Jim O'Brien, who later coached the Sixers, wasted gobs and gobs of time just dribbling the basketball because Speedy figured stall ball was his best chance to win. O'Hara rarely challenged O'Brien and wound up with a victory. So, what was today's halftime score? Central led, 10-9, on the "strength" (cough, cough) of a 4-0 second quarter. We kid you not. Olney was blanked during the second eight minutes. This game was hardly played at a stall ball pace. If the rim had been the size of an ocean, guys would have still been missing. Unbelievable. The teams shot 8-for-45 in the first half -- 16 misses for Central, 21 for Olney -- and finished 28-for-99 overall. The Trojans were 0-for-10 in that wicked second quarter and jr. PF Paulil Campbell bricked the only two free throws. Luckily, things got better and the stretch run was thoroughly enjoyable. A layup by sr. SF Romario Dorlus, off a pass from sr. WG Kyle Lafferty edged Central within 34-30 with 1:13 showing. Dorlus then hustled for a quick steal and layup at 1:04 and it was, oh, baby, buckle up! Following another Olney turnover, jr. PF-C Chris Bing converted a pass from Lafferty at :45 to make it 34-34. Eleven seconds later, Olney sr. CG Shakeem Stevens hit two free throws, but the second was wiped out because he stepped into the late too quickly. Lafferty followed his own miss at :16 and Central owned a one-point lead. Stevens then surveyed the situation from out front and barged right down the middle, hitting a flip shot at :07. The Lancers' last gasp featured a hard, right-angle drive by Dorlus, whose floater wound up being doubly contested. It did not connect. Stevens finished with 11 points and six rebounds, and he really favors drives. Sr. WG Charles Brown added 10 markers and hit two big buckets, both off feeds from sr. sub SF Terrel Kennedy, down the stretch. Sr. SF Ricardo Ferreira, another bench guy, scored all 10 of his points after halftime and -- stop the Internet! -- actually shot respectably (3-for-6, 4-for-4). Jr. F Tyheim Monroe claimed seven rebounds. Dorlus (11) was the lone double-figure Lancer. Soph Kahlil Williams (eight; decent strength), Dorlus and Rafferty (seven apiece) were tops in rebounds and the 6-5 Bing, who's thin and looks much taller, had three blocks. His long arms and decent footwork made the inside of Central's defense effective. Roughly 15 lights in Olney's gym aren't working, but there's a very bright light above the basket at the east end and that makes decent pics a possibility. Meanwhile, we often see LOTS of people leaving games toward the end. How about this? Almost EVERYBODY left one minute INTO the game. Know why? About 75 kids had been seated in the stands for a gym class. Since the teams were warming up, class was nixed and the kids sat in the stands. Once the class ended . . . outta here! Eleven people remained. Later, the "crowd" grew to about 50. And there appeared to be seven-eight security guards. AD Cindy Dougherty said only four were paid. Best moment of the day: seeing ol' friend Maureen "Rene" Fox, who teaches at Olney and, among other duties, is the yearbook advisor. She was in the gym to take pics. Hey, maybe she'll send us one for posting on the website. Maybe her next stop could be Sports Illustrated's photography department (smile) . . . Before the game, I took the team pics and soon Olney sr. PG Stanley Elie was asking (in maybe a Jamaican accent?), "Is that picture going to be online?" I told him, "Yes, at some point tonight." He responded, "That's good. I've been waiting so long for my picture to be online." Ha, ha, ha. Also, while cross-checking names, I showed Ferreira a copy of the roster and asked him, "Is that spelled right?" He said, "Ah, it's pretty close." Pretty much simultaneously, coach Ron Brown and I said to him that we wanted it to be right, not just close. He then pointed out that the last four letters should be "eira" and not "eria." We'll fix it, dude!

JAN. 14
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 67, SJ Prep 43
  Credit for how this report will start goes to Ned Dillon, a Prep grad who once served as a basketball manager. We had a short chat at halftime and Ned mentioned, "This is just like last year. We fell into big early holes against these guys." Today the Hawks' early deficit, after a dunk by jr. F Tony Toplyn, was 11-0, and that was exactly what it was last season at the Palestra in the Catholic League final. One gigundo difference. In that one, the Hawks rallied in admirable fashion and took N-G to overtime before falling, 59-57. Today, well, let's just say everyone associated with the Prep would prefer to suffer severe memory loss. The student section was to-the-gills packed, but vast numbers of guys began departing with 4:48 showing and the score at 60-36. N-G added two more quick field goals and the lead reached an incomprehensible 28 points before the Hawks staged a mini-rally. What happened?! Aside from storming to the early bulge, the Saints always played well enough to keep Prep at bay and, of equal importance, make sure the fans would not become loud enough to maybe create flashbacks of last Monday's 65-62 loss to La Salle, which ended a 73-game CL winning streak, including playoffs. On this day, at least, N-G showed that a bunch of very goods are better than two greats. Prep sr. CG Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) is a tremendous player and there is never a game when he doesn't make one-two-three plays that make you go, "Phew, that was niiiiiice." He's a great distance sniper and darn near lives at the line, so you won't believe what happened today. Stevie V shot just two free throws (with 4:17 left in the third quarter) and didn't hit his first (and only) trey until 2:12 later and I'm pretty darn sure he's never gone that deep into a game without a free throw and/or a trey in his Prep career. Probably his life. Overall, he went 6-for-16 and 1-for-2 for 14 points and major credit for the hold-down goes to sr. PG Hanif Sutton, the recipient of DN ink. Jr. WGs Troy Harper and Ja'Quan Newton also took turns against Vasturia, and we don't want to ignore their contributions. Sutton is relentlessly dedicated to playing defense and enough attention can never be sent his way. The Prep's other D-I signee, sr. WG Miles Overton (Wake Forest), managed 16 points against mostly soph WG Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble and Newton. He also struggled from the floor (4-for-15). To boot, the other rotation guys missed 15 of their first 16 shots before sr. PG Dan Nedbal hit a trey just before the deep subs finished out the final 2:59. The Saints were equally effective in transition and off halfcourt sets. As I reflect back, almost every shot was sensible and there was a persistent give-it-to-this-guy, give-it-to-that-guy approach. Newton led the way with 15 points, but sr. F-C John Davis wasn't far behind with 12 (also 12 boards) and Kimble (10) was right behind him. Oh, and don't forget Sutton (4-for-5 floor) and Toplyn with eight apiece. Football star Jamal Custis, a jr. PF, had six points and Harper added five. The biggest moment, however, probably came when sr. sub G John Mastrando got the ball in the left corner. Everyone on the bench immediately stood up in anticipation and, bang!, Mastrando buried the trey! It's so cool to see the mainstays root hard for the extras. The Prep's late-game hero was sr. PF Mark Hueber, who was a sixth-grader when he began writing reports for this website. At the time, his dad, Tim, was an assistant at now-closed North Catholic. Mark dealt an assist, claimed a rebound, went 2-for-4 at the line and absolutely crunched a Saints defender on a bull-rush toward the bucket. Good stuff, "Hueb," as the Prep rooters called him. Ex-Princeton coach Pete Carril sat at the end of the Hawks' bench. Also spotted was Billy McFadden, who coached at Egan and Wood back in the day and was one of the all-time characters. Maybe THE all-time character. What a fun dude to be around. This is coach William "Speedy" Morris' 12th season with the Hawks and a 24-point in a CL game is his worst during that span. Previous low-water marks: 55-35 loss to N-G in a playoff in 2006 and 62-47 loss to Carroll in the regular season in 2011. Speedy also coached Roman for 14 seasons (1968-81). I'm thinking he never suffered a 24-point league defeat in that span, but that'll take some digging . . . Result of digging: It appears Roman suffered a 28-point CL setback vs. Bonner (74-46) during Speedy's time there. Just can't be positive on the year. No other CL losses by more than 20 points. Thanks to scoring guru Tom Taylor, who found the scores in an old Roman program . . . The best thing about today for Prep: It's only Jan. 14. Just like N-G was able to take solace last Monday that it was only Jan. 7. 

JAN. 13
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 62, Carroll 52
  It says here the afternoon's coolest performers were Christian D'Andrea and James Loftus. Who!? D'Andrea is a JV player for Carroll and he got hacked on a three-point attempt as regulation ended. The Patriots trailed by two. Out there by himself, he missed the first free throw and things did not look good. But then . . . he nailed the next two! Clutch! Great job, young man! (Carroll then lost in OT, 56-52.) Now, who's James Loftus? He's a kid from Roman and with 2:38 left in the varsity tilt he tried to imitate the Carroll cheerleaders, who'd been flip, flip, flip, flipping their way downcourt during timeouts. Loftus scrambled down from the stands and tried a flip at the edge of the court opposite Carroll's bench. It turned out to be a rollover/tumble. Before everyone could finish laughing, Carroll AD Jim Corkery was striding quickly downcourt with plans to remove Loftus from the gym. And that he did. Scheeeez. Really? Yes, I understand unauthorized people are not supposed to "trespass" onto the court, so to speak, but this was funny and showed some brass/thought. At most, I thought Loftus should have been told, "Not bad, dude, but stay in your seat and don't try it again." (At halftime, Roman's student rooters had been told to knock off a negative chant directed at Carroll soph PF-C Ernest Aflakpui.) . . . Anyway, each team was missing a starter due to flu/stomach virus. Carroll's absentee was sr. PG Yosef Yacob (Binghamton). Roman's was soph F TreVaughn Wilkerson. Soph WG Nick Jones, a lefty, was impressive in a new role (he might be the PG next season anyway), but more than once Roman was able to beat the Patriots downcourt for easy buckets and it's doubtful that would have happened if Yacob had been on site. With Wilkerson unavailable, more responsibility was placed on soph PF-C Manny Taylor, who's rather hefty. He turned out to be a difference-maker while preventing Carroll's very impressive sophomore SF prospect, Derrick Jones, from even notching a field goal. He had to settle for six points while going 6-for-6 at the line (and 0-for-5 from the floor). Shortly before halftime, D. Jones suffered an injury that appeared to be serious. Left shoulder, it looked like. He was holding his left arm against his body. Much to some folks' surprise, he did return. DN ink went to sr. WG/sixth man Matt Simon, Roman's lone senior (after the disappearance of four other juniors from the 2011-12 squad). He has climbed up the ladder and now some D-IIIs are coming after him hard, mostly because of his sniping. He totaled nine points (two treys), four rebounds, two assists and a steal and the Roman kids in attendance were begging to see him quite early. Figured he'd be an interesting interview subject for several reasons and it worked out nicely. The Cahillites' leading scorers were jr. CG Shep Garner (22) and jr. WG Rashann London (21). They combined to go 11-for-12 at the line as Roman went 16-for-21 overall. Impressive, especially in a foreign gym. Soph PG Traci Carter, who's showing perpetual motion tendencies, had four assists, three steals and even eight rebounds. Garner added four dishes, two thefts. Back to Carroll: D. Jones did scrap for 10 boards and four blocks. N. Jones hit three treys while notching 23 points. Jr. WG Joe Mostardi nailed that same number en route to nine points. Aflakpui went 3-for-10 while scoring six points. He added five rebounds. Honestly, not much went smoothly for him. After trailing by as many as 13 points, at 46-33, the Patriots twice rallied within five points down the stretch. The last time was at 52-47 with 73 ticks left. Garner then scored twice to create space. Roman assistant Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna spent much of the game on his knees at the side of the bench (toward the scorers' table). Eventually he sat down. Not on the bench. On his butt. On the floor! He called me at about 8:30 tonight and babbled, "Yo, I heah evweebuddy was talkin' 'bout me at da game. All da college coaches. Why dey watchin' me?" Maybe because you're The Most Interesting Man in the World!! Ha, ha. Kudos, overall, to Roman's student rooters. They were involved and loud and at the end they not only chanted, "This is OUR house!!", but also belted out the school song. Far as we know, no nearby ears bled (smile). Villanova coach Jay Wright, Saint Joseph's assistant Geoff Arnold and Delaware assistant Phil Martelli Jr. were among the witnesses. Ditto for Sixers coach Doug Collins, whose daughter is married to Carroll boss Paul Romanczuk. However, there was at least one other former NBA player in the building. Let me know who you think it was. If your answer matches the guy I'm referring to, I'll give you credit on the homepage (and here). Answer: Ex-O'Hara/Villanova star Tom Ingelsby, who formerly coached Carroll. First to answer correctly: Paul McManus.

JAN. 11
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Haverford School 54, Penn Charter 49
  We'll go with 540 pounds, roughly. That's the combined weight of two guys who hit treys in the first four minutes, PC's Mike McGlinchey and HS' Sema'j Reed. And we'll mention 19 minutes, 54 seconds, and there's no doubt about that number. Yes, PC did not shoot a free throw until 4:06 remained in the THIRD quarter, which is an incredible factoid for a game involving three referees. The Fords were not exactly living at the line, either, and did not launch their third and fourth and fifth attempts (soph PG Levan "Shawn" Alston was hit on a trey) until the third quarter. It was strange. Not once did I have the feeling, "Oh, man, these guys blew THAT one. He got clobbered." But I imagine there must have been some examples of whistle-worthy contact along the way. Oh, well. Numerous people wondered why I'd chosen this game instead of Roman-La Salle. I guess they figured La Salle was worthy of after-the-fact cyber attention coming off last Monday's triumph over Neumann-Goretti, which halted the Saints' 73-game CL winning streak. One problem: La Salle fell tonight to Roman, in OT. Hey, it wasn't as if this game was a joke. With McGlinchey back from illness (after competing last weekend in a national-level football all-star game in California), it figured PC would at least be able to hang. A score of 18-9 after one quarter did not bode well, but the Quakers won the second stanza, 12-5, and a good time was had by all spectators through the final 16 minutes. DN ink went to jr. G-F Eric Anderson, a born shooter-type who stands 6-6. He had 13 points (three treys) and eight rebounds and his triple off a pass from Alston provided some semblance of comfort, at 47-42. Alston had scored the Fords' first six points of the fourth quarter on a bucket, three free throws (in one visit) and one more free throw (out of two attempts). Alston totaled 24 points and four assists and did most of his scoring damage in bursts. It was as if he said to himself every so often, "OK, I need to step up again and take over this game for a while." Reed had 10 points and seven boards and got off to a good start with a jump hook over "Glinch." Sr. WG James Tarte had seven points (two clinching free throws) and two assists while sr. SF Chris Morgan, a football star who has returned to Hoopsville after not playing as a junior, did a nice job of making continuous runs at PC's star jr. CG, Sean O'Brien (11 points, just two through three quarters). McGlinchey shot 5-for-11 for his 11 points while adding seven rebounds and three blocks. The Quakers' leading boardster was sr. F Dave Huber (10; also that many points). Jr. PG Demetrius Isaac had five assists and jr. WG Alex Schwarz nailed a pair of treys. He also suffered a bloody nose, but hid it well for maybe a couple of minutes. Finally, a ref noticed and Alex had to switch from No. 23 to No. 20. PC had a lively student section, policed in spectacular fashion by former football coach (and current assistant) Brian McCloskey. Also great to see assorted PC folks such as Gerry Sasse, John Burkhart, Paul Hart and a long-ago teacher of yours truly named Allan Brown. John and Mr. Brown -- sorry, can't break the habit (smile) -- sadly reported that two former PC teachers, Fritz Kempner (foreign languages) and Ernie Wells (music), had recently passed. RIP, men! "Sas" relayed the fact, meanwhile, that PC intends to restore yellow as one of the school colors and get rid of Vegas gold. Yuck. I hate Vegas gold. Good riddance! There has also been loose talk of changing the football helmets to blue. Whoa, hold on. Don't even THINK about it (smile). Best moment of the night, by far? Seeing former Malvern/Episcopal coach Dan Dougherty, for whom the league's opening tripleheader is now named, come walking toward me to say hello in the bowels of PC's athletic building. Dan doesn't live too far from PC and it was GREAT to see him. The interview with Eric Anderson was just about to start, so I introduced them to each other. Eric looked to be genuinely excited. Very nice! As well he should have been. Dan is an all-timer in the Great Guy Club!! . . . Today's first stop was Vaux to watch the Cougars play Bartram. Superstar sr. G Rysheed Jordan was off early, but later got into the flow. He also was part of a classic moment. Late in the game, Rysheed might have collided, slightly, with one of Bartram's guards on a play near midcourt. He fell to the court in extra dramatic fashion and ref Kevin McKinley called a foul on the Bartram kid. There was strong reaction/surprise and Kevin blew his whistle again. "I got that wrong," he said. "That was a walk (on Jordan)." Actually, it was the all-time dramatic flop. Bartram coach James "JB" Brown was lovin' it. He walked over toward Vaux boss Jamie Ross and roared, "He just changed the call!! Only in the Pub!!" Hey, that's my line, pal!! Just this once I won't file a lawsuit . . . (smile).

JAN. 9
PUBLIC D
Lamberton 73, Edison 48
  Let's start off with some fun. Lamberton has a kid named Ronovan Bundy. Edison has a kid named Varien Harris. During their years in school, which one do you think has heard more often, "Is there a typo in your first name on the school records? Should it really be (Donovan/Darien)?" Could be a close battle, right? I thought this game would be, too, but Edison faded badly after winning the first quarter, 17-10. The Blue Devils were much quicker and, as time went on, did a great job of getting up and down the floor in speedy fashion while mostly maintaining control. DN ink went to sr. PF-C Loavel Summerville, a transfer from Oxford High (Chester County) who stands only 5-10 1/2 and weighs just 155 pounds. He's a serious leaper, though, and he kept outjumping/outfighting the Owls for in-traffic rebounds. In fact, he claimed 20 of 'em! He also stepped away every so often and hit three treys en route to 25 points. He had eight rebounds in the first quarter and here's part of the reason: The teams combined to miss 26 shots! Ouch! Loavel said he's thinking of joining the Army, but some D-IIIs might want to check him out. Via a Google search, I saw he had some pretty good games while playing guard for Oxford and when you mix leaping ability with a decent shooting touch . . . hey, who knows? Also impressive for Lamberton was sr. PG Kevin Cooper. As in, Mr. Bundle of Energy. He got AFTER it all the way through while racking up 14 points, six steals and even 17 boards. He has decent strength and looks like the kind of kid you would have enjoyed watching back in the day on teams at maybe Southern or Franklin. The WG is sr. Anthony Fagan. His shooting was spotty, but he did hit three treys while adding four assists. Jr. swingman Bernard McIntyre also had four dimes and sr. G (what else?) Antonio Connor added four steals. For Edison, this was the first game for sr. WG Jessi Carrasquillo, who suffered a serious injury to his left ankle right before the season began. He entered in the second quarter, bombed away from beyond the arc and, bang!, nailed it. Alas, that was not an indication of ch-chinging to come. He still had a hint of a limp and his legs, overall, were just not ready. He added just two more points. Soph WG Montrell Gilliam was hot early (three treys in first quarter), but finished with only 14 points, a total matched by sr. SF Victor Nevarez (also seven boards). Harris had eight points, seven boards, two assists and three steals. This was played at Shepard (nee Haddington) RC, footsteps from Wilt Chamberlain's childhood home, and I never fail to get a special feeling just walking into the place. By the way, Edison has added a game to its schedule. Bodine will visit this Friday. Adding this Thursday morning: Late in the game, a ref was signaling why a foul had been called and swung his left arm out to the side, thus showing that the offender had elbowed someone. At that exact instant, Fagan was walking back downcourt and the ref's elbow hit HIM in the head! Not very hard, though.   

JAN. 8
PUBLIC A
Frankford 58, Boys' Latin 48
  Keith Hines>Frankford's Cheerleaders. How so? Let me explain. Frankford's cheerleaders only stayed for the first half (no idea why) and when they left the Pioneers were trailing, 27-18. Hines is a Frankford assistant and because of his real job (security guard at a department store; he's also a long-time member of our Daily News stat crew) he wasn't able to arrive until intermission. Frankford won the second half, 40-21. So, there you have it . . . Keith Hines>Frankford's Cheerleaders (smile). ***Heard Jan. 9 from Michael Kennedy, the cheerleading coach. The ladies left the gym to go upstairs and practice their routine for a special competition Jan. 26 at Temple University. Good luck, ladies!!*** Also today we had Joseph Ricketts>Greater Than Everyone Else on the Court, Especially When It Came to Shooting. The jr. WG was the only Pioneer to reach double figures (21) and did so with the help of big success from the near wing and corner. In fact, he shot 5-for-8 on triples and was perfect (5-for-5) beyond intermission. It's pretty cool to see someone get on a great role, especially when that kid appears to be popular with his teammates and the fans. The Pioneers on the bench were doing the "ooooooooo" thing on Ricketts' bombs in the second half and not once, of course, did that effort go to waste. Until Ricketts got rolling, this game was largely rough on the eyes. Lots of guys were running up and down, but there was little flow and no one was standing out. Even by game's end, only one Warrior owned double digits and that was with the bare minimum. His identity: jr. F Jamar Brisbon and he also paced his squad in rebounds (eight). Frankford coach Dave Huzzard used 12 players in the first half and it was very difficult to make judgments with that much flux. However, sr. PF Donald Robinson (and we do mean POWER forward) definitely provided the coolest moment. He began a drive from outside the arc, did a fancy spin about two-thirds of the way through and finished with a lefthanded layup (he's righthanded). Somebody should put that jawn on YouTube (ha ha). In the second half, Robinson set some good screens for Ricketts and sr. PG Tyree Tucker made some snappy passes. Soph PG Quadire Truesdale, a cousin of ex-Frankford star Keith Washington (now at Rice), also had some decent moments. Two guys, sr. F Denzel Turbeville and Robinson, halved 12 rebounds. Turbeville said to me, "Hey, you came to our football games, too." Yes, son, that's how it works (smile). Today's biggest shock was seeing BL sr. WG Yahmir Greenlee on the bench as the game began. Was he sick? Being disciplined? Neither. For now the coaches feel they need to employ him as a sub. This kid has a heart as big as all outdoors and enjoyed some terrific moments in past seasons while paired with all-timer Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson, now at Boston U. Not sure what's happening, but it looked as if part of Yahmir's soul was missing. I hope he regains his form, and soon. Sr. SF Eddie Powell got to some good spots, but had trouble finishing. Sr. F Eric Lark, the football squad's QB, grabbed six boards. Former Frankford TE Aaron Allison, still on break from college, was among the spectators. Ditto for QB Tim DiGiorgio, who recently paced the Pioneers to the Public AAAA title. In youth ball, if I remember, their roles were reversed. Had nice pregame chats with Frankford staff members Joe Fite (gym teacher, also the baseball coach at Germantown and a former stalwart for Score Service; now doing freelance work for a suburban newspaper), Ben Dubin (the Pub hoops commish; he rolled out to see Central-Franklin) and Jack Creighton (the athletic director). Jack played a lot of Motown stuff over the sound system. It never gets old. Someday at a karaoke session, I'm gonna entertain the folks with Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?" Or cause them to cover their ears. Either way.

JAN. 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Lansdale Catholic 59, Bonner-Prendergast 49
  Well, I was in the wrong place. As everyone knows by now, host La Salle ended Neumann-Goretti's 73-game CL winning streak, counting playoffs. That place no doubt was hoppin', but did those spectators get to see a vintage, shake-that-booty halftime performance by a dance squad? (Ha, ha. Great job B-P gals!) Or, even more amazing, did they get to see a ball come to a complete stop ON the basket? I kid you not. Late in the JV game, at the basket closest to where everyone walks in, the ball bounced, bounced, bounced, rolled ever so slightly and just froze on the metal slab extending from the backboard to the rim. Incredible! Some good things about Lansdale were being said around the league in light of decent performances against N-G and Roman. Early? Ah, the Crusaders were not exactly in tip-top form. In fact, B-P was looking like the team that could go toe-to-toe with the aforementioned heavyweights, mostly thanks to sr. WG-SF Christian Summers. Thanks to three baskets and three assists, he was part of his team's first 12 points while darting/hopping from here to there and making smart play after brassy play. Crucial for LC, however, was the fact that B-P never got TOO far ahead. And then, late in the half, there was a hint of tide-shifting. It was capped -- oh, baby -- when jr. PG Brian Rafferty banked home a buzzer-beating shot from roughly halfcourt. That drew the 'Saders within 24-23 and shortly into the fourth quarter, which began at 34-34, they were in semi-command at 41-34, thanks to a bucket and two free throws by jr. WG Andrew Riviello and a top-of-the-key trey by jr. SF Kyle Pavlik (by default; like almost all LC guys he's really a guard) on a pass from the lone big guy, 6-7 sr. C Chris Rudisill. LC held serve from there. DN ink went to Rafferty, whose dad (Brian '79) and uncle (Fran '71) starred at the gone-but-remembered-fondly Bishop Kenrick, in Norristown. When the Knights were in their glory era, NOTHING matched a Friday night at that place. Rafferty did a great job maintaining control/flow while dishing three assists and nailing four treys en route to 17 points. Riviello is an interesting kid. He's quite short (maybe 5-7, 5-8) and is not particularly speedy going TO the basket. However, he's able to make quick/little, side-to-side cuts to free himself from defenders and his release is outrageously fast. While scoring 22 points, he went 3-for-8 on treys and 9-for-10 at the line (all in fourth quarter). I like what you're doin' out there, little guy! Rudisill is raw and not especially strong, but he banged with B-P's thicker inside guys and claimed 12 rebounds. D-IIIs have to check him out and make projections. Jr. G Corey Kirk had five assists and four boards and -- wow, just noticed this -- did not shoot the ball after the first quarter. Summers, a star WR, scrambled for 17 points, five boards and seven assists. No idea what he does in the spring, but he could be a heckuva triple-jumper. Jr. WG Jack Carden (14 points) hit three triples. Sr. PF-C Nick Czibik snagged eight rebounds. Sr. F Pat Vanderslice looked comfortable while launching nine treys, but only one found paynet. Soph PG Danny Ings, who had to chase Riviello, also struggled from the floor (1-for-10). Major props to LC student Nick Mandarano, who traveled all the way to Drexel Hill on a school night to show loyalty to his team. Even more props to his mom, who drove him there (ha ha). Nick is one of our website reporters and he'll craft something great on this one. About 10 B-P guys showed up to root for their squad. They came out with some gems. Also cool to catch up with Tom Stewart, the coach of B-P's girls' squad. He guided the ol' St. James, in Chester, back in the day and always offered nifty one-liners. His brother, Jim, was the long-time president at Malvern. Likewise a great guy! Had two kinds of pregame fun. First, catching up with Dan McLoone, a Bonner guard last season and the brother of soph Tom, a JV starter. Their dad, Pat, is the Daily News' managing editor (and he knocked down wing jumpies for La Salle in '77). Second, showing LC coach Ed Enoch an article written about him in '72, when he was guiding Penn Charter to an all-time season as the point guard. Jake Serfass, B-P's AD, made some copies of the article and I handed out three-four to LC's players so they could read about their amazing coach. In a 64-51 win over Malvern, Eddie had 15 points (6-for-8 from floor) and 11 assists. He then starred at Penn. The starters on that '72 PC squad averaged from 9 to 16 points in league play. Ed was tops at 15.5 followed by Barnes Hauptfuhrer (Princeton) at 15.2, Tim O'Rourke at 14.8, Tim Knettler at 11.8 and Mike Enoch, Ed's sophomore brother, at 8.8. Pretty impressive. Those Quakers beat Chester, which lost in the PIAA state final. One more highlight to the evening: Interacting with Dan Spinelli, LC's JV coach and the dad of website reporter Dan (nee Danny) Spinelli. He goes to La Salle and was in the RIGHT place tonight and I can't wait to read his report.

JAN. 6
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Ryan 55, Conwell-Egan 38
  I had a short talk with a C-E supporter, who said playing Ryan is like making a visit to the dentist. Today? Must have felt like two or three root canals. The Eagles almost never got anything going on offense -- no one reached double figures -- and the defense was victimized for a decent amount of those too-easy, backdoor layups Ryan tends to get when things are going well. In many games, "almost everyone" rains down at least one three-pointer for the Raiders. Today -- surprise, surprise -- the only guy to succeed from beyond the arc (going 3-for-5) was sr. WG Bryan Okolo. DN ink went to sr. PG Gage Galeone, whose dad, Glen, steered the football squad to some wonderful seasons and is now the school's disciplinarian. Gage, also a quality baseball player, had 12 points, three rebounds and two apiece of assists/steals and was involved in every play (scoring, assisting, even having a miss immediately followed for a basket) as Ryan expanded a 26-17 halftime lead to 39-22. It was a fun story to write and I hope that comes through. (Dad attends all the games. No matter how cold it is outside, look for the dude in the shorts -- ha ha). Okolo had 19 points and nine boards. Like always, he was effective standing still or on the move and his consistency was vital to everything the Raiders did. I hope D-III colleges are paying attention because he's the kind of player who grows on you. A C-E fan certainly did. One time he yelled, "Twenty-two's killin' y'all! Take it personal!" Jr. WG-SF Brendan Horan was the early pacesetter, thanks to a first quarter that featured four points, three apiece of boards/steals and an assist. Sr. handyman Shawn Miller got rolling later en route to eight points, five boards and three dimes. Not much to say about the Eagles, unfortunately. Coach Rick Sabol kept mixing and matching vets with newcomers, mostly to no avail. Sr. WG Brian Carr used late success to finish with nine points. Soph G Jordan Burney, formerly of Comm Tech, went 6-for-7 at the line while managing eight points. Two frosh were among the starters. Vinny Dalessandro, a 6-4 F, claimed six rebounds. Stevie Jordan, a frisky CG (and probably the PG over the next three seasons), hit two treys. I very much appreciated the fact that Kyle Techtmann, C-E's QB and the son of coach Jack Techtmann, came all the way down from one end of the gym to the other, with the help of crutches, to say hello at halftime. I knew he'd missed the Eagles' Thanksgiving game against Truman and today he passed along the reason: a torn ACL and meniscus. The problem began when he felt a twinge in a gymnasium workout. Hang in there, Kyle. Best of luck going forward! Also in attendance was C-E's principal, Janet Dollard. She camped out two rows behind the bench. I wonder how many principals turn out to watch their schools' sports teams, especially on weekends? Niiiiice. Glen Galeone was not the only guy on hand with Ryan football-coaching pedigree. Current boss Frank "Five" McArdle was spotted, as was the school's first-ever coach, John Quinn. When the sound system was playing some seriously funky stuff during warmups, John walked over and quipped, "I picked this music." Ha, ha, ha.

JAN. 5
INTER-AC LEAGUE TRIPLEHEADER
Haverford School 53, SCH Academy 51
  Sometimes the better team doesn't PLAY better yet still gets the win. SCH gave the Fords every single thing they wanted (well, didn't want), but was done in by a late dry spell. Major kudos to the Blue Devils/Hillers! I'm not sure how many of these guys would even be part of Haverford's rotation, but each one displayed major brass. By default, some guys have to be forwards, but in reality every BD is a guard and, as a group, they made things difficult for a ballclub that was not completely motivated on defense. The Fords first appeared ready to salt things away after jr. WG-SF Eric Anderson posted a three-point play, sr. PF-C Sema'j Reed scored down low on a pass from soph PG Levan "Shawn" Alston and sr. G James Tarte scored a close-in bucket on a feed from Reed. That sequence made it 49-41, but here came the BDs! At :25, sr. G Pat Costello swished a right-wing triple on a pass from sr. PG Bobby Keyes to make it 49-48. Anderson hit two free throws at 23.2 and Keyes could not connect on a step-back trey from the left of the top of the key. Anderson added two more free throws at 3.8 to clinch the win before Keyes buried a long heave to beat the buzzer. Alston had 15 points and five assists, and also received a tech for complaining about an obvious walking call. I was surprised he wasn't benched after that slipup, at least for a little while. Anderson had 14 points and 10 boards. Tarte managed nine and four along with three steals. Reed settled for 10 and eight. For SCH, sr. PG Frank Jackson was the picture of really-into-it all evening. He had 15 points (three treys) and three assists. Keyes had four dishes and sr. G-F Andrew Dowds hustled his way to 11 points/six boards. Both teams were missing guys who'd been important in non-league games. As transfers with varsity experience, HS' Sean Lloyd (Franklin LC) and SCH's Jordan Watson (McDevitt) are ineligible for league games. Tidbit time: Dowds shoot free throws with his mouth guard halfway out. Click here for a pic.

JAN. 5
INTER-AC LEAGUE TRIPLEHEADER
Germantown Academy 72, Penn Charter 49
  After the game, GA coach Jim Fenerty said he'd kept expecting to see "a Willis Reed." (Older folks understand. Young bucks can Google it.) Mike McGlinchey, PC's star sr. C, played football last night in a national-level all-star game in California. How cool would it have been if he'd rushed back and played in this one? Oh, well. Can't have everything. GA coasted, at a minimum, and sometimes even frolicked. Sr. PG Nick Lindner (Lafayette, coach Fran O'Hanlon was among the witnesses) turned in a special performance with eight points, 10 assists and suffocating defense against jr. CG Sean O'Brien (eight points). Sr. PF-C Julian Moore (Penn State, coach Patrick Chambers also was in the building) had 12 points and six boards. Sr. SF Greg Dotson (unsigned, but generating lower D-I interest) was a whirlwind with 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Oh, and two wicked dunks. Or was it three? (Moore also had a couple.) Sr. WG James Drury drained three treys in the early going, but then missed large chunks with foul miseries. He finished with four en route to 14 points. PC's lone wolf was jr. PG Demetrius Isaac, who's listed at 5-7. He finished the first quarter scoreless, but then scrambled here, there and everywhere while posting 24. He put on quite a show and such heroics were really needed with O'Brien not able to contribute much. No Quaker had more than five rebounds (Obie). Meanwhile . . . there were numerous quirky tidbits and you KNOW I love those.
  1.) Lindner, Moore and Dotson might have received the shortest extra rest period in basketball history. With three-tenths of a second remaining in the first quarter, Fenerty sent soph G Tim Guers, sr. F Earl Edwards and sr. G Joe Taylor into the game while saying to each one, "Give (so-and-so) a blow." During the time between the first and second quarters, I was hoping hard that Nick, Julian and Greg WOULD return so their "extra rest" could be documented for eternity as just three-tenths of a second! It happened! Holla!! (And thanks to assistant Barry Whelan for confirming which three starters were pulled).
  2.) While Dotson was ready to take a left-corner trey, a defender lunged toward him and Greg wound up sending the shot at least 25 feet high. What a moonball! Guers grabbed the airball rebound and his follow shot must have gone at least 18 feet high. It was nuts! Moore then grabbed that misfiring and scored on a follow.
  3.) On a drive, Isaac took a semi-layup/semi-flip that was batted rather hard by Dotson. The ball wound up in the basket!
  4.) Late in the game, GA managed FIVE shots on one possession. The sequence, if I wrote it down correctly: Misses by Guers, sr. F Pat Sawyer, Taylor and Guers again before Guers' persistence paid off with a bucket.
  5.) After the game, we took GA's team pic in a lounge area right outside the gym. There were two couches (or sofas, if you prefer) and most of the Patriots plopped into them. Definitely one of our coolest-ever team pics is here. Thanks for going along with it, guys!

JAN. 5
INTER-AC LEAGUE TRIPLEHEADER
Episcopal 64, Malvern 47
  Even though Malvern has mostly struggled this season, Episcopal coach Craig Conlin had every right to be concerned before Game No. 1 -- played in an absolutely beautiful facility at Neumann University, in Aston -- in the Dan Dougherty Tripleheader. ("Doc" coached at both schools, by the way.) The Churchmen were missing two starters -- sr. F Adam Strouss (school issue) and soph G Samir Taylor (concussion aftermath; it dates back to football season) -- but it mattered not even a little bit. EA played hard and together, at both ends, from the very beginning and the final score is rather misleading because it was 54-26 after three quarters. Check this out: Malvern missed 13 of its first 14 shots and did not post its second field goal until 2:33 remained in the second quarter. Pretty amazing. Meanwhile, eight of EA's first 11 field goals featured assists so the all-cylinders cliche was definitely warranted. Jr. WG Chris McNeal totaled 22 points while sniping 5-for-7 on treys. He also had four assists. Sr. PF-C Kevin Gayhardt added seven rebounds and three assists to nine points. Jr. PG Mike Jolaoso hustled for four assists and three steals and was darn near perfect in terms of controlling tempo and flow. Sr. WG-SF Markuan Stutts was tremendous in the pay-attention-folks-this-is-how-it's-gonna-be first quarter, posting seven of his 12 points and six of his eight boards. Sub jr. G Connor Martin knocked down two treys. In all, the Churchmen went 10-for-17 on treys and the only player who struggled was sr. WG Matt Angelos (1-for-5; did have four steals). For Malvern, only sr. F Ryan Ammerman, of football fame, had a strong performance, and even he did not truly get rolling until the second half. He scored 15 of his 18 points beyond intermission and his overall rebound total was seven. Sr. G Sam Ramagano did hit three triples. Sr. WG Jimmy Gordon, the most reliable Friar this season, launched just eight shots while scoring seven points. Not sure if this was something new or old, but during timeouts the Episcopal kids not in the game gathered right in front of the bench, beyond the coaches and five IN-the-game players, and placed their arms around each other's shoulders, backs, etc., in a show of unity. Looked pretty cool. Had a quick talk with Bill Gallagher, an EA teacher and the former football coach at EA, Penn Charter (and even Chestnut Hill, during a time frame when the grid squad was not in the Inter-Ac League). Bill starred at Judge and played at Notre Dame and scored two tickets for Monday's national championship game vs. Alabama. However, he gave them to his son, Bill. "How about this?" Bill said, laughing. "He gets my two tickets. I get his three kids." (For babysitting purposes.) Gayhardt, thanks to the generosity of his father, will also witness the ND-'Bama clash. I'll settle for Bonner-Prendergast/Lansdale hoops, and will enjoy every minute (smile).

JAN. 2
PUBLIC D
Kensington 56, Palumbo 48
  This one figured to be good since both teams entered with 4-0 records. Then again, this was the first day back in school for everyone. Though Palumbo was on the road -- the game was played in Kenzo's 2-year-old CAPA campus at Front & Berks -- it figured to have an advantage because it played in a holiday tournament while Kenzo was almost completely inactive over the break except for one practice last Thursday. So what happened? Palumbo looked as if it hadn't played in, say, three years and missed 20 of its first 25 shots while falling into a 31-11 abyss. Ugh! So what happened next? Kenzo forgot to box out and/or play interior defense and the Griffins stormed alllllll the way back within one point, at 40-39, before running out of gas. Quite the crazy tilt. Meanwhile, where were the fans? Big Steve and I counted 28 spectators and more than half were players on the boys' JV and girls' varsity, which practiced afterward while splitting the gym. At halftime I asked Kenzo's scorekeeper what was up and she said, "It's usually packed in here. I guess this happened because it was our first day back." After the game I broached the subject with sr. PG Julius "No Space Between the Van and Guine" VanGuine and he said, "It's always like this. Hardly anybody shows up." Hmmm. Someone's nuts or needs glasses (ha ha). DN ink went to sr. WG Jamie Betancourt, who also shows some PG skills and might play that down the road. He's intending to do a prep school year in Florida and though his shooting was pretty much pitiful (3-for-16), he did get to the right spots and take sensible shots and, well, they just weren't going in. He did hit six consecutive free throws in the waning moments to finish with 13 points and his other stats were more than respectable -- six apiece of rebounds, assists and steals. He's great buddies with ex-ConHigh star Daiquan Walker, now at Central Florida, and the way they play is somewhat similar. They depend heavily on pacing their dribbles, then blowing by defenders. VanGuine had 13 points, four assists and as many steals, and he adds much to the Kenzo Kause. Sr. SF Isaiah Hill, who played for the Tigers two years ago and is back after facing some issues, was terrific while scrambling for 23 points and 11 boards. In the second half, especially, many big plays were his. Sr. G-F Mike Davis (seven points, six boards) was the only other Tiger to score. Palumbo's headliner is sr. F Jameal Tucker, who has great academics (3.8 GPA) and is being stalked by many D-III schools. Recently, coach Tim Castanza said, the D-II state schools have started to become involved and there's a hint that some Ivies will at least take a look. Tucker played near and far, converting some low-post moves and even nailing a trey. He has decent strength, but there's still room for more weight and, who knows, down the line he could even be an athletic power forward, depending on where he winds up. He had 23 points and eight rebounds. Jr. C Mike Chau, who's built like a farm boy, muscled his way to 12 points (all in second half) and 16 rebounds. He scored almost exclusively on putbacks and little flips off dump passes. Kenzo had no one to bang with him and he was able to get some space because they were concerned so much with Tucker. Sr. PG Calvin Francis battled nicely (six assists, five steals) against VanGuine. I spoke before the game with Greg Isaacs, Kenzo's AD, who said it has yet to be determined whether the school will attempt to play varsity football in 2013 (after two years of JV). It'll be interesting to see what happens, especially since four schools with football (Germantown, Bok, University City, Comm Tech) are slated to close. With so much uncertainty, football commish Ken Geiser must be going nuts as he tries to prepare for next season.