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Drew, For Two! Return to TedSilary.com Home Page Drew Flanagan is a
junior at Malvern Prep and has offered to file reports on the basketball team. He
describes himself as a hoops junkie and a big Villanova fan. We'll try not to hold that
last part against him (smile). |
FEB.
15
INTER-AC LEAGUE TOURNEY 1st ROUND
Malvern Prep 50, Haverford School 34
In the
Inter-Ac Showcase Tourney . . .
Penn Charter beat Chestnut Hill, 53-46, and
Malvern beat Haverford School, 50-34. Not sure whether we'll get reports.” – The
Man the Myth the Legend Ted Silary. This is Ted saying that he did not believe he would
get a report from me on this game. In addition to being the most unreliable member of
site, I am also the most clutch, always stepping up in the playoffs and big games.
The first round of
the Inter-Ac tournament started on Tuesday at Germantown Academy. The fourth-seeded Friars
from Malvern Prep had to take on No. 6 seed Haverford Fords. These two teams split their
regular season contests in the two ugliest basketball games ever witnessed. Especially
Malvern’s loss at Haverford one in which they lost 33-31 and shot 8-38 from the
field. Malvern had one thing on their mind which was getting the win to get another shot
at the Gerald and Wayne show. Remember the
Friars played the Churchmen very tough and lost 58-50. A game I missed because I was at
the Palestra watching `Nova beat the crap out of St. Joseph’s (PA). One thing Malvern
had to do was get the lead early and hit shots; otherwise it could be deja-vu all over
again. Malvern’s worst fears were realized and after an abysmal first quarter the
Fords led 7-3. Would Malvern roll over and die? I think not. Malvern would have to come
back without Kevin “K-Doc”
Dougherty, who got himself
into some early foul trouble, but the Friars responded in the second quarter to take a
20-18 halftime advantage. The second quarter rally was keyed by Malvern pressure defense,
which created some easy buckets for the Fightin' Friars. Tom “I’m not my brother Brian”
Grandieri and Jimmie Cotton had a few steals
and got the team out in transition and that got Malvern back in business. The Friars took
over the game in the third quarter and outscored Haverford 15-3 to push their lead to
35-21. Malvern was keyed off the bench by Sophomore Mike Francisco who had 10 points
off the bench to help Malvern take the lead for good. Malvern senior center Matt Borgerson did a bang up job
on Haverford’s 6-8 big dawg Ted Schreck, keeping him off
the glass and away from the basket. Another key in this game for Malvern was Malvern
putting the clamps on Haverford’s star combo guard John Haldy, who was terrific
in the Fords earlier win over Malvern. He had 11 but was forced to take tough,
off-balanced jumpers all afternoon due to good D from Creighton and Grandieri. Malvern was able
to hold on to the lead and finish them off for a 50-34 win. Malvern was able to hold on to
their lead in the fourth thanks to Paulie “The Magic Stick”
Ostick,
who had 6 points and 4 boards; Joey Hoban doing the thing he
does best, which is play lock down defense; Phil “The Thrill” Gosselin running the point;
and Nelson Way sticking the open
jumper. Malvern advances to play nationally ranked EA @ GA 6:30 on Thursday. Some notable
people in attendance were Mr. John Ostick a prestigious
member of the Malvern faculty and father of Paul, and the next great Malvern point guard
in Ryan “RC”
Creighton. Also after the
season is over look for me writing some reports on some Catholic League playoff games.
Also be on the lookout for my end-of-season awards known worldwide as the Flannys.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to Mike Francisco for giving Malvern
a spark by contributing 10 points off the bench.
FEB
11.
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern Prep 55, Chestnut Hill 54
The Friars
returned to action to finish out the regular season on the road at Chestnut Hill, Friday
night. The Blue Devils always play very hard and smart especially at home. I always like
the way CHS run their basketball program and the way they played the game and that is a
credit to coach Ed Aversa and his staff. Just like the first meeting the game started it
was closely contested match up throughout the game, except that the last game Malvern was
able to pull away in the end; not so fast my friend this game was going to be decided on
the last few possessions. The Friars started off quickly thanks to a terrific open court
one handed bounce pass from Tom “TG” Grandieri to a streaking
Kevin Dougherty for the lay up. The
Blue Devils responded on a couple of jumpers by their star Julian “Bow Wow” McFadden who had a very good
game finishing with 18 points. At the end of the first the Friars held a 14-12 advantage.
During the second quarter Malvern PG Mike “Chuckles” Creighton was able to get
into the lane at will and used his ability to get into traffic and kick out to Senior
Center Matt Borgerson for his patented
mid range-J. Borgy finished with 17
in his final Inter-Ac road game. Not a bad way to go out if you ask me. Also the Friar
backcourt was able to get their transition game rolling as Creighton and Cotton got some steals and
were able to finish in transition. JC only had 11, but
was worried about stopping McFadden all night. Cotton and McFadden are probably the two
fastest guards off the dribble in the Inter-Ac. At the half the Friars led 29-23, but
everyone in the building knew that Chestnut Hill was going to make a run in the second
half and it was up to Malvern to hold them off. In the third the Friars were out scored
14-10 thanks to Chestnut Hill’s Jon Salem who had 12 and Dave Jennings who added 10
points. The fourth quarter was see-saw battle between the two teams. McFadden, who scored a
bucket, Cotton, Creighton,
or Dougherty would come right
back until with Malvern leading 52-51 with about a minute left in regulation, it was McFadden versus Cotton one on one. With the
clock running McFadden faked right and went
left, and threw an errant pass that was tipped and stolen by Creighton, who raced the
length of the court, laid it in and was fouled, taking the life out of the building. He
calmly sank the free throw and Malvern lead 55-51. McFadden hit a fade away
midrange J and time expired and the Friars held on for the victory. It has been a tough
season for the Friars, but you could never tell, because they never stop hustling, same
goes for Chestnut Hill. I want to give a shoutout to former Malvern Prep 2-Guard Chris “Late Nite” Purcell now a student at
the University of Delaware who has been asking for a shoutout for a long time now. Well,
there you go. Also I want to congratulate Mike Creighton and Jimmie Cotton for being named
second team all inter-ac for 2004-2005 season.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to MP senior
Matt Borgerson, who had 17 and
close to ten boards.
JAN.
25
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 62, Malvern 58 (OT)
Oh,
my, this was one heck of a game, also a game that Malvern had no business losing. The
Friars controlled the tempo for most of the game, only to almost lose the game in
regulation. Back to the first quarter Malvern had a 16-11 advantage after one. PC was ice
cold in the first quarter, but that would change as the game went on due to Sammy
Zeglinski
catching on fire just like the did in the first meeting between these two teams. The
continued to be back and forth and Malvern held a slight edge going into halftime. The
Malvern backcourt of Jimmie
“Diego” Cotton
and Mike
“Nardi” Creighton
were able to get some big points in transition to keep the Friars in the lead. At the end
of the of the third the Friars still had a 3 point advantage 35-32. The Quakers eventually
took the lead on a Joe
Rauchut lay-up to make it 38-37. The Friars
responded with a big time lay up by Creighton
to re-take the lead. The Friars then jumped out to a 6 point lead only to see it evaporate
due to Zeglinski and Kevin McGarvey. Malvern then turned the ball over
on a very questionable double-dribble on Creighton.
It looked like he dropped the pass, then dribbled, but the ref took this as a dribble,
then another one. Very questionable?! Sammy than made a ridiculous play when he came off a
Brian Teuber screen, then pump-faked to draw Kevin Dougherty into the air, then jumped into Kev Doc and still hit the shot. He hit the free
throw then Malvern raced down the court where Malvern, down three, needed someone to step
up. Creighton looked for Dougherty who was covered, penetrated, and then
pulled it back out and jacked a bomb that hit nothing but the bottom of the cup. There was
no way this was controversial, it was a solid two feet behind the line. Also “Red Hot” said Sammy had 21 in the fourth even though Sammy is a baller, PC only had 20 points total in
the fourth making the claim simply invalid. Overtime was back and forth, but PC was able
to take the lead for good on a McGarvey fadeaway
in OT, and with only .2 seconds left on the clock the Friar bench tried to call a timeout,
but had none left and the Quakers sank both free throws to make the final 62-58. Cotton finished with 21, Creighton 13. Zeglinski had 29 and Teuber added 8 and 13 boards.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to Sammy Zeglinski for winning the game for PC and
Malvern’s backcourt duo for a valiant effort.
JAN
21
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern Prep 60, Chestnut Hill 48
Ladies and
Gentlemen it is good to be back after a long absence from the site. I would like to
apologize to all my fans for making them wait, all four of them (smile). Anyway it was
Father-Son night at the rocking O’Neil Center and the Friars certainly did not
disappoint. The Friars charged their way out to a 17-9 advantage after one quarter of
play. The main reason the Friars won this game was their advantage on the glass and they
did a great job on the big guys from CHA. The Blue Devils were not going to let the Friar
run away with this game and the score was 29-26 at the half. Julian McFadden, who resembles the
young rapper Little Bow Wow, is CHA’s best player, but he was contained pretty well
by Mike “Academic
All-American” Creighton, who added 13 for
the Friars. McFadden finished with 10
points, but had to take a lot of shots, but he is one of the fastest guards in the city
off the dribble. Malvern took a 9 point lead going into the fourth (44-35) thanks to a
solid quarter by Malvern’s leading scorer Jimmie Cotton, who hit some big
jumpers. Matt Borgeson and Tom “The Junk Yard Dawg”
Grandieri helped control
the boards for Malvern to keep the lead where it was. CHA tried to close the gap and Dave
Jennings who had 16 for the Blue Devils did his best to keep it close, but Malvern hit
some clutch shots down the stretch and hit their free throws to seal the victory. Some
notable people in attendance were Malvern Prep QB Ian Mitchell and his dad former
Villanova D-Back Mike
Mitchell.
Flanagan’s
Game Ball goes to
Malvern’s front court of Tom Grandieri, Matt Borgerson, Mike Francisco, and Paul
Ostick for controlling the glass all night.
JAN
18.
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Germantown Academy 72, Malvern Prep 46
Good gravy. Malvern
traveled to Fort Washington to take on the Patriots of Germantown Academy. GA got rolling
in the first quarter and never let up the whole game. GA led 23-10 after one and
maybe shot around 65% for the game. Malvern does not match up well inside at all against
GA and Brian Grimes and Ryan
Ayers took full advantage of
Malvern’s height disadvantage. Grimes was very good indeed pouring in a team high
twenty points and two monster dunks. Kyle Griffin was on fire from deep. I mean he did not hit
rim all afternoon. He added 15, 4-4 from deep, and 3-3 from the line. He reminds me a lot
of a high school version of `Cuse guard Gerry
McNamara, and he was definitely G-Mac-like
against the Friars. Malvern was down 45-17 at the half and was stunned. Andrew “Big
Dawg” Ott was unavailable for GA due to an injury and the Friars were still down big
at the half. The game was pretty much even till the end, but the damage was done. Notre
Dame Signee Ryan Ayers dropped in 14 and Kirk “Defense” Jones stymied the Malvern attack. Tom Grandieri actually looked like his brother Brian out
there adding 15 points and 6 boards. More importantly he shot the ball well from deep. He
has struggled with his jumper all year due to two bad ankle sprains. Notable people in
attendance in Fort Washington were Downingtown legends Steve Layne and John Lawlor.
Flanagan’s
Player of the Game goes to Brian Grimes ,who was tremendous pouring 20 points, plenty
of rebounds, and two big time dunks that demoralized the Friars early.
JAN.
14
INTER-AC
Malvern Prep 46, Haverford School 37
The Friars returned home to the
raucous O’Neil Center for a conference game against the Fords from Haverford. Also,
this was one of the ugliest basketball games I have ever watched. A lot of turnovers on
both sides and a lot of missed shots. But, nonetheless Malvern came out on top. Leading
for most of the game by 10, but was never able to deliver the knockout blow to Haverford.
Malvern sophomore Phil “The Thrill”
Gosselin played his best game as a Friar adding 4 points, three steals, and two
assists. He also played the point very very well when asked to. Mike “Chuck” Creighton had 8 points, 6
assists, 4 steals, and 3 boards. Matt Borguson
added 10 points and 7 boards to help the cause. Zac
Fordham added a bucket off the bench and Mike
Francisco added 3 for the Friars. Haverford was led by John Haldy, who added 10, and Ben Grant had 12 for the Fords. Both teams could
not could have hit water if they'd fallen out of a boat tonight, but the Friars scraped
together a victory before traveling to Fort Washington to take on the Patriots of
Germantown Academy. Notable people in attendance were the McEndy brothers, fresh out of the weight room, and
Malvern hockey goalie Harry “Big Har”
Moppert.
Flanagan’s
Player of the Game goes to Phil Gosselin,
who gave Malvern a much needed spark of the bench.
JAN.
13
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern 72, Academy Park 56
It was cold cold
night in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania as the Friars traveled to Academy Park for an out of
conference match-up with Academy Park. The Episcopal game scheduled for Tuesday was
cancelled due to a power in the O’Neil Center, and Malvern took it out on AP. It was a homecoming for Malvern 2-guard Jimmie Cotton who had the whole
crowd rooting for him the whole game and he definitely did not disappoint. Jimmie poured 22 points
in a variety of ways, from downtown, a little midrange game, and even a Tim Duncan like
turnaround baby hook. Kevin
Dougherty added 16 as the
Friars were on fire the whole night. Mike Creighton added 10 and around
8 assists, but turned the ball over several times. Mike said after the game that he was
“breaking ankles and throwing the ball into the crowd.” That would probably
describe it pretty well. Tommy
“The Junk Yard Dawg” Grandieri added a few
buckets and plenty of boards to help Malvern get the win. Notable people in attendance in
Sharon Hill were Malvern freshmen lax phenom Chris Creighton and Joe “Jose”
Torrez.
Flanagan
Player of the Game goes to Jimmie Cotton for dropping 22
points and not disappointing his hometown fans.
JAN.
8
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 70, Penn Charter 66 (2 OTs)
Sweet Sassy
Mollassy. This was a huge win for the Friars after a blowout loss to Blair Academy and a
squeaker with Shipley. This team is as erratic as it gets, but when it’s on can be
extremely dangerous. As for this game it was a tremendous effort by both teams. I was
unimpressed with Sammy Zeglinski the past
couple times I saw him, but it is kind of difficult to impress people when Sean Singletary and Rob Kurz are on your team. Sammy was unconscious
from beyond the arc at times; he took a lot of shots off the dribble from 23 to 24 feet at
times. That’s Flanagan-like range. He was
8-19 from deep, and was hot in the beginning then caught fire again towards the end of
regulation. He finished with 29 points, 7 assists, did it all, and kept the Quakers in it
when it seemed like Malvern was going to seal it. As for Malvern they were led by Matt “George” Borgerson had another
double with 21 points and ten boards. His most dangerous weapon is his silky baseline-mid
range J. His was 10-14 from the field. The Malvern backcourt known as white chocolate had
a terrific game. Mike “Chuck” Creighton had
16 points (1-1 from 3), 6 assists, and four steals, but was 5-11 from the foul line. At
this point it is strictly mental when he is at the line, because the kid is a definition
of a gym rat. The other half Jimmie Cotton
added 15 and along with Creighton did his best
of Zeglinski, although I don’t know too
many people that could have slowed him down on Saturday. Kevin Dougherty added 7 points, 8 boards, and 3
assists and Tom Grandieri added 9 boards, but
has a beef with Ted because he thinks had a couple more. Young buck Paul “King of the Dance Floor” Ostick
added four and has begun to play better, but he was called for technical. C’mon Paulie you know better than that. For PC G Kevin
McGarvey had 14 points and Brian
Teuber added 12. As for the end of the game the Friars blew at ten point lead within
the last 3 minutes of regulation. Malvern and PC each gave the other teams chances to win,
but free throw shooting lost it for PC especially after Zeglinski fouled out with 2:37 in the second OT.
Creighton got a steal and took it the distance
to put Malvern up for good 67-66 and K-doc
sealed it with two more daggers from the line with 17 seconds left. A heck of an opener
for the Friars who welcome the Gerald and Wayne show to the O’Neil Center at 3:45 on Tuesday. I usually
shout out the notable people in attendance, but more importantly was the absence of one
person. Mr. Cotton, father of Jimmie, began an 18-month tour of duty with the U.S.
Military Friday. We hope and pray for his safety and quick return to the States.
JAN.
5
NON - LEAGUE
Blair Academy (N.J.) 69, Malvern Prep 48
Flanagan’s Player
of the Game:
Blair
Two Guard Szalachowski who had a terrific
night shooting the ball.
DEC.
27
AUGUSTINIAN SHOOTOUT
Malvern 84, Villanova Prep (Calif.) 43
First off,
Ted, I am an ugly kid, I admit, but geez there is no way I am that ugly. We are going to
have to do something about that picture. Man does that look bad, but anyway Malvern rolled
to 41-point victory over Villanova Prep. The backcourt tandem of Mike “Chuck”
Creighton (for some reason he is not in the team picture) and Jimmie “Soft
as” Cotton played great again leading Malvern to the win. Creighton had 10
points and 9 assists, while Cotton who leads the team in scoring this with (around
18.5 a game) had 12 points and 2 assists. The Friar front line of Dougherty, Grandieri,
and Borgerson controlled the glass against the undersized `Nova team. Borgerson
had 9 points and 9 boards, Grandieri had 7 points, 3 steals, 3 assists, and three
boards. Kevin Doc added 11 points for the Friars. Malvern stepped up the defensive
pressure by using an effective press for most of the first half forcing many turnovers for
the overmatched `Nova team. Even the young bucks got involved, starter Paul Ostick
showed off some of his new post moves in first half. Mr. Boombostick is going to be
a good one for the Friars down the road. Next up for the Friars is a tough test versus Cascia
Hall a big team from the Sooner state. Some notable people in the crowd for game
include the one and only Ted Silary who managed to somehow make me look bad in a
photograph. Ted I’ll send you a new photo, that can’t stay up on the site, I
already am struggling with the ladies. Also in attendance was Bern Grandieri who
will be the best player out of the Grandieris (she is already better than Tom), and former
Malvern PG Kev “KK” Kinsella. Tough to follow up with a report especially
after Ted already did one.
Flanagan’s Player of the
Game: goes to Mike
Creighton for a solid overall performance.
Next
up for the 3-5 Friars is Cascia Hall from Tulsa, Oklahoma 7:30 Tuesday Night @Malvern
DEC. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern 59, West Chester Henderson 49
The Friars got back on the winning track by holding off West
Chester Henderson for a 59-49 win. The Friars' offensive attack was headed by Jimmie Cotton, who led Malvern with 17 points and
couple of big time steals. Mike “Do
Dirty” Creighton had 10 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and quarterbacked the
Malvern offense very effectively. Matt Borgerson
had a near double-double for the Friars with 8 points and 11 boards. Tommy Grandieri chipped in 10 points, 5 assists,
and seven boards. But, in the early going he had a few turnovers against the WCH press,
but eventually settled down. The Friars had big contributions off the bench from Zach Fordham, who had 9 points (2-3 from
downtown), and Kevin Dougherty, who had 5
points, 6 boards, and 3 assists coming off a severe illness. Sort off like Jordan dropping
37 with the flu against Utah in the Finals. WCH was led by Brian Spokas, who had 19, but most came in the
first half, and Steve Dennis, who contributed
14 and was lights out from beyond the arc. A pretty good crown was in attendance in West
Chester on Christmas Eve, Eve, including legendary St. Agnes CYO coach Chuck Creighton who was on hand to watch many of
his former players, and former Cleveland State
PG Joe Rogers.
Flanagan’s Players of the Game
Jimmie Cotton and Mike Creighton for the Friars.
Brian Spokas and Steve Dennis for the Warriors.
Next Game:
December 26 is the beginning of the first ever Augustinian Tournament at
Malvern. Teams from all over the country and Canada will be in town for this new tradition
beginning the day after Christmas.
Friars Record (2-5)
DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Downingtown East 50, Malvern Prep 33
The Friars suffered
another tough defeat against a hot-shooting Downingtown East team, in Downingtown. The
Friars were only able to put up 33 points on the board on a difficult shooting night. A Jimmie
Cotton jumper midway through the third quarter cut the lead to four, but it was
all Downingtown from there. DE was led by Ricky Miller (14 points) and Michael Aiken (12). Pat Devlin, ranked as the number four recruit for high school football in the
nation, added four points
and plenty of rebounds. The Friars were led by Cotton (12 points), who has played well so far this year. Mike Creighton
added 6, and Tom Grandieri added seven, but struggled from the field.
That brings
the Friars' record to 1-5 overall, but Creighton, Grandieri, and Kevin Dougherty missed
the first two games of the year for a school-related function.
Next
up for the Friars: A road game @West Chester
Henderson (5-1) 7:30 Thursday Night.