On the Trail With Ted
Basketball 2017-18, December/earlier (back to April 1) 

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 Observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during
the 2017-18 season . . . Plus some Tedbits.

If your name is misspelled on a TEAM PAGE, please speak up. Send an email to tedtee307@yahoo.com.

SPECIAL NOTE
  To all scorekeepers: PLEASE try to make sure that correct info on scoring is called into the Score Service -- 215-854-4570. Generally, it's better when the winning team calls in the results. That way the papers receive info to explain HOW the game was won because representatives of the winning team will usually be in a better mood (just human nature) to provide extra details such as rebounds, assists, etc., or the identity of someone who maybe hit a winning shot. Thank you.

DEC. 31
TEDBIT
  Twelve of the current coaches at Catholic/Inter-Ac schools played varsity ball in those leagues or the Pub. Complete career totals are not available for all, but league totals are (counting playoff points for CL guys) and the breakdown is below. Craig Conlin heads the list with 935. The No. 2 guy, Joe Zeglinski, played five seasons of varsity ball -- one at Penn Charter, then four at Ryan. He missed much of his senior season due to injury. Joe and Craig scored 1,300 and 1,202 career points, respectively. Will Chavis (1,070) and Julian McFadden (1,026) also topped 1,000. 

Scoring in League Games for Catholic/Inter-Ac Coaches
Name Coach at . . Played at . . Sr. Yr. Fr. So. Jr. Sr. Total
Craig Conlin Episcopal La Salle 1985   199 327 409 935
Joe Zeglinski Ryan PC/Ryan 2006 *259 247 256 47 809
Will Chavis McDevitt Eng. & Sci. 1998 77 153 147 379 756
Sean Tait Judge Judge 1995   42 201 266 509
Paul Romanczuk Carroll Malv/Carr 1995   #35 179 244 458
Bernie Rogers Haver. Sch. Ryan 1992   60 115 263 438
Julian McFadden SCH Acad. Chest. Hill 2006 17 93 104 161 375
Carl Arrigale Neum.-Gor. Penn Char. 1984 6 49 132 180 367
Joe Corbett Lansdale Haver. Sch. 1999   105 118 131 354
Jack Concannon Bonn.-Pren. Bonner 1983     67 217 284
Matt Griffin Roman SJ Prep 2007     117 142 259
Jim "Flip" Phillips Penn Char. Penn Char. 1990     4 75 79
        359 983 1767 2514 5623
*-includes 91 points scored as 8th grader at Penn Charter
#-played at Malvern

DEC. 30
TEDBIT
  La Salle coach Joe Dempsey last night earned his 200th career win as the Explorers topped Benedictine (VA), 72-54, in a Benedictine Capital City Classic consolation. Sean Simon led the way with 23 points while Zach Crisler (16) and Allen Powell (13) also reached double figures. Joe entered his 14th season with 193 and the Explorers have finished the non-league portion of their schedule with a 7-2 record. Below is a season-by-season look at Joe's journey and the primary guys who've led his squads. 

Joe Dempsey's Journey to 200 Career Victories
Season CL Over. First Team All-Catholics 2nd/3rd Team All-Catholics
2004-05 2-12 4-21   Joe Sobocinski (3)
2005-06 5-9 8-17   Clay Penecale (2)
2006-07 7-7 16-12   Clay Penecale (2), Matt Crozier (3)
2007-08 8-6 15-11 Matt Crozier C.J. Aiken (2)
2008-09 6-8 11-13   Tom Cooney (2)
2009-10 12-2 20-6 Troy Hockaday/Eddie Mitchell  
2010-11 11-2 21-6 Eddie Mitchell Joe Brown (2), Amar Stukes (3)
2011-12 6-7 11-13 Amar Stukes Matt Rodden (3)
2012-13 9-4 15-8 Amar Stukes Steve Smith (2)
2013-14 9-4 23-7   Dave Krmpotich (2), Walls (2), Witherspoon  (3)
2014-15 9-4 21-7 Najee Walls/Shawn Witherspoon Dave Krmpotich (2)
2015-16 9-4 17-6 Ryan McTamney Jarrod Stukes (2)
2016-17 5-8 11-12   Jarrod Stukes (2), Sean Simon (3)
2017-18   7-2    
  98-77 200-141    

DEC. 29
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 52, Friends' Central 46
  The 76ers have nothing on the Quakers. Since Nov. 28, when PC's season began, your local NBA team has not played games on three consecutive days. PC has. Plus, it has done so in two states. Oh, the demands of it all. What a grind! (smile). PC played showcase games Wednesday and Thursday in Wildwood, NJ, then headed home and popped up this afternoon (2:30 start) at Friends' Central, which is located along City Avenue (across the Philly border) maybe a mile from Saint Joseph's University. This was Game No. 14 in 32 days for PC -- the Sixers have played 15 in the same time span; hey those guys are making millions! -- and decent entertainment was provided. Especially for a non-league afternoon game during the holiday season, the crowd was respectable and often involved and pic-taking was enjoyable because lots of filtered natural light came in through a very large window behind one basket. Like many PC games this season, this one offered oddities. The Quakers shot just 33 percent from the floor (12-for-36) and posted just three regular field goals. But here's the good news: They shot 9-for-18 on three-pointers and 19-for-23 at the line. Today was just the second time all season that five Quakers drained treys in the same game and that feat was accomplished by halftime. Over the final 16 minutes, PC managed just two FGs but went 14-for-17 at the stripe. Now for some late-game details. The Phoenix edged within 47-46 when soph G Omar Nichols, one of three lefty starters, nailed a left-corner trey at 1:23. A timeout was called and FC's fans, at the behest of the players as they walked back onto the court, began clapping and hollering in an attempt to maintain the momentum. Jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney wound up at the line for a double-bonus and hit both ends for 49-46 math. Soph G BK Kothari missed a right-corner trey and PC sr. PG Jake Nicastro used a spread-eagle jump to snag the rebound. He was hacked and hit the back end at 0:31. Nichols then made a strong drive, but was unable to uncork a shot and found himself in mid-air right above the baseline. He whipped the ball back with the hope of hitting a teammate. Instead, sr. WG-SF Will Samuel intercepted, absorbed a hack job and hit both ends to provide a six-point pad. Another missed trey cooked FC's goose. Shortly after game's end, the Quakers changed into their jerseys. Say what? New road uniforms have fiiiiinally arrived and equipment guru Gerry Sasse was on hand to see if current jersey numbers, based on size, could be maintained. We'll see what happens. (The current road jerseys are yellow. The new ones are blue.) Sr. WG Mason Williams paced PC with 19 points and was perfect (8-for-8) at the line. He always snipes well in Stripeville and here's hoping he finds a way to make many more visits during Inter-Ac play. Samuel scored eight of his 13 points in the first quarter and soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes had four all of his (dunk included) in that same stanza. PC was challenged in the second half in part because three to four (maybe more?) fouls were called when guys were a little overzealous when setting picks. Two FC guys -- sr. Fs Josh Friday and Toure Mosley-Banks -- also did not notch a field goal after the first quarter. Soph PG Mason Mosley posted seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
  NUGGETS: A FC fan had a funny, sarcastic comment during the JV game when a ref was unsure which team would get possession after a held ball. "You'd know if you looked at the arrow!" Pause. "The arrow is your friend!" . . . In the varsity tilt, almost every time a Quaker prepared to shoot a free throw, a guy yelled, "Wait! Don't shoot yet. It's not time!" . . . Nice to see FC coach Ryan Tozer, Episcopal assistant Woody Burke and PC parent Tracy Freeland (his daughter, Madison, is a quality swimmer) . . . And here's some followup news: Yesterday's report noted that golf is the primary sport for PC sub jr. G Dylan Topaz. Today I asked him whether he's ever had a hole-in-one. The answer? TWO! One in a practice round and onc in a match. Legendary. . . . Happy New Year! Stay safe.

DEC. 29
TEDBIT
  In every game in every sport, athletes hope to get off to good starts, right? Well, Penn Charter soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes is certainly showing folks how it's done this season. Through PC's first 13 games, he has shot 26-for-43 from the floor for 60.5 percent. He has also hit three treys and gone 5-for-5 at the line, so his point total is 60 (4.6 average). Overall, he owns 168 points (12.9) and has shot 63-for-119 (52.9).  

First Quarter Floor Shooting
For Penn Charter's Ryan "Pooch" Holmes
Opponent FG ST
Germantown Friends 2 4
Academy New Church 3 5
Abington Friends 0 1
King's Christian (NJ) 2 2
SJ Prep 1 3
Shipley 3 4
West Catholic 4 4
Palumbo 1 2
Ryan 0 2
Bonner-Prendergast 5 5
Freire Charter 1 1
Shawnee (NJ) 2 5
Cherokee (NJ) 2 5
  26 43

DEC. 28
BOARDWALK BASKETBALL CLASSIC
SHOWCASE GAME
Penn Charter 53, Cherokee (NJ) 47
(In Wildwood, NJ)
  By someone hoisting a cup of soda, these matching words should have been uttered by a PC supporter just after the final buzzer sounded: "Dylly! Dylly!" Golf is the primary sport for jr. G Dylan Topaz and I have no idea if he has ever recorded a hole in one. In the final moments of this tilt, he no doubt experienced a feeling that would match, maybe even surpass, the joy caused by an ace. Topaz is always the sixth or seventh man, depending, and he's known mostly for his three-point sniping, made possible by a very quick release. In the final moments tonight, he did a little bit of everything as the Quakers completed a 1-1 visit to Wildwood. Here we go . . . On a feed from sr. WG-SF Will Samuel, Dylan drained a trey to create a 47-47 tie. Then, at the other end, he sacrificed his body, big time, to take a charge. He then hit the first of two free throws to make it 48-47. After Cherokee missed a shot, Dylan fought for the rebound and the arrow favored PC on the jump-ball call. At the other end, soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes hit both ends of a double-bonus to extend the lead to three points. With Topaz providing sticky defense, Cherokee sr. PG Tyler Ludwikowski, a kid with a build like an old-school fullback and/or middle guard, missed a jumper from beyond the arc. Jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney grabbed that board and added the final point. "Zingy! Zingy!" That could have also been a celebration cry. Maloney, who was separated at birth from Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis (click here), was a major factor just before the stretch. Just when it appeared PC might have to settle for one of those close-but-no-cigar outcomes, "Zingy" showed his grit by posting back-to-back, in-heavy-traffic, three-point plays. Coach Jim "Flipper" Phillips and his assistants had to feel great about this win. Not only did the Quakers trail by seven points at halftime, they committed 10 fouls in the third quarter so Cherokee was in the double-bonus throughout the fourth. (The Chiefs shot just 3-for-6 at the line, however, over the last eight minutes). Holmes had a nice overall outing with 17 points and three apiece of rebounds/assists/steals. In the second half, he also played strong defense on soph WG Gavin Gibson, who'd nailed four treys beforehand. He scored just two points over those final 16 minutes and was able to attempt just one three. Meanwhile, here's a Poochbit: In first quarters this season, he has made 26 of 43 shots from the floor (60.5 percent). Whoa! Maloney and Samuel halved 20 points. Sr. WG Mason Williams never found his comfort zone while contributing just seven points. He did dish three dimes. For Cherokee, sr. PF Tymere Bennett, a tall lefty, had 12 points and six rebounds. He's not completely coordinated at this stage, but looks to have potential. A couple of his inside moves were smooth and he can really hang in the air.
  NUGGETS: Spent all of halftime catching up with Joe Dunn, the athletic director at Boys' Latin. No one at any school can top Joe when it comes to dedication. As the buzzer sounded to start the second half, he asked me, "You should come back and win this, right?" My delayed answer, "But of course!" (smile) . . . The one, the only Vince Trombetta, a Pub football coaching legend/human being, was also on hand. Vince, now in his mid-'80s, is still reffing games in this Wildwood event. You go, Trom! . . . Dave Distel, former mad bomber for Cardinal Dougherty and an assistant to long-time Cardinals coach Mark Heimerdinger, now at Fels, is helping at Cherokee. As Gibson nailed his treys in the first half, I was thinking, "Dave has to be that kid's personal coach." . . . The 2017 portion of PC's schedule is not complete. Tomorrow the Quakers visit Friends' Central for a 2:30 tilt.

DEC. 28
HUCKBIT
  As mentioned last night on the homepage, West Catholic beat Allentown (NJ), 65-49, and the losers notched just two regular field goals. Here's more info from Ed "Huck" Palmer. . . .
  Allentown was 15-54 from field. 13-29 from three. 2-25 from two. Missed their first 22 twos. Their twos came with 3:11 and 1:31 left in the game. They hit their first three shots of the game and last two of the game -- all threes. 10-49 in between.

DEC. 27
BOARDWALK BASKETBALL CLASSIC
SHOWCASE GAME
Shawnee (NJ) 69, Penn Charter 46
(In Wildwood, NJ)
  Keeping her promise to attend one game each season, The Wife was in the house and she made this comment not too far into the game. "Uh, this isn't good." No, it wasn't. Impressive Shawnee sr. PG Dean Noll -- more on him later -- had just drilled a three-pointer to give his squad a 13-2 lead. Even before that, a tournament employee sitting nearby had commented to a co-worker, "I say Shawnee wins by at least 20." Though it was bitter cold outside, this one had the feel of a summer league game. There was virtually no spectator involvement and the teams, for the most part, freely went up and down. Just ONE foul shot was attempted in the first half and the first three quarters breezed by. Shawnee shot just over 50 percent from the floor while PC shot just under 33 percent. Other than PC, the Renegades are my new favorite team. Reason: It is packed with multisport athletes. Not just run-of-the-mill guys, either. The roster includes Division I commits in other sports and, hopefully, Noll, a 6-1 sr. who appears to be taller, will wind up with a nice hoops scholarship. At least in this one, he was Ryan Arcidiacono Lite. Very impressive. Lots of guys make moves that lead to baskets. But some appear to be laboring throughout the process. Not this guy. He was smooth and smoother, free and easy all the way. He has long limbs and the ability to control the ball even when it's away from his body and his court vision is quite respectable. Plus, he's still semi-thin and will undoubtedly fill out nicely. On one lengthy drive, it was as if he was saying to himself, "OK, lemme do this . . . now lemme do that . . . and lemme finish with this sweet maneuver." And, on the whole journey, it was as if he KNEW no one would come close to derailing him. Bingo. Noll totaled 28 points (three treys) and four assists and was guilty of just two turnovers. The Deveney brothers -- sr. F Dylan and jr. WG Connor -- added 16 and 10 points, respectively. Though Dylan is a semi-beefy kid and looks like someone who would be camped out all day on the low blocks, he hit three treys. Daevon Robinson, a Rutgers football commit, received very few entry passes. Hey, that's the way of the basketball world these days. He scored eight points by shooting 4-for-4 (one bucket came on a serious dunk) and seized 12 rebounds. For PC, sr. WG Mason Williams wound up with 15 points. Soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes made some impressive sashays through/around people and finished with 13 points. Sub jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney (seven) was the only Quaker with more than three rebounds and had the team's only blocks (two).
  NUGGETS: Hung out for a while with former Camden Courier-Post sports writing wizard Kevin Callahan, the uncle of PC sr. G Jake Nicastro. Kev noted that the Renegades advanced to last year's state Group 4 final and have everyone back. Hey, no wonder they're good (smile) . . . Also nice to see Shawnee coach Joe Kessler (I wrote a few stories about his wonderful teams in the early '90s) and tourney honchos Ernie Troiano and Brian Cunniff . . . The Wife and I stopped for a quick, wonderful dinner in the McDonald's on Rio Grande Avenue. It was colder in there than it was outside. A lifetime first experience: eating a quarter pounder while shivering . . . PC will play Cherokee, Shawnee's neighbor, in another showcase game.

DEC. 27
TEDBIT
  There are 20 schools in the Catholic/Inter-Ac Leagues. Six are coached by alums and 14 are not. The breakdown is below. Will Chavis, the first-year coach at McDevitt, starred at Engineering and Science of the Public League. He might be only the third Pub grad to lead a CL program over the last 46 seasons. Fred Douglas (Overbrook) started a three-year stint as St. Joseph's Prep's coach in the 1971-72 season. And Bill Day (Lincoln) was Cardinal Dougherty's coach in the school's final season before it closed in June 2010. If you can think of others, please let me know. Bonner-Prendie, Judge and Ryan are the only three schools with alums heading the basketball and football programs. Football guys: Jack Muldoon at B-P, Mike McKay at Judge and Frank "Five" McArdle at Ryan. Ryan's baseball coach, Nick Chichilitti, is also a grad. SCH Academy, of the Inter-Ac, also has FB/bask grad guys -- Rick Knox (FB) and Julian McFadden (bask).

The Roots of Catholic/Inter-Ac Coaches
COACH AT ALMA MATER
Bonner-Prendergast Friars Jack Concannon Monsignor Bonner
Carroll Patriots Paul Romanczuk Archbishop Carroll
Judge Crusaders Sean Tait Father Judge
*Penn Charter Quakers Jim "Flipper" Phillips Penn Charter
Ryan Raiders Joe Zeglinski Archbishop Ryan
*SCH Academy Blue Devils Julian McFadden Chestnut Hill Academy
COACH IN CL, ALUM OF ANOTHER CL SCHOOL
Roman Cahillites Matt Griffin St. Joseph's Prep
St. Joe's Prep Hawks Wm. "Speedy" Morris Roman Catholic
Wood Vikings John Mosco Neumann
COACH IN CL, ALUM OF INTER-AC SCHOOL
Lansdale Catholic Crusaders Joe Corbett Haverford School
Neumann-Goretti Saints Carl Arrigale Penn Charter
COACH IN INTER-AC, ALUM OF CL SCHOOL
*Episcopal Churchmen Craig Conlin La Salle
*Gtn. Academy Patriots Jim Fenerty Cardinal Dougherty
*Haverford School Fords Bernie Rogers Archbishop Ryan
ALUM OF OTHER SCHOOL IN FIVE-COUNTY PHILLY AREA
La Salle Explorers Joe Dempsey Archbishop Kennedy (Conshohocken)
McDevitt Lancers #Will Chavis Engineering and Science
ALUM OF SCHOOL OUTSIDE FIVE-COUNTY PHILLY AREA
Conwell-Egan Eagles #Bryan Caver McCorristin (Trenton, NJ)
*Malvern Friars John Harmatuk Klein (near Houston, TX)
O'Hara Lions Jason Harrigan Burlington City, NJ
West Catholic Burrs Jason Hasson Bishop Guilfoyle (Altoona, PA)
*-Inter-Ac schools     
#-first season    

DEC. 26
TEDBIT
  This item was posted exactly one year ago and complete updates for the 2016-17 season have been added. Sixteen guys averaged at least 15 PPG last season and 10 were part of combos. Unfortunately, not all boxscores have been reported this season, so we'll hold off on new candidates. Germantown Academy senior lefties Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey own the No. 1 spot for Inter-Ac/Catholic duos in this century! Longino averaged 23.7 PPG and McCloskey was not far behind at 20.5. That computes to 44.2 Longino is now playing at West Chester and McCloskey, after playing quarterback this fall at Villanova, is about to enroll at Penn State and become a basketball player. The next three spots on the list below are occupied by duos with guys who advanced to the NBA. The top duos are below. Each member must have averaged at least 15.0. Only one other combo on this list featured lefties: McDevitt's Mike Ross and Chris Hanes in 2003. Greg Stitt, the Lancers' No. 4 scorer that season, was also a lefty. (No. 3 Chris Palmero was not.) 

Most Productive Catholic/Inter-Ac Duos in This Century
Season Name School G Points PPG Total
2017 #Evan-Eric Longino Gtn. Academy 29 686 23.7 44.2
  #Kyle McCloskey   29 594 20.5  
2006 *Wayne Ellington Episcopal 30 657 21.9 43.4
  *Gerald Henderson   31 667 21.5  
2004 *Sean Singletary Penn Charter 27 617 22.9 40.3
  *Rob Kurz   27 471 17.4  
2005 *Wayne Ellington Episcopal 28 591 21.1 39.6
  *Gerald Henderson   28 518 18.5  
2002 *Matt Walsh Gtn. Academy 29 650 22.4 38.4
  #Lee Melchionni   29 464 16.0  
2014 Tyrell Long McDevitt 25 537 21.5 38.0
  Amin Taylor   20 329 16.5  
2015 Shawn Alston Haver. School 28 548 19.6 38.0
  Lamar Stevens   28 515 18.4  
2009 Rakeem Brookins Roman 27 547 20.3 37.9
  *Maalik Wayns   18 317 17.6  
2016 Zane Martin Neum.-Goretti 31 584 18.8 37.5
  Quade Green   31 579 18.7  
2007 #Rick Jackson Neum.-Goretti 32 593 18.5 36.9
  Antonio "Scoop" Jardine   32 588 18.4  
2016 Devon Goodman Gtn. Academy 30 594 19.8 36.7
  #Evan-Eric Longino   27 457 16.9  
2004 *Kyle Lowry Dougherty 31 570 18.4 36.6
  DeSean White   32 581 18.2  
2017 Quade Green Neum.-Goretti 28 578 20.6 36.5
  Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree   31 493 15.9  
 2017 #Izaiah Brockington Ryan 29 542 18.7  36.4
  Matiss Kulackovskis   29 512 17.7  
2003 *Sean Singletary Penn Charter 28 520 18.6 36.3
  *Rob Kurz   30 530 17.7  
2004 Marshall Taylor West Catholic 26 520 20.0 36.3
  Rob Latimer   26 425 16.3  
2013 Stephen Vasturia SJ Prep 30 615 20.5 36.2
  Miles Overton   29 456 15.7  
2001 *Matt Walsh Gtn. Academy 30 626 20.9 36.1
  Lee Melchionni   29 441 15.2  
2017 Conner Delaney Episcopal 27 507 18.8 35.8
  Nick Alikakos   20 339 17.0  
2006 Andrew Ott Gtn. Academy 26 499 19.2 35.7
  Kyle Griffin   29 478 16.5  
2001 Tamal Forchion Roman 29 547 18.9 35.4
  John Huggins   20 495 16.5  
2012 Brahieme Jackson McDevitt 24 441 18.4 35.1
  Markeise Chandler   24 401 16.7  
2003 #Mike Ross McDevitt 24 444 18.5 34.7
  #Chris Hanes   25 404 16.2  
2003 DeSean White Dougherty 28 520 18.6 34.5
  *Kyle Lowry   27 429 15.9  
2015 Quade Green Neum.-Goretti 31 553 17.8 34.3
  #Zane Martin   31 512 16.5  
2010 #Mike Terry North Catholic 21 365 17.4 34.1
  Jaleel Mack   23 384 16.7  
2017 Christian Ray Haver. School 26 459 17.7 33.9
  Kharon Randolph   26 422 16.2  
2004 John Griffin SJ Prep 31 512 16.5 32.6
  Chris Clark   31 498 16.1  
2014 Tim Guers Gtn. Academy 27 457 16.9 32.6
  Sam Lindgren   27 424 15.7  
2006 Mike Ringgold Roman 32 561 17.5 32.5
  Bradley Wanamaker   32 481 15.0  
2009 Omari Grier Episcopal 24 407 17.0 32.1
  Cory Goodman   24 362 15.1  
2014 Levan Alston Haver. School 23 378 16.4 31.6
  Lamar Stevens   24 365 15.2  
2005 Brian Grimes Gtn. Academy 30 483 16.1 31.3
  Ryan Ayers   30 456 15.2  
2013 Shep Garner Roman 26 408 15.7 31.2
  Rashann London   26 404 15.5  
*-advanced to NBA
#-lefty

DEC. 24
TEDBIT
  It was one of those moments. You see the result of a game and immediately think, "Doubtful THAT has happened too often." Then the research begins and . . . It hasn't. In a showcase game yesterday, Roman lost to Imhotep by 21 points. In this century, counting non-league, showcase and tourney games (but not Catholic/City Titles/state playoffs; nor the ol' end-of-season Alhambra tourney) against opponents from the five-county Philadelphia area, the Cahillites' record is an amazing 60-9 (.870). And before yesterday, they had not lost by more than 14 points. Imhotep is just the second team to beat them twice (also Chester). In that one-point 2006 loss to Episcopal and future NBAers Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson, somehow Roman shot 4-for-20 at the line. Crazy.

Breakdown for Roman's Results in Non-League Games Vs. Local Foes, 2000-18
Year W-L Catholic Inter-Ac Public *Others Lost to . . By . . .
2017-18 0-1     0-1   Imhotep 21
2016-17 6-0   2-0 3-0 1-0    
2015-16 0-0            
2014-15 2-0   2-0        
2013-14 1-1     1-1   Imhotep 6
2012-13 3-0   1-0 1-0 1-0    
2011-12 3-0     1-0 2-0    
2010-11 4-0   2-0 1-0 1-0    
2009-10 3-2 0-1   1-0 2-1 Wood 8
            Ply.-White. 12
2008-09 1-1       1-1 Chester 14
2007-08 2-1   2-0   0-1 Chester 10
2006-07 6-0 3-0 2-0 1-0      
2005-06 5-1 2-0 1-1 2-0   Episcopal 1
2004-05 5-1 3-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 Gtn. Academy 6
2003-04 4-0 1-0 1-0   2-0    
2002-03 5-0 1-0   2-0 2-0    
2001-02 5-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 2-0    
2000-01 3-1   2-0 0-1 1-0 Gratz 9
1999-00 2-0 1-0 1-0        
  60-9 12-1 17-2 15-3 16-3    
*-Five-County Philly Area          

DEC. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 73, Freire Charter 48
  Crab fries for all!! Not sure if you know this, but Pete Ciarrocchi is the owner of Chickie's & Pete's and his son, Anthony, is a PC soph. Today, the lefty guard made his varsity debut as the Quakers rolled to this non-league triumph and his first varsity shot gave him, yes!, two points. On a fast break, off a pass from sub jr. G Dylan Topaz, Anthony canned a layup with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. If 346 turns out to be tonight's lottery number , and you wind up winning some decent coin, I expect a 10-percent cut. Thank you. Meanwhile . . . Overall, that was not the most legendary part of the game. PC did not do something for the first 12 minutes, 31 seconds. Think about it. Get called for a foul? Commit a turnover? Notch an assist? Not even warm. The answer is: Score a regular field goal. Yes, the Quakers' first 22 points were scored on three-pointers and free throws. Then, soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes made a steal and drove three-quarters court for a layup that provided a 24-8 lead. Like many PC games this season, this one offered oddities. Aside from the long wait for a two, the Quakers scored the first 20 points of the second quarter (after the first one ended at 8-8) and sr. WG Mason Williams scored 11 points (three treys) in that run after going 0-for-6 from the floor in the first stanza. Freire went 0-for-9 from the floor during PC's 20-0 run; the Dragons' drought ended when frosh G Eisiah Smith hit a midrange jumper. There was also this: With 6:02 left in the third quarter, PC owned a 34-21 lead when coach Jim "Flipper" Phillips sent five subs to the table. Ciarrocchi was part of that crew and the guys fared pretty well, losing just two points off the lead (40-29) before the mainstays returned at 2:49. Freire, coached by Stan Laws, the one-time boss at Strawberry Mansion, has basically no height. And to the naked eye, it appeared that the power forward, a semi-beefy jr. named Johnta Dunson, was shorter than most of the guards. The Dragons kept digging, though, and two guys -- jrs. Sekayi Robinson and Dashon Lewis (a lefty) -- had some decent moments. Like always, Laws was completely involved at high volume, guiding, encouraging and chastising, when necessary. Once the shots began falling, PC had too much firepower and was able to mostly have its way along the baseline and in the low-box areas. Williams (19) and Holmes (16) topped the 11-player scoring list while sr. SF Will Samuel (nine) and Topaz (eight) sniffed double figures. Sr. PF-C Ryan Dickson swept six rebounds and jr. sub F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney was next with five. The late-game headliner was sr. sub F Christopher "Floater" Thomas, a k a The Stat Machine. He racked up four points, two boards and one assist over the final 3:22 after the lead hit 29 points at 67-38.
  NUGGETS: The Scorekeepers of the Day Award goes to jr. Emma Maley and soph India Barnes, members of the girls team. They were at PC early for an optional practice, then wound up keeping the scorebook for the boys JV game because no one else was available. They also watched the boys varsity tilt while hanging out with trainer Jess Rawlings. At one point early, Emma and India walked around the gym offering donuts. I passed. So did they, when offered part of my ham & cheese sandwich. Ha, ha. . . . Great to see Joe Anhalt, who was one of the refs. He told equipment man Gerry Sasse he hadn't reffed a game at PC since the Mike McGlinchey days. That goes back to at least the 2012-13 season . . . Just before varsity warmups began, PC teacher John Burkhart and I (John snaps many of the yearbook shots and oversees the entire project) took the team photo. If the roster is different near the end of the season, we'll do so again. Hopefully. . . Merry Christmas!

DEC. 23
TEDBIT
  As mentioned often on this "webline" (as the famous Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna calls it -- ha ha), I am not even remotely a fan of specialization. Thankfully, Penn Charter still has a decent amount of multisport athletes and today's focus is on football/basketball. Specifically, it's on quarterbacks and their hoops involvement. In 12 school years in this century, the primary QB has also been a member of the basketball team. This school year's double-duty guy is sr. Will Samuel. His passing yardage total ranks sixth on the list below and his hoops point total already ranks third. THE Matt Ryan owns the first and second highest numbers with 287 and 284. We'll see where this goes. John Ryan is Matt's brother. John Loughery is their cousin. Another cousin, Pat McCain, was the primary QB in 2012, but was not yet on the basketball varsity in the 2012-13 season.

PC's QB Starters/Hoopsters in This Century
Year Name Yards Points
2017-18 Will Samuel 1,361 120
2016-17 Neeko Hnatkowsky 1,625 91
2015-16 Neeko Hnatkowsky 1,771 62
2014-15 Neeko Hnatkowsky 2,066 43
2013-14 None    
2012-13 None    
2011-12 None    
2010-11 John Loughery 1,715 96
2009-10 John Loughery 2,066 80
2008-09 None    
2007-08 John Ryan 985 15
2006-07 None    
2005-06 Brendan McNally 1,247 20
2004-05 None    
2003-04 James Hannah 1,096 4
2002-03 Matt Ryan 1,048 284
2001-02 Matt Ryan 992 287
2000-01 Matt Ryan 944 111
1999-00 None    
    16,916 1,213

DEC. 22
TEDBIT
  Five games do not a season make. They're allowed to provide Tedbit fodder, however, so here we go . . . In Judge's first five contests, sr. WG Tom Quarry has racked up 119 points for a 23.8 average. Again, not exactly a large sample, but definitely impressive. In this century, only five Judge guys have averaged as many as 15 points overall. Here's guessing Tom will make it six and for now his PPG is No. 1 by roughly four points. Plus, he has already tied the school mark for points in one game with 34; Marc Rodriguez also did so last year (and his college career is off to a cool start -- click here). The second list below shows Judge's Top 10 scorers all-time in terms of regular season Catholic League play. Click here for Joe Mason's recent story about Tom, a National Merit scholar and Johns Hopkins commit. Niiiiiiiice.

Judge's Top Overall Scorers in This Century
Name Year G Points PPG
Tom Quarry 2018 5 119 23.8
Marc Rodriguez 2017 23 453 19.7
Ryan Haigh 2002 24 414 17.3
Steve Wolf 2004 25 415 16.6
Steven Griffin 2012 23 367 16.0
Bob Zanneo 2008 25 394 15.8
Judge's Top League Scorers All-Time
George Sutor 1961 15 304 20.3
Marc Rodriguez 2017 13 247 19.0
Jim "Mo" Connolly 1976 11 208 18.9
Mike Krawczyk 1968 16 299 18.7
Mike Cummiskey 1985 16 292 18.3
Danny Oldfield 1993 16 290 18.1
Jim Halpin 1963 15 268 17.9
Steven Griffin 2012 13 231 17.8
Ryan Haigh 2002 14 248 17.7
Jim Reeves 1998 14 246 17.6

DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner-Prendergast 75, Penn Charter 55
  Shortly into the game, B-P owned a 7-0 lead and some PC supporters no doubt were turning to others and saying, "Uh, oh. This is gonna be a rough game." Shortly into the third quarter, B-P owned 10 consecutive points, also posted in rather quick fashion, and the comment was being switched to, "Uh, oh. This is gonna be a rough 16 minutes." Ding, ding, ding. The second statement was correct. The Friars roared to a 20-point edge beyond intermission, leaving a 36-36 score waaaaaay in the distance. How did this happen? One word: defense. In the first half, well, I don't want to say that B-P was lazy, but the Quakers got many decent looks on jumpers, both inside and outside the arc, and more than a few drives were completed without enough opposition. The night experienced by soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes was a perfect example. In the first quarter, he shot 5-for-5 for 10 points with most of the baskets coming after crafty through/around guys drives. He added one more field goal in the second quarter and got off just two shots in the second half (neither went in) because the defenders kept getting close enough to count his cavities. I can only imagine how pointed were the remarks of great-guy coach Jack Concannon at halftime. Maybe something along the lines of, "Play defense or you can watch the rest of the game." I'd been hearing lots of good things about B-P, which has added some quality transfers, and now I know the buzz is justified. Assuming attention is paid to ALL details in EVERY game, these guys will have lots of fun through the rest of the season. Jr. WG Isaiah Wong is quite impressive. Though semi-thin, he plays from a wide base with swivel hips and exhibits a soft touch in addition to range. He reminds me of mid-'90s Franklin Leanring Center star Rasiheed "Noot" Arnold. Admittedly, most of you have no idea on that one, but trust me. Dude could play. Wong finished with 16 points and No. 9, on a free throw, gave him No. 1,000 for his career; he played previously at Notre Dame High, in Lawrenceville, NJ. At the next level, his feel for the game is good enough that he could serve as a point guard. At least when/if needed. The Friars' primary holdover is 6-8 sr. SF Ajiri Johnson. And his new frontcourt partner is 6-9 jr. PF-C Tariq Ingraham, who rolled in from Salesianum (DE). They are Lightning and Thunder. Johnson is a quick jumper while Ingraham is more methodical. In this one they combined for 36 points -- 16 and 20, respectively -- and eight dunks (four apiece). Here's an alert to maintenance men at all Catholic League schools where B-P will play this season: Ingraham will likely break a rim and/or a backboard. Holy crap. He does NOT mess around. Soph PG Tyreese Watson, who was darn near invisible in the first half, scored all of his 11 points in the second and showed some nice leadership skills. Only a few times did the Friars opt for high-low plays featuring passes from Johnson to Ingraham, or vice versa, but such an approach could become very important later in the season. For PC, sr. SF Will Samuel (16), sr. WG Mason Williams (14, four treys) and Holmes (12) scored in double digits. No one seized more than four boards and only four free throws were attempted. Frosh WG Matt Slowinski had to feel good about collecting four points and two rebounds in the late going.
  NUGGETS: Always have loved covering games involving Bonner/B-P. There's no such thing as a bad egg at that school and the coaches/ADs have always been class acts as well. Plus, the fans are always entertaining and many helped get this website off the ground in the early 2000s. The place was about 85 percent filled and the energy level was high; decent freshman/3rd and JV games set a good tone . . . It was nice to meet AD Joe Lake and thanks for providing a padded folding chair (smile) . . . Had a great pre-game talk with Jack Concannon and a post-game chat with a former coach, Jim "Goose" Welde. Both were star players for the Friars. Goose's son, James, is dressing varsity as a freshman and starting for the JV squad . . . Also on hand: football all-timer Ed Monaghan (first team All-City for three years; different position each time); B-P baseball assistant Steve DeBarberie; Villanova women's coach Harry Perretta (his son, Mike, is a junior sniping sub WG); assistant Bill Cassidy; former Neumann football player Hetsi Lewandowski (his son, Colin, a freshman, played for PC in the opening game of the tripleheader); B-P supporter Bernie Smith (his brother, Jim, is a long-time ref); B-P football coach/administrator Jack Muldoon, B-P PA announcer Chris Doran; refs Bob "Notre Dame Harvey" Sumner and Tom Coia (his deceased distant cousin, Northeast product Angelo Coia, had a nice career in the NFL) . . . Like always, apologies to other visiting dignitaries I neglected to mention.

DEC. 21
TEDBIT
  Under first-year coach Will Chavis, a former star guard at Engineering & Science, McDevitt is off to a 5-0 start in non-league games for just the second time in this century. The Lancers went 7-0 in the 2013 season and five times lost game No. 5 after racking up a 4-0 start. This year's wins have been notched against New Foundations, Phil-Mont Christian, Pope John Paul II, Abraham Lincoln and SCH Academy. Congrats to the Lancers. Four of the top six scorers are sophs, so the future looks bright.

Point Totals for McDevitt's Players in 5-0 Start
Name Yr. NF P-M PJP Linc SCH Points
Robert Smith So. 11 17 14 17 15 74
Jamil Manigo  So. 14 x 5 17 14 50
Da'Quane Williams Sr. 11 2 7 12 7 39
Seneca Willoughby Jr. 8 4 2 7 13 34
Ahmir Harris So. 6 7 7 4 2 26
Shamir Mosley So. 7 8 4 6   25
Qian Boone Sr.     4 9 2 15
Cameron Gardner Jr. 7   1 5 4 17
Amir Williams Fr.   7 3     10
Jordan Paris Sr.   4 5     9
Tahmir Thompson Sr.   2 3     5
AJ Greenberg Jr. 3   2 1   6
Kyle Hines So.     3     3
Quin Gilyard Fr.       2   2
Gabe Harris Fr.   2       2
Jarod Thompson Jr.         2 2
    67 53 60 80 59 319

DEC. 19
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 69, Ryan 60 (OT)
  The high school football season is still alive! But some games are played indoors with no pads and the ball is round, not oblong. Bodies were flying all over the place. At least 15 times, maybe as many as 20, the referees had to make this difficult decision: block or charge? They also had to make sure no bones were broken in the assorted collisions. These teams got after it for 36 minutes and though the game was rarely pretty, it was definitely competitive and you can rest assured that every player will wind up sleeping well. Oddly, PC won the extra session by a 10-1 count and scored the final 10 points after Ryan jr. G Ja'Quill Stone hit the second of two free throws with 2:16 remaining. In all, the Raiders went 0-for-9 from the floor in OT and many attempts, honestly, did not come close. Maybe fatigue? PC seized the lead for good, at 62-60, as sr. WG Mason Williams nailed a right-wing trey on a pass from soph WG-SF Ryan "Pooch" Holmes. Soon, sr. SF Will Samuel, who had a strong overall night with 22 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four blocks, was hitting a mid-range jumper (who takes those anymore? -- smile) to provide a 66-60 pad. The Quakers eased home from there, thus pleasing its rooters. PC draws a decent amount of kids from the Far Northeast and there was a nice show of support. The noise level was nothing close to that created by Ryan's supporters, but I'm sure PC's players appreciated seeing lots of familiar faces. No doubt you're wondering, How did this game GET to overtime? Did either team stage a big rally? Yes, and it wasn't PC. Though the Quakers led, 54-45, with about three minutes remaining, Ryan stormed back, big time, and were paced primarily by Stone. He's the most athletic/perceptive Raider and he made some wonderful plays down the regulation stretch. His first two points of the quarter drew Ryan within 54-48. Then, almost immediately, he turned a steal into a three-point play and the Ryan folks were going berserk. Then he drained a trey on a pass from jr. WG Colin Reed to cut the deficit to 55-54. His last biggie? Nailing another trey at 0:16 to make it 59-59. Holmes was unable to can a layup off a drive and we were on to OT. Ryan's chances were hampered by the absence of jr. WG-SF Amin Bryant, a hard worker with a good build. He fouled out with 2:02 showing in regulation. This fact was NOT good: He picked up his third and fourth fouls on unnecessary reaches roughly 30 feet from the basket. A star player can't do that. Though Williams had an off night (13 points, 5-for-17 floor), he mostly fared well at crunch time. Sub jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney was an A lister in the fourth quarter and OT, bagging all five of his points, six of his eight rebounds and both of his assists. Holmes had 16 points and four apiece of rebounds/steals. Stone finished with 19 points. Sub sr. F Kevin Lezin (11) and Reed (10) also scored in double digits. Taleeq Robbins, a quite thick frosh F, had seven points and showed potential. He even nailed a trey.
  NUGGETS: Sit tight. This is gonna take awhile. Ha, ha. . . Ryan's coach is Joe Zeglinski, who starred there after playing varsity at Penn Charter as an eighth grader . . . Had great pregame talks with Ryan AD George Todt (formerly the forever soccer coach; now in year No. 48 at the school) and football coach Frank "Five" McArdle about many pressing topics . . . Among those in attendance: PC football coach Tommy Coyle and sidekick Fran "Fwan" Costello . . . Former PC fotball assistant (and North Catholic QB) Chuck McCloskey . . . Former Neumann football player Bill Carberry. His nephew, Colin Lewandowski, plays for PC's 3rd team . . . Former PC football star Joe Doherty. His son, Ed, also plays for the 3rd team . . . Basketball scouting legend Allen Rubin . . . First team All-Catholic hoopster Mike Palumbo (Ryan '82). His son, Anthony, is the Raiders' freshman coach . . . Ex-Lincoln baseball stalwart Rus Slawter. His son, Austin, is now assisting Zeglinski after deciding to stop playing college ball though he had a strong freshman season last year at Penn State Abington . . . Strong website supporter Bill Zeits . . . Ticket taker (and floor cleaner -- he does it all! smile) Phil Consalvo . . . PA announcer Tom Magallanes . . . Bonner-Prendie assistant Bill Cassidy, who was on hand to scout PC. The teams play Thursday night at B-P. . . . Apologies to other dignitaries I neglected to mention. There were hundreds of you.

DEC. 17
TEDBIT
  This is season No. 19 for Penn Charter hoops in this century and sr. WG Mason Williams finds himself in a lofty spot through eight games. He has scored 175 points and his 21.9 average gives him the No. 2 spot on PC's list. For now, six guys have averaged at least 15 PPG. And four have done it multiple times. Williams owns 57 field goals (25 threes) and 36 free throws (in 41 attempts, 88 percent).
  UPDATE: Thanks to PC teacher John Burkhart for the reminder. Rob Kurz also spent some time in the NBA.

Penn Charter's Top Overall Scorers in the 2000s
Name Year G Pts Avg
*Sean Singletary  2004 27 617 22.9
Mason Williams 2018 8 175 21.9
Sean Knitter 2000 25 493 19.7
*Sean Singletary  2003 28 520 18.6
Sammy Zeglinski 2007 30 556 18.5
Sean O'Brien  2014 23 426 18.5
*Rob Kurz  2003 30 530 17.7
*Rob Kurz  2004 27 471 17.4
Sammy Zeglinski 2005 25 432 17.3
Sammy Zeglinski 2006 28 455 16.3
John Moderski 2012 24 366 15.3
Sean O'Brien  2013 25 376 15.0
*advanced to NBA        

DEC. 16
SHOWCASE EVENT
Penn Charter 71, Palumbo 39
(At Germantown Academy)
  With Friday's game in mind, tonight's pre-game question was, "Who will win the other kind of field goal contest?" Let me explain. Friday vs. West Catholic, sr. SF Will Samuel made only three-pointers en route to 15 points and soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes made only two-pointers while scoring 14 points. Drum roll, please . . . Will Samuel! In the early going, he sank a regular field goal. The Poochster did drain a trey, but not until 3:30 remained in the third quarter. OK, that's all I've got. Kinda. This game was not exactly a classic. Sr. WG Mason Williams nailed three treys in the first five minutes and PC scooted to an 18-8 lead over the first 8:00. The Quakers were in charge the rest of the way and the lead was 67-34 when the starters sat down for good with 4:30 remaining. There was a nice subs-only sequence shortly into the second quarter when soph G Matt Slowinski converted a drive off a feed from jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney after Zingy had nailed a triple on a pass from "Slo." In the third quarter, another sub, jr. G Brendan Thomas, made a leap well over the baseline to record a save. Jr. WG Dylan Topaz, after assumedly thinking, "Yo, he should get the ball right back after a play like that," passed to BT for a layup. Then, in the fourth quarter, it was Double Thomas Time as sr. Christopher, a k a "Floater," took a pass from Brendan and curled in a left-handed layup. Williams (19), Holmes and Samuel (14 apiece) scored in double figures. Maloney was the rebound leader with eight while Williams/BT halved 12. Holmes led in assists with five and steals with three. Meanwhile . . . **PROSPECT ALERT** I was very impressed by Palumbo sr. combo G Saeer Miller. He stands about 6-foot, maybe even 6-1, and has the face of a 12-year-old, so doubt he'll get bigger and stronger. Plus, he is VERY ambidextrous and sees the court like crazy. He had two nice assists on crafty no-look passes, nailed a halfcourt shot to end the first half, once drove from one end to the other with strictly his right hand (even though he's primarily left-handed), scored a quick right-handed layup after the ball squirted out to him from a big-time mess of bodies/hands and, get this, inbounded the ball to himself off the back of a PC defender. Loved it. At halftime I spoke briefly with Palumbo's good-guy coach, Frank Schneider, who said Saeer is starting to receive some interest. He added, "He has 1100 on the SAT and is a great kid from a great family. We need to get him found." Here's hoping. There's a possibility, Frank added, that Saeer might go the prep-school route. He could really benefit from that, especially if surrounded by quality forwards, centers and guards who'd enable him to really show/expand his skills. Within minutes of watching him, I was thinking, "He reminds me of Lynn Greer." (City Player of the Year for Engineering and Science in 1997, later a Temple star and NBAer/overseas star.) His body, mannerisms and court sense are similar. Plus, Lynn was a lefty. Not saying, even close, that Saeer IS Lynn Greer at this juncture, but he made a nice impression. Best of luck, kiddo.
  NUGGETS: Over these last two days, it was great to see the 2017 Hnatkoswky brother-sister combo (Mike "Neeko/Lexi) along with classmate Brigitte Gutpelet. All three were sports stalwarts and Brigitte provided much help when I was researching PC's softball history. Thanks! . . Teacher John Burkhart showed his ever-present dedication to PC sports by showing up both days . . . Kudos also to PC grads/brothers P.J. and Rich "Birch" Maley. Their daughter/niece, Emma, is the hoops squad's point guard and there's not a more pleasant young lady in the entire school.

DEC. 16
  With last night's mess in mind . . . my website report on a game from 2010 that also involved West Catholic . . .
MARCH 13
CLASS AA FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
(At Carroll AND Wood -- smile)
West Catholic 49, Tri-Valley 32
  Only in the Cath. You knew that was coming, right? Ha, ha. Wild and crazy things usually happen at/in games involving Pub teams, but today we had an all-timer on the Catholic League trail. If not for a power failure that occurred with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter, and West on top, 34-17, this tilt would have been eminently forgettable. West isn't bad and Tri-Valley, in comparison, is not too good. If the final 10:29 had played out under normal circumstances at Carroll, you would have remembered this game for about a week. Instead, everyone in attendance will be talking about it years, even decades, from now and there's nothing EVER wrong with that, especially since no one got hurt and no tragedies were involved. This was Saturday the 13th, not Friday, but Carroll's gym was not exactly swimming in good luck. Ducks were swimming nearby, though, because SERIOUS rain was pelting the area and somewhere in the vicinity, for whatever reason, something happened to cause a power failure. At first it was a partial job. Just a few of the lights conked out, but the referees stopped play and maybe 30 seconds later, bingo, darkness. The gym wasn't completely black -- not even close, really -- because windows run the length of Carroll's gym on the side opposite the benches and a decent amount of light was coming through. A decision to just finish the game would not have been the most outrageous one ever made. It COULD have happened. Yet I understood why the refs did not want things to continue. I'll have to wait until Monday's Daily News to get into some of the other ins and outs, but there was a long delay, close to two hours, as assorted honchos decided how to proceed. Let alone the fact that this one needed to be finished and it would have been grossly unfair to expect Tri-Valley, which is roughly 70 miles due west of Allentown in a hamlet called Hegins (not far away is a town called Rough and Ready -- GOTTA love that), to come back tomorrow just for 10:29, especially since it was being doubled up, at 34-17. There was an extra variable. This game was going to be followed by La Salle vs. Chester. Attempts were made to find a site to take the rest of this one and that one. No luck. Ultimately, Wood athletic director Joe Sette, the CL boys' basketball moderator, offered his school's gym and everybody trekked to Warminster for the 7 o'clock resumption/conclusion. Exactly 20 minutes later, that was it. Tri-Valley went quietly, West coach Bill Ludlow substituted liberally and the chilly gym was basically empty by 7:30. On the way back to South Jersey, I encountered two different detours caused by flooding. And there was a puddle as big as a small lake on the Jersey side of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. I got home at 9:35 and I'd left at 11:40. Why so early? For one thing, I thought the game time was at 2. Turned out to be 2:30 (I walked into Carroll's gym at 10 to 1. Talk about having time to kill). A decent chunk passed by swiftly thanks to a great conversation with Carroll's former boys-then-girls' coach, Barry Kirsch. There was also a chance to witness Carroll soph Pat Finnegan, with rebounding help from an assistant coach, take about 500 jumpers, with some free throws mixed in, over a period of time that had to be 45 minutes, if not an hour. Then, fiiiiiinally, the teams came out to warm up. The partners for this one included Huck, Cauls, Bert and Bert's little son, David Jr. Lil Dave spent part of the down time dribbling and then passing the ball to his dad. He dribbled righthanded and passed lefthanded. He'll be a good one! Count on it! Jr. PG Aquil Younger led West with 17 points, two assists and two steals. Sr. WG-SF Vincent Ho scored seven of his 13 points in the first quarter while finishing with five total assists and four steals. Sr. C Tim Carroll posted three blocks. In the second part of the game, Younger started the scoring with a layup at exactly 1:00. Tri-Valley didn't re-hit the scoreboard until 6:21 was showing in the fourth quarter. At Wood, Tri-Valley's coach expressed displeasure to Sette that Carroll had even been used as a site for a state playoff. The reason? As those who've been there know, part of a ventilation/heating contraption is right above the entry corner of the gym. In the third quarter, a T-V guy moonballed a trey from there and, clang, it hit against the metal. Turnover. Meanwhile, guess who did NOT make the trip to Wood. Huck!!!! He bailed. Did not tough it out! Sold out his beloved Burrs! Ha, ha, ha. Ah, it's OK. He's forgiven. He's getting married later this month and he had night plans. Meanwhile, Pucklehead showed up at Carroll during the delay and of course bounced from locale to locale to babble and drive people crazy. Then, somehow, he bummed a ride with La Salle's coaches to HersheyPark Arena to watch the Hempfield-Nazareth 7:30 game. Kevin "Sparky" Cooney, a back-in-the-day website legend now a bright light at the Bucks County Courier Times, offered to bring Puck back home to the Far Northeast after writing about Pennsbury-Wilson. But first Goofball wanted to see yet another game in that venue, Reading-Hazleton and Sparky agreed to stay. Finally it was time to leave and Sparky needed dinner. As did Puck. Sparky reported all this via cell phone. "He actually bought my dinner," he said. "Well, he gave me money for the combined bill. Puck had a pizza steak and fries. I've never seen someone put so much salt on french fries." A short while later, Sparky called back again. "Update," he said. "Puck said he tried to get into Carroll via a side door. Some players were there and they wouldn't let him in because he'd picked Holy Ghost. They were imitating him. 'Go to Hoey Gwost. Dey you fwiends.' . . . Oh, and we just had a conversation about Daylight Savings Time. Puck swears we'll be gaining an hour's sleep. I told him, 'Puck, the clock is going forward. Less sleep.' He goes, 'Yeah, goin' fohwahd. Dat mean you get one moah houh of sweep.' He just can't grasp the concept. Not of DST. But definitely of high-quality entertainment (smile).

DEC. 15
SHOWCASE EVENT
West Catholic 65, Penn Charter 57
(At Germantown Academy)
  Listed start time: 5 p.m. . . . Actual end time: 8:14. Hmmm, what had we here? Many, many, many overtime sessions? A long delay caused by a wicked dunk that shattered a backboard? A frightening injury that required serious medical care? A leak in the roof? A loss of power? Nah, just a Catholic League version of "Only in the Pub." This game, scheduled to follow a girls contest between PC and Archbishop Ryan, was supposed to start at 5 in GA's main gym. But right after PC-Ryan, the WC Burrs did not come trotting out onto the court. Were they in the house and about to make an appearance any second? Hardly. As the PC kids and spectators killed time, the word came every so often. They're 15 minutes away. They'll be here soon. It won't be much longer. Untrue, untrue and untrue. The light snow caused big travel problems everywhere and West was caught right in the mess. In time, showcase bigwigs pondered allowing the other girls game to go next and place the games involving PC's and GA's boys in slots Nos. 3 and 4. Didn't happen. Finally, at 5:53, a decision was made to move PC-WC to a new gym two buildings away from the main one. Jim Fenerty, GA's boys coach and the former athletic director, walked about 10 spectators over to the new place and PC's players/coaches (and others) followed shortly thereafter. It was now 5:58 and the Burrs were alllllllmost there. Except they weren't. Coach Jason Hasson and his players popped through a door at 6:26 and right out of this facility they went . . . to get changed in a nearby locker room. Let history show: The first in-uniform Burr to appear in the room was No. 24, 6-8 soph Naadhir Wood. For whatever reason, the other kids walked in two minutes later. Ten minutes were put on the clock for warmups. The tipoff took place at 6:54. Fiiiiiiiiinally. In the beginning, you would have thought the long delay had been the best thing ever to happen to a PC basketball team. Paced by sr. WG-SF Will Samuel (three treys), the Quakers hit eight of their first nine shots while impressively claiming a 20-13 lead. Alas, they made just nine of their remaining 33 shots (27.3 percent), committed far too many turnovers and had no one claim more than four rebounds (through the entire game). West has a mixture of small kids, big/thick kids and tall/skinny kids and even the little guys seem to have seven-foot wingspans. The Burrs' relentless pressure and ability to cut off passing lanes once PC got to the frontcourt (when it did) made a big difference. Check this out. In PC's recent OT win over Shipley, star sr. WG Mason Williams got off 25 shots. In this one? Five. Though he did score 20 points thanks to 15-for-16 marksmanship at the line. Soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes shot 7-for-11 from the floor, but never got to the line. Weird, right? Samuel scored his 15 points on treys and was held pointless after the early moments of the third quarter. West began to take control not too long into the third quarter and two plays by 6-6 frosh Zaakir Williamson (17 points) were important, along with impressive. Williamson is, shall we say, a shade beefy and you wouldn't expect a kid with his build to have good footwork. But there he was, scoring a layup off a wonderful spin move then knocking down a step-back jumper. Jr. Gs Imire Harris and Samier Kinsler, a wing and point respectively, also had big moments. Their builds and styles are similar and they appear to have decent chemistry, also. Kinsler, a lefty, had 17 points. Harris added 11. Frosh SF Jerome Brewer had 10 points and sr. G Mike Robinson, another lefty, had eight. Assuming it remains dedicated to defense, and the players learn to trust each other more and more while accepting their roles, West could have a decent amount of fun in Catholic League play. And even more in the coming seasons. As for this new building . . . It opened last January and mostly hosts middle school games. It looks like PC's "new" gym except there is no "fullcourt." There are two crosscourts -- regulation size -- and the one used for this game is named after Fenerty. His squad played on it in this season's opener vs. Cristo Rey. There are no stands. Hustling crew workers set up more than enough folding chairs. I left my house at 1:20. It's now 10:59. Gotta love semi-retirement (smile).

DEC. 12
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 78, Shipley 74 (OT)
  With 18 seconds remaining in regulation, and with PC facing a six-point deficit, I almost yelled toward the other end of Shipley's gym, "Now I know that you will lose! . . . Now I know that you will lose!" Shipley's student rooters had just belted out the "I believe that we will win" chant and, as I've pointed out numerous times in these website reports through the years, that moment often proves to be a big-time jinx. PC inbounded and, bang, sr. WG Mason Williams splashed home a three-pointer with 14 seconds left. Shipley inbounded, soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes made a steal along the right baseline and Williams again wound up with the ball beyond the arc out front. The shot was up and, bang!, another three-pointer. The Gators did get off a last shot, but sr. PG Amyr Henry was slightly long with a buzzer-beating trey from a spot roughly halfway between the exact left wing and the top of the key. In OT, PC edged ahead for good, with 2:26 left, on a pair of free throws by sr. WG-SF Will Samuel and finalized the win, among other things, thanks to 4-for-4 sniping at the line by sub jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney in the final 43 seconds. Quite the stirring victory, especially since the Quakers trailed by 11 with 4:35 left in regulation and still by nine at 3:10. Overall, this was Mason Williams' Moment. Yes, his overall shooting was less than efficient at 8-for-25. But he went 6-for-12 from Threeball Land and hit five of those long ones in the fourth quarter while pouring in 16 of his 31 points. Plus, he stepped up big time on defense, limiting star sr. G Sam Sessoms to four points over the final 12 minutes and making sure Sessoms attempted just one shot from the floor (a miss) during that span. In the third quarter, the brassy Sessoms, who can pretty much get off jumpers or drive for layups whenever he damn well pleases, had scored 12 points (after getting 13 in the first quarter). He finished with 33 in all. I'm not sure where things stand for Mason as far as college interest goes, but the tape of the fourth quarter and OT should be sent to coaches far and wide. He was truly a both-ends headliner. Maloney also worked his tail off in every possible way. He claimed six of his nine rebounds beyond halftime and bagged five total steals in addition to eight points. Jr. WG Dylan Topaz, the other key sub, hit two treys while contributing 10 points. Holmes went 10-for-11 at the line en route to 19 points and added three assists and Samuel had 10 points along with four steals. In the first half, it appeared PC's varsity had gotten some inspiration from the JV. That squad's game was played first and the ball was a hot potato. On one possession three quick, terrific passes led to any easy layup and such chemistry/unselfishness was a wonderful thing to see. The varsity Quakers also made the ball talk in the first 16 minutes, notching eight assists on 11 buckets. Then, somehow, just ONE field goal was scored in the third stanza. The Gators, as coached by former Bonner guard Phil D'Ambrosio and a recent winner over forever Catholic League power Neumann-Goretti, have a 6-10 sr. C in Ray Somerville. His Separated at Birth guy is Joel Embiid, looks-wise anyway. At least in this one, Ray had difficulty controlling entry passes and rebounds. He did show a soft touch at the line, however, going 5-for-6.

DEC. 9
ENABLE SPORTS & FITNESS TOURNAMENT FINAL
St. Joseph's Prep 74, Penn Charter 61
(At Penn Charter)
   PC's Dooney Field House, now in season No. 4 as the site for basketball games, features LOTS of room behind the baskets. Visitors sometimes struggle with shooting because it seems as if the baskets are in the middle of the great outdoors. The opponent in tonight's championship game of the first ES&F Tournament was SJ Prep, and all the Hawks did was snipe 27-for-47 from the floor and 13-for-21 beyond intermission. My guess as to why that happened: The space behind the baskets in the Prep's gym is almost twice as large and the Hawks were likely thinking, "Hey, we're really comfortable in here." Oh, almost forgot. The Hawks shot 10-for-24 beyond the arc. Not fantastic, of course. But more than acceptable, especially since the successful bombs were spread out along the way -- 4-2-3-1. Overall, and this was likely a surprise, the Prep's most important contributions came from soph WG Trevor Wall, the sixth man. He shot 8-for-11 (one trey) for 17 points and kept finding open areas due to hustle and/or a sixth sense. He especially enjoyed PC's gym. Friday, his late bucket earned the Hawks their semifinal win over Girard College. Coach Speedy Morris' three most prominent players are sr. Gs Kyle Thompson and Darius Kinnel and sr. PF-C Ed Croswell (La Salle commit). Thompson and Kinnel are very similar. Kinda short, emphatically brassy and not afraid to launch from anywhere at any time. Both exhibit good lift and form on their jumpers and are able to fend off defenders on drives. Thompson packed 20 of his 28 points (five treys) into the second half. Kinnel had 14 points. Croswell, who's 6-7/6-8 and rather thick, finished with 12 points (just 2-for-9 at the line) and eight came in rather short order in the second quarter as he briefly owned the paint. In this one, jr. SF Gabe Arizin, grandson of NBA all-timer Paul Arizin, mostly settled for a little-things role. The fifth starter was jr. C Jacob O'Connell, who might be as tall as 6-11. He took just one shot, missing a just-beyond-the-foul line jumper. He and Croswell were rarely (never?) on the floor together after the first few minutes. In time, I could picture them executing some high-low heroics. The best news for PC was that soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes, still battling back from a soccer injury, looked more and more like himself. Though not all of his authoritative moves worked out, at least he was able to make them. Plus, on a fast break, he wolfed down a dunk. That bucket created a 35-35 tie. Alas, Thompson/Wall/Thompson posted three quick buckets and Thompson soon was adding a triple on a feed from Wall. PC was kept at arm's length thereafter. Sr. WG Mason Williams popped home four treys en route to 24 points. Sr. F Will Samuel was off from the floor, but snagged eight rebounds.
  NUGGETS: Almost NO student fans were on hand. The snow played a role, no doubt, but so did the fact that a PC dance was scheduled to start at 7:30. This game didn't start until a shade before 6 . . . Congrats to PC's girls team, which claimed the championship with a win over Westtown . . . Speedy Morris now needs eight wins for 1,000 in his lengthy, wondrous career (all teams/high school-college as a head coach . . . Great to see Prep assistants Keith Morris (Speedy's son) and Randy Monroe. Keith played for PC and Randy starred for Speedy at Roman. Also, Speedball was PC's coach in the '83 and '84 seasons and his top player was Carl Arrigale, Neumann-Goretti's wildly successful coach . . . Also great to see the Girard College duo of Doug Fairfax, former star/coach at Haverford School, and Bobby Jordan, former Roman guard. Doug is now an administrator at GC. Bobby is the coach . . . Congrats to the PC family for making this first tourney, as orchestrated by Bob/Laurie Rosania to benefit special needs kids/adults, a success . . . Ex-Dougherty mad bomber John Przybylinski reffed GC's game. Ex-Roman QB/hoopster Kevin Regan blew whistles in the SJP-PC final.

DEC. 8
ENABLE SPORTS & FITNESS TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL
Penn Charter 71, King's Christian (NJ) 51
(At Penn Charter)
  Any time a school decides to host a four-team tournament, the first goal is this: Find a semifinal opponent that will provide only scant opposition and allow you to advance to the championship game. A look at the final score may lead you to think, "OK, that was easy. PC's athletic department did its job." Not so fast! Yes, the Quakers wound up winning by 20. But KC, of Cherry Hill, was more than decent and at times had PC sweating at least medium-sized bullets. More athletic? Check. More aggressive? Check. At least for spurts. Not too long prior to halftime, PC faced a 28-21 deficit and had missed eight of its first nine shots in the second quarter (after sizzling to start the game). Not good. Not something that would continue, either. Thankfully. By the end of this one, pretty much every Quaker had made at least one play that could be considered his best of the season. Because it was brassy. Because it was smart. Because it was unselfish. The guys just REALLY combined their talents to create a good impression. Just before intermission, sr. F Will Samuel scored in transition to make it 31-30 after sr. F-C Ryan Dickson hustled for a steal and sent Will on his way, thus causing excitement for PC's Christmasy student rooters. In the third quarter, sr. WG Mason Williams and jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney barged down along the baseline for classic take-this buckets in the faces of defenders. And right before the buzzer, sr. PG Jake Nicastro exploded down the right side of the lane for a fancy-dan layup to end the session at 50-44. Soon, Samuel was impressively converting a left-handed layup en route to a three-point play. And then . . . Williams took a drop-ahead pass from Maloney and wolfed down a dunk. Well, maybe an 85-percent dunk (smile). The ball did slightly bump against the rim before going over it. Hey, can't have everything. Williams hit three treys en route to 21 points and two were his first two shots. Samuel was a major factor in every possible way, witness his 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes, who's still scrambling back to being himself from a soccer injury, shot 6-for-7 while scoring 14 points. He and Dickson halved 12 rebounds. For the Knights, the 17-point outing of sr. WG Darius Gary included five triples. Jr. PG Tony Little also had some impressive moments.
  NUGGETS: Enable Sports & Fitness, which supports special needs individuals of all ages, was founded by PC parent Bob Rosania and his wife, Laurie. Bob is also the president of the Little Quakers. All proceeds will go to the organization . . . PC's opponent in tomorrow's 5:30 final will be St. Joseph's Prep, which used a late jumper by soph Trevor Wall to edge Girard College, 58-56 . . . All kinds of legends on hand. Had a great convo with ex-NFLer (and Eagle) Uhuru "Joby" Hamiter, who starred in football and basketball at Mastbaum. His daughter, Laila, a ninth-grader, is a member of the basketball team's rotation. Also spoke with ex-West Philly hoops star Shawn Harvey, who was scouting for Shipley, and Michael Arizin, ex-O'Hara franchise and the son of NBA all-timer Paul Arizin. Michael's son, Gabe, plays for the Prep and his nephew, Chris, is also a Hawk. . . . Ex-PC star Aaron "Ace" Carter, now of sports writing fame, was also in attendance for Twitter purposes . . . One more on-hand guy: Inquirer writer Mike Jensen. No doubt he's working on a special Speedy Morris story . . . PC's girls won their semi, also over King's Christian, and will meet Westtown in the 2:30 final. The Quaker gals allowed just one field goal (and three points) in the first half. . . OK, gotta move on. Huck has provided the final stats for tonight's Class 5A state football championship game. Time to update Wood's TEAM PAGE. See ya.

DEC. 5
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 60, Abington Friends 46
  This conversation did not take place in the layup line. PC frosh G-F Matt Slowinski did not say, "I'm going to score our first basket today." And jr. G-F Brendan Thomas did not respond, "And I'm going to score our second." But that was exactly what happened even though both guys did not enter the game until 4:48 remained in the first quarter. At the time PC trailed, 10-0, and had bricked its way to an 0-for-8 start from the floor. Substitutes = best invention in basketball history! (smile) For multiple reasons, this afternoon tussle was certifiable. First, how often does a team craft at 28-point turnaround? (After trailing by 10, the Quakers led by as many as 18.) Second, how often do teams combine to shoot just ONE free throw in roughly the game's first 21 1/2 minutes? (AF made one in the second quarter as part of a three-point play. PC's first attempt came with 2:33 left in the third quarter as  jr. G Dylan Topaz swished two after being hacked on a drive.) Third, how often do three starters for one team fail to score through the first three quarters? (That happened to PC. And those Quakers combined to take just three shots from the floor. Weird and weirder.) AF got off to a fast start because PC's poor shooting created some transition opportunities. Slowinski's bucket was a left corner trey on a pass from sr. G Mason Williams and the points were the first of his varsity career. Thomas then scored on a pass from another sub, jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney. Soon, thanks to 10-for-16 shooting, the Quakers owned a 22-14 lead 3:26 prior to halftime. With the starters back on the floor for the third quarter, PC again went south. The third quarter ended with the score at 33-33 and shortly before the clock hit 0:00, AF's Ace Bibbs, a 6-3 G-F, got out on a break and, boom!, hammered home a dunk. Impressive. Often, such a play gives a team a gigantic boost and the momentum carries it to victory. Um, not even close. Bibbs' flush drew the Kangaroos within 33-31. PC scored 20 of the next 24 points. Admittedly, many of those points were scored at the line, but still. A quick, nine-point outburst highlighted the stretch. Sr. F Will Samuel and Topaz drained three-pointers, then Maloney drove the right baseline, used a spin move to get near the hoop and wound up notching a three-point play. That stuck a pin in the drama balloon. Williams had team highs in points (18), rebounds (six) and steals (four). Topaz contributed 12 points, four assists and three steals. Maloney mixed nine points with four boards and three dimes. Bibbs had 14 points and went 6-for-6 from the floor for long-time, good-guy coach Steve Chadwin. Three media folks were on hand -- writers Josh Verlin and Jonathan Vander Lugt and lensman Rick Cawley. Josh, mastermind behind City of Basketball Love, is now doing some free-lance basketball writing for the Daily News/Inquirer. Nice!

DEC. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 54, Academy of the New Church 49
  The worst thing about this doubleheader was the order of the games. Usually, twinbills with afternoon start times go in varsity/JV order. However, even though today was Friday, host ANC opted for JV/varsity and the PC varsity guys had to watch an incredible mismatch. The Quakers won, 63-7, and that is not a typo. As you witness that mess, how can you possibly enter the varsity contest raring to go? I mean, you pretty much have to be thinking, "Oh, man, the varsity game is going to be easy like crazy, too." Not quite. It probably coulda/shoulda been, but that was not how things played out. PC bricked its first five shots and failed to score until 3:56 remained in the first quarter. Yo, dudes. The alarm has sounded. Wake up. In time the Quakers did just that and even just about reached full-comfort mode after a drive by sr. WG Mason Williams -- PC used a spread approach and held the ball for roughly 45 seconds -- made it 47-38. Thereafter, ANC kept plugging and PC helped out -- heebie-jeebie time! -- by missing five consecutive free throws; four were part of double-bonus situations. Thankfully, jr. WG Dylan Topaz helped to prevent what would have been major embarrassment by hitting both ends of a DB at 17.2 to make it 52-47 and then repeated the feat at 8.0 after ANC soph G Devin Bryant nailed two free throws of his own at 8.8. After the scoreboard hit 0:00 and handshakes were exchanged, one of PC's coaches muttered, "We should have been out of here 20 minutes ago." Indeed. Perhaps this lesson was learned: When the you have the chance to close things out, DO it or (almost) pay the price. Topaz, an early sub, spent the fall on the golf team and when he finished with 17 points, I was thinking, "That might be the most basketball points ever scored by a PC golfer." But this hit me while driving home: '94 grad Steve Goodrich, a first team All-City player who then starred at Princeton and played briefly in the NBA, was also on the golf team (it was a spring sport back then) and he averaged 17.6 points in Inter-Ac play, so . . . Gotta step it up a little, Dylan (smile). Topaz is supremely confident when launching three-pointers and he hit three in this one. He also went 6-for-8 at the line while mixing in three assists and two steals. He played a major role in a second quarter surge that got PC back on track. Williams, meanwhile, had quite the strange shooting breakdown en route to 20 points. He missed his first five shots, nailed his next five and tallied just two points in the third quarter before racking up seven in the fourth. He also finished with six rebounds and two apiece of steals/blocks. Sr. F Will Samuel scored all nine of his points in the third quarter and soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes had all six of his in the first. He hurt his cause by committing a reaching foul (his second) out by midcourt near the end of the first quarter and was guilty of an offensive foul shortly into the third quarter. Just not his afternoon/night. Jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Mahoney had five rebounds while sr. F-C Ryan Dickson and sr. PG Jake Nicastro halved six steals. ANC's Bryant is pretty quick, though he could not get his shots to fall until the fourth quarter. At least in this one, soph G Isaac Marshall looked more like a crafty small forward with even some power forward attributes mixed in. He was the lone Lion for much of the game. Soph G Glenn Sabb also had some respectable moments. Before the JV game, PC assistant Chris Burnett mentioned that PC's kids had been showing great ball-sharing skills. Then we all saw that. If basketball's rules were the same as hockey's, many field goals would have produced two assists. Great vision/unselfishness. The most noteworthy spectator, accompanied by a small posse, was PC sr. baseball star Mike Siani. Among his many claims to fame: He committed to play college baseball at Virginia in the fall of ninth grade . . . before he even played a varsity game. Talk about legendary.

NOV. 28
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 58, Germantown Friends 32
  For multiple reasons, this could qualify as the sequence of the season. In the latter portion of the first quarter, jr. G Brendan Thomas popped onto the court as PC's second sub and owned two steals almost immediately. He momentarily lost the ball after making the first theft, but remained in bulldog mode and quickly regained possession. A drive by star sr. WG Mason Williams followed and the Quakers owned an 8-4 lead. Here's the deal: Coach Jim "Flipper" Phillips is planning to use a nine-man rotation and that group includes mostly guys who do not remotely present themselves as headliners. Thus, a desire to play defense and focus VERY hard on the little things is extra important and Thomas wound up getting a decent amount of playing time for those exact reasons. Williams is the team's only basketball-only mainstay, but many of the others have fared well in other sports and their decision NOT to go the much-disliked-by-me/others specialization route is to be applauded. GFS' only truly tall player, 6-8 sr. Pietro Berghella, was unable to make an appearance due to injury and the Tigers did not have much depth, either. In time, they faced a rough road and PC wound up dominating. A 16-6 edge in the second quarter set the tone. No need for play-by-play details. Williams hit four treys en route to 22 points. Soph WG Ryan "Pooch" Holmes, coming off a productive soccer season, had 10 of his 12 points in the first half and uncorked about an 85-percent dunk in the second quarter. The starting lineup also featured sr. F Will Samuel, the QB of the 9-1 football team; sr. F-C Ryan Dickson, who's committed to Hobart for lacrosse; and sr. PG Jake Nicastro. Today's top two subs, jr. F Ryan "Zingy" Maloney and Thomas, are no doubt playing sports with raised overall confidence because they had so many good moments in football. As for the eighth man, sr. wing sniper Dylan Topaz, his fall sport was golf. By the way, Thomas finished with four steals and three rebounds and  even soared out of nowhere to block a long trey at the end of the third quarter. Niiiiice. Meanwhile, sr. F Christopher Thomas, a first-year varsity player, drilled a late, right-corner trey about three-10ths of a second after accepting a pass from frosh G Matt Slowinski. Sr. G Peter "My Name's My Position" Gard led GFS with 10 points, in part thanks to two treys. Sr. G Isaac Myran was next with nine.
  NUGGETS: This season started so early, PC has not yet named its captains and the new uniforms have yet to arrive . . . Former Roman forward-QB Kevin Regan was one of the refs . . . Brent "McAdoo" Hawthorne, former Dobbins star, is GFS' JV coach. His son, Bryton, was once an entertaining student reporter for this website . . . One of GFS' varsity assistants is Ishmawiyl McFadden, a starting forward for Gratz' 2006 Pub champs . . . PC's roster includes four guys named Ryan. Plus, their surnames can be found in alphabetical succession on the roster -- Dickson, Holmes, Kessler, Maloney. Pic here. Hey, where's soph soccer player/FB kicker Ryan Bradby when we need him? Four Ryans might be a national hoops record. FIVE would definitely be, right?

SEPT. 28
TEDBIT
  In the 1992-93 school year, which turned out to be the final one for St. James High, in Chester, Michael Menichini filled the role of class president and basketball captain. In the Bulldogs' final game, a loss to Carroll on Feb. 28, he scored eight points. Six years later, he was fatally injured in a Jeep accident in Florida. Tomorrow, Michael will be inducted into the Saint James Wall of Honor. Nineteen years ago, a group of friends and family members started a scholarship fund to honor Michael's memory and, thanks primarily to the Michael Menichini Golf Classic, held each June at Paxon Hollow Country Club, in Broomall, more than $300,000 has been raised and distributed to high school and college scholar-athletes in the Delaware Valley. Jim Tucker, long a Catholic League football official, grew up with Michael's parents, Ralph and Helene, and their families have remained close to this day. Michael's sister, Lauren, was an All-Catholic basketball honoree at O'Hara and played in college at Mount Saint Mary. "Tuck" is heavily involved with the scholarship fund and we thank him for letting us know about this special honor for Michael. Congrats and best wishes to everyone involved.

A pic of Michael, as shown at the Wall of Honor ceremony. Provided by
Jim Tucker.

Here is a bio, as also provided by Tuck . . .

Michael Menichini
St. James High School
Class of 1993
St. James High School 1989 -1993

Academics and Scholastics
Michael was a 4-year honor student at St. James.

Extracurricular Activities
1993 Senior Class President – Student Council
Michael was elected Class President by his peers marking him as the last class president at St. James.

1993 St. James Student Transition Team Leader
At the announcement of the closing of St James, Michael was commissioned by then principal, Father Brugger, to lead a team of St. James student council representatives to discuss opportunities for St. James underclassmen at Cardinal O’Hara and Monsignor Bonner. These meetings allowed for the St. James team to learn about and discuss the cultures of these schools to determine “best possible fits” for the St. James student community. As a follow-up, Michael presented to the individual St. James underclasses the discovered information from these meetings with the objective being to assist them in making an informed decision about which school might best fit their needs.

1993 Organizer of the “Save St. James” Student Committee
Michael organized a group of students dedicated to “Saving St. James.” This group was organized to assist the Alumni Association in raising funds to keep the school open. The group spent many evenings telephone canvassing, stuffing envelopes, soliciting financial assistance from local businesses, and contacting alumni with the express objective of “Keeping St. James Open.” Michael worked with and through Bob McLaughlin among many other dedicated alumni who at the time were instrumental in the Alumni Association’s drive to raise the funds needed to keep the school open.

1993 The student face and voice to the local community to “Save St. James”
Father Brugger raised up Michael to represent St. James in numerous local television Interviews to explain the culture and rich history of St. James from a students’ perspective. He became the student face and voice of St. James during the closing year. He often conducted interviews on the steps of St. James with local media outlets. Michael was selected by the school administrators as the Student Representative to present the case to keep St. James open from a students’ perspective to then Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua at a meeting that was organized by the School Officials and the Alumni Association. It was estimated that there were between 1-2 thousand people in attendance.

Awards
Michael was awarded the Youth Merit Award presented by the Rotary Club of Chester, Pa. in recognition of outstanding qualities of Service, Dependability, and Leadership signed and executed by Frank Hashorva – President.

The 1993 Alumni Award
Given to the Senior who has contributed the most to the Student Council of the school.

The Principal’s Award
This is the highest honor the St. James High School can bestow. The Principal’s Award is given to those who have achieved extraordinary excellence or displayed outstanding service and dedication to St James

1990-1993 St. James Varsity Basketball – Captain – 1993 Team
Michael was the last captain of the St. James Varsity Basketball Team where he finished the 1993 Season as the leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder.
Michael was a member of the 1990 Freshman Basketball Team. He was a member of the 1991 JV Team. He was a 2-year member of the Varsity Basketball Team playing under Coach Tom Stewart.

1991-1993 St. James Track Team – 2 year Varsity Letter Winner
Michael was a member of the Track Team competing in his Junior and Senior years in both the High Jump and Broad Jump Categories.

Catholic League Awards
Michael was selected Honorable-Mention in basketball by the Catholic League Coaches for the 1992-1993 Season. Michael was selected to play in the Annual Catholic League All-Star Game.

March, 1993 William H. Markward Memorial Basketball Club Weekly Award Winner
The Markward award is given to the most outstanding basketball player from the Catholic, Public, and Interacademic Basketball Leagues. During the course of the season, weekly awards are given. Michael was one of the weekly Catholic League selections of the Markward Basketball Club. The final award is given to 1 player chosen from the group of weekly winners.

Delaware County Awards
Michael was named Honorable Mention All-Delaware County. He was selected to play in the annual Delaware County Coaches Association All-Star Game.
Michael was a member of the Daily Times Athletic Honor Role awarded for outstanding achievement in Basketball during the 1992-1993 season as certified by Bob Tenant - Sports Editor – DC Daily Times

Post-St. James
1993 Received a Partial Basketball Scholarship - $10,000/year
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science – Philadelphia, PA
1995-1996 Michael transferred from PCPS to Penn St. Brandywine
1995-1996 Selected Captain of the Penn St. Brandywine College Basketball Team

Michael led his team in scoring (20.5 ppg) and rebounding (7 pg).

1995-1996 Selected 1st Team All-Conference – Commonwealth Athletic Conference
1995-1996 Philadelphia Area Small College Basketball Association - Samuel Cozens Award Winner

Awarded to best small college players in the Philadelphia Area

In addition to being named a Sam Cozens award winner, Michael was selected to the Philadelphia Area Small College Basketball Association All-Star Team and participated in their annual All-Star game.

Coaching Experience
1997-1998 Assistant Coach – Penn St. Brandywine Women’s Basketball Team.
Head Coach: Brian Donoghue Athletic Director: Tiz Griffith
1998-1999 Assistant Coach – Penn St Brandywine Men’s Basketball Team.

Head Coach: Bill Wiley Athletic Director: Tiz Griffith

Michael received a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Penn St. University in 1997
Michael worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry from 1997 to 1999 as a sales representative.
Michael Menichini passed away on March 11, 1999 at the age of 24.

Michael Menichini Scholarship Fund
In 1999, in memory of Michael’s name, several friends and family members chaired and directed by Jim Tucker of West Chester incorporated the Michael Menichini Scholarship Fund. The fund was instituted to provide basketball scholarships to players with identified financial need chosen by the school’s financial aid department. During the course of the past 17 years, scholarships have been provided to players from both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Cardinal O’Hara, Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast; Archbishop Carroll; Penn St. Brandywine; University of the Sciences and Calvary Baptist International School.

There were 2 sponsored outings each year. There was a 3-on-3 basketball tournament held in Avalon, NJ. The tourney was in operation for 7 years. There remains an annual golf tournament held at Paxon Hollow Country Club on the first Friday in June. 2016 marked the 17th year for the outing. The Fund is approaching awarding $300,000 in scholarships to deserving individuals.

JULY 26
  Kevin Silary's report on a game from the 2008 season . . .
FEB. 2, 2008
FINALLY . . .
Kevin Silary's FULL Report on the GAMP-Audubon game, which was played LAST Saturday
(He had exams this week. He did half earlier, then finished up today under pressure from Dad -- smile)
Audubon 74, GAMP 72 (3 OTs)
  It's really hard to write game reports, and I don't like it, but it's all good!
  Last Saturday I went to another GAMP vs. Audubon game, at Audubon. It was better than last year's. Very exciting, considering the triple overtime and all.  Anyway, I don't know much about basketball these days, but I'd have to say that despite the score GAMP was definitely the better team. Junior PG LaRon Byrd and senior WG Stefan Thompson led the team through great hardships and havoc.  Audubon's team was good, I'll give them that, but I just didn't really like them. They were like real stupid and stuff. But, uh, I guess I'll get to the actual game.
  The jump ball was in the air a really short time because neither team had tall starting centers! The first point was by GAMP at 6:43 by Foster McKoskey. Then, more than three minutes later, the Green Wave got their first point. And that's about all that happened! At the end of the first quarter, it was boring but I could already sense some tension between the two equal teams. The score was 15-7 GAMP
  W-A-V-E Audubon's Butt. I don't know why that's in my notes. I think that's what I thought their cheerleaders were saying, probably! ha, ha.
  Anyway GAMP was playing much better b-ball at this point. Byrd and Thompson were tearing up the Green Wave like they were on jet skis. Um, #10 from Audubon shouldn't make no-look passes because he messed up one too many. I don't think I took good notes at this point, so, um, the score was 21-15 at the half. Sorry 'bout that!
  OK, so the start of the second half was when it started getting good! The refs in the first half were good, but through the 3rd quarter they were getting real bogus! They were calling traveling on GAMP every other play, which really hindered their chances for a win.  Audubon got the lead by a missed and-1 rebound play. The quick play proved to be enough to boost up the score to an Audubon lead, 35-34 . . .
  I'll finish this later. My pop has been bugging me all week. I had midterm exams. He told me, "Do the report! Get your priorities straight!" Ha, ha, ha. First he said to do the rest of this "within a month." Then he changed it to "within a DAY." It's not easy being this guy's son, and stuff.
 -- BREAK OF A COUPLE  DAYS TOOK PLACE HERE --
   The refs were still killing the game for my boys from GAMP, and it was starting to get everyone pretty upset. The score was flopping back and forth till the end of the 4th. With 33 second left it was 45-44 GAMP.  Audubon was getting restless and their coach was jumping around like a little leprechaun, which wasn't too intimidating. Some foul shots from each team made it 48-46 GAMP. Then #3 from Audubon drove in from the top of the key and made a layup to make it 48-48. GAMP got the ball and let the clock tick down.  It appeared Thompson thought they were still up by one (he was pointing like that right after) so he let the clock run down almost all the way, and unfortunately GAMP wasn't able to finish off the Green Wave (Byrd missed a buzzer-beater), so the game went into overtime.
    Overtime started off with a bang!  Unfortunately the bang was coming from Audubon, which made the score 55-49 at one point. But of course, the refs were favoring Audubon and still stinkin' big time and the guy sitting behind me (well, up behind my pops) was really creeeeepy. GAMP was pickin' it up now and things were getting crazy. It was 58-57 Audubon and their ball at the end line. Byrd forced the 5-second rule on Audubon when they failed to pass it in on time, and that gave GAMP the ball. It went back and forth now. Byrd then got fouled driving in and got two shots. He made both and before we all know it, it's 61-59, GAMP! But, then again, Audubon drove through the Pioneers' defense and tied it up at 61.
  Now double OT. GAMP started things off with Byrd and Thompson having their share of buckets and boost up the score to 66 points, but the verdant shaded wave is following in their footsteps, and they get 66 as well.  Both teams miss their chances for points at the foul line and it was 66-66 at the end of double OT.
  TRIPLE OVERTIME NOW. AND THINGS WERE GETTING INTENSE. Both teams scored 2 and it was 68-all! It was getting crazy in this tiny gym, and the Audubon coach and the guy sitting behind me were still buggin' me. Thompson rebounded a shot and made it 72-69! 44.6 seconds left and Byrd dropped a pass. The score was 74-72, Audubon. GAMP was driving. Byrd passed it to Christian Matticks and he missed a 3. Carl Guignard went after the rebound and forced a jump ball. It was GAMP ball, along the baseline. Thompson passed it to Guignard with less than 4 sec. left. He shot the ball, and missed. Audubon won, 74-72. =(
  You GAMP guys played great and you should've won. There were many obstacles you had to overcome and you cleared all except for one. Everyone was cool!! GAMP RULES!! Audubon does not!!
  Here are some stats from my Pop . . .

Stefan Thompson -- 34 points, 11 rebounds, had 3 threes.
LaRon Byrd -- 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists.
 (those two combined for all but 2 of GAMP's 24 OT points)
Foster McKoskey (6 pts, 5 rebs.)
Vershawn Thompson (4 and 4)
Clayton Graves (1 pt, 2 steals)
Christian Matticks (0 pts, 2 apiece of assists and steals)
Ron Malandro (3 pts)
V. Thompson, McKoskey and Graves fouled out

JULY 20
TEDBIT
  My report on a crazy game from the 2007 season . . . And make sure to check out the bonus tidbit, which focuses on the legendary Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna.
MARCH 24, 2007
PIAA CLASS AA STATE FINAL
Prep Charter 68, Aliquippa 66
  Anyone have a Bible? Before writing this report, I should probably place my left hand on the Good Book and raise my right hand and then swear/affirm/whatever that everything will be the whole truth, etc. And even THEN you might not believe it. As mentioned in the Alerts section, this game featured circumstances for the ages and somehow, incredibly, PC wound up with a second consecutive state title. We'll list some now, in no special order . . .
  *With exactly 4:00 showing on the clock in the fourth quarter, PC trailed by 14 points, at 60-46.
  *PC committed 33 turnovers, with SEVENTEEN coming from the team's far-and-away best players, the Memphis-bound Morris twins, 6-9 Marcus (10) and 6-10 Markieff (seven).
  *PC used its last timeout with 5:31 left in the THIRD quarter.
  *Marcus posted one field goal for the GAME.
  *In the first 12-plus minutes of the game, the twins combined for FOUR points.
  *Just before the third quarter began, a PC fan seated right behind press row yelled to the players, "It's a long bus ride home, without a W!" He did not get the desired response. Aliquippa scored six consecutive points in 48 seconds to zoom further ahead, at 37-23.
  *Markieff was the only Husky with a field goal over an 11-minute period that spanned from late-first to early-third.
  *Markieff incurred his fourth foul with 35 seconds left in the third quarter (and never fouled out).
  *Sr. G Kevin Radford incurred HIS fourth foul with 8 seconds left in the same session (and never fouled out). Side note: the official box lists him with three fouls, but No. 4 was announced at the time. It's a mystery (smile).
   So, how did Prep Charter win? In wild and wacky fashion. As much as PC slit its own throat again and again in the first 28 minutes, that was exactly what Aliquippa did in the final four. The Quips rushed and lost their poise and suffered a big blow with 2:24 left when their franchise player, sr. F Herb Pope (New Mexico State), fouled out with the score at 62-57. From then on, Aliquippa unraveled and the Huskies said to themselves, in effect, "These guys are pooping their pants. This game is ours to WIN!" PC caught two big breaks to help make up for the absence of timeouts. There were delays for injured players with 5:41 (a Quip) and 5:06 left (a Husky) and PC had a chance to collect its breath and regroup. And then, late in the game, as he later admitted with a smile, Marcus untied his sneaker and then got to re-tie it with the referees' permission before shooting crucial free throws, again buying valuable collect-yourself time. Here are the major moments of the final minute: Q went ahead, 66-63, at 0:57 on the follow of a missed free throw (made possible in part because Markieff, with four fouls, shied away); PC turned it over at 49.1; Q missed a one-and-one at 42.7 (with Marcus rebounding); Markieff dunked on a feed from Marcus at 0:32; Q missed a double-bonus at 0:22 (with Marcus grabbing the rebound); Marcus got the ball on the left wing, backed his defender into the lane and was grabbed as he began to execute a move at 0:11; he missed the first freebie, but hit the second to create a 66-66 tie; Marcus stepped forward to help on defense and made a steal at 0:07 at close to three-quarters court; Marcus was fouled almost immediately at 0:06 and nailed two FTs to make it 68-66 for just the Huskies' third lead of the game (also 6-5 and 8-7); before he could launch a desperation shot, which would have come from a shade inside halfcourt, a Quip was called for traveling at 1.4. Phew, what an amazing turn of events! PC wound up putting four players in double figures in points: Markieff (16), Marcus (11, thanks to nine FTs), Radford (14, 4-for-5 on treys!) and soph PG Parrish Grant (13). Markieff (16) and Marcus (11) enabled PC to ring up a 47-43 rebounding edge. Radford's importance to this win cannot be minimized. Aside from the treys, he was EXTRA disruptive on defense. Frosh Shaquille Duncan also posted an effort to long remember by grabbing six rebounds in just eight minutes. Aside from its cheerleaders, PC had maybe 30-35 rooters. Aliquippa, almost the exact same distance from Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center (it's 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh), appeared to have a couple thousand
   BONUS TIDBIT
   Meanwhile, this was the most time I've spent in a car in one day in my LIFE. Just short of eight hours. Phew! The ride home featured a guest appearance by Puck, who was (by choice) in the back seat the whole time and spent part of the journey napping and snoring, big-time! We stopped at a rest stop near King of Prussia and got some Burger King food. Puck thought we were going to eat there. No way! So, we're heading for the door and Puck says, "'Hold on, I gotta take a cwap." Oh, baby. He puts his soda and bag of food on top of a trash can. I walk out to go get the car. I pull up in front of the door and wait and wait and wait . . . and finally, I see Puck bobbing and weaving inside the building, blurting out comments. People are looking at him . . . yeah, like he's nuts (brilliant deduction). He finally comes out and I say, "What the heck were you doing?" He plays dumb (not a stretch). "Whatcha mean? Nothin'." I say, "I know exactly what happened. You put your food and soda on top of that trash can, then couldn't remember where you put it. You were looking all over, asking people if they saw your food." He starts laughing. "How you know? I thought somebody stole my stuff." We drive a little more and I call the wife to let her know our locale and to provide entertainment with assorted Puck stories. She's been listening to them for almost 15 years now. She always loves them. After maybe 30 seconds, I tell her, "Here, say hi to Puck." I hand Puck the cell phone. He starts blabbing about all the day's crazy stuff and then says, "Yo, who winning the game?" I tell him, "Puck, she doesn't watch basketball on TV. Unless I force her to!" He says, "Yo, what you watchin'? Put the NCAA game on for me. Channel 3. I need to know who winnin' for my pool." Anne's place in heaven is sealed. She actually changed the channel and told Puck that UCLA was winning, 32-31. "Yeah!" Puck roared. He gave me back the phone and I said to Anne, "That was fun, eh?" She said, "Was that really him? I thought it was you, imitating him!"

JULY 5
TEDBIT
  Now that our Inter-Ac scoring numbers go back to the 1949-50 season, we can offer this nugget . . . Over the last 68 seasons, just three I-A players have averaged at least 18 points in as many as three league seasons. Bill Soens, a 1963 Penn Charter grad, was first and his lowest average, was 19.6. The other two guys, Malvern's Charlie Floyd ('74) and Episcopal's Nick Alikakos ('17), had two averages lower than that. Also, his No. 1 total (24.6) was also the highest and 63 of those points were scored in a blowout of Germantown Academy. That's still the I-A's one-game record.

Name School Year G Pts Avg
Bill Soens PC '61 10 198 19.8
    '62 12 235 19.6
    '63 10 246 24.6
Charlie Floyd MP '72 10 194 19.4
    '73 10 192 19.2
    '74 10 204 20.4
Nick Alikakos EA '15 10 190 19.0
    '16 10 212 21.2
    '17 8 148 18.5

JULY 3
TEDBIT
  The guys with high scoring averages don't always play for championship teams. But these guys did. Wilt Chamberlain owns three of the top six efforts and I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that.

Stars for PL Champs With Highest Scoring Averages, 1950-2015
Name School Year G Pts Avg.
*Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook 1955 12 566 47.2
*Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook 1954 12 453 37.8
Maureece Rice Straw. Mansion 2002 13 485 37.3
*Larry Cannon Lincoln 1965 14 495 35.4
*Lionel Simmons Southern 1986 13 427 32.8
*Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook 1953 12 389 32.4
*Ray Scott West Phila. 1956 12 380 31.7
Freddie Stokes West Phila. 1968 14 403 28.8
Rasheed Brokenborough Univ. City 1995 11 313 28.5
Savon Goodman Constitution 2012 10 275 27.5
*Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant Bartram 1972 14 383 27.4
Clarence "Eggy" Tillman West Phila. 1978 15 402 26.8
*Gene Banks West Phila. 1976 13 330 25.4
*Gene Banks West Phila. 1977 14 342 24.4
Mark Tyndale Gratz 2004 12 287 23.9
*Erv "Stu" Staggs Edison 1966 14 332 23.7
Marvin O'Connor Gratz 1997 16 379 23.7
*Marcus Morris Prep Charter 2007 10 237 23.7
Omar Thomas Straw. Mansion 2000 13 306 23.5
Scott Rodgers Central 2005 14 325 23.2
*Greg "Bo" Kimble Dobbins 1985 13 298 22.9
Andrew "Scootie" Randall Comm Tech 2008 15 338 22.5
Carlin Warley Frankford 1989 13 291 22.4
Alex Wesby Franklin  1998 13 285 21.9
Eric "Hank" Gathers Dobbins 1985 13 276 21.2
*Wayne Hightower Overbrook 1957 12 248 20.7
*Wayne Hightower Overbrook 1958 14 289 20.6
Tony Costner Overbrook 1980 14 286 20.4
*Andre McCarter Overbrook 1971 14 281 20.1
Will Scott Southern 1987 13 260 20.0
*-advanced to NBA/ABA          

JULY 1
TEDBIT
  Yesterday, a file featuring individual league/playoff scoring totals for all Public League champs from 1950 to 2015 was posted. While working on that, I noticed one unusual accomplishment for Edison's Mark Peterson in 1996 and then found two more -- for Gratz' Andre Griffin in '91 and Strawberry Mansion's Dawud Morris in 2002. From 1983 through 2006, the Pub playoffs included four rounds. Over those 24 years, Griffin, Peterson and Morris were the only guys whose scoring totals went up and up and up. Peterson had the most impressive climb, from five to 27. In the Owls' 74-48 overtime win over Gratz in the championship game, Mark shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 15-for-16 at the line. Also, he snagged a game-high 10 rebounds. If you're guessing he received major ink in the next day's Daily News, you're correct (smile).

Game-by-Game Scoring Climbs in Pub Playoffs, 1983-2006
Name Team 16 Qtr Semi Final
    UC Fkn Cent FLC
Andre Griffin Gratz '91 6 8 9 14
    King E&S FLC Gratz
Mark Peterson Edison '96 5 9 15 27
    Dobb King Bart NE
Dawud Morris Mansion '02 8 10 11 15

JUNE 30
TEDBIT
  Over the 66 seasons from 1950 to 2015, 16 Public League champs finished the season with just one loss. The details are below. Three teams did not lose until they faced the Catholic League champ for the City Title. Overbrook's 1955 team, featuring Wilt Chamberlain, fell to host Farrell, a Western Pennsylvania power. Wilt's teammate and best friend was Vince Miller, who coached Frankford to Pub titles in '88 and '89. Vince told me several times that Farrell fans came into Overbrook's locker room after the loss to Farrell and apologized for the fact that suspect officiating had allowed Farrell to win . . . In the '78 season, Overbrook beat West Philadelphia, 62-61, to end the Speedboys' state-record, 68-game winning streak. In the next season, also in regular season play, West turned the tables by 58-55. 'Brook stormed to a 34-0 record in the 1980 season. So, if not for that loss in '79, the Panthers would have gone a combined 69-0.

Public League Champs With One Overall Loss, 1950-2015
Year School W-L Opponent Score Occasion
1955 Overbrook 18-1 Farrell  59-58 Tournament
1956 West Phila. 17-1 North Catholic 68-67 City Title
1957 Overbrook 20-1 Gratz 53-52 Regular Season
1959 Overbrook 23-1 Altoona 47-44 Tournament
1960 West Phila. 24-1 Bonner 55-44 City Title
1965 Lincoln 26-1 Neumann 75-66 City Title
1978 West Phila. 33-1 Overbrook 62-61 Regular Season
1979 Overbrook 34-1 West Phila. 58-55 Regular Season
1982 Mastbaum 27-1 Overbrook 58-48 Non-League
1984 Franklin 27-1 Dunbar (Md.) 84-57 Tournament
1986 Southern 25-1 Olney 83-82 Non-League
1987 Southern 25-1 Willingboro (NJ) 65-60 Tournament
1988 Frankford 24-1 West Phila. 77-61 Non-League
1989 Frankford 25-1 Chester 70-60 Tournament
1991 Gratz 27-1 Oak Hill (Va.) 67-59 Tournament
2009 Imhotep 32-1 Chester 56-39 Tournament

JUNE 28
TEDBIT
  Folks of a certain age are likely aware that Wilt Chamberlain posted his 90-point performance against Roxborough. Some might even remember that he also racked up 74 vs. that same opponent and that BOTH outbursts occurred in the same season. In that season, 'Brook played 12 league games. It played 'Borough, West Philly and Dobbins twice apiece while facing six schools once apiece. Wilt averaged 47.2 points in those 12 games while the Hilltoppers averaged 94.4. Roughly, he averaged one and a half points per minute and his team averaged three PPM. In the PL playoffs he racked up 48 of 83 vs. Bok in a semi and 33 of 78 vs. West in the final.

Overbrook's 1954-55 Regular Season
Opponent Team Wilt
Lincoln 90 37
Dobbins 113 59
Roxborough 127 74
Gratz 89 26
Southern 90 38
West Phila. 78 44
Germantown 93 16
West Phila. 68 48
Dobbins 82 42
Olney 85 45
Roxborough 123 90
Franklin 95 47
  1133 566
  94.4 47.2

JUNE 24
TEDBIT
  This list shows Top 10 "Our Guys" picks in the NBA draft. Territorial selections are not included. George Hauptfuhrer, a product of Penn Charter and Harvard, opted not to play. Instead, he attended Penn for law school. His son, Barnes, starred for PC in the '72 season and had a great career at Princeton. He was a third round draft choice. There have been no Top 10 guys since Roman's Eddie Griffin in 2001.

"Our Guys" Picked in the Top 10 in the NBA Draft
Year Name School College Team No.
1967 Earl "The Pearl" Monroe Bartram Winston-Salem Washington 2
1948 George Hauptfuhrer Penn Charter Harvard Boston 3
1961 Ray Scott West Phila. Portland Detroit 4
1995 Rasheed Wallace Gratz North Carolina Washington 4
1950 Larry Foust South Catholic La Salle Chicago 5
1962 Wayne Hightower Overbrook Kansas San Francisco 5
1969 Larry Cannon Lincoln La Salle Chicago 5
1959 John Richter Frankford N. Carolina St. Boston 6
1965 Jim Washington West Catholic Villanova St. Louis 6
2001 Eddie Griffin Roman Seton Hall New Jersey 7
1990 Lionel Simmons Southern La Salle Sacramento 7
1956 Hal Lear Overbrook Temple Philadelphia 8
1973 Mike Bantom Roman St. Joseph's Phoenix 8
1990 Greg "Bo" Kimble Dobbins Loyola Marymount LA Clippers 8
1980 Michael Brooks West Catholic La Salle San Diego 9
1966 Matt Guokas Jr. SJ Prep St. Joseph's Philadelphia 10
1974 Mike Sojourner Germantown Utah Atlanta 10
1989 Jerome "Pooh" Richardson Franklin UCLA Minnesota 10

JUNE 23
TEDBIT
  . . . And the drought continues. For the sixth consecutive year, no graduates of Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac schools were selected in the NBA draft. Because the draft includes 60 picks these days, here's a list that shows all "Our Guys" picked within the Top 60 since the first draft in 1948. The list is broken down by 10-year periods -- 1948-57, 1958-67, etc. -- and this last period produced just five draftees. That ties the span from 1978-87 for lowest number picked. And these last 20 years formed the most unproductive two-pack, by far. Just 12 guys were picked. Can we get back to the old days? Let's hope. . . . (Territorial picks can be found the main list. That rule bit the dust after 1965.)

NBA "Our Guys" Drafted Within the Top 60, Grouped by 10-Year Periods
Year Name School College Team No.
1948-1957        
1948 George Hauptfuhrer Penn Charter Harvard Boston 3
1949 Nelson Bobb West Phila. Temple Philadelphia 28
1950 Larry Foust South Catholic La Salle Chicago 5
1953 Norm Grekin West Phila. La Salle Philadelphia 15
1953 Fred Iehle Olney La Salle Philadelphia 18
1954 Rudy D'Emilio Northeast Duke Philadelphia 39
1955 Bob Schafer Roman Villanova Philadelphia 19
1955 Jack Devine West Catholic Villanova Philadelphia 33
1955 Harry Silcox Lincoln Temple Philadelphia 46
1956 Hal Lear Overbrook Temple Philadelphia 8
1956 Joe Belmont Northeast Duke Philadelphia 50
1956 John "Misty" Fannon St. Thomas More Notre Dame Philadelphia 52
1957 Kurt Englebert Lincoln St. Joseph's Detroit 26
1958-67        
1958 Jay Norman Mastbaum Temple Philadelphia 52
1959 John Richter Frankford N. Carolina St. Boston 6
1959 Joe Spratt West Catholic St. Joseph's Philadelphia 41
1959 Joe Ryan SJ Prep Villanova Philadelphia 49
1960 Bill "Pickles" Kennedy Lincoln Temple Philadelphia 15
1960 Bobby McNeill North Catholic St. Joseph's New York 19
1961 Ray Scott West Phila. Portland Detroit 4
1962 Wayne Hightower Overbrook Kansas San Francisco 5
1962 Hubie White West Phila. Villanova Philadelphia 14
1964 Wali Jones Overbrook Villanova Detroit 18
1964 Steve Courtin St. James St. Joseph's Cincinnati 24
1964 Frank Corace Bonner La Salle Philadelphia 29
1965 Jim Washington West Catholic Villanova St. Louis 6
1965 Richie Moore Bartram Villanova Philadelphia 40
1966 Matt Guokas Jr. SJ Prep St. Joseph's Philadelphia 10
1966 Tom Duff SJ Prep St. Joseph's Philadelphia 49
1967 Earl "The Pearl" Monroe Bartram Winston-Salem Washington 2
1967 Richie Moore Bartram Hiram Scott San Diego 29
1967 Tom "Trooper" Washington Edison Cheyney Cincinnati 50
1967 Cliff Anderson Edison St. Joseph's LA Lakers 35
1968-77        
1969 Larry Cannon Lincoln La Salle Chicago 5
1969 John Baum West Phila. Temple Chicago 23
1969 Fred Carter Franklin Mount St. Mary's Washington 43
1971 Willie Sojourner Germantown Weber Chicago 20
1971 Isaiah "Bunny" Wilson Southern Baltimore Detroit 29
1971 Mike Gale Overbrook Elizabeth City  Chicago 47
1972 Ollie Johnson Southern Temple Portland 30
1972 Hank Siemiontkowski North Catholic Villanova Cleveland 50
1973 Mike Bantom Roman St. Joseph's Phoenix 8
1973 Tom Ingelsby O'Hara Villanova Atlanta 27
1974 Mike Sojourner Germantown Utah Atlanta 10
1974 Roland "Tree" Grant Southern New Mexico St. Detroit 51
1975 Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant Bartram La Salle Golden State 14
1975 Jimmie Baker Olney Hawaii Philadelphia 39
1976 Maurice "Mo" Howard SJ Prep Maryland Cleveland 32
1976 Barnes Hauptfuhrer Penn Charter Princeton Houston 44
1977 Rich Laurel Overbrook Hofstra Portland 19
1977 Phil Walker Central Millersville Washington 39
1978-87        
1980 Michael Brooks West Catholic La Salle San Diego 9
1981 Gene Banks West Phila. Duke San Antonio 28
1984 Tony Costner Overbrook St. Joseph's Washington 34
1987 Dallas Comegys Roman DePaul Atlanta 21
1987 Nate "Day-Day" Blackwell Southern Temple San Antonio 27
1988-97        
1989 Jerome "Pooh" Richardson Franklin UCLA Minnesota 10
1990 Lionel Simmons Southern La Salle Sacramento 7
1990 Greg "Bo" Kimble Dobbins Loyola Marymount LA Clippers 8
1991 Doug Overton Dobbins La Salle Detroit 40
1992 Randy Woods Franklin La Salle LA Clippers 16
1994 Aaron McKie Gratz Temple Portland 17
1995 Rasheed Wallace Gratz North Carolina Washington 4
1995 Jerome Allen Episcopal Penn Minnesota 49
1996 Shawn Harvey West Phila. West Virginia St. Dallas 34
1996 Malik Rose Overbrook Drexel Charlotte 44
1997 Marc Jackson Roman Temple Golden State 37
1997 Jason Lawson Olney Villanova Denver 41
1997 Alvin Williams Gtn. Academy Villanova Portland 47
1998-2007        
1998 Cuttino "Cat" Mobley Dougherty Rhode Island Houston 41
1999 Larry Ketner Roman Massachusetts Chicago 49
2001 Eddie Griffin Roman Seton Hall New Jersey 7
2002 Ronald "Flip" Murray Straw. Mansion Shaw Milwaukee 41
2002 Rasual Butler Roman La Salle Miami 52
2006 Kyle Lowry Dougherty Villanova Memphis 24
2006 Mardy Collins Gratz Temple New York 29
2008-2017        
2008 Sean Singletary Penn Charter Virginia Sacramento 42
2009 Gerald Henderson Episcopal Duke Charlotte 12
2009 Wayne Ellington Episcopal North Carolina Minnesota 28
2011 Markieff Morris Prep Charter Kansas Phoenix 13
2011 Marcus Morris Prep Charter Kansas Houston 14

--

Territorial Picks
Year Name High School College Team
1950 Paul Arizin La Salle Villanova Philadelphia
1952 Charles "Bud" Donnelly La Salle La Salle Syracuse
1953 Ernie Beck West Catholic Penn Philadelphia
1955 Tom Gola La Salle La Salle Philadelphia
1958 Guy Rodgers Northeast Temple Philadelphia
1959 Wilt "Dippy" Chamberlain Overbrook Kansas Philadelphia
1964 Walt Hazzard Overbrook UCLA LA Lakers

JUNE 22
TEDBIT
  Back on June 11, we posted a list of the Inter-Ac's Top 15 scorers in league play for the 49 seasons from 1969 through 2017. Research conducted since then has fleshed out the scoring back to 1949-50, so the numbers on the list below include 68 seasons and Top 15 has been expanded to Top 25. The top two spots belong to Germantown Academy's Eric Minkin ('68) and Paul Hutter ('70). Both guys played five varsity seasons. The Inter-Ac had more teams for five of the seven seasons from '64 through '70, so the games played were 12 in '64 and 14 from '65 through '68. The I-A has played 10 games in every season since '69.
  UPDATE: Made a trip today to Temple's Paley Library in search of missing boxscores for I-A and CL games. Alas, only one that was NOT published in the Daily News or Inquirer WAS published in the ol' Philadelphia Bulletin. But it did involve GA during the Eric Minkin Era (vs. CHA in '65) so 15 points have been added to his total. The only missing game now was played 2/18/64, also vs. CHA. Minkin had only six points in that season -- don't hold it against him, he was only in the eighth grade -- so it's possible 930 IS his final total. 

Inter-Ac's Top 25 League Scorers, 1950-2017
Name Sch. Year Points
Eric Minkin GA 1968 930
Paul Hutter GA 1970 876
John Phillips EA 1998 738
Charlie Floyd MP 1974 712
Alvin Williams GA 1993 695
Billy Harris PC 1971 685
Hank Stringer HS 1966 682
Bill Soens PC 1963 680
Nick Alikakos EA 2017 665
Henry "Doug" Fairfax HS 1999 664
Drew Schaufler PC 1953 661
Brian Grandieri MP 2004 655
Gary Duda MP 1988 633
Mike Edelman HS 1978 619
Gerald Henderson EA 2006 617
Charles Hickman EA 1981 614
Eugene Burroughs EA 1988 610
Pat Purcell MP 1978 609
Tim Whitworth CH 1999 607
Sammy Zeglinski PC 2007 602
Joe Walters MP 1967 593
Brett Storm PC 2000 585
Julius Williams GA 1993 583
Gordy Bryan MP 1978 582
Wayne Ellington EA 2006 572

JUNE 20
TEDBIT
  Some nuggets discovered while researching Inter-Ac basketball from 1950 to 1968 . . .
  The 1949-50 season was Malvern's first in the Inter-Ac. Toward the end, Charles "Jerry" Kehoe scored 40, 31 and 25 points in consecutive games. His coach was Stan Jaworowski, who later changed his surname to Javie and served as the back judge in four Super Bowls. Stan's son, La Salle High product Steve Javie, was a long-time NBA ref . . . For whatever reason, I'd always believed Charlie Zoll had set Germantown Academy's still-standing school record for points in one game vs. Bryn Athyn, now known as Academy of the New Church. Innnnnncorrect. He dropped his 54-point bomb on Akiba Academy on Feb. 12, 1952, and did so while notching 21 field goals and 12 free throws. GA won, 97-23, and the score was 55-5 at halftime. Ouch. Zoll averaged 14.1 points in Inter-Ac games that season . . . On Jan. 13, 1956, Malvern's Don O'Neill, also the quarterback, scored 20 points in a 53-28 win over Haverford School. And he tallied just one field goal! He sniped 18-for-20 at the line . . . This has nothing to do with hoops, but it's interesting/sad. In the Inquirer on Feb. 11, 1956, there was a picture of an Ursinus senior named Virginia Stecker being wheeled by police out of the swimming pool area at Penn. During a meet vs. Drexel, she'd dislocated her shoulder while competing in the 50-yard backstroke . . . In 1959 Malvern had a player named Plater-Zybeck. In those times, can't imagine too many people had hyphenated surnames . . . The late Steve Sabol, of NFL Films fame, was a sub for Haverford School in 1960. He scored four points in league play, two apiece vs. Germantown Academy and Penn Charter . . . In 1962, Chestnut Hill fell to Friends' Central, 34-28, and just two players scored for the Hillers -- Al McCook (22) and Don Gehman (six) . . . In a 1967 game vs. Chestnut Hill, Malvern's Joe Walters and Rick Barone scored 32 points apiece.

JUNE 19
TEDBIT
  A recent nugget pointed out that Bishop Kenrick's 1976 team won all three of its games in the Catholic League playoffs despite receiving no points from substitutes, and that NO other CL champ over the last 68 seasons has accomplished that feat. And now there's this: Over the last few days, I've been researching Inter-Ac League individual scoring back to the 1949-50 season and one of the focus campaigns last night was 1954-55. So, I'm jotting down the numbers for Germantown Academy and it hits me after five games. "Hey, only the starters have scored so far. How is THIS going to turn out?" Next game. Only the starters. Next game. Only the starters. By this point I'm thinking, "How cool would this be if they went through all 10 games with no points from the subs?" Next game. Ohhhhh! The boxscore for an 86-56 loss to Penn Charter showed one point for a guy named Holmes. Scott Holmes, it turned out. He scored two points apiece in the final two games and a guy named Walt Mayer had two in No. 9. So that was it. No points from subs in the first seven games and seven total over 10 games. The starters were Bob McCaughey, Dick Crawford, Jack Turner, Don Crawford (Dick's brother) and Jim Fraser. Bob, Don and Jim were seniors. In the next season, Dick and Jack were starters along with Holmes, Mayer and George Tattersfield. Two names should ring big bells for folks of a certain age. Jack Turner was GA's football coach for 23 seasons and won I-A championships in '66 and '73. Football was also the primary sport for Jim Fraser. A linebacker and punter, he played for six seasons in the AFL/NFL after starring at Wisconsin. As a rookie, he even did some kicking and went 2-for-2 on PAT. His career included 278 punts for 11,737 yards (42.2 average) along with three interceptions. Those stats were found on www.pro-football-reference.com. The scoring numbers for those 1954-55 GA Patriots (5-5 record) are below.
  UPDATE: Received an email this morning from Ted Rauch, who captained Haverford School's 1957 Inter-Ac champs and earned first team honors. Ted is a regular at the Fords' games and checks in every so often to discuss assorted HS/I-A matters. And guess what . . . He and Scott Holmes are fast friends. They attended Cornell together and served as each other's best man in wedding ceremonies. They even hung out for a short spell yesterday. Niiiice! Thanks for offering this info, Ted. All the best to you and Scott.

I-A Scoring Totals for GA's 1954-55 Team
Name GS Pts PPGS
Bob McCaughey 10 130 13.0
Dick Crawford 10 122 12.2
Jim Fraser 10 56 5.6
Don Crawford 10 85 8.5
Jack Turner 10 94 9.4
Scott Holmes 3 5 1.7
Walt Mayer 1 2 2.0
  10 494 49.4

JUNE 16
TEDBIT
  Can't imagine too many basketball/baseball combos in any state have experienced this kind of success, let alone in Pennsylvania. Since the Catholic League joined the PIAA for the 2008-09 school year, N-G has captured nine state titles (seven bask/two base) and racked up a record of 58-8 (.879). Plus, seven of the eight setbacks have featured deficits of no more than five points/runs. Plus, part two, the combined record over the last four years is 33-2 (.943). The breakdown is right below.

Details for N-G in Bask/Base State Playoffs
Year Bask Lost by Base Lost by
2009 2-1 5 pts 2-1  5 runs
2010 5-0   None  
2011 5-0   0-1 2 runs
2012 5-0   2-1 2 runs
2013 2-1 5 pts 0-1 4 runs
2014 5-0   2-1 1 run
2015 5-0   3-1 9 runs
2016 5-0   4-0  
2017 5-0   4-0  
  39-2 10 pts 17-6 23 runs
    58-8  33 total  

JUNE 15
TEDBIT
  Because they were four-year starters for Neumann-Goretti's powerhouse program, we should not be surprised that the top two spots on the list below -- Top 20 scorers in Catholic League playoffs -- are occupied by Ja'Quan Newton and Quade Green. Four other Saints are also on the list and Roman, not surprisingly. is second with five players . . . (The list actually includes 21 players because La Salle's Craig Conlin (now Episcopal's coach) and Roman's Eddie Griffin are tied for the No. 20 spot.) 

Top 20 Scorers in Catholic League Playoffs
Name School Sr. Yr. Points
Ja'Quan Newton Neumann-Goretti 2014 211
Quade Green Neumann-Goretti 2017 194
Lonnie McFarlan Roman 1980 164
Tony Chennault Neumann-Goretti 2010 158
Juan'ya Green Carroll 2011 153
Stephen Vasturia SJ Prep 2013 137
Bernard Jones Roman 1991 135
Donnie Carr Roman 1996 132
Antonio "Scoop" Jardine Neumann-Goretti 2007 130
John Davis Neumann-Goretti 2013 129
Martin Ingelsby Carroll 1997 128
Alan Watkins Roman 1989 126
Rick Jackson Neumann-Goretti 2007 123
Derrick Jones Carroll 2015 122
Craig Conlin La Salle 1985 120
Eddie Griffin Roman 2000 120

--

Stats for Kenrick's Starters in 1976 Catholic League Playoffs
Tom Catagnus FG FT R A Pts
  La Salle 5-14 6-6 6 2 16
  Dougherty 6-11 6-6 3 3 18
  West Catholic 6-10 5-6 5 4 17
  17-35 17-18 14 9 51
Paul Mulholland FG FT R A Pts
  La Salle 5-12 4-5 12 0 14
  Dougherty 3-4 4-4 5 1 10
  West Catholic 9-14 3-4 3 0 21
  17-30 11-13 20 1 45
Butch Bontempo FG FT R A Pts
  La Salle 4-13 2-3 3 1 10
  Dougherty 6-8 3-3 2 1 15
  West Catholic 3-12 5-6 4 0 11
  13-33 10-12 9 2 36
Phil Eisenmann FG FT R A Pts
  La Salle 1-2 2-2 4 1 4
  Dougherty 6-9 2-3 5 3 14
  West Catholic 3-8 3-4 5 1 9
  10-19 7-9 14 5 27
Tony Salamone FG FT R A Pts
  La Salle 4-8 0-0 4 1 8
  Dougherty 1-4 4-4 3 7 6
  West Catholic 3-9 0-0 7 2 6
  8-21 4-4 14 10 20
           
  Totals 65-138 49-56 71 27 179
  Pct./Avg. 47.1 87.5 23.7 9.0 59.7
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
JUNE 14
TEDBIT
  Never know what cool nugget you'll uncover while doing research . . .
  In 1976, the starters scored all 179 points for Bishop Kenrick, the champ, in the Catholic League playoffs. The victories were posted, in order, against La Salle, Cardinal Dougherty and West Catholic (with superstar Michael Brooks) and the starters combined to shoot 65-for-138 from the floor (47.1 percent) and 49-for-56 at the line (87.5 percent). Over the last 68 seasons, NO other CL champ has received playoff points only from the starters. And from the mid-60s on back, some champs only needed to play just two games, not three. Once I determined that no champs have accomplished this feat since Kenrick, I decided to go back and see if any had done so beforehand back to 1950. Seven teams had won with just six scorers. That breakdown: Ira Brown, 2 for Roman in '74; Marcellus Pringle, 3 for Roman in '73; Lorenzo Hough, 2 for Roman in '69; Mike Regan, 6 for St. Thomas More in '72 (4 in one game, 2 in another); John Derham, 2 for STM in '66; Eric Ericson, 2 for Bonner in '60; and Richie Moore, 2 for West Catholic in '59. One of the stars for that '59 WC team was guard Jimmy Lynam (yes, THAT Jimmy Lynam -- smile) and his brother, Mike, was Kenrick's first-year coach in '76. The starters, all seniors, were guards Tom Catagnus and Robert "Butch" Bontempo and forwards Paul Mulholland, Phil Eisenmann and Tony Salamone. There was no true center and no one was taller than 6-3 (maybe even 6-2). Tom and Butch were in the 5-8/5-9 range. This team was VERY fun to watch and write about. All of the kids were personable, or even characters, and Mike Lynam was free and easy. Plus, the fans were always involved, at high volume. All three rounds were played at the Palestra in those days and before the quarterfinal vs. La Salle, about a dozen football players dribbled from Norristown all the way to the Palestra! The Knights pulled out that one by a 52-51 score after trailing by 11 early in the fourth quarter. Tom and Butch scored 10 points apiece in that session. In those '76 playoffs, subs Jim Fazio and Jerry Kilpatrick combined to go 0-for-6 from the floor. They attempted no free throws. The Knights fell to West Philadelphia, 71-61, in the City Title and the starters scored 53 points. Fazio, Kilpatrick, Joe Matteo and Tom Kehoe added two points apiece. Kehoe is Phil Martelli's brother-in-law and his son, R.C., a former Roman star, is the coach at Holy Family University. Tom coached Kenrick for eight seasons (1986-93) and his dad, Charles "Jerry" Kehoe, a former Malvern star (Inter-Ac MVP in 1950), was the Knights' coach for four seasons (1965-68). Kilpatrick's son, Brendan, thanks to his exploits for Malvern, was the Inter-Ac hoops MVP in 2012. Also on that '76 team were Joe Migliarese and Billy Conners. Joe's son, Joe, was a star receiver for La Salle in '06 and Billy's son, Billy, a QB-DB for a 10-0 Malvern team, was the Inter-Ac MVP in 2008. . . . Kenrick became Kennedy-Kenrick after the 1992-93 school year and closed in 2010.

JUNE 12
TEDBIT
  The list below shows the Catholic League's Top 25 scorers in league play AND playoffs from 1950 through 2017. Bonner's Jeff Jones leads the way with 1,094 while Roman has the most players with six. In case you're scrambling for a calculator, relax. I've done the deed for you (smile). Those six Cahillites combined for 5,469 points!

Catholic's League Top 25 Scorers in League Play/Playoffs, 1950-2017
Name School Year Points
Jeff Jones Bonner 2007 1,094
Stephen Vasturia SJ Prep 2013 1,063
Ja'Quan Newton Neum.-Goretti 2014 1,042
Barry Brodzinski North 1973 1,039
Brian Leahy Kenrick 1984 1,019
Quade Green Neum.-Goretti 2017 1,003
Bernard Jones Roman 1991 971
Tony Chennault Neum.-Goretti 2010 948
Craig Conlin La Salle 1985 935
Joe Ryan SJ Prep 1955 933
Lonnie McFarlan Roman 1980 931
Charron Fisher Roman 2004 923
Reggie Jackson Roman 1978 913
Billy Hoy ST More 1959 909
Maurice "Mo" Howard SJ Prep 1972 902
Mike Jones ST More 1969 894
Ron Schott St. James 1972 888
Lawrence Reid Dougherty 1976 880
Eddie Griffin Roman 2000 871
Juan'ya Green Carroll 2011 869
Michael Brooks West 1976 867
Donnie Carr Roman 1996 860
Steve Benton Neumann  1985 849
Matt Comey North 1993 833
Joe Getz Wood 2011 830

JUNE 11
TEDBIT
  The list below shows the Inter-Ac's Top 15 scorers in league play for the 49 seasons from 1969 through 2017. Episcopal's John Phillips leads the way with 738 and his school has the most players with five.

Inter-Ac's Top 15 League Scorers, 1969-2017
Name Sch. Year Points
John Phillips EA 1998 738
Charlie Floyd MP 1974 712
Alvin Williams GA 1993 695
Billy Harris PC 1971 685
Nick Alikakos EA 2017 665
Henry "Doug" Fairfax HS 1999 664
Brian Grandieri MP 2004 655
Gary Duda MP 1988 633
Mike Edelman HS 1978 619
Gerald Henderson EA 2006 617
Charles Hickman EA 1981 614
Eugene Burroughs EA 1988 610
Pat Purcell MP 1978 609
Tim Whitworth CH 1999 607
Sammy Zeglinski PC 2007 602

JUNE 9
TEDBIT
  When alumnus Bill "Speedy" Morris was hired as Roman Catholic's coach for the 1967-68 season, he was not exactly given a powerhouse. Over the previous 19 seasons, the Cahillites had gone 83-185 (.310) in Catholic League play while posting winning records just two times. Morris guided the Cahillites for 14 seasons, going 171-39 (.814) in CL play with six CL championships (1969, '73, '74, '78, '79 and '80), one City Title (1974 and playoff appearances in every season but '70. His combined record in CL playoffs and City Titles was 22-11. Well . . . Yesterday, while adding playoff points to Roman's individual scoring page, I noticed something rather unusual. A large number of those losses occurred in nail-biters. In fact, if the Cahillites had scored just 27 more total points in eight of those losses, and had spread them out the right way, wins would have resulted. To change all 11 losses into wins, 59 points would have turned the trick. That nine-point loss to Overbrook in the 1980 City Title was an overtime game. By the way, those '78 to '80 West Philly-Overbrook teams combined to go 101-2 (33-1, 34-1, 34-0). There was no CT in '73 due to a lengthy strike by Pub teachers.   

Speedy Morris' 11 Playoff Losses at Roman, 1968-81
Year Round Lost to . . . Score Margin
1968 Qtr O'Hara 57-55 2
1969 CT Edison 57-54 3
1971 Qtr O'Hara 55-47 8
1972 Qtr Bonner 39-37 2
1975 Final Judge 48-46 2
1976 Semi West 46-43 3
1977 Semi Bonner 40-38 2
1978 CT West Phila. 67-64 3
1979 CT Overbrook 61-49 12
1980 CT Overbrook 65-56 9
1981 Qtr St. James 58-56 2

JUNE 7
TEDBIT
  . . . Speaking of prolific brothers, can't ignore the Zeglinskis. In just seven seasons from 2001 through '07, Zack, Joe and Sammy combined for 1,782 points in league play and 4,109 overall and that latter total would have sniffed 5,000 had Zack and Joe not suffered football injuries as seniors. Zack and Sammy played exclusively at Penn Charter. Joe played there as an eighth grader, then popped up at Archbishop Ryan. Their dad, John, starred there in football/baseball (he played both at Wake Forest) and was also a basketball sub. Zack earned first team All-Inter honors four times, twice in baseball and once apiece in football/basketball. Joe earned All-Catholic honors three times, twice in hoops (and even a third time on an honorary basis) and once in football (plus an honorary there, as well). Sammy was a three-timer in basketball (and also a baseball starter). Zack, incredibly, played three sports at three colleges -- football at Penn State, baseball at Temple and basketball at Hartford. Joe, now Ryan's coach, played hoops at Hartford and scored 2,016 career points. Sammy played at Virginia and scored 947 points. Zack had nine points at Hartford -- he and Joe were teammates in '10 -- so the trio's college total was 2,972. The high school and college total . . . 7,081!

League (1,782) & Overall Points (4,109) Scored by the Zeglinski Brothers
Name Year League Over. Name Year League Over. Name Year League Over.
Zack 2001 47 165 Joe *2002 91 148 Sammy 2004 44 199
(PC) 2002 147 300 (AR) 2003 141 277 (PC) 2005 171 432
  2003 135 353   2004 238 380   2006 180 180
  2004 110 324   2005 238 448   2007 207 207
  2005 14 25   2006 19 47     602 1,642
    453 1,167     727 1,300        
        *-played at PC in this season        

JUNE 6
TEDBIT
  Shortly after yesterday's nugget on the Person brothers was posted, the head began to spin. Hmm, how about some other families? Probably because I'd also just posted Malvern's Inter-Ac scoring numbers, the Grandieri family was a natural. So, here we go . . . Four of the five players played high school hoops -- Fran and Chris at O'Hara, Brian and Tom at Malvern. For the first three, hoops was the major focus. For Tom, it was a "side job" because his primary focus was baseball. The breakdown is below and we're able to list overall totals because the guys mostly played during the website era and because great digging by Tom Taylor provided totals from the pre-website era. Fran and Chris played college ball at Widener and Gettysburg, respectively. In his senior season at O'Hara, Fran racked up a Catholic League average (14-325-23.2) that still ranks No. 1 in school history. Brian starred at Penn after Malvern and twice earned second team All-Ivy honors while once adding second team All-Big 5 laurels. Tom split between his college baseball career between Villanova (one year) and Penn (three). In his senior year, the outfielder was named the Ivy League Player of the Year. After assisting for a stretch at Episcopal, Tom just completed his first season as O'Hara's coach. The last brother, Dan, was a first team All-Inter-Ac DH at Malvern (Class of '14). He attends Saint Joseph's University and has retained a tie with his favorite sport by playing for the Hawks' club baseball team. Dan's basketball experience at Malvern was limited to the JV. Like the Person brothers, the Grandieris have one sister. Bernadette, who falls in line between Tom and Dan, attended O'Hara and played basketball/lacrosse. Tom said her athletic career was derailed by a major knee injury. . . So, the totals for Fran/Chris/Brian/Tom are 1,737 points in league play and 3,748 overall!      

League (1,737) & Overall Points (3,748) Scored by the Grandieri Brothers
Name Year CL Pts Ov. Pts Name Year CL Pts Ov. Pts
Fran 1998 2 21 Chris 1999 0 4
(O'Hara) 1999 131 280 (O'Hara) 2000 96 156
  2000 325 545   2001 194 345
    458 846   2002 209 358
            499 863
Name Year I-A Pts Ov. Pts Name Year I-A Pts Ov. Pts
Brian 2001 85 236 Tom 2004 11 45
(Malvern) 2002 157 342 (Malvern) 2005 55 144
  2003 191 490   2006 59 212
  2004 222 570     125 401
    655 1,638        

JUNE 5
TEDBIT
  A few times through the years, we've mentioned the Persons and referred to them as the First Family of City Football. Reason: All six of the brothers wound up playing Division 1 football with Andy, Chris, Dan and Joe at Navy, Brian at Penn and Fran at South Carolina. Imagine, how many brother six-packs have played D-1 football? Can't be too many, even across the country. Now ask this question . . . How many members of D-1 football six-packs also played high school basketball? Go ahead, Person bros. Respond in unison, at full volume. "All of us!" (smile). Plus, all were starters or key subs. All six brothers graduated from Episcopal Academy, though Chris first attended Haverford School and the years he played there are noted with asterisks on the list below. Andy was a key sub for EA's Inter-Ac champs in 1990 and '91 while Chris was a first team All-Inter-Ac honoree in 1993. In all, the brothers combined to score 876 points in Inter-Ac play. There's one sister in the crew. Anne Marie also graduated from EA (in '05) and wound up playing lacrosse at American University. Like her brothers, she played hoops in high school. Here's hoping she scored at least 124 points in league play to give the family 1,000. . . Click here for a website page from 2006.

Inter-Ac League Basketball Points Scored by the Person Brothers (876 Total)
Name Year Points Name Year Points Name Year Points
Andy 1990 23 Chris *1990 31 Brian 1995 2
  1991 19   *1991 54   1996 54
    42   1992 96   1997 75
        1993 121     131
          302      
Dan 1996 1 Fran 1998 3 Joe 2001 40
  1997 62   1999 83   2002 43
  1998 59   2000 71     83
    122   2001 71      
          196      

MAY 26
TEDBIT
  Here are the Top 25 scorers in Catholic League regular season history (based on total points, not average). Five of the top eight guys played for schools that are no longer with us. Bonner's Jeff Jones leads the way with 1,058.

Top 25 Scorers in CL Regular Season History
Name School Year Points
Jeff Jones Bonner 2007 1,058
Brian Leahy Kenrick 1984 938
Joe Ryan SJ Prep 1955 933
Stephen Vasturia SJ Prep 2013 926
Barry Brodzinski North 1973 921
Billy Hoy ST More 1959 892
Ron Schott St. James 1972 888
Mike Jones ST More 1969 871
Charron Fisher Roman 2004 862
Bernard Jones Roman 1991 836
Ja'Quan Newton N-G 2014 831
Reggie Jackson ST More/Roman 1978 818
Lawrence Reid Dougherty 1976 817
Craig Conlin La Salle 1985 815
Michael Brooks West 1976 814
Maurice "Mo" Howard SJ Prep 1972 814
Eric Ervin McDevitt 1984 812
Quade Green N-G 2017 809
Tony Chennault N-G 2010 790
Steve Benton Neumann 1985 780
Bob Haas McDevitt 1969 775
Lonnie McFarlan Roman 1980 767
Tim Whalen Wood 1998 767
Matt Comey North 1993 758
Eddie Malloy O'Hara 1989 758
  Note: Jackson scored 22 at ST More; school closed in 1975

MAY 24
TEDBIT
  As you likely know by now, I love it when guys play multiple sports and have strong faith in both the short-term and long-range benefits. With that in mind . . . Here are basketball scoring numbers in regular season league play (1950 on up) for Catholic League guys who advanced to the NFL. Check out the No. 1 guy on the list. Good, ol' Marvin Harrison, who last summer was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No. 4 is John Cappelletti, who won the Heisman Trophy. In 2013, I posted an updated list of the best NFL-AFL players from high schools in Philadelphia's three city leagues (Public, Catholic, Inter-Ac). Five guys listed below -- Harrison, Jim Cooper, Frank Wycheck, Jim Katcavage and Rich Gannon -- were first-teamers and three others -- Anthony Becht, Cappelletti and Frank Gallagher -- were included on the Best of the Rest list. Not all players stayed with hoops through their senior year. GS means games in which the player scored.

CL Basketball Points Scored by NFL Players, 1950-
Name School Last Years GS Points
Marvin Harrison Roman 1991 3 42 587
Anthony Walters O'Hara 2006 3 40 323
Carmen Cavalli ST More 1955 2 28 265
John Cappelletti Bonner 1970 2 17 202
Mike McCloskey Judge 1979 2 23 193
Jim Cooper Dougherty 1973 2 24 166
Don Clune O'Hara 1970 2 23 162
Andy Nacrelli St. James 1951 2 23 158
Frank Gallagher St. James 1961 2 26 141
Frank Wycheck Ryan 1988 1 15 84
Jim Katcavage Roman 1952 1 6 42
Scott Paxson Roman 2001 2 15 37
Anthony Becht Bonner 1995 2 8 17
Tom Garlick Judge 1989 1 4 12
*LaMar Campbell St. James 1993 1 2 7
Brandon Moore Carroll 1987 1 2 4
Jim Gilmore North 1980 1 1 2
Rich Gannon SJ Prep 1982 1 1 2
*-St. James closed in '93; attended Strath Haven as a senior    

MAY 22
TEDBIT
  School by school, I've been posting individual scoring in regular season Catholic League games going back to the 1949-50 season and one nugget has stuck with me since May 10. Info for Archbishop Carroll was posted that day and this is pretty amazing: In the 1979-80 season, only seven guys scored. Five did so in all 14 games, six in 13 and one in four. Last night, I zipped through the other pages and could find no other sevens. Definitely some eights and St. Thomas More even had three in a row from 1953 through '55. The guys with very few points usually score in blowouts. I couldn't help but wonder if Carroll played only tight games in '80. The results and margins are right below and the individual scoring details are below that. Carroll lost seven games by no more than six points. That year I covered the Patriots' game vs. St. James on Feb. 11. They lost, 49-47. In the last moments, Paul Adelizzi inbounded to Doug Abbonizio and wound up missing about an 18-foot jumper -- it lipped the rim and kicked out -- after accepting a return pass. My scorebook lists 10 players for Carroll. Except for Paul Sullivan, all guys on the list below scored. John Rogers played a little and missed one shot. Other names in the book were Charlie Caruso and Kevin McClatchy. In the preview for that season, a guy named Don McGuigan was included in the thumbnails. Not sure what happened to him along the way. Here's hoping that members of the Non-Seven DID manage to score some points in non-league games. Dan Mostardi was a basketball-baseball star. His sons, Vince ('10) and Joe ('14), also played hoops for the Patriots. The trio combined for 750 points in CL regular season play.  

Carroll's Results for Catholic League Games, 1980
Opponent W-L Carr. Opp. Won by Lost by
SJ Prep Lost 43 48   5
Bonner Won 62 46 16  
O'Hara Lost 48 50   2
Roman Lost 46 66   20
St. James Lost 38 52   14
Neumann Lost 53 54   1
West Lost 52 61   9
SJ Prep Won 57 45 12  
Bonner Won 47 40 7  
O'Hara Lost 43 45   2
Roman Lost 53 67   6
St. James Lost 47 49   2
Neumann Lost 62 63   1
West Lost 51 71   10
           
Scorers in CL Play    
Player GS Points Avg.    
Dan Mostardi 14 202 14.4    
John Brophy 13 126 9.7    
Paul Adelizzi 14 103 7.4    
Stan Zawacki 14 91 6.5    
John Foley 14 89 6.4    
Doug Abbonizio 14 80 5.7    
Paul Sullivan 4 13 3.3    
  14 704 50.3    

MAY 17
TEDBIT
  Many former "Our Guys" stars (products of Catholic/Inter-Ac/Public schools) have wound up serving as head coaches at Catholic League schools. Yesterday, Will Chavis was hired to be McDevitt's next boss and he's No. 1 on the list below. Who's on it? -- CL "Our Guys" coaches who earned first team all-league honors and posted high scoring averages from 1950 on up. Most of the guys, as you might expect, played in the CL. Chavis did not. He starred at Engineering and Science ('98) and scored 340 points in 13 games for a 26.2 average. He then played at Texas Tech before enjoying a successful pro career overseas. His primary E&S teammate in '98 was John Cox. His dad, John "Chubby" Cox (Roxborough '73), played in the NBA and his cousin is none other than Kobe Bryant. The No. 2 guy on the list, St. Thomas More's Billy Hoy, is on it three times because he was an outrageous scorer and first-teamer even as a soph. North Catholic's Barry Brodzinski and Archbishop Ryan's Joe Zeglinski are on it twice, and "Ziggy" would have made a third appearance had he not missed most of his senior season due to injury. Other non-CL guys aside from Chavis: Malvern's Charles "Jerry" Kehoe (19.8 in 1950, the Friars' first season as an Inter-Ac member) and Penn Charter's Carl Arrigale (18.0 in 1984). Kehoe's sons, Terry and Tom, played at Bishop Kenrick, where Jerry coached, and Tom wound up coaching at Kenrick. His brother-in-law is Saint Joseph's University's long-time coach, Phil Martelli. Phil also coached at Kenrick and one of his assistants was the famed UConn women's coach, Geno Auriemma. If I missed someone who deserves a spot on the list, please email up. tedtee307@yahoo.com Thanks.  

Top 20 "Our Guys" Scorers Among Catholic League Coaches, 1950-2018
Name School Year G Pts PPG Coached at . . .
Will Chavis Eng. & Science 1998 13 340 26.2 McDevitt
Billy Hoy ST More 1959 14 350 25.0 ST More / West
Brian Daly Bonner 1988 14 315 22.5 Bonner 
Barry Brodzinski North Catholic 1973 16 353 22.1 Roman
Joe Heyer La Salle 1956 13 276 21.2 Dougherty
Barry Brodzinski North Catholic 1972 15 315 21.0 Roman
Billy Hoy ST More 1958 14 291 20.8 ST More / West
Chas. "Jerry" Kehoe Malvern 1950 12 237 19.8 Kenrick
Billy Hoy ST More 1957 13 251 19.3 ST More / West
Jim "Mo" Connolly Judge 1976 11 208 18.9 Wood
Steve Cloran O'Hara 1990 14 263 18.8 O'Hara
Carl Arrigale Penn Charter 1984 10 180 18.0 Neumann / N-G
David Neeld Kenrick 1992 16 287 17.9 Kenn.-Kenrick
Frank Sciolla SJ Prep 1989 14 249 17.8 Conwell-Egan
Tom Ingelsby O'Hara 1969 16 284 17.7 Carroll
George Paull Dougherty 1963 15 265 17.7 Ryan
Jack Walsh Wood 1981 15 260 17.3 Wood
Joe Zeglinski Ryan 2004 14 238 17.0 Ryan
Joe Zeglinski Ryan 2005 14 238 17.0 Ryan
Sean Tait Judge 1995 14 235 16.8 Wood / Judge

MAY 16
TEDBIT
  Bryan Caver has been named the new coach at Conwell-Egan. He replaces Eric Kindler, who resigned after one season for personal reasons. Caver is the 12th African-American to head a basketball program in the Inter-Ac/Catholic leagues. Caver played high school ball at the ol' McCorristin Catholic in the suburbs of Trenton, NJ, and college ball at Seton Hall. He graduated from McCorristin in 1990. One of his teammates there was Mark Bass, who wound up playing for St. Joseph's University. Caver has been active in coaching assorted teams and running leagues. On the list below . . . Hal Greer, who coached Germantown Academy in the '79 and '80 seasons, was a star guard in the NBA and played 10 seasons with the 76ers. Ron Haigler, who coached Penn Charter in the '76 and '77 seasons, was an all-time player for Penn and is a member of the Big 5 Hall of Fame. Guy Moore coached at two schools, North Catholic and West Catholic. Best of luck to Bryan and the Eagles!
  UPDATE: Today, former Engineering and Science star Will Chavis, who earned first team All-Public and second team All-City honors in 1998, was named head coach at McDevitt. Will played his college ball at Texas Tech and followed with a lengthy pro stint overseas. He also did some coaching overseas. He becomes the eighth African-American to be named to coach a Catholic League school and the CL will have three for the 2017-18 season; also Jason Harrigan (O'Hara) and Bryan Caver (Conwell-Egan). Best of luck to Will and the Lancers!

African-American Coaches at Inter-Ac/Catholic Schools
INTER-AC LEAGUE    
School Alma Mater Years When
Chestnut Hill/SCH      
Rob Jackson Edison 1 1984
Julian McFadden Chestnut Hill 1 2017
Germantown Academy      
Hal Greer Douglass (Huntington, WV) 2 1979-80
Haverford School      
Henry "Doug" Fairfax Haverford School 4 2012-15
Penn Charter      
Ron Haigler Madison (Brooklyn, NY) 2 1976-77
Lynard Stewart Gratz 4 2012-15
       
CATHOLIC LEAGUE    
School Alma Mater Years When
Conwell-Egan      
Bryan Caver McCorristin (Hamilton, NJ) ? 2018
Kennedy-Kenrick      
Marc Turner Lower Merion 1 2001
McDevitt      
Will Chavis Engineering and Science ? 2018
North Catholic      
Guy Moore Roman 1 2010
O'Hara      
Jason Harrigan Burlington City (NJ) 1 2017
St. Joseph's Prep      
Fred Douglas Overbrook 3 1972-74
West Catholic      
Guy Moore Roman 3 2011-13
Jazz Williams West Catholic 3 2014-16

MAY 14
TEDBIT


 

  A page from Roman's 1952 yearbook.

  Bill French is the guy launching a push shot to the left. And holding the ball in a solo pic, of course.

 

   There are shocks and then there are SHOCKS! One day last week, I was checking Roman's 1952 yearbook to see if I could find first names for some varsity basketball players when the page you see to the left damn near jumped through my laptop. Whoa!! That guy is senior Bill French and he was a two-year varsity player for the Cahillites. He was also a 7-footer! The yearbook caption says he stood 7-3. In newspaper stories, he was listed as "short" as 7-1 1/2 and as tall as as 7-2 1/2. Roman was a lower level program in that era and French was not a dominant player. He scored 120 points in CL play as a junior and 118 as a senior before breaking his left foot about two weeks into February. (One of his basketball teammates was football star Jim Katcavage, who wound up having a great career as a defensive lineman for the New York Giants. His senior hoops season also ended early due to injury.) French, who lived a half-block from Central High's baseball field and no more than a 5-minute walk from La Salle, did not turn 18 until June of 1952 and in a short blurb in the Inquirer that month his father, John, said Bill would be enrolling at Ohio State. Not sure if that happened. His name is not listed on varsity rosters thereafter. I sent an email to someone in the communications department at Ohio State to see if French had at least played for the Buckeyes' freshman team. No response has been received. In Dec. 1954, the Delco Times published rosters for what appeared to be a high quality semi-pro league. A guy named Bill French was listed on the roster for the Marcus Hook AA. So was Joe "Hank" Greenberg. Hmm. Hank, who passed away in 2007, played for La Salle College in the late 1940s and one of his 12 children, Chip, starred for La Salle High (City Player of the Year in 1982) and the college. I've known the Greenbergs forever and asked Jerry, Chip's older brother, if he could put me in touch with Charley Greenberg, Hank's brother, a member of La Salle's 1954 NCAA champs (with Tom Gola) and later the coach at Judge. I spoke by phone with Charley on Friday afternoon, shortly before the PC-GA baseball game. He remembered Bill French and said Bill's brother, John "Jack" French, had also played at La Salle/La Salle. Charley said he wasn't sure if Bill had wound up playing college ball. If so, he had no memory of it. Wonder what happened? Maybe injuries got in the way? Maybe his college plans, for whatever reason, had to be ditched? Bottom line: More than 60 years ago, Roman had a 7-footer. And he graduated just a few months before another giant walked through the front door at Overbrook. Some guy named Wilt Chamberlain. Maybe you've heard of him? (smile) . . . If someone out there can flesh out Bill French's story, please do so. I will gladly make an update. Thanks!       

MAY 9
TEDBIT
  Kyle Lowry this season surpassed 10,000 career points in NBA/ABA regular season play and he's the ninth "Our Guy" (Public, Catholic, Inter-Ac) to accomplish that feat. In addition to points per game, the list below shows points per year. As mentioned along the way, Paul Arizin never played one minute of high school basketball while attending La Salle, which in that era was located at 20th and Olney (as part of the college). He grew up in South Philly. Imagine if he'd attended what was then Southeast Catholic (now Neumann-Goretti). He and Larry Foust, No. 7 on the list, would have been classmates. And maybe teammates as well. Meanwhile, how proud is Mark Heimerdinger? He coached TWO guys on the list at now-closed Cardinal Dougherty, Kyle and Cuttino "Cat" Mobley. Cat and Guy Rodgers are the lone lefties on the list. If I missed someone . . . tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks.
  UPDATE: This afternoon, Paul's son, Michael, attended the Penn Charter-Malvern baseball game. He mentioned that his dad and Larry Foust were friends, as were the families. In fact, Mrs. Foust was a bridesmaid in Mrs. Arizin's bridal party.

Top 10 "Our Guys" Scorers in NBA/ABA Regular Season Play
Name School Yrs Games Points PPG PPY
Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook '55 14 1,045 31,419 30.1 2,244
Earl Monroe Bartram '62 13 926 17,454 18.8 1,343
Paul Arizin La Salle '46 10 713 16,266 22.8 1,627
Rasheed Wallace Gratz '93 16 1,109 16,006 14.4 1,000
Cuttino "Cat" Mobley Dougherty '92 11 747 11,964 16.0 1,088
Ray Scott West Phila. '56 11 811 11,629 14.3 1,057
Larry Foust Southeast Cath. '46 12 817 11,198 13.7 933
Guy Rodgers Northeast '53 12 892 10,415 11.7 868
Kyle Lowry Dougherty '04 11 713 10,162 14.3 924
Fred Carter Franklin '62 8 611 9,271 15.2 1,159

MAY 8
TEDBIT
  Due to a sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semis, the 2016-17 NBA season is over for Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors. Lowry, who starred at Northeast (through 10th grade) and now-closed Cardinal Dougherty before spending two seasons at Villanova, was limited to eight playoff games this season due to ankle injuries. He scored 126 points for a 15.8 average. The list below, updated from last year, shows that Kyle now owns 774 playoff points, good for No. 7 among products of Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac schools. In terms of average, he's now No. 5. As shockingly noted last year, Overbrook's Wilt Chamberlain is NOT the king when it comes to average. He was beaten out by a guy, Paul Arizin, who never played a minute of varsity hoops while attending La Salle. Yes, Wilt played in many more games, 160-49, but the numbers don't lie -- 24.2 for Paul, 22.5 for Wilt. Pretty amazing, right? They were teammates for three seasons (1960-62) with the ol' Philadelphia Warriors. Those were the first three seasons of Wilt's pro career and the last three of Paul's. They played together in 24 playoff games. Those numbers: 24-830-34.6 for Wilt and 24-582-24.3 for Paul. His playoff norm in the pre-Wilt days was almost exactly the same -- 25-604-24.1. All guys with at least 250 playoff points are below. The No. 4 spot in terms of average is held by Franklin's Fred Carter, the father of DN/Inky sports writer Aaron "Ace" Carter. When informed of this, Ace could not resist the chance to bust Dad's chops. "He never met a shot he didn't like." Ha, ha. . . Please speak up if I missed someone. These numbers were compiled via research on http://www.basketball-reference.com/. As also mentioned last year, Michael Arizin, Paul's son, pointed this out: Of ALL the players who have ever played in the NBA (71 yrs---including Wilt, Kobe, Jordan, Baylor, Bird, etc), his dad had the 2nd highest average in his final year of play (21.9 ppg). Only Bob Pettit averaged more in his final year (22.5). Not bad for someone who never played on an organized team until he was almost 20 years old. Michael didn't mention this, but I did. Pettit played in just 50 games in his final season. Paul played in 78. . . Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry now owns 12,871 overall career points -- 1,392 at NE/Dougherty, 543 at 'Nova, 10,162 in NBA regular seasons and 774 in playoffs.

"Our Guys" With At Least 250 NBA/ABA Career Playoff Points
Name School G Points Avg. Rank
Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook 160 3,607 22.5 2nd
Rasheed Wallace Gratz 177 2,384 13.5  
Earl Monroe Bartram 82 1,471 17.9 3rd
Paul Arizin La Salle 49 1,186 24.2 1st
Larry Foust SE Catholic 73 902 12.4  
Wali Jones Overbrook 70 833 11.9  
Kyle Lowry Dougherty 52 774 14.9 5th 
Aaron McKie Gratz 75 710 9.5  
Walt Hazzard Overbrook 58 685 11.8  
Ray Scott West Phila. *48 660 13.8  
Tom Washington Edison *66 585 8.9  
Mike Gale Overbrook *66 512 7.8  
Guy Rodgers Northeast 46 508 11  
Malik Rose Overbrook 82 506 6.2  
Fred Carter Franklin 28 446 15.9 4th
Tom Gola La Salle 39 432 11.1  
Jim Washington W. Catholic 42 369 8.8  
Lewis Lloyd Overbrook 25 367 14.7  
Cuttino Mobley Dougherty 26 333 12.8  
Ronald Murray S. Mansion 45 319 7.1  
Gene Banks West Phila. 27 292 10.8  
John Baum West Phila. *35 262 7.5  
Matt Guokas SJ Prep 60 254 4.2  
*-includes ABA          

MAY 7
TEDBIT
  It's still semi-early in the process, but I thought you might find this list interesting. Here are the Top 20 career scorers, in Catholic League regular season play, from the eight schools listed so far -- Bonner/B-P, La Salle, McDevitt, North, Ryan, St. James, St. Thomas More and West. Three of those schools -- North, St. James, ST More -- are no longer with us. Through the years, and the lists go back to 1950 thanks to Tom Taylor's amazing hustle, the number of league games played each season has been as low as 12 and as high as 16. We'll update this list along the way.

Top 20 Scorers in CL Regular Season (So Far . . . )
Name School Year Points
Jeff Jones Bonner 2007 1,058
Barry Brodzinski North 1973 921
Billy Hoy ST More 1959 892
Ron Schott St. James 1972 888
Mike Jones ST More 1969 871
Craig Conlin La Salle 1985 815
Michael Brooks West 1976 814
Eric Ervin McDevitt 1984 812
Bob Haas McDevitt 1969 775
Matt Comey North 1993 758
Tom Gola La Salle 1951 *707
John Rankin West 1985 696
Chip Greenberg La Salle 1982 692
Brian Daly Bonner 1988 680
Marshall Taylor West 2004 662
Monroe Blakes West 1988 655
Joe Schoen North 1977 650
Mike Power North 1985 647
John O'Connell McDevitt 1988 642
Wayne Bishop McDevitt 2000 641
*-includes 1949 season      

MAY 4
TEDBIT
  It's the 1966-67 basketball season at La Salle College (now University) and the roster includes five guys whose names will be mentioned shortly. Not long thereafter, they would wind up working at the same place. What's your guess? An insurance office? A police station? A car dealership? A newspaper? (Hey, had to throw that one in there -- smile.) The answer is . . . Archbishop Ryan High. Ryan opened in the late 1960s. With no seniors on the roster, it joined the Catholic League for hoops in the 1967-68 season and celebrated its first grads in 1969. The varsity coach was George Paull, a product of now-closed Cardinal Dougherty and La Salle. Understandably, George is featured quite prominently in Ryan's 1969 yearbook, which I was able to find online via classmates.com. Away from his X-and-O duties, George taught earth science and phys ed. Also in that book are three other former La Salle College Explorers: Roman Catholic product Chuck Storm (typing, business math, assistant dean of students), Abington product Dave "Lefty" Ervin (world culture, social studies) and Bill Ring (English, business law, coach of the freshman basketball team), a product of St. John's, in Washington, D.C. (His son, also named Bill, wound up being a quality quarterback for Bishop McDevitt). OK, that takes care of four guys. Frank McArdle, the current coach of Ryan's football team, had given me the great tip about the five La Salle guys at Ryan and after some extra digging, he let me know that the fifth guy was La Salle High product Mike "Oz" Osborne. Bingo! Oz wasn't pictured/mentioned in the '69 yearbook because he was still at 20th and Olney, finishing his college days. He'd graduated from the high school in '65. But I spoke with him yesterday by phone and he said he spent the 1969-70 school year teaching history at Ryan while also coaching the JV hoops team at La Salle High. He assumed command of La Salle's varsity for the 1970-71 season (and moved there to teach as well) and held that hoops job through '77. (His replacement was Lefty). Oz' overall record was 122-65 and his 1975-76 team bested West Philadelphia and the great Gene Banks in early December. In Gene's three-year varsity career, West stormed to a 79-2 record with three Public/City championships. When I began this sports writing journey in the 1971-72 school year for a chain of weekly newspapers in Montgomery County, games involving La Salle and McDevitt were covered early and often. Dealing with Oz was always tremendous. Great guy and coach. His college career had been cut short by knee miseries and Oz mentioned that his life has included 16 knee operations. Can't even imagine. Meanwhile, Oz (in '65), George and Chuck (both in '63) all earned first team All-Catholic honors. So, there you have it. FIVE former La Salle College basketball players indeed could be found teaching classes at Ryan in the school's early years. Major thanks to Frank McArdle for providing the inspiration for this journey in the way-back machine. And, especially, for his appreciation of cool stuff from olden times (ha ha).

MAY 1
TEDBIT
  When I was a kid, one of the coolest things about being a fan of high school basketball was checking out boxscores in the newspaper. And THE coolest thing about that experience was seeing how many interesting Polish names (I guess they were all Polish?) popped up on North Catholic's rosters. Sometimes, the names were too long to fit in the space so apostrophes were used. Earlier this morning, I posted North's individual CL scoring for its final 61 seasons. Now, here's this: My opinion on the 10 coolest surnames, in order from 1 to 10, during that time frame. Bob Niczyporowicz became famous when coach Tony Costantino had this comment for a preview. "We have one good football player, Lou Sigmund, one good soccer player, John Regan, and one good Polish player, Bob Niczyporowicz."

North's Best Surnames
Surname First
Niczyporowicz Bob
Siemiontkowski Hank
Krystopowicz John
Szczepanski John
Przychowowicz Steve
Czyzewski Greg
Konieczny Jim
Kupniewski Rich
Evanosich Joe
*Rapczynski Joe
*-also served as head coach

APRIL 28
TEDBIT
  While working on La Salle's list of individual scoring in Catholic League games from 1950 through 2017, the fact that two guys named Joe -- Meade and Heyer -- were very prominent got me to thinking. In that time frame, how many guys were NOT ordinary Joes? Well, below are all first-teamers named Joe. Joe Meade twice earned first team honors and Joe Heyer owned the CL mark for points in one game (49) from '56 into the '68 season, when McDevitt's Bob Haas racked up 51. That remains the record all these years later. North Catholic leads the way with five first team Joes. . . Special note. Though this list begins with the 1950 season, this should be mentioned: Joe Rogers' dad, Joe, was a first-teamer for Roman in 1943, as well as the leading vote-getter.

First Team All-Catholic Honorees Named Joe, 1950-2017
Name School Year(s) Best Avg. Year(s)
Joe Ryan SJ Prep 1953-55 23.4 1954
Joe Zeglinski Ryan *2004-06 17.0 2004-05
Joe Hazinsky O'Hara 1967-68 21.9 1967
Joe Meade La Salle 1996-97 21.1 1997
Joe Nardi SJ Prep 2009-10 13.7 2010
Joe Getz Wood 2010-11 20.2 2011
Joe Sturgis West 1952 14.1  
Joe Heyer La Salle 1956 21.2  
Joe Russell Neumann 1965 18.3  
Joe Hartman ST More 1965 19.5  
Joe Wojtiw North 1971 17.7  
Joe "Bud" Elsesser Judge 1972 17.1  
Joe Rogers Carroll 1973 15.7  
Joe Purcell O'Hara 1974 13.6  
Joe Kurtz North 1975 18.1  
Joe Boback North 1976 20.5  
Joe Schoen North 1977 22.6  
Joe Smart McDevitt 1980 15.2  
Joe Harvey North 1982 13.8  
Joe McEwing Con.-Egan 1990 17.3  
Joe Sinni Ryan 1993 10  
Joe Mullin Ryan 2003 14.2  
*-honorary selection in '06 (limited to 2 games due to serious injury)

APRIL 26
TEDBIT
  As many of you likely know, Archbishop Wood this year won its first Catholic League basketball championship in season No. 51 of membership. Did you know this? Way back in the day, the Vikings came close to losing that many consecutive CL games. The number was 47 -- all 16 in 1968-69, all 16 again in 1969-70 and the first 15 of 16 in 1970-71. The Vikings posted a 4-12 mark in '68 and won their finale by 69-67 over McDevitt thanks to a 19-8 fourth quarter and 22 points by Bob Hartman. McDevitt had already clinched a playoff spot and didn't need the win. The Lancers' bad vibrations weren't over. In a game that made national headlines, they fell to North Catholic's JV squad, filling in for the suspended varsity, in a quarterfinal at the Palestra. During its 47-game tailspin, Wood was outscored by 3,152 to 2,302 for an average rounded-off score of 67-49. It fell by one point twice in the 1969-70 season. And the 52-51 loss to Ryan was decided when Albie Lorenz hit a free throw at 0:01. The streak fiiiiinally ended with a 58-44 win over McDevitt. The Vikings, who won every quarter, were led by Chuck Whicker (18) and John McCann (13). A personal note: One of Wood's starters in '69 was Jim Fitzpatrick. We were teammates on the East Germantown Rams' 12-and-under squad in 1962-63 and also with us was Joe Magarity. He wound up playing varsity ball at La Salle (Class of '70) and his daughter, Colleen, is now Penn Charter's girls lacrosse coach. Jim's nephew, Cody Fitzpatrick, was a long-distance sniper for Wood ('15) and in '13 he was part of this special moment.      

Wood's 47-Game CL Losing Streak, 1968-69/1970-71
1968-69 Wood Foe Wood's Leader(s) Pts
McDevitt 47 74 Hartman/Fitzpatrick 12
Kenrick 51 57 Bob Hartman 18
North 62 89 Bob Hartman 21
Ryan 62 77 Bob Hartman 26
La Salle 46 63 Bob Hartman 17
Judge 46 64 Bill Gibbons 13
Egan 50 78 Fitzpatrick/Klemmer 10
Dougherty 41 60 Pat Coen 17
McDevitt 48 65 Pat Coen 13
Kenrick 49 52 Fitz./Gibbons/Coen 11
North 37 67 Fitzpatrick  12
Ryan 46 57 Bob Hartman 16
La Salle 49 76 Rick Welsh 14
Judge 46 71 Jim Fitzpatrick 13
Egan 53 56 Bob Hartman 16
Dougherty 48 83 O'Connor 13
  781 1089    
  48.8 68.1    
1969-70 Wood Foe Wood's Leader(s) Pts
Ryan 56 72 Tom McGoldrick 18
La Salle 57 62 Mike Patterson 15
Dougherty 47 92 Romanet/McGoldrick 11
McDevitt 55 59 Tom McGoldrick 21
Judge 49 65 Skip Romanet 13
Kenrick 55 76 Tom Giedgowd 13
North 42 71 Tom Giedgowd 10
Egan 49 74 Skip Romanet 13
Judge 32 65 Bob Crostarosa 9
Ryan 51 52 Welsh/Crostarosa 17
La Salle 53 69 Skip Romanet 12
Dougherty 46 79 Mike Patterson 14
McDevitt 40 41 Fred Klemmer 10
Kenrick 53 71 Tom McGoldrick 13
North 48 55 Chuck Whicker 13
Egan 60 68 Tom McGoldrick 15
  793 1071    
  49.6 66.9    
1970-71 Wood Foe Wood's Leader(s) Pts
Judge 43 74 George Belfield 12
Ryan 36 44 Chuck Whicker 13
La Salle 59 68 Dudley 18
North 45 61 George Belfield 11
Kenrick 50 69 George Belfield 11
Egan 54 67 Whicker/Belfield 15
Dougherty 50 80 Mike Patterson 18
McDevitt 39 67 George Belfield 15
Judge 47 72 George Belfield 13
Ryan 46 52 George Belfield 13
La Salle 45 64 John McCann 20
North 55 72 George Belfield 18
Kenrick 55 64 George Belfield 21
Egan 54 60 George Belfield 19
Dougherty 50 78 Mike Patterson 14
  728 992    
  45.5 62.0    
End of the Streak . . .    
McDevitt 58 44 Chuck Whicker 18

APRIL 24
TEDBIT
  Bill "Speedy" Morris, as the coach, and Carl Arrigale, as a star player, were together in the 1983 and '84 basketball seasons at Penn Charter. They're also together on the list below. Carl just finished his 19th consecutive season as the coach at Neumann/N-G and Speedy wrapped up season No. 16 at St. Joseph's Prep. The kingpin, and you have to wonder whether anyone will ever match the feat, is Buddy Gardler, who coached O'Hara for 32 consecutive seasons (1977-2008). Oh, and before that he was the coach for seven seasons (1969-75) at the ol' Bishop Kenrick, in Norristown. Speedy was also the coach at Roman for 14 seasons (1968-81), so he came close to making two appearances on this list. 

CL Coaches With Most Consecutive Years at One School
Name School Yrs First to . . . 
Buddy Gardler O'Hara 32 1977 2008
Obie O'Brien La Salle 27 1944 1970
Mark Heimerdinger Dougherty 27 1983 2009
Bill Markward Roman 22 1920 1941
Dennis Seddon Roman 22 1987 2008
Jack Rutter McDevitt 19 1996 2014
*Carl Arrigale Neumann/N-G 19 1999 2017
Tom Stewart St. James 18 1976 1993
Bill Ludlow West Catholic 17 1994 2010
Bob Harrington Dougherty 16 1967 1982
*Speedy Morris SJ Prep 16 2002 2017
*-still on the job        

APRIL 23
TEDBIT
  One last look at the Donofrio Classic . . . "Ours Guys" winners of the Little Big Man/Sportsmanship Awards in this century. The winner for 2003-04 are currently unavailable.

  Little Big Man Award   Sportsmanship Award
Year Name School Team   Name School Team
2000 Brett Storm Penn Charter Conshy Express   Shaun McKie Gratz Hill Seniors
2001 Sharif Bray Central HBA Waterview        
2002         Dahliek Powell Roxborough Waterview
2003 Unav.       Unav.    
2004 Unav.       Unav.    
2005         *Wayne Ellington Episcopal Playaz
2006 *Gerald Henderson Episcopal Playaz        
2007 Brad Wanamaker Roman Positive Image I   Andrew Rogers Ryan Just Clean It
2008 R.J. Handy North Catholic Waterview II   Rashad Savage Imhotep Team Philly
2009              
2010              
2011              
2012              
2013 Brandon Austin Imhotep Team Philly   John Davis Neum.-Goretti I-3
2014 Jabri McCall King Old School        
2015         Ahmad Gilbert Constitution Team Hardnett
2016 Ryan Daly Carroll Old School   Nazeer Bostick Roman Team Hardnett
2017         Izaiah Brockington Ryan Team Philly
*-advanced to NBA            

APRIL 21
TEDBIT
  Here are the top scoring performances by Pub/Cath/Int guys in Donofrio Classic championship games over the last 18 years. Two guys have joined the list and their info is highlighted in gray. Imhotep's Daron Russell, a Rhode Island commit, finds himself in a tie for the No. 7 spot. He nailed nine three-pointers.

Name Team School Pts Year
Rysheed Jordan Team Philly Vaux 48 2013
Ja'Quan Newton I-3 Neumann-Goretti 42 2013
Josh Sharkey Old School Carroll 38 2016
Ryan Daly Old School Carroll 36 2016
Tony Carr Team Hardnett Roman 35 2016
Rysheed Jordan Team Philly Vaux 34 2012
Daron Russell Team Philly Imhotep 33 2017
*Wayne Ellington Playaz Episcopal 33 2006
*Gerald Henderson Playaz Episcopal 33 2005
Tony Chennault Team Philly Neumann-Goretti 32 2008
Nazeer Bostick Team Hardnett Roman 29 2016
Brandon Austin Team Philly Imhotep 28 2013
Ameer Ali Sonny Hill Srs. Gratz 28 2005
Micheal Blackshear Waterview Gratz 27 2002
Tony Carr Team Hardnett Roman 27 2015
Shaun McKie Sonny Hill Srs. Gratz 26 2000
Ahmad "JR" Gilbert Team Hardnett Constitution 26 2015
Zane Martin Team Hardnett Neumann-Goretti 26 2016
Brian Wanamaker Positive Image Roman 25 2007
*Wayne Ellington Playaz Episcopal 25 2005
Mark Tyndale Sonny Hill Srs. Gratz 24 2004
Wayne Marshall Positive Image King 24 2003
Izaiah Brockington Team Philly Ryan 22 2017
Novar Gadson Waterview Bartram 21 2008
Velton Jones Team Philly North Catholic 21 2008
Jamal Wilson Team Philly Neumann-Goretti 21 2008
Kashief Edwards Positive Image Imhotep 21 2007
Scott Rodgers Sonny Hill Srs. Central 21 2005
*Steve Smith Waterview Northeast 21 2001
Lamar Stevens Old School Roman 21 2016
Bradley Wanamaker Positive Image Roman 20 2007
*Gerald Henderson Playaz Episcopal 20 2006
*Rob Kurz Playaz Penn Charter 20 2004
Sharif Bray Waterview Central 20 2002
*advanced to NBA

APRIL 19
TEDBIT
  The Donofrio Classic, held each spring in Conshohocken, honors two MVPs -- one apiece from the teams that advance to the championship game. Below are "Our Guys" (Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac) who've won MVP honors going back to 1982. The new guy on the list is Imhotep sr. G Daron Russell, a Rhode Island commit, who last night scored 33 points as Team Philly annihilated Raw Sports, 130-84. A year ago, Roman's Tony Carr (now at Penn State) became the third player to twice win MVP honors. The others were Roman's Donnie Carr (1995-96) and Vaux' Rysheed Jordan (2012-2013). They did so exclusively in losing efforts. Tony went 1-1. Another Imhotep player, Kashief Edwards, was an MVP for winner Positive Image in 2007.

"Our Guys" MVPs in the Donofrio Classic, 1982-2017
Year --- Winning Team in Final --- --- Losing Team in Final --
2017 Daron Russell Imhotep Team Philly      
2016 Josh Sharkey Carroll Old School Cavs Tony Carr Roman Team Hardnett
2015 Tony Carr Roman Team Hardnett      
2014 Lamar Stevens Haver. School Old School Cavs      
2013 Ja'Quan Newton Neumann-Goretti I-3 Rysheed Jordan Vaux Team Philly
2012       Rysheed Jordan Vaux Team Philly
2008 Novar Gadson Bartram Waterview Phoenix *Maalik Wayns Roman Team Philly
2007 Kashief Edwards Imhotep Positive Image      
2006       *Wayne Ellington Episcopal Playaz
2005 *Gerald Henderson Episcopal Playaz Ameer Ali Gratz Sonny Hill Srs.
2004 Mark Tyndale Gratz Sonny Hill Srs. *Rob Kurz Penn Charter Playaz
2003 Wayne Marshall King Positive Image      
2002       Micheal Blackshear Gratz Waterview
2001       *Steve Smith Northeast Waterview
2000 #special situation     Mike Slattery Gtn. Academy Conshy Express
1999 Jermaine Robinson Gratz Hunting Park Khalid Bray Central Waterview
1998       Kevin "Buzzy' Forney Straw. Mansion D-V Blazers
1997       Chris Krug Gtn. Academy Conshy Express
1996 Petrick Sanders Frankford Sonny Hill Srs. Donnie Carr Roman PI Point Breeze
1995       Donnie Carr Roman PI Point Breeze
1994 Fred Warrick Bok Sonny Hill Srs.      
1993       Tyrone Weeks Franklin LC Sonny Hill Srs.
1992 Rondell Turner Univ. City Sonny Hill Jrs. *Adonal Foyle O'Hara R/Way Gasket
1991       Paul Burke Chestnut Hill Sonny Hill Srs.
1990 *Aaron McKie Gratz Sonny Hill Srs.      
1989 Carlin Warley Frankford Sonny Hill Srs.      
1988 *Randy Woods Franklin Sonny Hill Srs.      
1987 Clayton "Stink" Adams Roman Austin's SG      
1986 *Lionel Simmons Southern Sonny Hill Srs. @Brian Shorter Gratz HBA Crusaders
1985 *Greg "Bo" Kimble Dobbins Sonny Hill Srs. *Paul "Snoop" Graham Franklin HBA Crusaders
1984 Howard Evans West Phila. Sonny Hill Srs. Jody Johnson Southern Canaan Baptist
1983 Rico Washington Franklin Sonny Hill Srs.      
1982 Darren Keith Mastbaum Moore Funeral Home      
*-advanced to NBA      
#-Sonny Hill Srs. won title; all players on team named MVP to honor the memory of long-time coach/mentor Tony Samartino, who'd
passed away in October of 1999.
@-named a tri-MVP; team did NOT advance to the championship game.

APRIL 18
TEDBIT
  Just because the season is over, don't think school records are frozen (smile). For more than 20 years, the school record for Neumann-Goretti (nee St. John Neumann/Bishop Neumann/Southeast Catholic) for points in one game has been listed as 44. Last night I switched it to 40. Here's the reason: In December 1993, guard Rashid Bey, who wound up playing college ball at St. Joseph's, scored 38 points in a non-league game vs. North Catholic. The listed record had been 36 by Billy Oakes -- he also played for St. Joe's and later became a long-time NBA ref -- in a consolation playoff vs. West Catholic. Good-guy Jim Stinger, a player for Neumann (Class of '64) and later the school's coach, was still teaching there when Bey exploded and let me know he was pretty sure Oakes had scored 44 vs. Bishop Egan (now Conwell-Egan) in a non-league game in December 1961. He said he would try to reach Billy and confirm that number. He did and I wound up writing about the issue as part of a Daily News notes column. Wellllllll . . . While doing some more online hoops research this past weekend, I came across two stories that mentioned Oakes' big performance. The Inquirer and the Bristol Daily Courier both listed the total as 40 points. The latter even had a boxscore with FGs, FTs and TPs. Billy's breakdown was 17-6-40. The story said "Oakes ran rings around the fluttering Eagles." It also noted that Egan's Tom Frederick totaled 16 points and 38 rebounds. Yes, 38! The story noted, "That latter figure could be a record of some kind." The final score was 93-83 in favor of Neumann. If the teams could miss enough shots to enable one guy to grab 38 boards yet still combine for 176 points, imagine how fast they were flying up and down the court and how often they were shooting. Neumann tallied 42 field goals while Egan managed 31. Nine guys scored in double figures, four for Neumann and five for Egan. There's one more thing to consider here. Through the years, is it possible some other Neumann/N-G player scored 41, 42 or 43 points but didn't receive credit for the record because 44 was on the list? Never know. If YOU do, please speak up. Thanks!

APRIL 15
TEDBIT
  Haverford School product Levan Alston, who now goes by the nickname "Shizz" instead of his middle name "Shawn", has earned first team honors on the All-Big 5 team. Very cool, especially since he's only a sophomore. Shizz also was named the Big 5's most improved player. Even better. Joining Penn's Jerome Allen (Episcopal) and Villanova's Alvin Williams (Germantown Academy), Shizz is the third Inter-Ac product to earn first team honors. Six I-A guys have earned second team honors and Alvin is part of that crew, also. The Big 5 was formed for the 1955-56 season. Second teams weren't picked until 1981-82. Paul Chambers is the brother of Penn State coach Pat Chambers. Brian Grandieri is the brother of O'Hara's new baseball coach, Tom Grandieri.

Inter-Ac Products on All-Big 5 Teams
FIRST TEAM (1955-56 to 2016-17)    
Name School College Years
Jerome Allen Episcopal Penn '93-'94-'95
Levan "Shizz" Alston Haver. School Temple '17
Alvin Williams Gtn. Academy Villanova '*97
*MVP or Co-MVP      
SECOND TEAM (1981-82 to 2016-17)
Name School College Years
Paul Burke Chestnut Hill La Salle '94-'95
Paul Chambers Episcopal Penn '92
Mike Gizzi Chestnut Hill La Salle '97
Brian Grandieri Malvern Penn '08
Tim Krug Penn Charter Penn '96
Alvin Williams Gtn. Academy Villanova '96

APRIL 11
TEDBIT
  Ryan sr. F Matiss Kulackovskis, who recently committed to Bowling Green, is the latest addition to the list below, which was first published during the 2013-14 season. It includes foreign imports who've earned coaches' All-Catholic honors. As you'll see, three foreigners have earned MVP honors and Adonal Foyle did so as a sophomore in '92. Alas, he then left the area after just one season and finished his high school days in upstate New York. After starring at Colgate, he enjoyed a 12-year NBA career. Also in the early '90s, a 6-7 kid from Lithuania, Mindaugus "Tim" Timinskas, was an unofficial part of Egan's program. He'd already graduated high school so he did not attend Egan, but he lived with the family of former basketball/baseball star Joe McEwing and sometimes practiced/worked out with Egan. At the time, Joe was an outfielder in the Cardinals' farm system. He later spent nine seasons in the major and is now the White Sox' bench coach after coaching third for five seasons (2012-16). Meanwhile, Timinskas became a headliner in Lithuania's pro league and even helped that country capture bronze in the 2000 Olympics. In all, six imports have been first-teamers.

Foreigners Who've Earned All-Catholic Honors
Name School *Country Year Honor G Pts Avg
Barry Bekkedam Carroll Canada 1986 +-1st 14 330 23.6
Adonal Foyle O'Hara #St. Vincent 1992 +-1st 14 258 18.4
Giedrius Aidietis Egan Lithuania 1993 2nd 16 225 14.1
Martin Sejda C-E Czech Republic 1994 3rd 13 169 13.0
Rafal Bigus Carroll Poland 1994 +1st 14 264 18.9
Javier Crespo O'Hara Spain 1995 2nd 14 162 11.6
Jakub Juskowiak Roman Poland 1996 3rd 13 127 9.8
Bart Kuzniarz Carroll Poland 1997 3rd 14 151 10.8
Alex Sazonov O'Hara Russia 1998 2nd 14 167 11.9
Ali Gaye K-K Senegal 2001 3rd 12 160 13.3
Amarildo Matos K-K Mozambique 2004 3rd 13 241 18.5
Hayk Gyokchyan C-E Lebanon 2008 2nd 14 242 17.3
Fortunat Kangudi Roman Canada 2011 1st   13 143 11.0
Ernest Aflakpui Carroll Ghana 2014 1st   13 133 10.2
Matiss Kulackovskis Ryan Latvia 2017 1st 13 220 16.9
*-some guys made pit stops elsewhere before coming to Philly area
+-MVP
#-officially St. Vincent and the Grenadines

APRIL 7
TEDBIT
  Here's an all-star team based on uniform numbers. Some VERY talented guys won't be found because someone wearing that number is a shade better. And with one exception, the list stops with No. 25 because very few upper echelon players choose to wear higher numbers these days.

All-Star Team of Catholic/Inter-Ac Players Based on Uniform Numbers
No. Name School Pos. Yr.
0 Imere Harris West G So.
1 Collin Gillespie Wood G Sr.
2 Allen Betrand Roman F Jr.
3 Kharon Randolph Hav. School G Jr.
4 Deuce Turner Malvern G Fr.
5 Darius Kinnel SJ Prep G Jr.
10 Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree Neum.-Gor. F-C Sr.
11 Kyle McCloskey Gtn. Acad. F Sr.
12 Mike Millsip Neum.-Gor. G-F Sr.
13 Ajiri Johnson Bonn.-Pren. C Jr.
14 Marc Rodriguez Judge G Sr.
15 Evan-Eric Longino Gtn. Acad. G Sr.
20 Matt Cerruti Wood G-F Sr.
21 Izaiah Brockington Ryan G Sr.
22 Zuri Peyton SCH Acad. F Sr.
23 Nick Alikakos Episcopal F Sr.
24 Christian Ray Hav. School G-F So.
25 Mason Williams Penn Char. G Jr.
  Other      
33 Matiss Kulackovskis Ryan G-F Sr.

APRIL 5
TOMBIT
(Courtesy of Tom Taylor, who has long tracked city scoring. This follows his research on Ernie Beck; see April 3.)
  I set out to do one more "icon" and wound up doing three. Jackie Moore was first. Jackie didn't appear in a varsity game in his sophomore year until after the mid-year graduation of Stan Gordon (Temple.) He made an quite an impact as Overbrook made it to the City Title game and he was named an honorable mention All-Pub despite appearing in only nine games. Overbrook's record for his three years was 21-2, 15-8 and 19-4-1 (the alumni game was a 40-40 tie.) Jackie's number were 9-85-9.4, 23-323-14.0 and 21-294-14.0 (didn't play in three non-league games) for career totals of 53-702-13.2.
  While doing my Jackie research another iconic name jumped out at me - John Chaney. I had his '50 and '51 numbers and knew that he wouldn't approach a thousand but still, it's John Chaney. As I started to "research" his soph season I quickly realized that (1) both he and Bob Gainey started as sophs for Franklin and (2) Gainey was a higher scorer. Their totals follow with one footnote. The 1/17/50 Franklin (53)-Mastbuam (28) box was not reported and the articles did not mention any individual scoring so their scoring for that game is missing. John Chaney: 18-107-5.9; 18-116-64; 21-333-15.9; 57-556-9.8. Bob Gainey: 18-249-13.8; 18-287-15.9; 21-305-14.5; 57-841-14.8. I assume that Gainey's decreased scoring as a senior was due to Chaney's emerging as a scorer.

APRIL 3
TOMBIT
  Tom Taylor, who has long tracked scoring by Catholic League and Public League players, has always used 1950 as a cutoff mostly because scores were often quite low beforehand. While recently experiencing what he called hoops season withdrawal (I hear ya, friend), he decided to try to nail down Ernie Beck's career points during his time at West Catholic (Class of 1949). Much to Tom's surprise, and delight, in various newspapers he was able to find boxscores for all games played by those Burrs. Ernie was a deep sub as a soph, scoring five points. He then added 298 points in 24 games as a junior (12.4 ppg.) and 441 in 25 as a senior (17.6), so his final total was 744. The Burrs' record during that stretch was 44-26 with Catholic/City titles in his senior season. In those games, they conquered Southeast Catholic, 53-37, and Overbrook, 41-38, and Ernie scored 20 in each one. His 20 points in the CT were a record. Thanks for your digging, Tom! . . . At Penn, in three varsity seasons, he racked up 1,827 points (that total is STILL the school record) then added exactly 2,500 in a seven-year NBA career (2,325 in the regular season, 175 in playoffs). Mix in the 744 at West and his "lifetime" total is 5,071. Ernie, one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet, was the coach at now-closed Edward Bok Tech, in South Philly, for 30 seasons (1964-93). At age 85, he remains plugged in to the basketball scene and I remember seeing him a few years ago at a game at O'Hara. All the best, sir!
  UPDATE: Tom mentioned in his email that West's '49 team had also won the Eastern States Scholastic Tournament. In the final, played in Glens Falls, N.Y., the Burrs topped Dean Academy of Franklin, Mass., 56-44. He scored 19 in that one and was named -- unanimously, first time that happened in the tourney's 27 years -- the tourney MVP. Other teams in that three-day tourney: All Hallows (NYC), Perkiomen (Pennsburg, Pa.), Carteret School of West Orange, N.J., Blessed Sacrament of New Rochelle, N.Y., St. Francis Xavier (NYC) and Cheshire Academy of Cheshire, Conn. 

APRIL 2
STEVEBIT
  Just a note for those interested: below is a listing of the attendance for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship games as well as the Philadelphia Catholic League attendance for the Boys & Girls doubleheader on Feb. 27 at The Palestra.
  -- Steve Haug, Executive Director of Athletics (for the Archdiocese).
  NOTE: A year ago, the CL placed ninth. This year it finished 10th. Tickets sold: All of them both times (8,722).  

Conference Total
SEC  19,953
Big East  19,812
PAC-12  19,224
Big 12  18,972
ACC  18,109
Big 10  12,902
Missouri Valley  11,744
Mid-American  10,376
Summit  9,441
PHILA. CATHOLIC LEAGUE  8,722
West Coast  8,179
MAAC  7,608
MEAC  7,111
A-10  7,025
American   6,856
Southern  6,400
Colonial  6,342
Horizon  5,929
Mountain West  5,602
Big South  5,109
 Big West  5,085
Atlantic Sun  4,711
Patriot  4,254
Conference USA  3,956
Ivy League  3,833
America East  3,266
Northeast  3,121
SWAC  2,500
WAC  2,444
Southland  2,068
Big Sky  2,025
Ohio Valley  1,303
Sun Belt  1,083

APRIL 1
TEDBIT
  For the second time in three years and 10th time going back to the mid-1970s, an "Out of Nowhere Guy" has been named the Daily News City Player of the Year. The definition of that tag? Someone who did not make first, second or third team on the All-City squad in the previous season. All but two did earn some level of all-league honors beforehand. Oddly, Wood's Collin Gillespie (in '17) and Roman's Tony Carr (in '15) had been the 21st guy (top of the third team) on the All-Catholic squad in '16 and '14, respectively. There have been two "Compleeeetely Out of Nowhere Guys" . . . Gratz' Lynard Stewart in '94 and Frankford's Anthony Chennault in '81. Yes, Anthony is the father of recent Neumann-Goretti standout Tony Chennault.

"Out of Nowhere" Daily News All-City Players of the Year
Name School Year Highest Honor in Previous Season
Collin Gillespie Wood 2017 3rd team coaches' All-Catholic (overall)
*Tony Carr Roman 2015 3rd team coaches' All-Catholic (overall)
Scootie Randall Comm Tech 2008 1st team coaches' All-Public (Division B)
Bradley Wanamaker Roman 2007 2nd team coaches' All-Catholic (Southern Division)
Scott Rodgers Central 2005 2nd team coaches' All-Public (overall)
*Eddie Griffin Roman 1999 3rd team coaches' All-Catholic (Southern Division)
Lynard Stewart Gratz 1994 None
Brian Daly Bonner 1988 1st team coaches' All-Catholic (Southern Division)
Doug Overton Dobbins 1987 2nd team coaches' All-Public (overall)
Anthony Chennault Frankford 1981 None
*junior      
CL Teams With Losing Records
That Have Played Postseason Games
Year Team W-L *PW?
*PW = Postseason Win of Any Kind?
2012 McDevitt 3-10 yes
2013 Lansdale 3-10 yes
2017 West Catholic 3-10 yes
2011 Ryan 4-9 yes
2016 Bonner-Prendie 4-9 yes
2011 Bonner 5-8 yes
2012 O'Hara 5-8 yes
2014 McDevitt 5-8 yes
2012 La Salle 6-7 yes
2013 McDevitt 6-7 yes
2014 West Catholic 6-7 yes
2015 Judge 6-7 yes
2016 Wood 6-7 yes
1996 West Catholic 6-8 yes
2000 O'Hara 6-8 yes
2000 Carroll 6-8 yes
2009 La Salle 6-8 yes
2010 West Catholic 7-9 yes
2013 Conwell-Egan 3-10 no
2011 Conwell-Egan 4-9 no
2015 Ryan 4-9 no
2016 West Catholic 4-9 no
2011 West Catholic 5-8 no
2012 Judge 5-8 no
2013 Judge 5-8 no
2014 Lansdale 5-8 no
2014 Judge 5-8 no
2015 Bonner 5-8 no
2017 La Salle 5-8 no
2017 Conwell-Egan 5-8 ??
2010 Bonner 5-9 no
2014 Conwell-Egan 6-7 no
2016 Judge 6-7 no
1996 Bonner 6-8 no
2000 SJ Prep 6-8 no
2009 Ryan 6-8 no
2010 Judge 6-8 no
2009 Dougherty 6-10 no
1959 Roman 7-8 no

MARCH 2
TEDBIT
  Here we go again, folks. This is an updated repeat/repeat/repeat posting (smile). . . As mentioned in previous posts about this topic, maybe the color red gets them going. Whatever the reason, Carroll certainly has found a second home at Ryan in the nine years that the Catholic League has been part of the PIAA. Last night, the Patriots upped their record to 9-2 in playoff games contested at Ryan, and the margin of defeat in  their two losses (both to Philly Electric) was three points. The biggest win, no doubt, occurred in a Class AAA quarterfinal in '09. That triumph over Neumann-Goretti helped Carroll become the CL's first state champ.  

Carroll's Postseason Games at Ryan, 2009-17
Year Occasion Opponent Result Carroll's Top Scorer Pts
2009 3/4 game Gratz W, 63-39 DJ Irving  25
state qtr N-G W, 70-65 DJ Irving  26
2010 3/4 game Gratz W, 48-43 Juan'ya Green 24
2011 3/4 game Boys' Latin W, 72-61 Yosef Yacob 23
2012 3/4 game  Phila. Elec. W, 48-37 Yosef Yacob 18
2013 3/4 game Phila. Elec. L, 48-46 Derrick Jones 19
2014 3/4 game Imhotep W, 53-37 Derrick Jones 18
state qtr Phila. Elec. L, 52-51 Derrick Jones 15
2015 3/4 game Audenried W, 71-46 Derrick Jones 20
2016 3/4 game Imhotep W, 70-61 John Rigsby 18
2017 3/4 game Mastery N. W, 54-38 AJ Hoggard 16

MARCH 1
TEDBIT
  Every so often an email provides inspiration for a Tedbit and a GREAT one was received Sunday from former Penn Charter basketball player Joe Gleason, a key sub for the 1984 Inter-Ac champs coached by new HOF honoree William "Speedy" Morris and starter/co-captain for the '85 runners-up. As Joe noted, three guys who Saturday helped Brigham Young University post a noteworthy win were important to the history of Philadelphia hoops as well. How so? Well, first we'll offer Saturday's details. Eric Mika (29 points, 11 rebounds), TJ Haws (17 points, five treys) and Nick Emery (nine points) combined for 55 points as BYU stunned Gonzaga, 79-71, thus assuring the latter, 29-0 going in, would not finish the regular season with a perfect record. All three guys are products of Lone Peak High, in Alpine, Utah, and in December 2012 they helped to assure West Philadelphia would retain the Pennsylvania record for most consecutive wins. Over the '76 to '78 seasons, the Speedboys reeled off 68 straight victories -- 14 in '76, 30 in '77, 24 in '78 -- before falling at Pub rival Overbrook, 62-61, on Feb. 21. In December of 2012, Chester owned 61 consecutive wins prior to meeting Lone Peak in the quarterfinal round of the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Florida. Maxpreps had LP ranked No. 1 in the country, but ESPN had Chester at No. 5 and Lone Peak at No. 6 while USA Today had that same order with slightly different numbers (4 and 7). What happened? LP stormed to a 73-50 victory. Haws and Emery tallied 23 points apiece while Mika contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. The Speedboys' record was safe! Wonder if Gene Banks, Clarence "Eggy" Tillman, Darryl Warwick, Joe Garrett, Kevin "Rock" McCray and Vincent Ross -- the headliners during that run -- ever sat down together and crafted a thank-you note to send to those Lone Peak guys? (smile) Mika and Emery are sophs at BYU while Haws is a freshman. Huh? Wasn't that LP-Chester game four seasons ago? Were these kids that good at such young ages? Don't forget, BYU is a Mormon school. All three players performed two-year missions -- Mika in Italy, Emery in Germany, Haws in France. Another nugget: Emery scored 1,953 points in high school. Haws was close behind with 1,896. Whoa! One more nugget: Originally, Lone Peak and Chester were scheduled to meet on Jan. 12 of that 2012-13 season in a showcase event in suburban Milwaukee. Organizers changed the matchups after Lone Peak's convincing win . . . Thanks to Joe Gleason for the tip!