January reports/Tedbits
February report/Tedbits

DEC. 31
TEDBIT
  Except for a game featuring Wood vs. Germantown Academy on Jan. 31, the Catholic and Inter-Ac leagues have finished banging heads this basketball season. And the winner is . . . the CL, by 9-5.

DEC. 30
HOLIDAY SHOWCASE EVENT
La Salle 65, Gratz 40
(At Chestnut Hill College)
  So much for the Ted Jinx. It's history, baby! (smile) Somehow, I'd seen Catholic League teams lose seven consecutive non-league games. Shortly into this one, it was obvious the number would not creep upward to eight. VERY obvious. Not only did the Explorers storm to an 11-2 lead in the first 3 minutes, 43 seconds. They kept frolicking and roared to bulges of 20-2 and 31-4 (shortly into the second quarter). Coach Joe Dempsey's club drained 13 of its first 16 shots and five of those were treys. The spacing was perfect and the passes were crisp/heady. Plus, sr. F Dave Krmpotich, who's bound for Colgate, exploded for a pair of slams. This kid is so surprising. He'll get the ball on the wing and begin what has the look of a regular drive. Then, whoa, he's at the rim, and flushing, and fans are looking at each other with expressions that scream, "Where'd THAT come from?!" For the game, La Salle hit 10 treys. Five were registered in the first quarter as sr. PG Najee Walls and sr. WG Dan "Sniper to the" Corr nailed two apiece. Soph G Matt Paulus added the fifth, then Walls/Corr had one apiece before halftime ended 39-14. Krmpotich finished with 16 points (7-for-8 floor) and four apiece of rebounds/steals. Corr (12) and Walls (11) also scored in double figures while sr. WG Shawn Witherspoon (nine) came close. Walls and 'Spoon halved 12 assists. Also turning in a memorable performance for La Salle was the parent of a player (smile). Popping from spot to spot along the sideline and baseline, he snapped pic after pic with a tablet while offering non-stop encouragement. He also uttered a great line in the fourth quarter after the Explorers notched their umpteenth impressive play: "It's the late-night workouts, baby! While they're on Twitter, we're in the gym!" Love the second part. Sounds like a battle cry, right? Maybe the Explorers will make a sign with those words and post it in their locker room? Do it quickly before another team claims those words as their own. (Or maybe this guy stole it from somebody? smile) In time, Gratz had a few good moments, though obviously not many. Sr. G-F Tahir Wharton, the son of assistant Roland Wharton, led the way with 11 points. He figures as a WG for college purposes and since he's rangy, he could be an interesting college player. Jr. G Jamal Goode added 10 points with the help of two treys. Like many teams, the Bulldogs are short on inside forces. Sr. F Ja'Cory Livingston did his best to hang tough. CHC has an interesting gym. Though it has been modernized, it has the look of a former auditorium. Between the benches is a rather ample stage and the scorers' table sits up there. At the back of the stage are very high arched windows. Cool environment. Andre Griffin, Gratz' coach, was a starter for the Bulldogs' Pub champs in '90 and '91. Bill Ellerbee, who guided those squads, was in attendance, as was academic advisor Shelly Henderson. Great to see them! At halftime, a tall guy came walking toward me and the thought was, "Oh, boy. Here we go. Who's this?" The older I get, the more that happens. If I'd read the ski cap he was wearing, I would have known right away. Luckily, it finally hit me . . . Jaelen Strong! Not exactly could have predicted it. The junior wideout, a West Catholic product, just completed a spectacular season at Arizona State and has made himself eligible for the NFL draft. And he's getting major attention. Jaelen is friends with the family of La Salle soph G Jarrod Stukes. As we were winding down the conversation, Jaelen mentioned that brothers Rob and Brandon Hollomon, also former WC stars, were en route to CHC to meet up with him. Great! Post-game photo op!! Rob just finished a stellar career at Central Connecticut as a multi-purpose back and he, too, is having NFL dreams. Brandon will play one more season at CCSU (he was at Kansas in '13) and don't be surprised if he mirrors Rob's senior-season performance. All the best, guys! . . . I took photos of Bartram's loss to Life Center (N.J.). The Braves were down by 10-11 points with maybe 2 1/2 minutes left before storming back within two. LC features at least two former Catholic League guys: PG Traci Carter (Roman) and F-C Nysier Brooks (Carroll). The final was 64-56. Sr. G Martin Fischer (16), jr. G-F Maurice Waters (13) and sr. G Shawn Bailey (11) reached double digits for Bartram. The Braves are coached by Andre Brown, the son of former boss James "JB" Brown.

DEC. 29
SHOWCASE EVENT AT EPISCOPAL
Episcopal 54, Boys' Latin 39
Malvern 62, Ryan 52
  It's still December, but Episcopal coach Craig Conlin might have already locked up the Best Timeout Speech Award for the 2014-15 season. Though it was likely more of an undressing than a speech (smile). After rolling to a 10-2 lead, the Churchdudes were only up by one, 15-14, shortly into the second quarter when Conlin called time and addressed his troops in mighty stern fashion. Bingo! Episcopal reeled off the next 16 points, a streak that included the first two of the second half, and stress was never again an issue. The outburst began with a quick nine as sr. WG Mike Hinckley notched a three-point play off a follow, then treys were bombed by Hinckley and jr. WG Mike Woods. The last five points of the half were a trey by sr. PG Mike Jolaoso on a feed from soph WG Conner Delaney and a follow of his own miss by Delaney. Thanks to great sniping at the line (10-for-12), Jolaoso finished with 17 points. He also had four steals. Soph F-C Nick Alikakos had 10 points and eight rebounds and Hinckley had 12 points. Though Hinckley is a lefty, he uses his right hand much of the time and even finished a left-side drive with his opposite hand. I would have bet money that he's one of those kids who shoots with one hand and maybe writes/eats with the other, but he said he's a righty all the way. Episcopal had all seven of its assists in the first half along with eight steals. Thanks to assistant Tom Kossuth for that nugget. BL's best performer was an adult fan (smile). He yelled out comments pretty much non-stop from start to finish and even joined the team on the court for warmups, saying things such as, "Act like you want it!" and "Nobody's walkin' out here!" Once the game started, he said to one of the Warriors, "I like your sneakers, but you gotta get 'em dirty today." Ha, ha. Thanks mostly to some late success, sr. F Zafir Smith led BL with 11 points. A lot of the players were similar-playing guards, honestly. Sr. Leo Gardner, an undersized power forward, did exhibit a solid work ethic and kept banging all game long . . . Near the end of Game One, we had an Only in the Pub Turned Inter-Ac Moment! With 1:14 left, all but six of the overhead lights stopped working and the gym was plunged into semi-darkness. The delay lasted a dozen minutes and I seized the opportunity to gather BL for a team pic. With the flash, of course. Malvern and Ryan are similar teams in terms of personnel, but not approach. Malvern likes to run and seize early opportunities while Ryan prefers to work the ball around and wait for perfect scoring opps, not just pretty-goods. Malvern slapped together a nice run early in the second quarter and mostly owned the game from there. Threes got things started as sr. PG Chris Anderson succeeded from the top of the key/right and sr. CG Joey Fitzpatrick swished one from the left wing. Then came a VERY curious (and incorrect) call: On a drive, soph G Ray Baran, a lefty, was fouled almost in the parking lot. However, the ref ruled the basket good (oh my!) and Ray then hit the free throw. The NBA, this ain't. Until jr. SF Austin Chabot sniped a trey 1:14 before halftime on a pass from sub sr. G Kevin Nichols, Ryan's only baskets in the second quarter were easy layups off inbound plays (sub jr. F Christopher Guest from jr. PG Austin Slawter; both times). Showing nice athleticism, Fitzpatrick led Malvern with 14 points. The contributions of soph sub PG Zac Fernandez (already a respectable running back) were also crucial. Though he's listed at 5-9, that might be a fib. He brings major dedication to defense, however, and more than once embarked on aggressive drives. Jr. G Will Powers (12) and Baran (11, 7-for-7 at line) also scored in double figures. Chabot went 3-for-4 on treys while bagging 19 points. Soph WG Izaiah Brockington, a lefty, had 13 points. He was hampered by early foul trouble, then got it going in the second half. Believe it or not, I've seen Catholic League teams lose SEVEN consecutive non-league games: Bonner-Prendie, McDevitt, O'Hara, West Catholic, Judge, Conwell-Egan and Ryan. That's gotta be a lifetime first. And hopefully a last. B-P assistant Bill Cassidy was among the witnesses along with Kutztown University coach Bernie Driscoll and back-in-the-day SJ Prep coach John Ostick. Much earlier, en route to Episcopal, I made a pit stop at a Walmart in Springfield (Delco, of course) and ran into former Kenrick/O'Hara boss Buddy Gardler. His granddaughter, frosh Mackenzie Gardler, is already making waves for O'Hara's hoopsterettes. That squad, by the way, starts three frosh and two sophs. It was also nice to see Bryant Leach, a starter for Bartram's 2003 Pub champs and an assistant to BL's boss, R.J. McDaniel.

DEC. 29
TEDBIT
  Neumann-Goretti is about to begin pursuit of a seventh consecutive Catholic League championship and, all things considered, you might think the feat will be difficult to achieve because the Saints return just one starter, guard Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble. Such a feat would not be unprecedented, however. In the championship season of 2010-11, Lamin Fulton was the only returning starter. Below is a breakdown for CL champs going back to 1997-98. Eight champs had as few as two returning starters.

DEC. 28
TEDBIT
  For the 12th time in his 14 seasons as SJ Prep's coach, William "Speedy" Morris will finish non-league play with no more than two losses. The Hawks are 7-1 with a game vs. Parkland remaining. If the Prep wins that one, this will be Morris' sixth season with zero or one. His total non-league record is 115-23 for a winning percentage of .833. Special note: Results from the Alhambra Tournament, in which CL teams formerly participated every March, are not included. 

DEC. 27
ESCIT TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
Trenton Catholic 57, Conwell-Egan 46
  Know what C-E took away from this one? Much more than a loss. As weird as this is going to sound, to some degree the Eagles emerged with a victory. How so? In the first half, the Eagles were sliced and diced to the Nth degree. TC shot 16-for-21 from the floor -- yes, 16-for-21 -- and often got off shots that were barely defended, if at all. Front-door passes were working just as easily as back-door versions. Just when many observers in a packed, hot gym had to be thinking, "This tilt could get VERY ugly," coach Frank Sciolla's ballclub dug deep in impressive fashion. The Eagles contended almost every shot -- hey, what a concept! (smile) -- and TC shot just 1-for-10 in the third quarter. The good vibrations continued into the fourth quarter and C-E even charged within five points before experiencing the late, gas-tank-is-empty situation. TC is the host school for this tourney, and you know what always happens. The host tries to schedule a team it KNOWS it'll beat in the first round becau$e it $urely want$ no part of a $econd-day con$olation for a reason $pelled out in the latter part of thi$ $sentence. But during their strong comeback, at least the Eagles had the members of TC's athletic department thinking, "Hmmm. Maybe we should have scheduled one of the other teams." Jr. PG Stevie Jordan and jr. WG LaPri McCray-Pace led C-E with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Jordan drained three treys and notched as many assists. He also caused Sciolla to utter the most entertaining comment of the night. Early in the fourth, Jordan hit a jumper that was definitely launched from inside the arc. Not even close. Somehow, three points went onto the scoreboard. The refs then made the correction, causing Sciolla to blurt out, "Did you guys check the monitor?" Also in that session, while trying for a defensive rebound after coming from different locales, jr. F-C Vinny Dalessandro slammed into sr. SF Chase Kumor and the ball went off both of them out of bounds. Vinny told Chase, "I didn't see you. My bad, bro." There was a GREAT sequence to end the first half, meanwhile. TC sr. WG Malachi Richardson, a Syracuse commit with many skills (among them: perfect shooting form), hit a deep, fall-back trey from in front of C-E's bench. About 5 seconds remained. C-E rushed upcourt and Jordan -- bang! -- swished a trey from way out on the right wing. Dalessandro's best moment was a dunk off a feed from Jordan. Kumor took some charges and maintained his cool after delivering a hard foul on Richardson, who gave him an evil staredown from maybe 6 inches away (and drew a tech). Sr. F Jordan Burney had some strong defensive moments against Richardson; he really chested him up. McCray-Pace (team-high six rebounds) got most of his buckets off authoritative drives into traffic, even the rush-hour version. No doubt he should have made more visits to the foul line than one. He shot 7-for-14 from the floor. C-E's opponent in the consolation will be Phila. Electrical, which fell to St. Benedict's (N.J.), 54-45. Bartram, another Pub squad, played earlier in the day and bested Rancocas Valley (N.J.), 59-57. Like Roman's gym (and others), TC's gym has a stage at one end. Camping out up there worked out well for pics. Also, there was much entertainment because I was next to Jake Schwartz as he did his Internet broadcast. At one point he figured the temperature in the gym was 90 degrees. Later, he roared, "It's probably 110 in here!" Germantown Academy star Tim Guers was among the witnesses. Maybe some C-E guys are AAU teammates? . . . Update: Kevin Guers, Tim's dad, reports that Tim and Chase Kumor are long-time buddies/teammates. "Not only do they play AAU together for PA Renegades, they played CYO together at St Andrew's (Newtown) from 3rd-8th grade and won a State title in 2011. (I know you like trivia). Along those lines, there are 3 players from the Renegades on GA (Tim, Sam Lindgren and Joe Stinson) and 3 on Archbishop Wood (Cody Fitzpatrick, Luke Connaghan and Jason Babb) and each group asked their coaches to schedule a game against each other for their Senior season, so they play on 1/31." 

DEC. 27
TEDBIT
  Maybe basketball players are becoming more loyal? The transfer winds did not blow too hard during the past offseason, at least among players with reps. The players on the list below earned all-league honors from the Daily News in 2013-14, but have since moved on.  

DEC. 26
HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT AT WISSAHICKON
Souderton 48, Judge 45
  The Crusaders' Christmas present to their fans was a 7-0 record. But on the day after Xmas, they put a 1 on the right side of the  hyphen. Some of the worst games in basketball history have been played on Dec. 26. Guys are sluggish after eating way too much food and/or perhaps they're disappointed because their presents included very little they really wanted. Make no mistake: This game wasn't brutal to watch, but neither was it a classic. Neither team truly enjoyed stretches that made the coaches say to themselves, "Hey, we're really clicking." This tilt did come down to a final shot, however, and there's always much to be said for that. Let's start with the final moments . . . With 4.5 seconds remaining and Souderton holding a one-point lead, sr. G-F Tim Markow stepped to the line for a double-bonus. To this point he'd gone 2-for-8 at the line. You can guess what happened, right? You got it. He hit both shots to make it 48-45. Soph WG Marc Rodriguez whipped an inbound pass to sr. PG Will Brazukas, right near the scorers' table, and time was called at 3.7. When the timeout ended, Bruzakas was going to inbound and the other four guys were aligned in a square on both sides of the lane. Tweet. Souderton called time. When the players came back out, Judge's inbounder was jr. WG Justin Fleming. Truthfully, I was kind of surprised a 5-second violation wasn't whistled because the Indians did a great job of making things difficult. Finally, jr. WG Quincy Reed was unable to hit a semi-running., maybe-23-foot trey from roughly 12 feet to the right of straight-on. Oh, well. A post-Christmas present -- as in four more competitive minutes -- wasn't to be. The two halves were quite different for the 'Saders. Prior to halftime, they mostly settled for treys and hit just four of 17. In the locker room, I'm guessing coach Sean Tait implored his squad to take the ball to the hoop (even though Souderton was playing zone). In the second half, the Crusaders tried just 10 treys and some of those were launched when they were facing multiple seven-point deficits. Reed led Judge with 18 points and managed this weird accomplishment in the first four-odd minutes: trey, assist, steal, block and a regular field goal. Overall, he posted two three-pointers and went 6-for-7 at the line. Rodriguez and sub sr. F Nick Nowack halved 18 points and the latter added six boards. Nowack is an interesting player. Brazukas had four assists and two steals. Overall, Judge shot an unsightly 14-for-42. Roughly midway through the third quarter, Brazukas was whistled for a foul when he poked a Souderton kid in the belly from his defensive stance, just as part of the usual size-him-up process. Tait expressed some displeasure at the very definition of a ticky-tack foul and the ref yelled back downcourt toward him, "I'll call that all night!" (Um, this was an afternoon game, dude -- smile.) Tait shot back, "Then call it down this end!" Long-time hoops fan Dave "Not the Hammer" Schultz was among the witnesses and he told me millions of great stories about Puck from a recent showcase event at Wood. Wish I'd written them down. But I was laughing too hard. And now I can't remember certain particulars. Ugh/sorry.

DEC. 24
TEDBIT
  Congrats to Carroll's Paul Romanczuk, who has become the ninth member of the city's 200-win club for current coaches. The list appears below.

DEC. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Germantown Academy 74, West Catholic 56
  Any day now, a famous GA parent might start supplying Mikebits for this website on a regular basis. Right after this one ended, former NFL tight end Mike McCloskey (Judge '79, Penn State) walked over and said, "We really needed this one. We were 8-2 and both losses were to Catholic League teams on Tuesday nights." The man's a factoid wizard! (smile) Indeed, on Dec. 9 and 16, the Patriots were surprised (even stunned?) by La Salle and St. Joseph's Prep, respectively. West's status as GA's third consecutive CL/Tuesday night opponent did not turn out to be the charm. The score is slightly misleading, however. The Burrs kept visiting GA within arm's length in the first half (35-29), and even deep into the third quarter. But that session ended with a brassy, through-traffic drive along the right baseline by soph WG Kyle McCloskey, a lefty (and also the quarterback), and a fastbreak bucket by jr. PG Devon Goodman off a nifty, great-vision feed from sr. WG Tim Guers. That sequence staked Jim Fenerty's ballclub to a 54-43 pad and the fourth quarter was mostly up and down. As Inter-Ac followers know, GA returned all five of its starters this season. Though that's quite the blessing, it can also create some rough sailing if every guy expects to star in every game. That's just unlikely, folks. Tonight, the Patriots needed some time to find their rhythm and, eventually, their spacing/sharing tendencies were impressive. West's court isn't exactly as big as all outdoors, either, so spacing is never easy. Goodman impressed with 24 points and three apiece of assists/steals. Soph SF Evan-Eric Longino, another lefty, hard-nosed his way to 18 points and seven rebounds. Like McCloskey (10 points, seven boards), he became a master of tough baseline moves. Guers mixed 14 points with nine boards and seven assists in a special outing. Sr. F Sam Lindgren attempted just three shots, but made 'em all for six points. In the late going, frosh sub G Isaiah Jones, who rushed for 1,000-plus yards in the just-completed grid season, kept the Pats from escaping completely unscathed. How so? He hit the ceiling with a trey attempt from pretty much straight on. He must have really lofted that baby (smile). In West's gym, shots that hit the ceiling are usually uncorked from the wings or corners. For WC, sr. G-F Jahmil Harris, another lefty, totaled 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals. If you want to stay on the court all day at the playground, make SURE he's on your team. Sr. F Brandon Cole used a strong second half to finish with 15 points. The fact that BC picked up his second foul just two minutes into the game disrupted the Burrs' early flow. The only other stat of note: Frosh G Keyohn Maddox notched four steals. Aside from Mike McCloskey, tonight's Legendary Spectator was Fran O'Hanlon. He starred at the long-gone St. Thomas More (47th & Wyalusing, closed in June '75) and Villanova before playing for a spell in the ol' ABA. He coached Bonner to the 1988 Catholic League championship (much thanks to Brian Daly, now an assistant at Penn State and the DN City Player of the Year that season) and is now in his 20th season as the hoops boss at Lafayette. Great to see you, Fran! Meanwhile, props to the WC students (almost all of them football players) who are trying to make things difficult for visitors. Until the latter stages, they showed strong energy while standing together on the steps at the far end. Most wore yellow shirts with "Panic Room" on the front. GA declined to panic, but maybe other squads will? The best line came when a West player made an impressive move to get around Goodman. A Panic Roomer yelled, "Fix 20's ankles, yo!" . . . Merry Almost Christmas, everyone!

DEC. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Academy Park 57, O'Hara 49
  Legend alert!! Legend alert!! Among the spectators tonight was Joe Crawford, a 1969 O'Hara grad who's in his 38th season as an NBA ref. It was GREAT to see him and we had a fun time interacting. Joe was thrilled that old playoff boxscores can be found on this website because he said people never believe him when he says he worked the Public and Catholic finals, AND the City Title, in his final season as a high school ref in 1976-77. Know what? He did! His name is right there in those boxscores. As many oldheads know, Joe's dad, Shag, was a long-time MLB ump and a brother, Jerry, spent an even longer stretch working MLB games. Pretty amazing. Again, it was GREAT to see Joe and I've always been happy for his success . . . Under '90 grad Steve Cloran, formerly a star guard, O'Hara is trying to get back on its basketball feet and progress is definitely being made. Only one senior, G-F Tip Swartz, is in the rotation, and two of the important cogs are frosh twins Ahmad and Ahmin Williams. New to the Lions is jr. F-C Liutauras Repsys, who appears to be about 6-7 (maybe 6-8) and hails from Lithuania. He needs to add strength and become better at securing the ball, but he runs VERY well and appears to have good basketball sense. He collected six points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and he disrupted at least five more shots just by putting his body against the shooter. He had two very impressive moments. Once, after fumbling away an entry pass near the foul line, he declined to pout and immediately raced downcourt to block what had the early look of a breakaway layup. Later, against the press, he broke away from the cluster of bodies, zipped downcourt, accepted an over-the-shoulder feed from soph G Kairi Jones and completed a short drive for a layup. Oh, he also offered a left-wing drive from beyond the arc to the hoop. Swartz (13 points), to now, has been known mostly for long-distance sniping. Though he hit just two of 10 treys, he mixed in some stop-and-pops and drives off dribbles, so it was nice to see his expanded repertoire. Jr. G Zakee Griffin had 10 points and three steals while the twins combined for 11 points, two assists (both by Ahmad) and three steals (all by Ahmin). Frosh G Kevin Tilghman claimed three boards. For Academy Park, four guys scored from nine to 15 points. The Knights used juniors and seniors, exclusively, and their savvy showed. Jr. G Jawan Collins had 15 points while shooting 5-for-6 (three treys) and 2-for-2. Travis Smith and Day-Juan Henson combined to go 9-for-10 at the line in the fourth quarter, thus assuring the Lions would not make any late-game roars. Also on hand was O'Hara's good-guy girls' coach, Linus McGinty, who said he's starting three ninth graders and two sophs. One of the refs was Jack Loughran, who pulled off a nifty feat yesterday at McDevitt. Alas, no balls got stuck behind the backboard tonight (smile).

DEC. 22
TEDBIT
  Jack Concannon is back in basketball control at Bonner-Prendergast (nee Bonner) after an 18-season "vacation." He does not hold the record among Catholic League coaches in that category, however. Below are the names/schools/seasons for coaches who went at least five seasons between head coaching stints. Some popped back up at the same school. The top gun, William "Speedy" Morris (La Salle), and the No. 4 man on the list, Eddie Burke (Drexel), guided college teams in between. John "Jocko" Collins is one name that appears twice. What an amazing sports life he experienced! Mr. Collins, who died in 1986 at age 80, was the head coach at four CL schools -- North Catholic, SJ Prep (alma mater), Salesianum and St. Thomas More. To boot, he was a long-time baseball scout AND spent 11 years as a supervisor for NBA referees.      

DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Haverford School 53, McDevitt 30
  The fear proved to be founded. There's a wide talent gap between these squads and, eventually, it showed. First half? Did you have to ask? (smile) The teams missed 22 shots apiece and only a late, seven-point run allowed the Fords to semi-size command at 22-15. The last bucket came as sr. CG Levan "Shawn" Alston (Temple) drove from the top of the key to the hoop with some here-there moves along the way. HS maintained the momentum to start the third quarter, thanks to Alston, jr. SF Lamar Stevens and frosh CG Cameron Reddish, and any hint of a competitive second half was gone. In a somewhat understated performance, Alston had 11 points. He didn't NEED to take over, so his approach (six assists) made plenty of sense, and his sidekicks got to shine. Stevens, whose appealing qualities include strength, had 21 points and nine rebounds. Like everyone, he was off early, but he shot 6-for-7 beyond intermission. Reddish's 16-point outing was highlighted by four treys. Like the other guys, he's rangy. And he already shows an ability to hit stand-still jumpers in addition to those that follow a quick dribble or three. Setting up inside was jr. PF-C Jack Marshall. He's getting more time because sr. F Derek Mountain is out with a broken foot (the projection is six weeks; here's guessing he'll be back earlier). Marshall is not a primary option, of course, but I liked his work ethic. He kept flashing from side to side within McDevitt's zone and always had his hands in the ball-receiving position, in case his teammates did want to target him. He snatched eight rebounds. The Lancers' only reliable scorer was soph WG Qadir Burgess. Even last year he showed some deep sniping ability and today he nailed five treys for 15 points. He also missed seven times from beyond the arc. Sr. Jayson Clark, who was being eyed by Arcadia assistant Justin "Not Raheem" Scott, managed six points and did his best to set up teammates, as hard as that was to do today. The Mr. Energy Award goes to sr. F Allen Harmon. He was stationed along the back line of McDevitt's zone and again and again called out the locations of HS guys, just so everybody would know how/where to shift. Great stuff! There's not enough talking in hoops these days, so I loved Harmon's old-school ways. Meanwhile . . . the day's best play was made by referee Jack Loughran. In the third quarter, the ball cleared the backboard at the entrance to McDevitt's gym and rolled dead on the top of a supporting bracket. Loughran stood to the side and fired another ball at the stuck ball. It took him three attempts. On one, the stuck ball got dislodged, but . . . the ball he threw up rolled dead in pretty much the same spot as the original ball! Legendary! Soon, I heard Loughran telling one of his partners, "That's the highlight of my season." Ha, ha. Roman all-timer Donnie Carr is now an assistant to HS' coach, Henry "Doug" Fairfax. Great to see you, Donnie! Ditto for former Dobbins star Brent "McAdoo" Hawthorne. His son, Bryton, who wound up starting at guard for New Media, formerly wrote quality reports for this website. Thanks again for your contributions, Bryt!

DEC. 21
TEDBIT
  Yesterday, Southern retired the No. 22 jersey of all-timer Lionel Simmons, a 1986 grad who became the National Player of the Year for La Salle University in 1990 and then enjoyed a nine-year NBA career before having to retire due to injury. In '86, the Rams (25-1 overall; lone loss by 67-66 to Roman in a showcase event) captured their first Public League title since 1946 . . . but it wasn't easy. In the semis and final, they won each game by two points. Semis became part of the Pub's postseason process in 1939. Look below for the Top 11 teams (there's a tie for 10th) that went the skin-of-their-teeth route. Southern is tied for second at 4. That club featured Simmons, Marshall Taylor, Al Baur, Clarence Jackson and Robert "World" Stokes as starters. The key subs were Kevin Smith and Demetrius Butler. The other four, full-season varsity players were Chris D'Angelo, Tony Austin, Gerald Blackman and Jason Waters. The coach was Mitch Schneider . . . Note: Stokes, Smith and Waters were starters in '87 as Southern again won the Pub.

DEC. 19
NON-LEAGUE
Interboro 56, Bonner-Prendie 41
  The line of the night was uttered late in the third quarter by Daily News managing editor Pat McLoone, my long-time friend. As the Friars experienced their umpteenth rough patch of the evening, Pat quipped, "This is supposed to be my relaxation." Hey, you can only feel stressed when your son's team -- Tom is a sr. WG -- is having maybe three of THOSE nights rolled into one. This was not easy viewing, folks. The Friars shot 15-for-53 from the floor and 1-for-8 on treys; that lone successful beyond-the-arc bucket did not occur until 25 seconds remained in the third quarter. Oh, and they shot just 50 percent at the line (10-for-20). Ouch. Double ouch, in fact. Meanwhile, though it would have qualified for a 5-10/and-under league, Interboro kept dominating thanks to excellent outings by energized, spittin'-image guards named Alex Grady and Tyler Moralis. Both are lefties and they went around-through defenders a million times to score 21 and 20 points, respectively. Another you-know-what (yes, a small guard), Donte (might be Dante) Pagan, added 13 points with the help of three treys, so the three mainstays combined for 54 of the Bucs' 56 points. The night began with a major shock. When I arrived rather early in the JV game, this quick thought popped into my mind: What happened? Why is Lansdale Catholic here? Reason: B-P's uniforms were green and yellow, not green and white. Say what!? Much later in the evening, Pat said he was told by Bonner football all-timer Ed Monaghan that way, way back Bonner's football uniforms resembled the Green Bay Packers'. Hmmm. Now that I think of it, there might have been (maybe still is?) a pic of Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti in the area right outside Bonner's gym wearing a green and yellow uniform? Green and yellow doesn't look bad. I can live with it. Just was surprised like crazy (especially since the warmups were dominated by yellow). The JV game produced a rout for B-P, but the momentum was certainly not sustained. B-P missed 17 of its first 20 shots while falling behind 17-7. Many were tight shots that just would not fall. The Friars showed great energy to open the second half and sr. F-C Marques Jackson twice notched buckets off entry passes (from McLoone and jr. WG Mike Mercanti; his uncle, Michael, is the DN photo editor) to provide some hope. Alas, sr. SF Joe Oquendo, perhaps the only Friar with an outgoing, oncourt personality, was hit with a tech after explaining to a ref, with too much force, how he should have handled a call and four free throws pushed the deficit right back up to we're-doublin'-ya territory, at 34-17. Later, Interboro thrived in transition. B-P coach Jack Concannon, in year No. 1 of his second stint, substituted early and often. I assume he wants to give lots of guys a chance in December before narrowing the rotation in January. No one scored in double figures, though four guys had from six to nine. Jackson (nine) was the leader. Sr. PF-C Tyler Higgins and jr. F John Hargraves halved 18 rebounds and McLoone dished four assists. Among the witnesses: Chris Doran, B-P's public address announcer; Walt Thompson, N-G's former student manager; former O'Hara player Sean Havink "A Mask on Your Face in the Team Pic Is Very Cool!" (in 2013); former Gratz wrestling star Waverly Lane; Villanova women's forever coach Harry Perretta (maybe had a relative playing in the JV game; he was there very early . . . update: his son, Steve, played for B-P in the JV tilt), former B-P pitcher Pat Vanderslice and his dad, Tim; Delco Times sports reporter Matt De George . . . and apologies to anyone not mentioned. "Pat Slice" began his college baseball career at Temple, but is now at Saint Joseph's because the Owls dropped the sport. He was wearing a SJU sweatshirt. Dad, meanwhile, peeled back his jacket to reveal a Temple shirt. "I only have so many shirts that fit," he cracked. Ha, ha, ha. I know that feeling!

DEC. 19
TEDBIT
  Neumann-Goretti's basketball team is going for two major accomplishments this season. First, N-G is trying to become the first Catholic League school to win seven consecutive hoops championships. Currently, the Saints and Roman (1989-94) are tied at six. But there's also this: N-G is trying to become the tenth CL school to capture football/basketball crowns in the same school year. This past grid season, the Saints seized AA honors.

DEC. 18
TEDBIT
(BILLBIT, ACTUALLY . . . Offered by Bill Avington, SJ Prep's Director of Alumni and Public Relations)
  On Saturday, Bill “Speedy” Morris, head basketball coach at St. Joseph’s Prep, will go for the 950th win of his career as the Prep plays Cristo Rey Philadelphia at 1:30 p.m., in the Prep’s Kelly Fieldhouse.
   Morris has had an outstanding career and has accumulated several accolades, including winningest high school coach in Philadelphia (668). He holds the most wins in the history of St. Joe’s Prep (280) and best winning percentage at the Prep and Roman Catholic, his alma mater, where he coached from 1967-81. His eight Catholic League titles rank him at the top of the record books and in 2011 he became the all-time winningest high school coach in Philadelphia Catholic League history.
The Breakdown . . .
St. Joseph’s Prep
280-87 (14th year)
2 championships
4 division titles
Winningest coach in SJP history
Roman Catholic
347-82 (14 yrs)
6 championships
8 division titles
Best winning % of any RC coach
Penn Charter
41-14 (2 yrs)
1 Inter-Ac Championship
La Salle Women
43-17 (2 yrs)
1 MAAC Championship
1 NCAA Appearance
Best winning % of any La Salle women’s coach
La Salle Men
238-202 (15 yrs)
4 MAAC Championships
2 NIT appearances
4 NCAA appearances
Winningest coach in La Salle history

DEC. 17
NON-LEAGUE
Phelps School 67, Episcopal 61
  In the moments immediately after this game ended, Episcopal's coaches and players were extra glum. After all, the Churchmen held the lead pretty much throughout before succumbing to Phelps' late-game rush . . . 8-0 over the final 66 seconds. However, there was much to feel good about and you'll see my point after I tell you this: Three Phelps players have already made D-I commitments and a couple more could be doing so over the next few months. Two are Our Guys, as in Philly residents and former Public League stars now in their fifth year of high school. Mike Watkins, a 6-9 F-C who most recently starred at MC&S, is bound for Penn State. Mustapha Traore, a 6-8 forward formerly of Prep Charter, is headed to Monmouth. Also playing for Phelps, as a backup PG, is Anwar Epps, who starred last year for Palumbo after transferring from West Catholic. Another D-I guy (Sacred Heart) is WG Quincy McKnight, who hails from Connecticut. Despite the wide talent gap, Episcopal gave Phelps (coached by '04 Episcopal grad Brian Shanahan) ALL it wanted, so let's hope the positive vibrations are remembered. The springy-as-ever Watkins swatted 12 shots (Phelps' stat man had him for 15) and caused major disruption. Incredibly, Traore and Epps had matching performances in the shooting department -- 5-for-5 and 2-for-2 for 12 points. Episcopal's scoring leaders were sr. PG Mike Jolaoso (15), soph F Nick Alikakos (14) and jr. WG Matt Woods (11). Soph WG Conner Delaney and sr. F Cameron Pott were right behind with eight apiece. Coach Craig Conlin's ballclub showed great spacing and managed to get decent looks on jumpers even after forcing Phelps to go man-to-man. Alas, though brassy, shots off penetration often did not work out because of Watkins and Traore. The Churchmen got off to a great start as treys by Delaney and sr. WG Mike Hinckley surrounded a blocked shot by Alikakos. Alikakos is one to watch. To some degree, though he's not as explosive off his feet, he resembles La Salle star Dave Krmpotich (Colgate). He added seven boards to his performance. Even though his shots were sometimes snuffed, I liked that he brassed it up vs. Watkins. Jolaoso mixed frisky drives with three treys. Hinckley managed four assists while Pott had six boards. The Churchmen appeared to have great chemistry with each guy knowing/accepting his role, and trying to thrive in it. Always desired! Unfortunately, early in the fourth quarter, the Churchmen missed four tight shots on one possession and the Lions stormed downcourt for a go-ahead bucket. Instead of wilting, EA scrambled for seven quick points thanks to Alikakos' foul-line jumper, Jolaoso's trey and Jolaoso's foul-line jumper. Phelps went ahead for good at 0:51 on a halfcourt steal and dash for a layup. Watson then got an ever-so-slight piece of Alikakos' right-side, step-back jumper and McKnight hit two free throws at 19.5 A breakaway dunk ended it. Great to see all the EA folks from Craig Conlin to assistants Jon Kelsey, Tom Kossuth, Woody Burke and Tim Ivory, to scoreboard operator/go-to guy Mike Herron to trainer John Smith. When we set up shop for the Team Pic, manager A.J. Marcucci scrambled over and indicated he wanted to be part of it. No problem. Managers/coaches are always welcomed. But just before the camera was going to click, player Jermaine Rhoden (I think he was the speaker-upper) noticed that A.J.'s tie was not up by his neck and told him, in effect, to look presentable. A.J. obliged and that was a Team Pic first .. .a tie delay! Ha, ha. Gotta love it. One of the three refs was Jim Welsh, a mad bomber for Ryan ('04) and then King's. Another ref said he played for Dougherty in '81. He didn't tell me his name. Hmmmmm. Here's a guess and only a guess -- Rob Saunders?

DEC. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Ryan 45, Penn Charter 34
  Do you have a basketball-themed calendar? Don't be surprised if the year has not-so-magically changed from 2014 to 1934. This baby set back hoops 80 years (smile). Afterward, numerous observers were asking DN reporter Aaron "Ace" Carter and myself whether this was the worst game we'd ever seen. Not quite, but it was nothing close to a gem. No offense to the players, by the way. They were trying, but little was clicking. Some examples: PC shot 11-for-46 overall (23.9 percent), 1-for-15 on treys (6.7 percent) and 11-for-28 at the line (39.3 percent). To boot, the Quakers missed nine of their first 10 attempts at the so-called charity stripe. Ouch! Meanwhile, the Raiders shot 1-for-11 beyond the arc (9.1 percent) and their top long-range sniper, jr. WG-SF Austin Chabot, missed all seven of his trey attempts. These days, almost NEVER will you see a game with only two successful three-pointers and here's making a strong guess that Ryan, in coach Bernie Rogers' regime, had never suffered through a one-trey outing. Three years ago, in a Christmas tourney in Wildwood, N.J., Ryan hit 11 treys in one game. Even better: NINE guys combined to do that. PC is now playing home games in the Dooney Field House and there is LOTS of room behind each basket. Maybe that extra space affected the shooters' depth perception? Who knows? But by now, after practicing in there for roughly a month, you'd think the Quakers would at least be semi-comfortable. Oh well . . . Chabot did finish with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Realizing he was off from distance, he mixed in some penetration and went 7-for-8 at the line in the fourth quarter. Ryan's only trey was drilled by jr. PG Austin Slawter, who went 4-for-5 and 5-for-6 for 14 points. He also had two steals. He converted a hard drive down the lane to end the first quarter, next curled in a layup off a baseline drive and completed his quick outburst with a steal/layup after PC had grabbed a defensive rebound. Jr. F-C (by default) Fred Killian mixed six points with as many rebounds while soph WG Izaiah Brockington, a lefty with much promise (his dad, Antoine, was a football-hoops star at Northeast, and had a strong career in the latter at Coppin State), also managed six points. By the way, Ryan only had one field goal (on two attempts) in the fourth quarter while going 17-for-20 at the line. For PC, only sr. PG Julian Johnson (17) scored more than five points. Hard to believe, right? He's an aggressive kid and took most of his shots off brassy drives, often into double-traffic. He was also average, at best, at the line, however (5-for-9), and a PG just can't let that happen. Jr. WG-SF Harrison Williams, a lefty, also played with authority, but experienced many almosts. Sr. WG-SF Patrick McCain and sub sr. PF Eric Stahlheber halved 12 rebounds. McCain had what was likely the Quakers' best moment. He was absolutely crunched on a break, but made the basket and added the free throw. That sequence provided a 25-24 lead with 2:54 left in the third quarter, but PC could not ride the momentum. In fact, it managed just nine points thereafter. PC's lone trey was hit by soph lefty WG Michael "Niko" Hnatkowsky, who this past football season passed for 2,000-plus yards. Beforehand, my hope was to stage a reenactment involving jr. PF-C Sean Foley, who scored the first points in DFH history back on Dec. 6 against Parkway Center City. Those markers came on a bank shot from 7-8 feet off a pass from Williams. However, under the supervision of an assistant, PC exclusively shot wing jumpers or converted hard drives throughout the warmup period (except for a return journey to the locker room), so Sean couldn't mosey over and station himself in the exact locale and flip the ball hoopward to help me get a pic. Another time . . . hopefully. Lots of legends in attendance. But since some might have left work early, I won't mention names (smile).

DEC. 5
NON-LEAGUE
Judge 62, Strawberry Mansion 44
  Back in the day around Philly, there were summer/winter leagues for players 6-foot and under. Any day now, Judge coach Sean Tait might ask (beg?) Catholic League honchos to start a league for players 6-3 and under. Actually, 6-3 might be a stretch (smile). Yes, the 'Saders are short on height, but they appear to be long on togetherness/unselfishness and any coach would love to see that trait in his players. Assistant Mike O'Connell had Judge with 13 assists on its 21 field goals. On at least half, I'm guessing, if this had been hockey there would have been two assists. The Crusaders made lots of crisp passes to make sure scoring opportunities would be great instead of just decent. On threes, they shot just 7-for-26, but there were very few true bricks. Perhaps the two best plays were made by the eighth man, jr. G Quinn DeNofa. About 2 1/2 minutes prior to halftime, he sacrificed his body to take a full-blast charge. Then, just before the buzzer, he caught an airballed trey at the right side of the lane and curled in a layup. Nice. In the second half, two not-really "big guys" -- sr. F Pat Mulville and sr. F Nick Nowack -- had special moments. Once, Mulville accepted a pass in the left corner, faked a trey, then drove around-through people for an easy layup. Nowack, meanwhile, knocked down a three-pointer and claimed seven rebounds. Like always, sr. PG Will Brazukas displayed equal skills with his right AND left hands while totaling 16 points, two assists and four steals; also, he was perfect (8-for-8) at the line. Jr. G Quincy Reed hit three treys for nine points and soph G Marc Rodriguez mixed four assists with eight points. Creating a stir as the sixth man, though his shooting was a shade off, was sr. WG Aaron Higgins. His teammates loved seeing him back in action after a 2013-2014 season that saw him forced to merely watch due to a heart condition. Mansion's players, overall, were even shorter than Judge's. Soph WG Johnny Eden (19) and sr. WG Christopher Russell (11) combined for 30 points and no one else had more than six. Eden's effort included three treys and two other attempts that resulted in three-shot fouls. Eden and sr. F Quadir Norman halved 10 boards while frosh G Antwuan Butler (four assists) and Norman (four steals) had some extra contributions. Thanks to assistant Kwame Burke for those numbers. Oh, the Knights also had a freshman guard named Reggie Jackson. Alas, he hit no homers (smile). Ex-star Matthew "Moo" Johnson is again SM's coach and a former boss, Stan Laws, is one of his assistants. Mansion had a very cool hoops program not too long ago and Moo is confident he'll be able to bring it back. The school is starting special programs and internships to appeal to neighborhood parents/kids and here's hoping it all works out. Considering Judge and Mansion have no emotional attachment, the crowd was respectable. My arrival time wasn't (ugh). I thought there'd be a JV game and walked into the gym at about 5:45. Game didn't start until 7. Tait -- congrats on the weight loss, Sean; keep it rollin' -- was supervising a walk-through at the stage end of the gym. Many players then hung around to keep shooting, etc., before going downstairs at about 6:20/25 to get ready for the pregame confab. I spent the last three quarters taking pics from a spot next to Brother Jim Williams, who teaches at Judge and once was North Catholic's coach. He was providing text updates for Frank Cahill, a former coach at Judge. More than a few kids were asked to leave the gym after they were spotted eating hot dogs and/or drinking water out of plastic bottles. Obey or else, young-'uns (ha ha).