Takin' a
Mulligan Return to TedSilary.com Home Page Tom
Mulligan, a senior, is an Episcopal Academy football lineman/kicker with an
interest in writing and keeping things light. |
DEC 20
CATCHING UP
Yeah, your boy's back. The third and final year of the
most-visited tedsilary.com game reports section is back up and running. Not
gonna lie, I had second thoughts about continuing my reporting, but then I
realized that I would be viewed as a fair-weather fan, which is certainly
not the case. Also, I can't pass up the opportunity to own my neighbor,
Brian “Bthom” Thomas, in something else. I've already dominated him in
every driveway basketball game you can think of, so I guess I'll take it to
the next level with this game reporting. Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you who
he is. He is a part of the three-headed Malvern Monster that is referring to
itself as “Friarside Chats.” You probably haven't bothered to look at their
stuff yet, but please do – I know, you only read the deluxe stuff, but give
them a chance, ok?
Anyway, this year's Episcopal basketball squad is looking nothing
like the teams of the past two years. The loss of Gerald Henderson, Wayne
Ellington and company is proving to be as difficult to overcome as we
had thought. The team stands at 1-7 right now. I was able to watch their
first two games against a strong Living Faith team, and Abington Friends.
Both games could have been won by the Churchmen as they led each contest at
halftime. However, turnovers and questionable coaching moves caused the team
to blow their leads and let the other team walk away with it. The team was
obviously still working on their chemistry, as almost all of the players but
co-captains Pat Kelly and Mike Nealis are getting their first
real varsity time this year. With this circumstance, I was surprised to see
how quickly the older players were replaced by freshmen when they made
mistakes in the first two games. This year's Episcopal team has a strong
group of freshmen, but they are still very raw and have yet to prove
themselves, which leads many people to question why they played so much the
first few games and why they were on the court in the waning moments of the
West Catholic game, another game that should have been won by the Churchmen,
but a solid fourth quarter lead was blown. A win was picked up at the Bullis
Holiday Classic Tournament in Maryland, but other than that, the season is
anything but successful. On average, the Churchmen are losing each game by
13 points. However, I will say that the potential for this team to be
successful is there. The combination of Kelly and G Dan Hilferty is
an above-average mix of quickness, ball-handling, and the ability to score.
G/F Matt Byrne brings a strong defensive presence to the team. He
rarely fouls, and can handle himself in one-on-one situations better than
anyone on the team. He will also be the hardest worker on the floor for the
Churchmen this year. Down low, the 6'8 Nealis brings a physical defensive
presence to the paint and a nice touch on the offensive end. 6'7 Herb
Bowen rounds out the starting 5 and shown signs of tremendous
athleticism, throwing down a dunk in transition against Abington Friends,
however he could use some work on the defensive end and sometimes a lack of
coordination is apparent. Coming off the bench, G/F Blair Fox has
all-round game. He may not be the best at any one thing, but he is
undoubtedly the best well-rounded player for the Churchmen. F Will McFee,
hailing from Sydney, Australia, still needs to get a feel for the offense
but his athletic ability (6'0 and can dunk) and offensive presence will be
useful.
The Churchmen play away at Germantown Friends today, and if they
don't win this game I really don't know what I'm going to do. The Inter-Ac
looks strong this year, with Penn Charter, Germantown Academy, and Malvern
leading the way. Supposedly Episcopal is going to join Haverford this year
in the “roll over” teams category. But, I don't see that happening. Don't
get me wrong, I hope Sammy Zeglinski, Kyle Griffin, and their teams
think that their Episcopal games this year are going to be easy, because
then the upset will be more fun. By the time the league starts I expect the
team to reach its potential and compete for its third title in that many
years. I'll be back soon.