On the Trail With Ted Return to Home Page  Observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during the 2002-03 season . . .

JAN. 31
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Overbrook 50, Dobbins 49
   Not a classic, but both teams competed. Amazingly, 'Brook almost never gets in foul trouble and has the same six guys in the scoring column game after game. My DN story focused on sr. WG John Groover. He had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and had five in quick order to provide a 50-44 lead. He first made a hard drive along the left baseline and then, after jr. PG Kyle Copeland made a steal, added a deep trey. Sr. F-C Elijah Talbert had 10 points, 8 rebounds. Jr. G Maurice Millner hit two deep treys. Sr. F James Paige had 8 points. For Dobbins, sr. F Disheem "DaDa" Butler, who also plays FB, shot 10-for-20 for 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Jr. G Kyree Brown, who has a similar body type and actions, had 11 points and 6 assists. Sr. Phil Burns and jr. Ahkieme McClendon worked some nice high-lows and appeared to truly know how to play. Both are limited, however. Burns did show nice timing on defense, enabing him to record 8 blocked shots. I had fun watching sr. G Benjamin Robinson (10 points). He had a lot of energy and juice. When he smiles, he looks like the kind of kid who would drive teachers crazy, but in a good way. The one-point spread came about when Robinson (on a pass from sr. F Darryl Moon) drained a trey at 1.9. 'Brook then missed a one-and-one, but Dobbins could not get off a last shot. This was one of the smaller crowds I've seen in 32 years of going to 22nd and Lehigh. There were no more than 50 people. Actually, maybe no more than 40. But of course, as the stretch run got good, those folks sounded like 400 to 500.

JAN. 30
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Bartram 64, Gratz 56
   Gratz has just five losses in its last 180 league outings and Bartram is responsible for two of them. One day short of exactly one year since beating the Bulldogs AT Gratz, the Braves did so again. Truthfully, this was not a particularly good game. But it was definitely intense and rough and the teams played hard. My DN story focused on 6-10 sr. C (maybe 6-9, who knows?) Jason Cain, who is considered by some to be the country's top unsigned big man. He shot 5-for-8 (two dunks) and 13-for-21 for 23 points while adding 9 rebounds, 6 blocks. Gratz hammered Cain again and again and he was doing a poor job early at the foul line. He was clutch when he needed to be, though, hitting 5-for-5 in a 13-point fourth quarter. Cain got much more room to operate once jr. enforcer Jason Hickenbottom fouled out with 3:18 left. Cain is being recruited by numerous D-I schools and the longer he waits, the bettter the level is getting. He has made just two visits: to Penn State and UNC-Greensboro. Temple, Villanova and Virginia appear to have good shots. It'll be interesting. Sr. PG Charles Jones also did a nice job. He scored 8 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and helped see to it that the Braves had just 8 turnovers for the game. Sr. F Khalil Abdus-Salaam had 10 points, 7 boards. Sr. G-F Bryant Leach was limited by foul trouble, but made some nice passes down the stretch. Sr. F Todd McCoy, the FB QB, got some revenge for Bartram's stinky performance in a quarterfinal loss to Gratz by plucking 7 rebounds. For Gratz, jr. G-F Mark Tyndale totaled 18 points (6-for-16 floor) and 9 rebounds. Sr. PG Omar Johnson (13) was the Bulldogs' only other double figure scorer. Sr. F Paul Graham was the sixth man in this one after playing not at all last Sunday vs. Roman. He had 7 points. It's not too often that Gratz loses twice in a five-day period. We'll see how the Bulldogs rebound.

JAN. 28
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Washington 80, Northeast 76
        Some thoughts . . .
        It's a shame the atmosphere at Pub games can't be like this one all the time. Both schools' football players were out in force and playfully heckled each other (and the hoopsters) nonstop. Check out the photo of the G-Dub guys in "More Special Photos."   There was also a DJ in attendance . . . I certainly hope 6-8 sr. C Dontay Tabbs (13 points, 13 boards) capitalizes on his opportunity. He can run and jump and has good hands. If he focuses and does his part at prep school next year, he'll wind up in a NICE D-I program . . . Washington has a veteran team and could be dangerous, if everyone plays sensibly . . . I like sr. PG John Hampton (17 points, 4 assists). The Eagles are often helter-skelter, but he tries to maintain control . . . Srs. Joe Ndanu (20) and Kasid Bland (12) also know how to dig in . . . Sr. F Tariq Benn (10, 15 rebounds) is quick and active around the basket. He jumps three times to other guys' two times . . . Foul trouble killed NE. Sr. combo G Maurice Sammons picked up his FOURTH foul 2:19 before halftime and had to give up being aggressive on defense thereafter. He still finished with 26 points . . . Sr. F Troy Roundtree (15), leaning to Towson, picked up his third 3:14 before halftime . . . Sr. F Shawn Taylor shows a nice combination of inside-outside skills. He might be a D-II prospect . . . Sr. G Tom Jakeman is a brassy kid. Even when he missed a couple of important, late-game shots, he eagerly looked forward to getting a chance to take the next one. He then nailed a trey and a regular field goal . . . Frosh F Rockeed McCarter showed nice instincts on the offensive glass (12 boards total). Once he shows more composure, he'll convert more of his follows. He's going to be a big factor in FB, too. His brother, Rodney (Bok grad), is having a great FB career at James Madison.

JAN. 26
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 75, Gratz 61
        When people asked me about this one ahead of time, I said it would be interesting to see guard-heavy Gratz against frontcourt-heavy Roman. Gratz' guards routinely make opponents crumble, but it didn't happen here Roman soph PG Bobby Jordan was mostly strong with the ball, and got help from sr. Kevin Hightower. The Cahillites, truthfully, had few anxious moments. For whatever reason, Gratz didn't come with full pressure until it was trailing by 20, 47-27. Roman's headliner was jr. F-C Charron Fisher, who scored 25 points in raising his career total to 1,021. Every time I see him, it becomes more evident that he is working hard at developing his out-on-the-floor skills. In this one, in transition, he twice pulled up and nailed bankers of 8 to 10 feet. He shot 9-for-12 and 7-for-10 and plucked 13 rebounds. Jr. G-F Andre Sloan-El (14), Jordan (13) and Hightower (12) also hit double figures. Jr. F Brett Johnson played sensibly and worked well in tandem with Fisher. Gratz has seemingly a million similar guards. But not one is a natural scorer and without the usual barrage of steals, the Bulldogs struggled on offense. Sr. PG-WG Tariq Wharton did shoot 6-for-12 with four treys en route to 22 points, but the Bulldogs went 18-for-65 total (ouch!) and star jr. F Mark Tyndale was 4-for-17. Jr. F Jason Hickenbottom (nee McGirt) mixed 12 points, 12 boards. Jr. C Matt Walden, a 6-6 lefty, grabbed 9 rebounds and is rounding back into shape. He'll be important against the likes of Bartram, Mansion, etc. Sr. PG Omar Johnson is often a rock for Gratz, but he went scoreless through three quarters and finished with nine. One sign of Gratz' struggles: It had just 6 assists on the 18 field goals.

JAN. 24
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 89, Malvern 63
        I repeat: When PC is rolling, it is VERY good. One of those times was through the third quarter and into the fourth in this one, when the Quakers used a 34-8 hot streak to remove all starch from what was shaping up as a classic as haltime arrived. Malvern had just pushed within 42-39 and jr. F Dan "Don't Call Me a Center" Plunkett (smile)   was having the game of his life (18 points). But 6-8 jr. F-C Rob Kurz began playing Plunkett in the second half and he scored just two points thereafter, both on free throws. Kurz was also impressive on offense, totaling 26 points and 11 rebounds. Sr. F Matt Ryan shot 7-for-8 en route to 17 points. The guards were awesome. Jr. PG Sean Singletary collected 14 points and eight assists. Soph WG Zack Zeglinski had 23 points and seven assists. He packed nine of his points into the third quarter and made several highly athletic plays. Perhaps the biggest cheer of the night from the overflow crowd came when tiny PC sub Hanif Hopkins buried a late, no-rotation three-pointer. Check this out: PC sub Tony McDevitt, a member of the rotation, is now on the wrestling team, too. He won a match at 215 pounds by pin, then played hoops. He was our Inter-Ac Player of the Year in football and his best sport is lacrosse; he's headed to Duke for that. When I asked Tony why he decided to wrestle, too, he said with a shrug, "You only go through high school once, right?" For Malvern, jr. Brian Grandieri is being used at everything from PG to PF. It's weird to see him bring up the ball, then run to the side of the lane and post up. He shot 10-for-20 (one trey) and 3-for-3 for 24 points while adding 6 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals. No other Friar had more than 3 rebounds.

JAN. 23
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Franklin LC 82, Bodine 49
   Some thoughts . . .
   Not much to say about this one, troops. Why I went to it will become evident when you see the Daily News . . . Sr. PG Michael Green now has two D-I offers. He had 18 points, 8 assists, 4 steals and 8 rebounds . . . He twice set up sr. G-F Tyreek Byard (15 points) for amazing alley-oop slams, causing the crowd to go berserk . . . Soph C Denis Delli received extended minutes and responded with 8 rebounds . . . For Bodine, 5-3, 118-pound G Keith Gastearl came off the bench for 13 points, exciting one and all. He had two treys and two assists . . . Jr. F Jamil Wilson had 9 fourth quarter points . . . Jr. C Kaiem Frink notched two rejections . . . Bodine is quite undertalented, but I like these kids. They get along and root for each other and they even stand up and pay attention when coach Paul Kolakowski calls time out . . . One of the refs was the legendary Froggy Carfagno, who does FB reports for this website. Except for giving Gastearl a trey on a 16-foot jumper (smile), he was flawless. 

JAN. 21
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 76, Episcopal 51
        Some thoughts . . .
        When PC is rolling, it's VERY good . . . How'd you like to have Sean Singletary's future? The jr. PG is among the city's very best players in basketball and football (WR-DB-KR). He has a habit of taking over games at the start, which is dynamite. He scored 16 points in 9.5 minutes to stake the Quakers to a 29-16 lead. He finished with 25 . . . Soph WG Zack Zeglinski always seems to get decent numbers in multiple categories. He had seven rebounds and seven assists . . . Sr. F Matt Ryan had 4 rejections. "Now he thinks he's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar," coach Jim Phillips cracked . . . Sr. F Mike Boles had more fouls (five) than points and rebounds combined (three). Yes, he was frustrated. He got fouls for LOOKING at people . . . I was again impressed with EA frosh Gerald Henderson. He can glide from one spot to another rather far away and has tremendous hands. He even went 2-for-3 on treys en route to 20 points, 8 boards, 4 blocks . . . The guards struggled, even though sr. Ron Frazier finished with 16 points.

JAN. 19
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 68, McDevitt 35
   Some thoughts . . .
   Coach Joe Sette has Wood playing very unselfish basketball. Even the subs were givin' it up to each other . . . Sr. Greg Arrow (11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals) is developing into a respectable PG. He was a WG as a soph and jr., so he'll be valuable to a D-III program . . . Soph WG Matt Spadafora (15 points, 9 rebounds) appears to be more confident, and brassy . . . Jr. F-C John Gwiazdowski (14, seven) kept taking his time and succeeding, mainly because McDevitt's frontcourters were helter-skeltering like crazy . . . I hope I'm not jinxing McDevitt sr. F Mike Ross, a Mansfield signee. Every time I see him, he misses shot after shot after shot. He was 3-for-19 in this one (after 2-for-20 the last time). He did have 7 blocks . . . Sr. WG Chris Hanes also had shooting difficulty. He made his first two shots, then hit only two of his next 17 . . . There were almost no students in attendance and maybe 50 people total . . . And whatever became of Sean "Knock on" Woods?????

JAN. 17
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 52, Neumann 48
   Admit it. Like 'em or not, you were curious to see how the SJ Prep Hawks would react after falling to Roman last Sunday. A tough game at Neuman would answer important questions: Are these guys legit? Or frauds? Well, by the end of the night, Prep had more points and definitely had re-earned respect. The Hawks scored the last seven points in 30.4 seconds to triumph. Jr. WG John Griffin authored the miracle almost singlehandedly, scoring five of those seven points and adding two steals. "Griff" first drained three free throws in one fell swoop to create a tie at 48-48, then got a steal at halfcourt and went in for a layup. He followed with another pilfer and was able to get a time out. Jr. PG Chris Clark (11 points, 3 assists) followed with two free throws of his own to lock the gym at 0:06. Griffin, 3-for-19 vs. Roman, scored 21 in this one by going 8-for-9 from the line and adding three treys. His biggest three-pointer came 1:59 before half and he added a foul shot for a four-point play. Prep trailed, 21-12, right before that and had been 0-for-11 in the quarter. The Hawks kept right on rolling and led at one point, 34-29. Did Neumann let these guys off the hook, or what?! Sr. F Kyle Eisenmann got a start and produced nicely, posting 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Sr. F-C Mark Zoller was sub-par offensively (4-for-13, 9 points), but did have 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Neumann had trouble forcing a favorable tempo and was never totally in a flow, even when ahead by 21-12. The best showing likely came from sr. F Kevin Lauer (8 points, 11 rebounds). Lauer is usually a last option on offense, but the Pirates ran some plays for him and he converted. He also soared extra high for a follow basket and likely could have rammed the ball home. Impressive! Sr. F Todd Johnson, who signed this week with Shippensburg, had two mighty slams, but took just two other shots and missed them. He did do a good job on Zoller. Jr. F Adon El mixed 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks. Neumann has seven players who deserve to be starters. Every once in a while, a guy being removed flashed a look of disgust and a few times, guys coming back IN did not look mentally prepared. The Buccos have to realize, there are only so many minutes to go around.

JAN. 16
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Northeast 64, West Phila. 61
   Some thoughts . . .
   It was interesting to see the guards, srs. Maurice Sammons (21 points, 15 in fourth quarter) and Tom Jakeman (14 points, 5 assists, 4 steals), play well on a day when they were badly needed . . . Sr. F Troy Roundtree has always given a lumbering appearance while almost always being able to succeed. But he went 3-for-17 and 10-for-16 for 17 points; he did grab 11 rebounds . . . Sr. F Shawn Taylor suffered a nasty tumble in the second quarter, landing flush on his left hip. He did not return . . . Frosh Rockeed McCarter will likely be a star in two sports; he has already made some dents in FB as well. His brother, Rodney, is a FB star at James Madison University . . . For West, sr. PF-C Domenique Wilson was responsible for most of Roundtree's struggles. He's built like a tight end and is quick off his feet. He blocked 5 shots early and finished with 8. He's very raw on offense, but some D-IIs might want to check him out . . . Sr. PG Chris Williams does most of his dribbling and passing righthanded, but shoots lefthanded . . . Jr. WG Ricardo Lovelace (21 points) has a sweet, athletic jumper. His skills are a poor man's version of Shawn Harvey's, the former West star who has played professionally in Australia and is helping coach Ed Wright while recovering from an injury . . . Sr. SF Andrew Myatt shows a good mixture of deep shooting and mid-range, on-the-move jumpers.

JAN. 12
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Roman 65, SJ Prep 59
   Some thoughts . . .
   As well as The Prep played while rolling to 15-0, there were whispers that the record was slightly bogus due to largely average competition . . . How much better does jr. G-F Andre Sloan-El feel when he gets to play on courts where treys from the corner, his favorite spot, are actually possible? He went 3-for-4 on treys . . . Sr. PG-WG Kevin Hightower was spunky off the bench. He took and hit two big shots . . . I'm not a coach, of course, but even a blind man can see that somebody has to work with jr. WG Khalil Ferguson's shot. Now. The lefty is an excellent driver, but his jumpers/free throws are non-stop knuckleballs . . . Jr. Brett Johnson did a nice job at both ends . . . Prep's crowd did not have a chance to become a factor until early in the fourth quarter. The gym is so spacious, it's tough for the student rooters to come off as intimidating . . . Jr. WG John Griffin went 3-for-19 from the floor and 1-for-11 on threes. He got good looks, mostly, but just couldn't drain the shots . . . As the game wound down, coach Speedy Morris twice uttered the B.S. word at, for him, rather high volume in a normal voice. (Some of his best tirades are delivered in a squeaky voice that's tough to understand.) He received no techs . . . Morris and Roman coach Dennis Seddon had no timeouts to burn over the final 3 1/2 minutes, but that chunk of the game took roughly 20 minutes to play. Brutal . . . I sat next to Prep assistant Joe Donahue, who was keyboarding stats directly into a computer. Cool, huh?
   Some stats . . .
   Roman jr. F-C Charron Fisher: 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks . . . Prep sr. F-C Mark Zoller: 14, 16, 0 . . . Prep went 16-for-59 (floor) and 24-for-29 (line) . . . Prep had just one turnover in the second half.

JAN. 10
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 80, Wood 56
   Some thoughts . . .
    Even without star jr. G Kyle Lowry (one-game benching for violating a school rule), the Cardinals pretty much frolicked . . . They passed well and showed good movement . . . Coach Mark Heimerdinger didn't even have to snap out, at all (smile) . . . Jr. F-C DeSean White has a better than ever feel on how to play. He knows he can pass and see the big picture . . . Jr. WG Timmy Smith is a big fan favorite. The Looney Bin occupants chanted for him all night . . . The temperature in the gym was, oh, maybe 87!!! . . . Stat man Tom "Hockey Puck" McKenna has set the over-under number at 300. That's how many points he thinks Dougherty will wins its 14 division games by. So far, the number is 87 after three games . . . Fear is too strong of a word, but some Wood players certainly appeared to be hesitant when faced with the prospect of trying to score over Dougherty's inside players . . . Rob Pearson, a 6-6 soph with a solid build, scored 6 points as a deep sub. He's very methodical right now, but his career bears watching . . . Soph WG Matt Spadafora went 0-for-10 from the floor. My assumption: He'll never again have a scoreless game . . . Sr. Greg Arrow is a true WG, but now often plays the point because the Vikings have no one else. He scored eight points in garbage time to finish with 18 . . . Legendary Dougherty fan (and dot.com contributor) Dan "Salamander" McLaughlin was on hand. He coached the Looney Bin troops from the stands, but he could not resist the temptation to go up there and finally did so in the fourth quarter. He was wearing a Donovan McNabb jersey. He plays football, right? (I don't follow pro sports -- smile.)
   Some stats . . .
   White had 10 rebounds, 5 blocks . . . Jr. WG Bilal Benn (5) and sr. PG Shawn Bolling (4) led in assists . . . For Wood, sr. SF Tim Opdyke hustled for 13 boards.

JAN. 9
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Edison 84, University City 79 (OT)
   Just some thoughts . . .
   Edison sr. WG Tim Young weighs only 165 pounds, so that might scare off some D-I coaches, but this kid is a player. He can slash, he has the big first step and he has great instincts in traffic. There's MUCH to like about him . . . Sr. C David Eshun, a star FB lineman, was awesome in the fourth quarter, even though he missed a layup at the buzzer that could have ended it. He earned
three straight and-one opportunities, causing the fans to go crazy . . . Fr. PG Raymond "Doodles" Sims is an EXTREMELY clever ballhandler/passer. He's still adjusting to the quickness of varsity ball and sometimes makes lazy passes for turnovers, but, man, can he distribute! . . . He and jr. shooter Marvelous Richardson are lefties . . . Jr. Jerome "Huss" Allen has some Young-like qualities . . . UC has two productive srs., both with good builds, in Brandon Moton and Kareem Fredericks. Both are G-Fs. Fredericks kept driving through the smaller, skinnier Owls (except for Eshun) for easy baskets . . . F Anthony Morrison, also a lefty, is a promising sophomore. He appears to have a good feel for the game . . . Coach Ken Gritter keeps trying even though he loses players to transfer every season. This time it was three. "Grit" is a gentleman. I'd like to see him do well . . . D-III coaches should check out 6-5 Anthony Shelton. He has grown four inches since last season and has decent hands. Also, he doesn't mind being a true post player.

JAN. 7
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Neumann 62, Roman 49
        Has the balance of power finally shifted for sure, at least in this rivalry? Neumann has won the last two CL titles and today went into Roman's gym, usually an intimidating place, and pretty much had its way. The Pirates rolled to a 14-point halftime lead and had few anxious moments thereafter. The guards, sr. Antwain Wynn and jr. Richard "Tabby" Cunningham, were dominant. Wynn, a sr. lefty being eyed by Drexel, Canisius and Wagner, had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals. Cunningham added 9 points, 6 assists, 4 steals while engaging himself in an ongoing exchange -- mostly with glances and clapping -- with Roman's rooters. The Wynn/Cunningham combo helped see to it that Roman would receive very little from its guards. Meanwhile, jr. F Brett Johnson and jr. G-F Andre Sloan-El combined for no field goals (shooting 0-for-16 total; amazing). Jr. F Adon El had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 7 blocks. Sr. F Kevin Lauer had 8 points, 8 boards. Soph G-F David Burton packed 7 points and 8 boards into just 10 minutes. The Pirates did not even miss sr. F Todd Johnson (ankle). Roman's only decent performance was turned in by jr. F Charron Fisher. The manchild shot 10-for-21 and 7-for-9 for 27 points and plucked 11 rebounds. In warmups, he drained a string of deep treys so that shows me he's continuing to work on his outside game. The best laugh out of Roman's rooters came when one of them yelled, "Where'd they get these refs, Foot Locker?" John "Byrd" Pendergast has abandoned his fright wig in favor of the long-hair look. Late in the game, one kid did a wicked, quick-moving dance trying to distract Cunningham on free throws. Tabby missed the first to a wild response, then made the second.

JAN. 6
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Carroll 49, West Catholic 47
  Just some thoughts . . .
   These teams will likely be in the battle fourth place and competed like it. It was a shame more people were not in attendance . . . Carroll showed perfect execution on the game-winning, end-to-end play. Sr. Pat Malatack threw a baseball pass about 3/4s court to jr. Mike Springman, who came around a double screen, made a leaping catch, turned and banked home a 22-footer . . . Sr. C Jordan Ingram, a Fairleigh Dickinson signee, has become a master at tapping the ball to himself on entry passes . . . West jr. F Marshall Taylor had a strong overall outing with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks. A few times, though, he seemed to get
frustrated too early in possessions and stopped trying as hard to go get the ball. As he gets older and more experienced, he'll realize that just can't happen . . . Sr. PG Curtis Bryant made a few nice, pull-up jumpers off penetration against an excellent defender, jr. Matt Chambers . . . The Burrs' Brandons, srs. Wicker and Weston, are athletic and aggressive . . . West killed itself by missing two one-and-ones in the last 22 seconds.

JAN. 6
CATHOLIC NORTH
Ryan 68, Judge 62 (3 OTs)
   Boredom for much of regulation. Pandemonium thereafter. The spectators had to be very patient, but they were eventually rewarded. While watching games such as this one, I wonder why no one ever has had the brass to bring a shot clock to the Catholic League. Yes, I know there have been millions of entertaining 44-42 games in CL history, but what would be wrong with millions of much MORE entertaining 70-68 games? College coaches say again and again that, in today's environment, it's tough for them to make solid evaluations on CL players because the pace is often so slow and the players are too robotic. I don't totally agree, but I do to some extent. Sometime I'd love to keep track of how often the shot eventually launched in a CL game is the same one that could have been taken four or five passes earlier. If the multiple passes lead to a layup or truly open jumper, fine. But if they lead to an off-balance three taken by someone who's not even a good shooter, what's the point? . . . Anyway, Ryan jr. G Jim Welsh scored all 22 of his points after halftime, going 4-for-8 on treys. Jr. F Joe Mullin, a lefty, showed very good athleticism, even on the dribble, while mixing 18 points and 10 rebounds. Sr. WG Mike Devine made little-things contributions until the third OT, when he scored seven of his 13 points. Frosh G Joe Zeglinski shot just 4-for-17, but had six assists and did some serious skying on a clutch follow. For Judge, the starters all scored from nine to 12 points. Sr. PG Bill "Surfer Dude" Geiger had 12 along with three assists and five steals. He was at his best in the stretch, when Judge was frantically trying to battle back from a seven-point deficit. A true whirlwind at that point. Sr. G-F Jim Glowienka, a lefty, had 12 points and eight boards. Sr. G-F Steve Sellers, another lefty, had a nice in-the-shadows performance before fouling out late in the first OT. I know I said I wouldn't be doing many reports in our, ahem, realignment. It's 12:45 a.m., but I'm not yet sleepy and the game was a goodie (well, eventually) and I figured, "Ah, what the heck!" (smile)

JAN. 5
INTER-AC TRIPLEHEADER
   Just some thoughts . . .
   Chestnut Hill jr. G Chris McInerney is a serious hustler. I love how hard he plays . . . Sr. G-F K.C. Fordham (he goes maybe 6-5?) is very thin, but has the look of someone who will be starring years from now in playground leagues after his body fills out . . . Jr. PG Brian Grandieri, of Malvern, does so many things RIGHT. It's always a pleasure to watch this lefty . . . Teammate Greg Brown, a jr. WG, has perfect form and serious elevation on his jumper . . . I was disappointed with Episcopal. The Churchmen were often out of sync, and that almost never happens with a Dan Dougherty-coached team. Jr. G Brian Shanahan helped bring respectability to a horrible day by pouring in 12 fourth-quarter points . . . Gtn. Academy was a pleasant surprise. The very youthful Patriots competed hard vs. Penn Charter. I'd like to see jr. G Larry Sharp get more shots. He showed born-sniper tendencies last season. GA has no true point guard, though, so he's not free to ease into open areas and fire away . . . PC jr. PG Sean Singletary was dynamite in the first half, scoring 21 points (in part because GA had matchup problems with him). I sensed he got slightly bored thereafter. Jr. WG-SF Rob Kurz, who formerly played for GA, was saddled with heavy foul trouble. Still, he finished 4-for-5 and 5-for-6 for 13 points . . . Is there anything in life more annoying than the horn/buzzer at La Salle University? It redefines "loud."