On the Trail With Ted
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    Some observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen in February during the 2000-01 season . . .

FEB. 27
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Round of 16
King 77, Northeast 72 (OT)
   Wild and woolly, anyone? Zoom. They're going this way. Zoom. They're going that way. This was Pub ball at its Pub-iest. Lots of great plays. Just enough sloppy passes to make you shake your head and mutter, "What the heck was that?" Overall, I loved this one. King forced OT as sr. WG Terrell Patterson (19 points, nine rebounds) took a feed from jr. PG Raheem Scott (14 points, eight assists) and nailed a right-corner trey. Bang! It was a big-time shot under pressure and Patterson buried it. The Cougars jumped out first in OT and stayed ahead. I was very impressed with Scott. He maintained his cool, moved methodically upcourt and made terrific decisions. If Patterson and sr. WG Kelvin Smith (9-for-24, 24 points) had shot better, Scott could have had 15 assists. 6-4 jr. Darron Bradley had 10 points and 16 rebounds. Sr. F Bruce Bonner, a do-little-things guy, had eight points and eight boards and tried his best to cover Northeast's 6-7 Steve Smith. The highly athletic Smith had 17 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and five blocks and literally played all five positions at various times. He also did all of the inbounding. Several D-I assistants were in attendance. At one point, Smith made a spectacular play and I immediately looked at one of those assistants to see whether he'd have any reaction. Um, not really. He was READING A NEWSPAPER! Believe that? From across the court, it looked like USA Today. Smith's best play was a follow-up dunk, where he ran down the lane, timed a teammate's miss and did a catch/throw down all in one motion. Sr. F Ty Teasley shot 12-for-18 for 27 points. All of his field goals came on layups or mid-range jumpers, as he kept getting into open areas and accepting passes from Smith and sr. PG Brent Grimes. Grimes had seven assists and showed some incredible dribbling skills, but he was often out of control, just FLYING between two and three people with no real purpose. Very thin 6-6 jr. Chaz Crawford had six blocks. Promising 6-4 soph Troy Roundtree took just two shots in his 16-minute stint, making both.

FEB. 20
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Dobbins 65, Straw. Mansion 62
    I still have a headache, but it was worth it. A filled Hank Gathers Gym is the best venue in the city. Dobbins needed to win and Mansion didn't, and need is a powerful motivator. Rich Yankowitz has done a fine job with the Mustangs, who start three Munchkinteers in 5-8 sr. Dennis Meekins (12 points, three asists) and 5-7 jrs. Ronald Davis (22 points, four steals) and Hakeem Dunn (three assists). These quicksters did pretty much what they wanted in the lane and beyond the arc. I was also impressed by 6-4 soph Tyrell Mathis, who has gotten much more active over the course of the season. The lefty often made hard moves to his right along the baseline. He had 13 points, 12 boards. 6-2 jr. Barren Grier was also tough on the wood (13 -- no glass in the Friendly Confines). For Mansion, 5-11 soph G Maureece Rice scored 20 points en route to winning the scoring title. He shot 8-for-14 and 4-for-7. He made a few quick moves between and around defenders for short bank shots and hit some medium-range pull-ups. Overall, though, as I'm sure he'd admit, he was average, not sensational. There's no extra room at Dobbins and he was giving heavy attention. More than ever, I believe 6-6 freshman DeSean White can be a big, BIG-timer. He already has most of the fundamentals down cold, especially keeping the ball high and not needlessly putting it on the floor. He had 10 points, nine boards and three blocks in maybe 20-22 minutes. 6-7 jr. Leon "Chief" Fulton shot 3-for-4 en route to eight points. He, too, has a good feel for how the game is supposed to be played. I know coach Gerald Hendricks is around his team much more than I am, but White and Fulton have to be on the floor together more often for the Knights to advance deep into the postseason. Jr. PG Maurice Stennis had five assists. Sr. PG Salahudin Muhammad, another guy who should be on the floor more often, swished three treys while scoring 11 fourth quarter points. As the game proceeded, I kept wishing Kevin Hanlon was in attendance. He always says the Pub is a raggy, worthless league. He would have loved this game, and the atmosphere.

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Carroll 76, SJ Prep 60
   This could have been one of the all-time memorable evenings if Prep had been more competitive. Many Prep students live in Carroll's area, the schools talked trash back and forth all fall about football on your beloved tedsilary.com, and both had decent rooting sections on hand. Unfortunately, Prep was woeful early and Carroll ended the suspense before it even had a chance to build. The main party pooper was 5-10 sr. G-F Ted Piotrowicz, whose stick-to-ya defense forced 6-1 sr. CG Mike Barker to miss his first eight shots from the floor. Barker wound up with 14 points, but shot 3-for-16 (floor) and 8-for-15 (line) and had just five points deep into the third quarter, which ended with Carroll frolicking, 58-32. Piotrowicz made a spectacular play over the baseline, making a headlong dive, grabbing the ball and barking a "time out!!" call while parallel to the floor. He played with five stitches in his head, the result of a pre-game accident last Wednesday. Soph PG Kashif Payne was a whirlwind, collecting 14 points and six assists. Sr. WG Dave Hoopes shot 7-for-12 (two treys) en route to 18 points. Soph C Jordan Ingram shot 5-for-6 for 10 points while missing significant chunks due to foul trouble. Kyle Giresi (11 points) and Evan Dittler (10) nicely picked up the slack. Strange occurrence: Prep soph F-C Mark Zoller scored 11 points in the second quarter, but otherwise took (and missed) just one shot. Prep made the final somewhat respectable by hitting six treys in the fourth quarter. Getting one apiece were Jim Good, T.J. Valerio John Griffin, Pat McKeever, Joe Heinbach and Kyle Eisenmann. When Carroll's rooters gloated over their football success (13-0), Prep's of course reminded them that it came in the Blue Division. I watched the game next to three grade-school kids. As the game started, I leaned over to one, pointed to Carroll aide Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna and said, "See that guy right there? He's the best assistant coach in the country." That kid then told the others, pointed to me and said, very seriously, "That guy right there said so." All night, they hardly took their eyes off of Puck. Their admission dollars were well spent.

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 62, Dougherty 55 (OT)
    Amauro did this one for his corner.

FEB. 16
CATHOLIC SOUTH
West 60, O'Hara 56
    Huck did this one for his corner.

FEB. 16
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Roman 75, Carroll 63
    Lo and behold, Roman's students actually cared enough to show up for this one. About 60 kids grouped on the stage and made noise all game, encouraging the Cahillites and busting on the refs and Carroll's players. They added atmosphere to a good show. The teams battled like madmen. Roman had been rather stinky last weekend, so stinky that coach Dennis Seddon staged a clear-the-air session on Wednesday. The players wrote down anonymous comments, good and bad, and then Seddon read them in front of the players. It must have worked because Roman had great chemistry. The Cahillites played hard and almost every field goal had an assist. Sr. SF Brent Welton (23 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and sr. WG John Huggins (20) were impressive throughout. Small sr. PG Jim Kelly claimed NINE boards and dealt seven assists. 6-6 sr. PF-C Tamal Forchion shot just 1-for-10 through three quarters, but he finished with 12 points, 11 boards and six blocks while dueling with 6-7 soph Jordan Ingram (20, 16, seven). Ingram, as you can tell by the numbers, more than held his own. He could have done even better, though. He mishandled some nifty feeds from soph PG whiz Kashif Payne (eight points, four assists) and a few other times, he took much too long to get off his feet for shots, allowing Forchion to swat 'em. Sr. WG Steve Brodzinski had six assists for Roman and FB-baseball star Joe McCourt came off the bench to add eight points, three feeds and non-stop hustle. For Carroll, sr. WG Dave Hoopes somehow kept finding room to launch jump shots on Roman's way-too-tiny court. He scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting (3-for-7 on treys). Carroll aide Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna wore a tie. Accessorized by pen marks on his face.

FEB. 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Southern 58, West Phila. 44
    There is no sadder sight these days than a basketball game at West Philly. The lighting is horrible, the stands are almost empty (42 people for this one) and the team is a shadow of what it was in the glory days. Southern has had problems with academic ineligibility, but the future looks rosy if coach George Anderson can keep these guys together. Three freshmen -- 6-5 Shawn Sabb (eight rebounds) and guards Antoine Brown (four assists) and Keith Grimes (11 points on 5-for-8 shooting) -- are freshmen and SF Roosevelt Brown, Antoine's brother, is a junior. Brown (14 points, six rebounds, five assists), has a good feel. He went hard to the hole and had chemistry in transition with 6-foot born scorer Kyle Jones (19 points, seven boards). Jones is a treat to watch. He's 6-foot, 225 pounds and has the knack to get off quick shots. Sabb did a great job of batting away/intercepting passes into the teeth of Southern's zone. Sr. F Curtis Easley never got into the flow, shooting 2-for-10. Before the game, West PG Jamal Dillard, a 4-year varsity player, was playfully bugging me to give him some attention in the paper. I told him he might have to settle for the website. Jamal played hard and kept getting to good spots, but his shots wouldn't fall (1-for-12). He did dish three assists. It's obvious that Jamal loves the game and I hope he finds a way to stay close to it, even if his dreams of becoming a college star don't materialize. The top Speedboy was 6-4 SF Eugene Myatt (he might actually be a little taller). He has seriously long strides and a decent enough handle to burst around people. He can also leap VERY well. Myatt had 14 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks. His brother, Andrew, a soph, had eight points, seven boards. West had only seven players in uniform. Sad, sad, sad.

FEB. 13
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Gratz 49, Franklin 39
    Huck did this one for his corner.

FEB. 12
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Roxborough 49, Parkway 47
    Patience is not my strength, so it was slow-burn time during a 35-minute delay to find a second referee after one of the original guys failed to show. Or maybe he couldn't get in because the outside doors to the gym were locked. Only in the Pub!! The game was played at a low-intensity level, but there was still some interesting viewing. Roxborough's Dahliek Powell, a 6-4 jr. G-F, showed nice skills. Zipped into cracks and crevices. Had a nice touch on medium range jumpers. Got to the glass. He also did a good job defending Parkway's best player, sr. G Daniel Rumph. Powell finished with 11-for-18 shooting and converted a double bonus with 3.3 seconds left (after making a steal on an inbound pass) to score his 23^rd and 24^th points and win the game. If this kid played in a glamour program, everyone would know his name. Sr. Gs Terrell Rivers (nine points) and Terrell Bruce handled floor duties. Sr. Bashir Frazier and jr. Frank Galloway, both Fs, had a few decent bursts to the hole. Rumph has become amazingly consistent, almost always scoring 21 to 27 points. He had 21 in this one, shooting 8-for-17, 3-for-9 on treys and 2-for-4. He added nine boards, two assists and four steals. He made a spectacular play early in the fourth quarter, making a halfcourt steal and driving hard for a thunder dunk. Sr. wing sniper Steven Vaughn had 13 points, three assists and five steals. Sr. F-C Dave Jamison got to some good spots inside, but seemed to have little confidence in his ability to finish. 6-6 soph C Jason Harris is a big'un. His body and face stir memories of a young Marc Jackson (Wm. Penn, Roman, Va. Commonwealth, Temple, Golden State Warriors). Let's hope he develops the same kind of work ethic.

FEB. 11
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 62, Wood 55
    Jr. WG Tim Smink set an early tone in this one, making all three of his shots for eight points in the first quarter. He went on to pour in 26 and twice made all three free throws after being fouled on treys. He shot 5-for-9 on treys. Soph WG Isaac Greer added 20 points on a mixture of threes and medium-range jumpers, most delivered on the baseline after quick penetration. Mike McDonald, Mark Seidenburg, Bryan Cole and Donnell Smiley took turns hounding Mike Spadafora, Wood's jr. CG and likely the division MVP. Spadafora was limited to 14 points and made just one of his last seven shots. 6-7 sr. Bryan Green scored just two points, but grabbed nine rebounds and recorded four blocks. He had numerous "alters" as well. For Wood, Jr. F-C Pat Thompson, jr. G Tim Dougherty and soph G Greg Arrow had 12 points apiece. Thompson kind of fascinates me. The lefty looks lumbering, but he manages to get to the right spots and finish plays. He's a hard worker, too. There was funny by-play between a 2000 Dougherty grad, seated right near website sidekick Amauro and me, and the father of a Wood player, seated across the court behind Wood's bench. The Dougherty grad had some biting comments and the Wood father couldn't hang. He said he was No. 10's father (Arrow). The Dougherty grad also gave Spadafora a verbal going-over. Nothing dirty, but relentless. Spadafora never responded and mostly acted like he didn't hear a word. Classy. Jack Cole, Bryan's brother, was among the witnesses. Jack was great friends with Eddie Polec.

FEB. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 59, Hatboro-Horsham 44
    GA's three star juniors get most of the attention, but is sr. PG Mike Slattery the truth, or what? The Delaware signee makes no mistakes and is so damn perceptive. His passes, always to the right people, go here, there and everywhere. Plus, he plays with flair. He owned this Battle for Montgomery County supremacy, played in Trenton's Prime Time Shootout, from beginning to end. I hope his coaches give him much love. He deserves it. 6-6 jr. WG Matt Walsh got off to a slow start, but finished with 19 points on 6-for-14 (three treys), 4-for-6 shooting. 6-7 jr. F Lee Melchionni, returning from illness, had just one field goal. Hustling sr. WG-SF Troy Holiday shot 4-for-5 en route to a clean nine points. 6-6 soph Rob Kurz, who looks like he wants to be the next Matt Walsh, scored five quick points to get the Patriots rolling and later made some key blocks. Sr. F Brendan Kelly added toughness, but, yo, what happened to the high white Chucks? The most important job of the evening was given to Frank Bertucci, former suburban sports reporter for the Inquirer neighbors sections in Montgomery and Bucks counties. I never wear a watch, so Frank said he'd be responsible for providing the official game-ending time. As the buzzer sounded, Frank barked, "Eleven fifty-five!" Inquirer guys -- sometimes good for something. (Really, Frank is one of coolest guys in the industry. All friends. No enemies.)

FEB. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Gratz 56, Roman 47
   Location. Location. Location. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. This first meeting of city basketball powers since Dec. '95 took place in the Prime Time Shootout at Trenton's Sovereign Bank Arena. Hardly anyone cared. The schools combined had maybe 25 fans total. The other 775 in attendance just watched and almost never reacted. Can you say drab atmosphere? I feared this would happen. Beforehand I kept asking myself, How come I'm only mildly excited about this game? I knew the answer: Because no one here is going to care and the players will have to generate all the emotion. Anyway, Gratz was relentless on defense and received excellent rebounding from 6-4 sr. F Michael Cuffee (13) and 6-6 jr. F Michael Blackshear (11). They also had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Gratz sprinted to the shooters out of its 3-2 matchup zone and made things very difficult for Roman. Sr. WG John Huggins managed to score a somehow quiet 20 points, but the other perimeter players combined to shoot 2-for-14. 6-6 sr. F-C Tamal Forchion had 14 points, but just five boards. Off the bench, Gratz received three field goals from jr. Augie Woodlin (two treys). This kid has a knack for scoring a decent amount of points on a limited number of shots. Before the game I took a photo of Gratz coach Bill Ellerbee and Roman coach Dennis Seddon. You can find it by returning to the home page and clicking on Special Photos. They entered the season with a combined 750 wins. Not bad.

FEB. 8
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Frankford 66, Olney 54
    Every year in every sport there's a team I don't get to see as early as I should have, for assorted reasons. This basketball season that team was Olney. When I finally did see the Trojans, they were missing two rotation members (one with injury, one with academic ineligibility). 6-6 sr. David "Bone" Bell alternated between PG and WG. Despite tough defensive attention from 6-4 sr. F Imein Ellison, Bell scored 24 points and went 4-for-7 on treys. I know he gets rapped from appearing not to play hard, but I thought he went full-bore all game. He's so lanky and herky-jerky, he mistakenly gives that floating-through-it impression. Sr. WG Vernon "Juice" Robinson showed hand and foot quickness on penetrations for pull-ups through two and three defenders. Only three of his 11 shots went in, though. Meanwhile, Robinson did a spectacular job on Frankford franchise 6-6 sr. WG-SF Nicholas King, holding him to 1-for-9 from the floor. Jr. F Tyree Hankerson had 12 points and sr. F Darryl Durant had nine despite heavy foul trouble. Andrew Jerry, a tiny freshman PG, zipped home a late jumper. Frankford again showed balance. Ellison had 15 points. Sr. F sub Clayton Hunter had 10 points. King and sr. PG Kevin "Chip" Green (eight assists) had nine apiece. Sr. WG Tyrone Reed and sr. F sub Donte Wood had seven apiece. In the Daily News, there's a cool picture (by George Miller) of Wood going "shhhhh" to Bell with his index finger in front of his mouth late in the game. As in, "Time to stop talkin' trash. We've GOT this one." The stands were pretty much filled. Frankford AD Tom Mullineaux and underlings did an excellent job keeping order. When Mullineaux told the fans over the PA system not to walk on the court while leaving the gym late in the game, lo and behold, they actually listened. Frankford coach Bernie Handler resisted the temptation to again ask me for a pre-game pretzel. I spoke beforehand with FB/wrestling star Shawn Williams. He's closing in on 100 career wins and is receiving FB interest from James Madison. Shawn has so much potential in sports and life. All he needs to do is stay focused.

FEB. 4
CATHOLIC SOUTH
O'Hara 56, Carroll 52
    It was a good thing this one didn't go overtime. There would have been nobody left. Two players fouled out and six more finished with four personals. Yes, it was physical. Coach Bud Gardler told his O'Hara players that playing tougher would be the key to reversing a recent slump vs. Carroll. Leading the way? Why, of course, 6-5 sr. Gene Willard, the hard guy with the soft shooting touch. Willard shot 10-for-17 en route to 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and banged all day with 6-7 Carroll soph Jordan Ingram (16 points). Jr. WG Chris Grandieri, covered by pest-and-a-half Ted Piotrowicz, got off just two shots in the first half. He then got it rolling, though, and finished with 16 points. Jr. Harry Dougherty and soph Craig Haywood were strong with the ball. The determination showed on Haywood's face as he faced the difficult task of bringing the ball upcourt against cat-quick Carroll soph Kashif Payne. When it was mentioned to Gardler that Dougherty seems more confident lately, he said, "Confidence is never a problem for Harry. He thinks he should be in the NBA." Sr. F-C Mike Lomas took just one shot while being watched by his uncle, Penn coach Fran Dunphy. He's not there to score, folks. For Carroll, Ingram got almost all of his field goals on layups. His medium range jumpers were shaky. As he looks to improve in that area, he can take heart from Willard's vast improvement in mid-range shooting from one season to the next. Sr. WG Dave Hoopes continued to struggle (3-for-13, 2-for-8 on treys). Payne had 15 points and made some spectacular passes that weren't always handled cleanly. I hung out with Sun Valley coach Tom Dougherty, coach of Neumann's '97 champs. It was funny to listen to him try to X and O along with Gardler and Carroll's John Roe. Tom was with his daughter, Kelly. Late, he was getting HER to predict what the coaches would do. During the JV game, "Hockey Puck" McKenna kept Carroll's scorebook and he was calling out the fouls in a very loud voice. "His first! Team fifth!" He said, "I gotta do this because somebody stole the microphone." Indeed, when Barry Kirsch, Carroll's girls coach and the PA announcer for boys games, arrived, Puck told him about the missing mike. Barry said, "Oh, well. I'm off to O'Hara to watch their girls game." His son, Matt, remained behind to operate the scoreboard. He's a big fan of Puck's. Aren't we all?

FEB. 2
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Roman 72, Neumann 65
    In my Daily News story, I had some fun with the fact that the good-natured Tamal Forchion went just 1-for-10 from the line. But here I'll focus more on 6-5 sr. F Brent Welton. His career has been marked by charges that he drifts too often, but in this one, he was totally focused from beginning to end. He had 21 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks in what was a marvelous overall performance. He was constantly moving, constantly jumping, constantly banging. Some important scouting service folks (New York's Tom Konchalski among them) were in the house, so Brent will undoubtedly benefit. Forchion, aka Mr. Strength, had 23 points and 14 boards. Then again, those were the kind of numbers he SHOULD have had, considering that Neumann was without 6-8 Brandon Brigman (broken hand, likely out until mid-month at least). Sr. WG John Huggins had 13 points, five assists. Sr. WG Steve Brodzinski finally showed the long-range shooting skills I'd heard so much about. He sniped 3-for-4 on treys. Sr. PG Jim Kelly missed his six shots from the floor, but mostly was strong with the ball. Roman collected 19 assists and all five starters had at least three. That's a coach's dream. For Neumann, there was an interesting development. Little freshman PG Richard "Tabby" Cunningham received extended minutes and sr. PG Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher spent some time on the wing. The Buccos need more scoring out of him with Brigman out, but he shot just 7-for-23. Sr. WG Robert "Beattie" Taylor poured in 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. He has a knack for looking smooth on difficult moves, though he sometimes doesn't finish. Jr. F Joel Green had six points (3-for-4), five boards. 6-6 jr. F-C Michael Haddix shot 3-for-8 for six points and grabbed 12 boards. Jr. WG Chris Del Brocco stuck two threes. The game was played in front of a packed house and fun was had by all. Right?

FEB. 1
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Bartram 63, Overbrook 55
    This was more like it! An overflow crowd. Emotion. A sense of nervous anticipation as the teams neared the midway point of the fourth quarter still involved in a close duel. It's been much too long since teams, plural, in greater West Philly, once the Mecca, were respectable in the same season. Bartram sr. G-F-C Shawn Roberts was the headliner, generating 16 points, 16 boards and three steals and helping to limit 'Brook scoring machine Sean King to 11 points. Roberts goes 6-1, 200, and is strong an aggressive. He often plays the point and displays those same passing skills when he posts up on the low block or along the lane. Sr. CG Bobby Leach had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists in another well-rounded outing. Sr. F Anthony Boyer (six points) often was open, but rarely received the ball. Sr. WG Robert Bouknight overcame early foul trouble to finish with 11 points. He showed his skill for knifing between defenders for pull-up jumpers. 6-5 jr. F Richard Francis had some smooth moments, though he shot just 3-for-11. 'Brook was crushed by foul trouble. Jr. F Shawn Ikokwu, who went 5-for-5 en route to 12 points, picked up his FOURTH foul before halftime. He did a remarkable job of going through the second half without fouling out, but then it finally happened with 3:54 left and Bartram ahead, 52-50. Ikokwu has a strong feel for mid-range play and does not mess around with the ball. He's quick off his feet. Sr. F Kemmony Stanley can't stay on the floor. Every time I see 'Brook, he gets in early foul trouble with ticky-tacks. Jr. WG Angelo Hernandez used his moon-ball jumpers to score 18 points. Srs. Robert Hines (six assists) and Bernard Tyler (enthusiasm, gnat-like defense) shared the point. Soph F Elijah Tolbert made his only three shots and used his strength to move people around inside. Ex-'Brook star Na'im Crenshaw, now at St. Joe's, was among the spectators. 'Brook coach Ron Ford is still coaching from a wheelchair. He faces six more weeks in a cast (torn Achilles tendon).