December reports/Tedbits
February report/Tedbits

JAN. 31
TEDBIT
  I don't know for sure if a certain McDevitt freshman is Macon history this school year, but he's certainly enjoying some wonderful moments. In his very first varsity football game, Jaron Macon made three catches for 125 yards and a touchdown as the Lancers beat Pope John Paul II, 33-14. Now, of course, it's basketball season and last night Macon shot 7-for-9 from the floor (2-for-2 on treys) and 6-for-8 for 22 points as McDevitt topped O'Hara, 50-44, for its first CL win. Nice performances for a two-sport young-'un, right? Games with 125 receiving yards and 22 points. Wonder if any other freshmen have ever done that?
  UPDATE at 11:30 a.m. . . .
  Had a chance to search around. Last year we posted a list of high scoring outputs by Pub/Cath/Int freshmen in this century. The top effort for a Cath player belongs to West Catholic's Rob Hollomon, who poured in 28 points (10-for-14, 4-for-5, 4-for-8) vs. Kennedy-Kenrick. That's probably the best frosh effort all-time for a CL guy, bettering 25 by Dougherty's Bob Pembleton in 1993 (in his FIRST varsity game!). Though he went on to become a first-magnitude football star for West, and could wind up playing in the NFL next fall, Rob did not play varsity ball as a frosh. Two other guys from last year's list were also gridders -- the Zeglinski brothers. In the 2002-03 school year for Penn Charter, Zack had games with 157 rushing yards (26 carries) and 35 basketball points (whoa!). A year later, Joe was a frosh at Ryan. He had games of 137 rushing yards (15 carries) and 23 basketball points.   

JAN. 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
McDevitt 50, O'Hara 44
  On the backs of McDevitt's warmups, one apiece, such words as Faith, Trust, Loyalty, Heart, Spirit and Confidence can be spotted. Did someone say confidence? Tonight at halftime, it's doubtful the Lancers were brimming with THAT. Already 0-9 in CL play, they trailed by 26-16. Then, their routine was thrown off. This was senior night at O'Hara and the cheerleaders were honored at halftime. One problem: The ceremony didn't start until 6 minutes showed on the clock, just when McDevitt was coming back out to, hopefully, sharpen its shooting skills. With looks of ugh on their faces, the Lancers returned to their locker room to wait out the pomp and circumstance. When they returned, the teams were allowed to warm up for 5 minutes, 19 seconds, and, well, McDevitt made the most of it. They roared to a 34-18 edge over the final 16 minutes and won in reasonably comfortable fashion, all things considered. O'Hara had one of the strangest nights ever. The Lions shot 6-for-7 in the first quarter, then went 9-for-40 (22.5 percent) the rest of the way. Their third field goal of the second half did not come until 1:52 remained in the game. Aside from shooting poorly, the Lions also had major difficulty protecting the ball. Many of the turnovers were sloppy and a decent number occurred pretty far from the basket. Thus, the Lancers were able to immediately start breaks that often ended with easy layups. The main beneficiary was frosh G Jaron Macon. Macon, who also had some enjoyable varsity football moments last fall, finished with 22 points. He scored 12 in the fourth quarter and at least three of his buckets (pretty sure) were ahead-of-the-field layups off steals/dump-aheads by sr. CG Jayson Clark (six assists for the game). The Lancers also helped themselves by going 11-for-14 at the line over the final eight minutes. Clark also scored in double digits (11) while soph G Qadir Burgess, sr. F Fateem Jackson (also six boards) and sr. F-C Allen "Royal Avenue Bully" Harmon (he bangs with the best of 'em) thirded 15 points. Posting two late free throws was sr. G Zach Coates, who's known as "Zackie Robinson" during baseball season (smile). Earlier in the game, Macon (also three steals) impressed with a pair of treys. Overall, he shot 7-for-9 from the floor. Fittingly for Senior Night, sr. WG Tom "Tip" Swartz topped O'Hara with 14 points. He drained three treys, with each one coming in the first half. There are only three seniors total and the two others, Gs Tom Bacchia and Nathan Footman, also received starting nods. Bacchia's best play was a tough offensive rebound and a dump-off feed for a layup. Footman's coolest moment occurred before the game when the fans got to hear the names of the impressive colleges that are courting him for his academic prowess. Very nice! Frosh G Ahmin Williams used a late rush, mostly on follows of his own misses, to finish with 10 points. I wound up sitting close to the one, the only Tom Ingelsby, and we had fun exchanging comments. Check out his claims to fame (among others): Starred at guard for the only O'Hara team to win a CL championship (as a junior in '68) and coached the only Carroll team to do so (in '95). In between, he was the point guard for the 1971 Villanova team that reached the NCAA final, and then he played in the NBA/ABA. Guess you wish you'd lived that life, right? (smile)

JAN. 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 53, SJ Prep 39
  How's this for an interesting fact? On Wednesday, sr. G-SF Gemil Holbrook poured in 28 points as Roman rolled past visiting Judge, 77-44. Today, he didn't score his first points until 6:27 remained in the third quarter and the Cahillites owned a 29-17 lead BEFORE he hit the left-corner triple. That's called balance and coach Chris McNesby's squad certainly showed it in a game, played before a full house, that was respectable but never quite reached this-is-a-classic status. Though the Prep was supported by a large student contingent, the kids never showed outrageous amounts of juice and 60 percent of them began strolling toward the exits with 1:07 remaining. Roman's rooters joyously cheered/jeered while waving bye-bye. Just so there's no misunderstanding, Holbrook DID have an effect on this tilt. The Rider commit finished with 12 points -- all on treys -- and three came down the stretch as Roman created more and more distance. Three other guys were pretty much right with him in the scoring column. Jr. PG Tony Carr scored 13 points, jr. G Nazeer Bostick added 12 and soph WG D'Andre Vilmar had 11. Bostick, the recipient of Aaron "Ace" Carter's double-newspaper ink (Frog and Big Steve were also camped out along the east baseline), was quite the whirlwind. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks and was most responsible for the fact that Prep franchise Chris Clover, a sr. WG bound for Hawk Hill, shot 8-for-22 en route to 18 points. Carr began the game assigned to Clover, but Bostick assumed the duty before too long and played him most of the way thereafter. (Holbrook also had a stint or two.) Carr enabled Roman to established an early lead, at 11-6, with a triple on a feed from Bostick and a three-quarter-court layup that followed a steal. Roman led the rest of the way, though the Hawks made things interesting with a stirring, nine-point run that followed Holbrook's first trey. As the Cahillites called time, sr. PG James McGovern turned to the Prep's students and implored them to make even more noise. The momentum didn't last. Bostick hit a free-and-easy jumper, then notched a follow off a sky-job and the lead was 40-32 with 4:53 left. Holbrook's shooting exhibition -- two from the left corner, one from the right -- sealed the deal. Roman played today without sr. PF-C Manny Taylor, who made a journey to his future football home, Rutgers. Thus, everyone moved up a notch in the rotation and that gave jr. G Mark Tobin, a soccer franchise, a chance to make contributions. He saw extensive time in the second quarter and his assignment was McGovern, who can often prove to be dangerous from out-there territory. He took no floor shots during that span and didn't get to the line until the waning moments. Tobin indeed did his part. Only four guys scored for the Prep. Aside from Clover: jr. F-C Pete Gayhardt (eight, also 11 boards), sub sr. WG Jack Henkels (seven) and McGovern (six). Nothing against Roman, of course, but I was really hoping for a late-game tie. That would have made the final few minutes VERY interesting. Meanwhile, the Prep's best shooter was jr. Anto Keshgegian. Who? He's a JV player. He came out onto the court at halftime of the varsity tilt to shoot assorted jumpers and a decent percentage succeeded. Also, he was lofting with BOTH hands. His deepest triple, in fact, was launched with his off (left) hand. Pretty cool. Spectator of the Day: Donald Kelly, star guard for Speedy Morris' Roman champs in '73 and '74. He played with energy and a non-stop positive attitude and I'm guessing he's the guy every classmate loves to see at reunions. All the best, Donald!

JAN. 30
TEDBIT
  Yesterday, Audenried rolled past Franklin LC by a score of 113-54 and the Rockets' total is tied for second over the last 10 seasons in a Pub/Cath/Int game. (Pub only, actually. No team in the other two leagues has scored as 104.) Six guys reached double figures for 'Ried and the leaders, with 16 apiece, were Nyseem Smith and Niseem Wright.

JAN. 29 (Evening)
TEDBIT
  This morning we posted a list of Roman's players with at least 28 points in a CL game in this century. Below is a list of Ryan's guys, and you'll notice a big difference . . . The 2015 guy is at the top! Soph Izaiah Brockington, a lefty WG, scored 32 points last night in a loss at Conwell-Egan. In '98, Anthony Starace set Ryan's school record with 38 points vs. McDevitt and his shooting was darn near perfect -- 14-for-17 (2-for-2) and 8-for-9. That effort was one better than Fran Ciliberti's 37-point outing in 1984. Brockington's dad, Antoine, was a terrific hoopster (and football player) for Northeast before starring at Coppin State and playing pro ball overseas. In his senior season, 1992-93, he scored at least 28 points EIGHT times in Pub games (one playoff outing included). In order: 30, 34, 36, 33, 28, 42, 32 and 29. Keep practicing hard, Izaiah (smile) . . . Eric Fleming's brother, Justin, is a starter for Judge. Rus Slawter's brother, Austin, is a starter for Ryan. Jim Welsh is a Catholic League ref.

JAN. 29
TEDBIT
  Yesterday against Father Judge, sr. WG-SF Gemil Holbrook became the seventh Roman Catholic player in this century to score as many as 28 points in a league game (playoffs included). The Rider signee notched the number by shooting 9-for-17 from the floor (6-for-9 on treys) and 4-for-5 at the line. Eddie Griffin (RIP) scored at least 28 points five times, all in his senior season of 1999-2000. Charron Fisher, Maalik Wayns (reached NBA, as did Griffin) and Rakeem Brookins accomplished the feat twice apiece. Fisher and Wayns did so in different seasons.

JAN. 28
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 77, Judge 44
  With 5:42 remaining, Judge was called for its second 10-second violation of the third quarter and coach Sean Tait decided a change needed to be made. He waved five subs to the scorers' table and they weren't exactly familiar with varsity play. In fact, they were the last five guys in uniform and only two were listed on the roster when the season began. The new guys were jr. Brandon Peters and four sophs -- Mike Power, Matt O'Connor, Mack Justee and Amir Paul. They stayed out there together for 71 seconds and Justee, thanks to the second of two free throws, managed to score. The buzzer then sounded again and the rotation guys reappeared, but by that juncture -- and beforehand, of course -- the outcome was already decided. Hard to believe, Harry, as Richie Ashburn used to say. Just 3:10 prior to halftime, after battling back from some early struggles, the Crusaders were within 22-18 and lookin' semi-good. One problem: Gemil Holbrook was in da house. The sr. WG-SF got hacked on a trey attempt and nailed all three free throws. On a feed from jr. PG Tony Carr, he then swished a deep, out-front trey and even left his right arm up in the air -- with his wrist in follow-through mode -- for celebratory emphasis. All part of the game-long show. Holbrook, a Rider commit, finished with 28 points while shooting 9-for-17 (6-for-9 on treys) and 4-for-5. He packed 11 of those markers (three triples) into the first quarter. On regulation courts, Holbrook does much of his out-there sniping from the corners. That's impossible on Roman's extra-skinny floor, of course, so all treys were hit from the deep wing or around the top of the key. He racked up at least one in every quarter. Obviously, he was not the Cahillites' only headliner. Carr sniffed a triple double with eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Soph WG D'Andre Vilmar (13) and jr. WG Nazeer Bostick (10) also scored in double figures while sr. PF-C Manny Taylor had eight points, pleasing his personal rooting section to no end. Bostick also contributed five steals while other key rebounders were soph G Jon-Paul Sanders (eight) and Vilmar (seven). After Judge crept within 22-18 (on a trey by sr. F Nick Nowak), Roman stormed to 23 of the next 27 points. Whoa! That dominance finally ended when sr. PG Will Brazukas hit a three-pointer with 3:55 left in the third quarter. Judge's team and Roman's court are not exactly a match made in hoops heaven because the 'Saders love to shoot corner treys off hard penetration followed by kickouts. This game was originally set for yesterday at nearby Philadelphia Community, but the worst snowstorm in world history (slight exaggeration -- smile) got in the way. Roman AD Dan DiBerardinis said Community was not available today. Before Roman dominated, Judge did have some success with high-low plays. No one wound up with double digits. Soph WG Marc Rodriguez and Nowak halved 16 points. Like pretty much always at Roman, for photo purposes, I sat on the stage and enjoyed the students' nutty comments. Early, three kids nearby couldn't decide whether halfcourt violations are called after 10, eight or five seconds. Ha, ha. Soon, Judge sr. WG Aaron Higgins was checking into the game. He wears No. 23. "Who's that, Michael Jordan?" a kid yelled. At the other end, Higgins made a nifty pass for a backdoor layup. The kid followed up with, "Ohhhh! That's a Jordan pass right there!" The game ended with a very strange sequence. Often these days, a team that's way ahead will just hold the ball for the last, maybe, 10-15-20-even 30 seconds. Today? Roughly 50! Soph G Dakquan Davis just stood out by midcourt and Judge's defenders never moved. Today's coolest spectator: Herb McCutchen. He played for Mastbaum (class of '87) and was extremely popular with his teammates and fans. No one did not like Herb! Great to see him!

JAN. 28
TEDBIT
  Roughly 53 weeks ago, we posted a list of brothers who've scored varsity points as freshmen. One requirement: At least one must have played in the Catholic League or Inter-Ac League from 2001 to the present. Now it's time to update the list and there are three new combos. Know what? Two feature twins. The most productive set: Ahmad and Ahmin Williams at O'Hara. At West Catholic, meanwhile, are Keyohn and Stephon Maddox. The other newcomers are Wood's Funk brothers. Andrew has scored six points so far this season. Tommy had four in the 2013 season . . . The 641 freshman points racked up by the Zeglinski brothers will be hard to match. Of course, it helped that there were three of them (smile). Joe even scored some varsity points as an eighth-grader at Penn Charter before entering Ryan as a frosh. Last year, there was a chance for a 17-year difference between brothers. Alas, though Cole Storm indeed dressed for varsity games at Germantown Academy, he never dented the scoreboard. His brother, Brett, was a prominent frosh for Penn Charter in the 1996-97 school year . . . Two last things: There are frosh twins in the Pub this season, too. At Prep Charter, Khaliff (30) and Khalid Lisby (six) have combined for 36 points. And at Palumbo, Lassana Kesselly owns two points so far, thus matching the feat of his brother, Moussa, in 2014. If I missed any combos, you know the deal tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks.

JAN. 27
TEDBIT
  As mentioned last night, two lefties -- Carroll's Derrick Jones and Constitution's Ahmad Gilbert -- are in their second season of ranking extremely high on the list of the city's top players. With that in mind, I've decided to tab the top lefties of the previous 40 seasons (1975-2014). Jones and Gilbert, for now, are mentioned on the Goodies list. But they're pushing for spots in the Top 5 and . . . maybe we'll update this Tedbit come March (smile).

JAN. 27
PHILLY'S BEST LEFTY?
  Guy Rodgers. You can't do any better than the Hall of Fame and Rodgers, who died in 2001 at age 65, was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial HOF this past August. After stellar careers at Northeast (then located at 8th & Lehigh) and Temple, Rodgers entered the NBA in the fall of 1958. He wound up playing for 12 seasons, averaging 11.7 points and 7.8 assists. So, in effect, he was responsible for 28 points per game. Twice he twice led the NBA in assists (he had a high game of 23) and six times he claimed the runnerup spot. The man could make the ball talk. Four times he played in the all-star game and, overall, he participated in 46 playoff games. His teams: Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. The only other lefty of note to come out of Philly has been '92 Cardinal Dougherty grad Cuttino "Cat" Mobley, who indeed was special. Almost all of the guesses were for those two guys. (A few people, however, submitted guesses for guys who were NOT even lefthanded -- smile).
  Correct answers, in the order they were received by 7:30 this morning, came from . . .
  Pat McLoone, Dan Solis-Cohen, Tom Taylor, Mark Hueber (recent website student reporter; the only "youngster" with the correct answer -- "have heard Sonny Hill talk maybe a million times about him"), Tom Meakim, Bob Hamburger, Norm Eavenson, Jim Trainer and Jack Kapp.
  Thanks to those who participated!       

JAN. 26 (Evening)
TEDBIT
  For the second consecutive season, two lefties -- Carroll's Derrick Jones and Constitution's Ahmad Gilbert -- rank extremely high on the list of the city's top players. For tomorrow's Tedbit, I'll list the top lefties of the last 40 seasons, but in the meantime . . . Which product of a Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac school is considered the best lefty to come out of Philly, based on his NBA career? Incredibly, it's possible as few as five Philly lefties have even played in the NBA.
  Anyway, send your guess to tedtee307@yahoo.com and I'll list the names of all guys who provide the correct answer. Thanks!

JAN. 26
TEDBIT
  Brent Grimes got robbed last night! Grimes, a 2001 Northeast grad and cornerback for the Miami Dolphins, slapped together a terrific performance as Team Irvin beat Team Carter, 32-28, in the NFL's Pro Bowl. He posted one interception (in the end zone; snatched ball away from the receiver!), broke up five other passes and made three unassisted tackles. Alas, the defensive MVP award went to the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt, who played for the LOSING team. Ugh! In the four major sports, "Our Guys" guys have earned MVP honors in all-star games five times. Here's a breakdown . . .   

JAN. 25
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Carroll 69, La Salle 57
  Can a principal receive detention? We might find out, folks. Actually, if Joe Denelsbeck, Carroll's principal, gives this some thought, perhaps he'll give himself detention and make things lighthearted by allowing students to snap his pic as he sits in a classroom, or wherever, serving his "punishment." When I arrived home from this game, I told The Wife that Carroll's principal had been thrown out of the gym. Her response? "That's cool. He'll have cred with the kids." Ha, ha. Here's what happened . . . As the third quarter wound down, La Salle sr. F Matt Dessner, a sub who made only a brief appearance, made a blanket-him foul on Carroll soph F Dave Beatty on a drive near the basket. This happened right in front of where Aaron "Ace" Carter and I were sitting (far baseline) and Dessner, no doubt, flashed Beatty a brief, well,-that-was-authoritative glare. However, I did NOT think the foul was hard and/or dirty enough to merit an intentional call. In the next few moments, some players gathered to growl and slightly touch each other. The refs stepped in and, soon, the players were headed to their benches to prepare for the fourth quarter. Right beyond the end of Carroll's bench was Denelsbeck, who'd been supervising Carroll's student rooters. He was not a happy man. Multiple times, he yelled toward ref Joe Anhalt, "Take control of the game, Joe!" Finally, Anhalt decided he'd heard enough and made the you're-outta-here wave in Denelsbeck's direction. Denelsbeck did not immediately leave the gym. Not sure if he didn't understand what was happening, or was being defiant. (And if Joe wants to email his thoughts on the whole matter, we'll post  them. Along with detention pics -- smile.) Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk, for one, walked down to explain to Denelsbeck that he DID have to leave. Which he did. (Frank Fox, Carroll's president, supervised the students thereafter.) The Patriots' lead at the time was 49-31. As you saw above, they won by 12 points. They did storm to a 20-point bulge early in the fourth and, just when some witnesses were figuring the lead could inch upward to, say, 30, La Salle finally slapped together a strong stretch and charged within five. The get-that-close bucket was a right-wing trey by sr. WG Dan "Sniper 'Splorer" Corr. As often happens, however, a team spends so much energy to make a big comeback it has none left to complete the job. Jr. PG Josh Sharkey fueled Carroll's answer, following two free throws with another hard drive for a three-point play. So much for full, late-game drama. In all, I'm guessing 80 percent of this game's field goals were layups (most off ferocious drives) or dunks. Carroll won the throwdown contest, 8-1, and UNLV commit Derrick Jones, a sr. F, had SIX. In fact, just one of his seven FGs was NOT a dunk. Overall, he posted 15 points, nine rebounds and two apiece of assists/steals. Beatty had 18 points (two dunks) and five boards to earn Ace's ink; he was also a dedicated defender. Sharkey, who owned each and every path to the hoop in the second half, notched 15 of his 17 points and all three of his assists beyond halftime. Jr. WG Ryan Daly (nine) and sr. WG Samir Taylor (eight) came close to 10 points. Each had two assists. And this was VERY telling: soph F Jesse McPherson scored his two points on his own three-shot sequence. Carroll shot just 12-for-24 at the line and 1-for-9 on treys. While Corr hit three treys to rack up nine points, sr. WG Shawn Witherspoon (17), sr. PG Najee Walls (13) and sr. F Dave Krmpotich (12) reached double digits. Walls and Krmpotich halved 10 boards. In all, La Salle totaled just four assists and three steals. At least there as a nice, late-game moment as sr. G Pat Meehan, a deep sub, canned a layup for his first varsity points. Coming off a home loss to Neumann-Goretti on Friday night, Carroll needed this big-boy win on the road against a quality opponent. At halftime of the JV game, Carroll's varsity guys came out for a shootaround. A few La Salle kids playfully yelled toward Jones, "Throw it down!" Derrick smiled and shook his head no. Hopefully, the La Salle kids enjoyed his six in the game (smile). Among others, Collin Giongo (La Salle) and Sean McMorran (Carroll) were the stars of the rooting sections. Dan Spinelli, former website stalwart and now a freshman at Penn, stopped by to say hello. Dan is now writing about politics for Penn's student paper. (And his dad, Dan, is coaching the JV at Hatboro-Horsham under Penn Charter product Ed Enoch. Their previous stop was Lansdale Catholic.) Thanks again for everything, Dan! Most notable, star-from-back-in-the-day spectator: Kevin Mullen. The '78 Carroll grad starred in football (receiver) and baseball (outfielder) and once held the city record for TD catches in a season and a career. If I'd seen Kevin before the game ended, I would have asked (forced? ha ha) him to pose for a pic with La Salle's own football/baseball all-timer, Jimmy Herron.

JAN. 25
TEDBIT
  Are you a fan of not-so-instant, not-completely-identical replays? We had one recently. Back on Jan. 14, as you might remember, the Bottom 7 teams in the Catholic League standings hosted the Top 7. The Public League's Division D also numbers 14 teams. And on Thursday, the bottom/top 7s banged heads. One difference: Two of the Top 7s (Kensington, Roxborough) had to hit the road. Another difference: There were no upsets. In the Pub, the divisions are arranged by perceived strength. So we should not be THAT surprised that the total margin of victory was 73 points. In the CL it was 150.

JAN. 24
TEDBIT
  In city leagues history, Germantown Academy coach Jim Fenerty now ranks third in total wins. He began this season in the No. 5 spot at 543, but 18 wins in 22 games have enabled him to surpass Bill Fox (545 at Judge) and Bud Gardler (560 at Kenrick/O'Hara). Last night, GA topped Penn Charter and that triumph was Fenerty's 500th with the Patriots (26th season). He won 61 in eight seasons at the ol' Bishop Egan. Congrats, Jim!
  UPDATE: Mike Herron, Episcopal's go-to guy for sports, points out that Craig Conlin, Episcopal's coach, has a connection to many of the guys on this list! He played for Speedy Morris at La Salle University, succeeded Dan Dougherty at Episcopal and was a long-time assistant to Jim Fenerty at Germantown Academy. Also, in high school (La Salle '85), he routinely played against teams coached by Bill Fox (Judge) and Mark Heimerdinger (Dougherty), and it's possible the Explorers played a non-league game against Bud Gardler and O'Hara. Thanks for this, Mike. Good hus!!
  UPDATE, PART TWO: La Salle did meet O'Hara during Craig's playing career. Also, when Craig was an assistant, GA did play a Bill Ellerbee-coached Gratz team.

JAN. 23
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 71, Carroll 69
  Being a team's most noteworthy player, and only senior starter, does NOT mean you must be selfish and/or pigheaded. It means you must make the smart play while showing that the TEAM comes before YOU. Say hello to N-G sr. WG Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble, a Saint Joseph's signee, and rest assured that he should be standing seriously tall right about now, even with his chest pumped out a little. Before a packed, energized house at Carroll, Kimble missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15.8 seconds remaining and the rebound went to the opposition's star sr. F, Derrick Jones (UNLV). Jr. PG Josh Sharkey wound up with the ball on a break and was hacked en route to a layup attempt. He nailed both free throws to hand the Patriots a 69-68 lead. Quite fittingly, the ball was in Kimble's hands as the Saints set up for their answer. Would he rise up for a trey? Sashay down the lane for a flip shot or layup? Nope and nope again. He made the smart play, making sure the ball wound up in the scalding-hot right hand of soph WG Quade Green. Already in the session, Green owned 10 points thanks to two treys, a regular and two free throws. He was open and Kimble trusted him. And was he ever rewarded. Not completely on the full-fledged wing, nor fully in the corner, Green lifted for a trey. The shorter Sharkey came flying at him . . . Much later, as some Carroll students were setting up tables throughout the gym for an upcoming science fair, a Patriot baseball player came over for a quick chat. He said, glumly but with respect, "As soon as it left his hand, I knew it was good." So did pretty much everyone. Green was having THAT kind of night. After some discussion, the refs decided 1.2 remained. Jr. WG Ryan Daly inbounded for Carroll, but soph F Mike Milsip, freshly inserted by coach Carl Arrigale, did a lot of waving/jumping to make sure the long throw would not produce an even later miracle. The ball was barely ticked before crossing the baseline. N-G had to inbound one last time. Jr. PG Vaughn Covington fired three-quarters court to soph C Dhamir "DaDa" Cosby-Roundtree and the Saints came rushing off their bench to celebrate, as did some supporters. Overall, this was a wonderful night of basketball. And with a decent number of college coaches on hand, Green showed why his profile keeps soaring. In all, he scored 26 points while sniping 9-for-12 (5-for-5 on treys) and 3-for-3. That's right. His misses came on regulars. He also collected four apiece of rebounds/assists. After he splashed what turned out to be the game-winning trey, Green scurried toward a pack of N-G supporters and flashed the three-goggles sign, followed by the three-to-the-brain sign. Thanks to St. Joe's assistant Geoff Arnold for the terminology! (ha ha) Now let's get to Kimble's night. He scored 15 points, but went just 6-for-16 from the floor. His second field goal wasn't posted until 4:28 remained in the third quarter. That bucket moved the Saints within 40-37, however, so let's look at things this way: Other guys were doing nice things to assure N-G was very much in the game. That can only help long range, right? Cosby-Roundtree had 13 points and nine rebounds and did a nice job of defending Jones. The first time around, that is. I'm guessing Jones, the very definition of pogo-sticker, had at least six of his field goals (maybe as many as eight?) on quick tap-ins that followed his own misses. Covington had three assists while jr. WG Zane Martin, a lefty, combined 11 points with seven boards and three steals in a productive overall performance. Jones, also a lefty, needed 26 shots for his 26 markers. He also snatched 13 rebounds. In this one, he exclusively set up near the foul line or on the near wing and set sail on drives again and again. He did show versatility while often employing his right hand. That mixture will help immensely come college time. Sharkey (also three assists) shot 8-for-14 and 5-for-6 for 21 points. Two straight times in the first half, a Saints supporter bellowed, "Make him go left! He's got no left!" Um, yes he does. Sharkey zipped down the lane to his left for consecutive layups (smile). Daly (also five rebounds) and soph SF Dave Beatty added nine and eight points, respectively. Jones uncorked two dunks in the first half and the second one was beyond hellacious. In fact, sr. QB Sean McMorran, a ringleader in Carroll's mobbed student section, raced all the way down to the other end of the gym to express amazement. There was a terrific sequence to end the first half: right-corner trey by Kimble, steal/layup by Kimble, block by Cosby-Roundtree on Jones, fully authoritative block by Carroll jr. WG John Rigsby on a trey by Kimble. The Carroll kids played the "Silent Night" card and didn't cheer until their team reached 10 points. One problem: N-G already boasted 17 by that juncture. Also, the Carroll kids, late in a timeout with 51 seconds left, broke out what has become an automatic jinx lately, the "I Believe" chant. At least the Patriots weren't leading at the time. N-G prevailed despite shooting 1-for-11 from the floor (ouch) in the second quarter. At one point the Carroll kids yelled across to a N-G supporter, "Sit down! Shut up! . . . Sit down! Shut up!" The guy pointed to the front of his N-G T-shirt, which celebrated championships. He then pointed to a sign above and behind him to the left. It lists Carroll's one hoops title in '95. The look on his face screamed, "One championship? Ever? You're kiddin' me, right?" Classic exchange! Amauro and Frog were on hand to help/enjoy. Thanks, guys. Others spotted (various roles): Mark Del Brocco (N-G assistant; he arrived too "late" last year to get inside!), Robert "Beattie" Taylor (N-G assistant and former star; STILL always wants me to interview him - ha ha), Antwain Wynn, John Arrigale, Ashley Howard, Mike Lintulahti, Justin Scott, Askia Hamilton, Doug Romanczuk, Steve Falk, Whitey Rigsby, Walt Thompson . . .

JAN. 23
TEDBIT
  Wednesday's scaled-down snow event prevented us from witnessing what might have become a five-way tie for first place in the Catholic League. If Carroll at Judge had been played, and Carroll had won, these five teams would have finished the first half of league play at 6-1 -- Carroll, La Salle, Neumann-Goretti, Roman and St. Joseph's Prep. Can't imagine that has ever happened. Unless snow gets in the way again, Carroll or N-G will suffer a second loss tonight because those teams are slated to meet at 7 o'clock at Carroll (game to be streamed on Sports Fan Base Network). Below is a breakdown that provides a look at which teams have been "best" so far. N-G leads in plus/minus and Roman leads in average power points (opponents' wins divided by games played). Let's see whether either set of these "rankings" holds up over time.

JAN. 22
TEDBIT
  For the second time in three seasons, fans of fiit-it-up basketball scorers are feeling disappointed. Through Tuesday, only seven Pub/Cath/Int players were averaging as many as 20 points a game. If that number holds up, it'll be the second-lowest total in this century and just a sliver above six from 2013. Two guys -- Maritime's Zahir Stewart (27.8) and MC&S' Samir Doughty (26.2) -- are currently averaging at least 25.0. The top bombs-away season in this century was 2010, when 16 guys averaged at least 20.0. 2013 was the worst. A breakdown:

JAN. 21
TEDBIT
  Once again, a city record was tied yesterday as Haverford School met Episcopal Academy in an Inter-Ac League game -- Most Career Points Scored by Opposing Coaches. How do you like that one for an off-the-wall record? (smile). HS coach Henry "Doug" Fairfax ('99 grad) rang up 1,577 points during his career with the Fords. EA coach Craig Conlin did his playing at La Salle ('85) and his career total was 1,202. So their total is 2,779. Whoa! Conlin is in his fifth season. This is No. 4 for Fairfax. Their head-to-head contests have produced a 4-4 split. Their battles have been the only ones between 1,000-point coaches. The coaching careers of the other guys did not overlap except for that of Strawberry Mansion's Matt "Moo" Johnson's with Fairfax/Conlin. Mansion did not play HS or EA during Johnson's stint.

JAN. 20
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Episcopal 50, Haverford School 48
  This game was won in the first few seconds. Ridiculous? Impossible? Very much so. But the Churchdudes definitely made a statement. On the opening tap, HS jr. G-F Lamar Stevens guided the ball backward. EA sr. WG Mike Hinckley burst to a spot in front of the intended target to gain possession and roared downcourt for a layup. Thereafter, again and again, coach Craig Conlin's club exhibited sensible/brassy/we're-in-this-together play and even overcame the shock of coughing up the nine-point lead it owned with roughly four minutes remaining. Wait. Let's amend that last statement. EA did not "cough up" the lead as much as HS aggressively erased it. The score at that juncture was 44-35. The Fords then made the ball talk for the first time all game as floor balance was complimented by snappy passing. Earlier, there'd been many one-on-one (even one-on-many) drives. With 2:40 left, sr. PG Levan "Shawn" Alston hit sr. G-F Derek Mountain for a straight-on trey that advanced the Fords within 44-43. Next, on a break, Stevens soared for a serious flush-job on a feed from frosh WG Cameron Reddish and it was impossible not to think, "There's very little chance this momentum will be halted." But the Chuchkids managed to do it. At 1:51 jr. WG Matt "Into the Woods" buried a left-corner triple, his fourth of the game, to put EA back in front, 47-45. During the timeout, the HS students belted out the "I Believe" chant, which recently has proven to be quite the jinx. The next scoring was a three-point play by Stevens off a pass by Mountain. Soon, Stevens was blocking a shot by soph F-C Nick Alikakos and HS again appeared to be sittin' pretty. Reddish missed a front end at :35, however, and EA wound up calling time -- out by halfcourt, on the left side -- at 14.6. Conlin hoped his team would get the ball inside for a decent look. Wasn't possible. In all, I'm pretty sure four guys touched the ball. It wound up on the left wing and Hinckley whipped it into the corner. Soph WG Conner Delaney, who owned two points at that moment, jumped upward for a threeball and . . . splash! The shot was perfect. The timeout came at 5.2. Stevens accepted the rock near the top of the key and set sail straight down the middle. Alikakos stayed on the floor and raised his hands. Woods set up shop with the hope of drawing a charge. While colliding with much of Woods, Stevens lofted a bank-shot layup. The ball came off the glass a shade too hard and ticked off the front rim. Ballgame. I thought the no-call, as made by Bob "Notre Dame Harvey" Sumner, was perfect. Neither player was guilty of enough of an infraction to justify a whistle. Stevens slightly charged. Woods slightly blocked. The EA kids came storming out of the stands to swarm their heroes. Soon, they were bellowing, "This OUR house!! . . . This is OUR house!!" Hey, so was Germantown Academy's gym. That's right. Though GA and HS were viewed as 1-2 (or 2-1) heading into Inter-Ac play, each has suffered a home loss to EA. Pretty amazing. Overall, there were some amazing developments. Alston (Temple) did not attempt a shot until 3:10 remained in the first quarter. Stevens waited until :27 (though he was fouled) in that same stanza. Alikakos did not score his first point until 3:57 remained in the second quarter. As the first half wound down, Stevens blocked a layup by sr. PG Mike Jolaoso and the follow by Alikakos in short order. At the other end, Alikakos got a piece of Mountain's trey. EA enjoyed a great sequence in the third quarter as the ball zipped from Hinckley to Delaney to Alikakos in VERY quick order for a layup. Eight players (four for each team) finished with nine to 14 points. EA's quartet: Woods (14), Alikakos (13), Jolaoso and Hinckley (nine apiece). The Fords': Alston (13), Stevens (11), Mountain and Reddish (nine each). Alikakos swept 15 rebounds and Jolaoso had five of EA's 12 assists. Alikakos added two steals. Thanks to assistant Tom Kossuth for those digits. Kudos, meanwhile, to HS jr. G Micah Sims. He was a dedicated defender from beginning to end. Little by little, the Fords' gym wound up being packed. That's not always a given for afternoon games because so many Inter-Ac kids are involved in multiple sports. For a road game, especially, EA had a great turnout.

JAN. 20
TEDBIT
  The 1987-88 school year produced quite the special memories for athletes and fans of Frankford High. In the fall, Darren Swift and Sean Parish rushed for two TDs apiece as coach Al Angelo's football squad bested Dobbins, 42-14, to win the Public League title, set a then-city record for points in a season (454) and become the first PL team to finish a season at 12-0. (No Pub squad since has had a better perfect mark). By the way, Darren's son, D'Andre, is now a star rusher for St. Joseph's Prep. In soccer, under coach Bill Snyder, the emcee for yesterday's Vince Miller festivities, the Pioneers beat Washington, 2-1, on goals by Tom McCollum and Rob "Bird" MacDonald to win their first of what would be 10 consecutive championships. In baseball, under coach Dick Connolly, Frankford advanced to the semis and their star was a first team All-City infielder named Bobby Higginson. Later, an an outfielder, he played for 11 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, batting .272 with 187 homers and 709 RBI. And then, there was the basketball team . . . With coach Miller at the helm, the Pioneers won their first-ever basketball championship and let's just say it wasn't exactly easy to do so. Click here for my story about that game.  

JAN. 19
TEDBIT
  Two of the greatest coaches, and men, in Public League basketball history will be honored today as part of M.L. King Day events. At 12:30 at Frankford, between games of a girl-boy doubleheader, the Pioneers' gym will be named for Vinson "Vince" Miller, the coach for 27 seasons. At 4:30 at King, between the second and third games of a four-game event, Bill Ellerbee, Gratz' coach for 20 seasons, will be feted. Miller, a 1955 Overbrook grad, was a teammate of all-timer Wilt Chamberlain as well as his best friend from the third grade on up. In the 1955 City Title, as 'Brook slapped West Catholic, 83-42, Wilt and Vince scored 35 and 31 points, respectively. Vince passed away in 2009 at age 71. Ellerbee graduated from Gratz in 1960 and was a sub on the hoops squad. Here's a nugget on the coaches' impact: From 1924 through '71, Frankford's record in PL regular season games was 185-354 for a winning percentage of .343. Under Miller it was 230-112 for a winning percentage of .673 (an improvement of .330). From 1931 through '82, Gratz was 575-346 for .624. Under Ellerbee it was 228-25 for .901 (an improvement of .277).

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Ryan 51, West Catholic 44 (OT)
  As you can see from the score line, the winning team was Ryan. It might take you a long while, however, to make a correct guess on which Raider was the stretch-run hero. I'll save you the trouble. It was Chris Kuhar. Yes, many Ryan guys have higher profiles, but this kid, a soph G, made numerous big plays to help to secure the W. With West ahead by 39-37 late in regulation, sr. F Pasquale Dimascio missed a front end while trying to expand the pad. The rebound scramble never took place because the Burrs were hit with a lane violation. Upcourt, Kuhar wound up with the ball near the top of the key and, understandably, he was given lots of room since he'd attempted just one shot all game. To his credit, Kuhar went the brassy route. Here we go! . . . He set sail on a drive through the lane and twisted in a layup at 0:15. A right-baseline jumper by sr. SF Brandon Cole did not connect and to OT we went. Ryan scored the first five points and Kuhar thrived then, too. He recorded his fifth assist on a trey by jr. PG Austin Slawter and then drove for another layup. Oh, and to close things out, he converted a one-and-one at :31. It's always cool to see lesser lights step up big at crunch time and Kuhar certainly did so today. Congrats, young man. We'll see what happens over the second half of league play, but this game might have decided 10th place and the final playoff spot. A key stretch occurred over the final 6:23 of the second quarter. Sr. G-F Jahmil Harris, West's best player in many ways, incurred his second personal foul at that juncture and sat the bench until halftime. The Burrs went from a 13-10 lead to a 24-19 deficit. Ryan scored the first four points of the third quarter before Harris, who'd concentrated almost exclusively on passing, switched from an outside spot to an inside spot and began imposing his will. Ryan suddenly went cold and, paced by Harris and Dimascio, West stormed back to earn a 35-35 tie with about 5 minutes left. Each team scored four points from there to get things to OT. Jr. SF Austin Chabot led Ryan in points (15), rebounds (eight) and blocks (four). Soph WG Izaiah Brockington added 10 points and three apiece of assists/steals. Slawter had three steals and jr. C Fred Killian shot 4-for-4 for eight points. DiMascio had 13 points and three steals. Harris totaled 12 points, five rebounds and six dimes. Soph PG Jeohnni Moore hit two treys while scoring eight points while soph F Nahim Lee, who looks quite promising (he has the face of a seventh-grader; lots of growth upward and outward to come) managed five boards and three steals. Also, almost the instant he entered the game, he stood tall and took a charge. Earlier today, the weather was beyond wicked (freezing rain) and major accidents were everywhere on highways/side streets. One game was postponed and the starting time for two others was pushed back from 2:30 to 3:30. This one remained at 2:30 and the attendance, understandably (also, the Green Bay-Seattle NFC final was on TV), was quite poor. Except for JV players who stayed around and (maybe?) sons of coaches, I don't think West had more than six-seven fans. Attendees/workers of note: Frank "Five" McArdle, Glen Galeone, George Todt, Tom Magallanes, Joe DeMayo, Marlon Terry (Philly native and a former D-I assistant; Lee is his nephew), Frank Sciolla, Billy Everett, Rus Slawter, Bob "Notre Dame Harvey" Sumner, Kevin Guers, Mike Frain and Eric Frain. Mike handled the ticket table. Eric, his son and a Ryan grad, made a pit stop before returning to college at Bloomsburg. A third baseman, he recently was named a preseason All-American honoree for D-II. Niiiiice. McArdle reported that star Ryan RB Samir Bullock has committed to Delaware. Diiiiito.

JAN. 18
TEDBIT
  Kyle Lowry, a product ('04) of now-closed Cardinal Dougherty, has created quite the stir this season for his play with the Toronto Raptors. He is also making a persistent climb up the all-time list of NBA/ABA "Our Guys" career scorers. He now checks in at No. 15. Only regular season points are included. Owning the No. 9 spot is Fred Carter, the father of DN/Inky sports writer Aaron "Ace" Carter. (His points-per-season and points-per-game averages are higher.) Amazingly, Paul Arizin never played basketball at La Salle High. He was always cut. And at Bartram, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe was not promoted to the varsity until midway through his junior year. Lowry and Cuttino "Cat" Mobley (No. 5 on list) were coached at Dougherty by Mark Heimerdinger, who now guides Fels. Ray Scott, a West Philadelphia product, played the final two years of his career in the long-gone ABA.  

JAN. 17
TEDBIT
  Bonner-Prendie (nee Bonner) finished off quite the feat last night -- its first football-basketball sweep over archrival O'Hara in one school year since 1982-83! Marques Jackson totaled 19 points and seven rebounds as the Friars won at O'Hara, 43-40, in OT. During the just-past football season, Collin DiGalbo passed 19-for-30 for 273 yards and four TDs as B-P rolled, 33-13. Among DiGalbo's TD-catchers were Tyler Higgins and Joe Oquendo and both are basketball starters. In 1982-83, Bonner captured the football game by a 13-6 score as John Chupein booted a pair of field goals and one PAT. In hoops, Bonner rolled to wins of 80-56 and 51-39. Rodney Blake (26) and Tom Gormley (18) led the way in that first win. The second time around, the Friars' scoring leaders were Blake (17) and some guy named Jack Concannon (14). Now? He's B-P's coach! . . . To be clear, there were other school years in which Bonner/B-P notched at least one win against O'Hara in each sport. But as many as four games were sometimes played (regular season/playoff in football; two regular season games in basketball) and no sweeps were posted.

JAN. 16
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner-Prendie 43, O'Hara 40 (OT)
  The B-P kids came surging out of the stands and yelled downcourt toward O'Hara's rooters, "This is OUR house!! . . . This is OUR House!!" Yes, the emotions were flowing tonight before a large, energized crowd and the overall experience was wonderful. For most of this century, B-P (nee Bonner) has boasted larger rooting sections for this game even in O'Hara's gym. But an upturn under former star Steve Cloran is in its early stages and it's nice to see that the school in general is starting to care. Eighty-three total points do not scream track meet, and no world records were threatened in any offensive category. Rather than say both teams were crappy on offense, let's give credit to aggressive defense. Every kid dug deep and all night very few shots went unchallenged. It was great to see unbridled passion. As is our custom in down-to-the-wire jobs, we'll jump to the end. With 53 seconds left in OT, B-P sr. WG Tom "Cloooooon" McLoone converted a one-and-one to provide a hint of comfort at 43-38. The frosh Williams guard twins enabled the Lions to respond as Ahmad passed to Ahmin for a layup at 0:31. B-P then worked clock and jr. PG Keith Washington looked every bit like a dribble-like-crazy member of the Harlem Globetrotters until he was fouled at 0:18. The double-bonus was in effect, but Washington failed to connect on either shot. Uh, oh. With one timeout remaining, O'Hara rushed downcourt and tried for a quick, regular bucket. In all, the Lions tried three shots -- a layup off a drive, a contested follow and a desperation trey from the left corner after a scramble. Nothing succeeded. As things turned out, the Friars led throughout OT after sr. SF Marques Jackson turned a right-side drive into a three-point play about a minute in. On a pass from sr. PF-C Tyler Higgins, Jackson scored B-P's other, not-yet-mentioned OT points on a tight shot. Ahmad Williams had O'Hara's on a left-baseline jumper. Regulation ended at 36-36 and B-P had the last two shots -- a short jumper by Washington from the right side of the lane and a left-wing jumper by McLoone that was rejected shortly after the ball left his hand. Higgins and McLoone made some big plays down the stretch. Early, it appeared B-P was in the mood to dominate. The Friars notched 13 of the game's first 19 points as McLoone and Jackson hit two treys apiece. Though no one was eye-poppingly impressive for O'Hara during the comeback, at least progress was being made and defense was being played. Jackson led B-P with 19 points while McLoone (10) and Higgins (nine) helped out. Somehow, Washington shot just 1-for-9. Jackson (seven), Higgins (six) and Washington (five) led in rebounds. Ahmad Williams paced O'Hara with 10 markers and jr. G Zakee Griffin was right behind with nine. Scoring six points apiece were jr. F-C Liutauras Repsys, soph F Domantas Tiska (they're both here from Lithuania) and Ahmin Williams. If you were in attendance, did you notice the interesting dynamic with regard to the student sections? O'Hara has been coed throughout its existence and the boys/girls stood together. Bonner and Prendie were blended only in the last couple years. The boys all stood and the girls all sat to their left. Hmmmmm. Unless my eyesight is horrible, tonight's most famous spectator was Mr. Ernie Beck. He starred at West Catholic ('49) and Penn, played for seven years in the NBA and coached now-closed Bok for 30 seasons (1964-93). Gentlemen come no finer. Other sports headliners: Marty Cull, Sean Sullivan, Mike Lomas, August Gregory, Tom "Tush" Millison, Tom Kehoe and son R.C. Kehoe. By the way, O'Hara sr. WG Tom "Tip" Swartz said he's expecting to return from injury next Friday. I wound up sitting in the front of O'Hara's student section. During the National Anthem, one guy began to sing along in a goofy voice. Another guy said to him, "Not funny. It's just not funny." He stopped. When a ref tried to calm down Tiska and a B-P player after a collision, a kid yelled, "He doesn't speak English." Shortly into the varsity game, the smell of a fart was, whoa, very strong. The kids a couple rows behind were commenting, "Damn, you smell that? . . . That is brutal! . . . Who did that?! . . . That smell's going all the way to the top row!" Hopefully. I take pride in my farts. Blame the semi-nearby McDonald's on Baltimore Pike. Sorry, kids (smile)

JAN. 16
TEDBIT
  In a Public League game yesterday, Mastbaum beat Edison, 89-87, in three OTs. That game produced a total of 176 points and maybe you're saying, "Wow, a total that high can't be very common, right?" Funny you should ask . . . In the last 10 seasons, there have been 28 games with at least 175 points. The highest total has been 200. As you'll see on the list below, a decent percentage have gone into multiple OTs. Very sad element: 11 of these schools are now closed (Hope, Palmer, Carroll in Pub, Vaux, North Catholic, Bok, Lamberton, Dougherty, Comm Tech, FitzSimons and Penn). As far as I know, the city record for combined points in a game is 257. On Feb. 3, 1998, visiting Washington beat West Philadelphia, 130-127, in four OTs. At the time (and maybe still?) that was the highest-scoring game in Pennsylvania history and No. 9 in U.S. annals. Shannon Bussey (44) and Omar Latimore (31) topped Washington. Derrick Johnson (34) and Cantrell "Man-Man" Fletcher (25) topped West. Fletcher later starred for Neumann. That same day, Rahim Washington scored 53 points for Overbrook in a 94-84, double-OT win over Bartram. He's now Prep Charter's coach.

JAN. 15
TEDBIT
  For yesterday's contest, two guys supplied predicted scores for all seven games. Winner Billy Everett and Ed "Huck" Palmer tied in that competition. They came the closest on three games apiece and tied on the C-E tilt. If you go by "Price is Right" rules, however, Billy won that one, too, because Huck was over (smile).

JAN. 14
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 59, Lansdale Catholic 42
  Talk about an omen. On C-E's first possession, star jr. PG Stevie Jordan missed a layup off a hard drive, but then collected not one but two offensive rebounds while providing a 2-0 lead. We were just getting warmed up, folks. Another offensive rebound . . . and another . . . and another . . . and you know where we're going with this. C-E claimed seven in the first 4 1/2 minutes and wound up with 13 for the game. A strong guess is that eight (if not 10) led to successful follows. LC is lacking in height and weight and a few of C-E's guys are solid, if not exactly Chamberlainish, so that advantage made a big difference. In the last moments of the first quarter, for instance, Jordan missed a trey but sub sr. F Jordan Burney was right there to convert the follow and post a three-point play to make it 18-8. Though LC was still hanging around at halftime, coach Frank Sciolla's club stormed to a 22-4 edge in the third quarter, thus halting all suspense. As that session wound down, Jordan enjoyed one of the best sequences in basketball history. Really. I kid you not. On defense, he exploded out of nowhere to block a three-point attempt from the corner. And he damn near swatted the ball across the street to the Bucks County Tech School (or whatever it's called, officially). Then the Eagles came downcourt and Jordan drained a turnaround, fall-back, buzzer-beater from right in front of C-E's bench. Amaaaaazing. Also, sr. WG Chase Kumor had notched a trey to end the second quarter, so C-E scored nine, quarter-ending points in maybe 4 total seconds? Phew! Jordan scored 21 points while shooting 10-for-18. Jr. G-F LaPri McCray-Pace (11) and Kumor (10) also reached double digits. Jordan added five assists while Kumor claimed seven rebounds. For LC, sub sr. WG Nick Maloney notched 14 points . . . all in the second quarter. In fact, he hit four consecutive threeballs. Alas, he couldn't sustain the rhythm thereafter. Sr. F Colin Maguire also scored 14 points and his performance included a pair of fourth-quarter treys. No one else scored more than four points. Great to see former baseball coach Rich Papirio back in the PA saddle. His best moment: "LaPri McCray-Pace . . . with the jam!!" At halftime, C-E held a contest involving 17 kids who are slated to be freshmen next school year. Hit a halfcourt shot, have your tuition reduced by one half. Three kids hit the rim. Two more launched attempts that brushed the net. A shot by a girl, overall, probably came the closest. A little higher and it likely would have swished. The contest will be held again Friday night at halftime of the game with Wood. Somebody hit one last year, by the way. Very cool! I watched the game (and took pics) from a second-floor booth that's usually used for radio broadcasts. Nice vantage point and the pics (hopefully) are respectable because the gym's overall lighting is now very good. Also up there for the second half was the one, the only, Billy Everett, of contest-winning fame! (smile). See the Tedbit posted right under this report.

JAN. 14
TEDBIT
  Though each team sports a 2-2 record in Catholic League play, Conwell-Egan would be at least a slight favorite in a game vs. Bonner-Prendie. Thus, today/tonight offers an interesting circumstance: The Top 7 teams will be matched up against the Bottom 7 teams and ALL Top 7's will be hosting. Very strange, right? Here are the games, with records in league play. Will every Top 7 triumph? Perhaps in borderline/definite routs? Will any of the Bottom 7's be able to hang, or even spring an upset?  If you'd like to take a crack at the total point differential in these games, send your guess to me at tedtee307@yahoo.com. We'll see what happens and examine the results below (now updated) . . . West statman/website legend Ed "Huck" Palmer thinks the total difference will be 157 points. C-E loyalist Billy Everett thinks it'll be 148, but that ONE game will result in an upset -- Judge over Wood. B-P parent (and Daily News honcho) Pat McLoone thinks it'll be 144. Website legend Mark "Frog" Carfagno thinks it'll be 161. Constitution coach Rob Moore thinks it'll be 120. Roman statman/website legend Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna thinks it'll be 188. SJ Prep football assistant Bill Morris (Speedy's nephew) thinks it'll be 135. Penn Charter athletic assistant Gerry Sasse thinks it'll be 167. Pub hoops commish Ben Dubin thinks it'll be 166, but that ONE game will result in an upset -- Lansdale over C-E. Football ref Ernie Gallagher thinks it'll be 148. Former website legend Ed Morrone (Northeast Times) thinks it'll be 173. Website legend Amauro "Amar" Austin thinks it'll be 165. Website legend Jon "Duck" Gray thinks it'll be 126. Former McDevitt coach Jack Rutter thinks it'll be 182. Matt "Cauls" McCauley, webmaster/lensman for West Catholic's football website, thinks it'll be 170. Daily News writer Aaron "Ace" Carter thinks it'll be 153. Website fan Phil Schneider thinks it'll be 131. West Catholic football coach/AD Brian Fluck thinks it'll be 162. Occasional website contributor John Knebels (also of catholicphilly.com) thinks it'll be 141. (All entries were received this afternoon. Couldn't post some until 10 p.m. because I was covering a game.)

C-E loyalist Billy Everett missed by just two points (he had 148; the total was 150) AND he was the only guy to predict Judge's upset victory over Wood . . . Football ref Ernie Gallagher also had 148 (without any upsets). Others who were darn close: Aaron "Ace" Carter (153) and Pat McLoone (144).  

JAN. 13
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Germantown Academy 78, Malvern 63
  It's not often that a game report about a 16-point triumph begins with a description of the very last play. Then again, sub sr. G Abhi Patel is quite the popular Patriot and, well, he got robbed! By a teammate! (smile). On GA's last possession, Patel tried a left-baseline jumper of 8 to 10 feet. The ball rattled-rolled in and Abhi owned his first points in Inter-Ac play. Wait, no he didn't. Jr. G Bailey Whitman, the sixth man, had come running in from the right side. Unsure whether the ball would go in, he'd jumped with the hope of maybe notching a bucket on a follow. Instead -- and as tough as it was to see this call, it WAS correct -- Whitman was whistled for offensive goaltending for making contact with the rim and/or net and Abhi lost the two points. There'll be other chances, hopefully. Speaking of chances, 10-plus minutes into the game, which was played in Malvern's old gym, Dougherty Hall, it looked as if the Friars had a chance to hang around long-term. They were hitting some threes and finishing brassy drives with layups, even the reverse/twister varieties. Then it happened. GA coach Jim Fenerty ordered 6-10 jr. C Joe Stinson to head the scorers' table. Joe is still quite raw and often doesn't see much playing time because, remember, each of GA's starters also started last season. He wasn't out there to score, or even to snare rebounds, specifically. He was out there to be a presence in the middle of the lane and to make he Friars think twice, even thrice, about driving to the hoop. Not completely positive, but I think GA was only up one when Stinson checked in. By halftime the lead was 10. Mission accomplished. Sr. WG Tim "Sleeves" Guers led GA with 25 points. He shot 8-for-13 from the floor (3-for-5 on treys) and 6-for-6 at the line. Jr. PG Devon Goodman was next with 20 thanks to 5-for-9 (one trey) and 9-for-9. Adding 19 points was sr. G-F Sam Lindgren, who got GA rolling with a pair of early treys (top of key, right corner). Sophs Evan-Eric Longino (eight) and Kyle McCloskey (four) were the worker bees today. Sub jr. WG Eathyn Edwards caused late excitement with a right-corner two (thought it was a trey, sorry) and so did sr. G Matt Perricone, who manned up to take a charge. Extra stats are curently unavailable. They might be supplied later after assistant Marty Weiss watches the tape.  UPDATE from Marty Weiss -- Guers 10 rebounds and five assists; Lindgren seven rebounds and three assists; McCloskey eight rebounds and three assists. Malvern's scoring leaders were sr. Gs Joey Fitzpatrick (18), Jack Doherty (17) and Chris Anderson (14). Soph G Ray Baran, a lefty, likely had the most impressive sequence. After missing a layup, he grabbed the offensive board, used a fake to get two defenders up in the air and then finished with his right hand. The Friars missed the spunky play of soph G Zac Fernandez, who suffered a concussion in the I-A opener vs. Penn Charter. Dougherty Hall was built in 1954 and was the Friars' hoops home through the 1998-99 season. It's a cool place, though much smaller than the current gym. Windows can be found at ceiling level the length of both sides, but the sun was never an issue. Fenerty said he found out about the site switch via email at 11:08 last night. The teams also played in Dougherty last year. With a laugh, Jim said he might throw the Friars his own curveball when the teams meet again later this season at GA. The Patriots have an old gym, too. And in that one, hitting treys is more difficult because of a lower ceiling and a wood contraption toward one end that hangs down and looks like something out of a ski lodge (smile). Stay tuned. Kevin Pellegrini, Malvern's former football coach, was on hand and we hustled/bustled across the court at halftime so Kev could pose for a pic with look-alike ref Jared Black, a former basketball player at SJ Prep ('04). Thanks, guys!

JAN. 13
TEDBIT
  Lineups can be fluid, of course, but of the 70 current starters for Catholic League teams, only 19 are seniors in their second season as full-time (or close to it) starters. Lansdale and Ryan have none. La Salle leads the way with three. A couple seniors who started last season are now sixth men.

JAN. 12
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 61, Ryan 52
  Wood's players and coaches were walking back toward the locker room when assistants Ed McCormick and Blair Klumpp stopped to tabulate stats. As Blair scribbled away, Ed let loose with a big sigh and said, "That took years off my life. I'll only live to 90 now." As opposed to 100, maybe? Yes, this tilt was quite hairy for the Vikings. Though I didn't write down every scoring play, I'm pretty sure Wood trailed throughout the first 25-plus minutes except for one short lead (at 31-30) and two ties (at 13-13 and 19-19). They were getting beat to loose balls and Ryan wasn't taking as long as it usually does to shoot mostly because decent opportunities -- stand-still jumpers and flip shots off penetration -- were being presented quite early in possessions. Then, it was as if a giant-sized alarm clock put an end to the Vikings' slumber. They played with major juice down the stretch while creating a final score that, on the surface, is quite misleading. In an interesting twist, one of Wood's primary contributors during crunch time was sub soph WG Collin Gillespie, whose dad, Jim, is a football assistant with the Vikings. Know where he went to high school? Ryan. So did his wife, Therese. Ouch. As Wood stormed to a 22-10 edge over the final 6:42, Collin got things started by draining a right-wing trey and nailed a right-corner triple to make it 48-47. Sr. WG Cody Fitzpatrick and jr. PG Tommy Funk are usually Wood's bombardiers, so to get big buckets like those from a lesser light no doubt was inspirational. Other big plays: a rebound bucket by frosh WG Tyree Pickron off a missed free throw; a steal and outrageously aggressive drive (the lefty finished with his right hand) by Funk; a follow by Pickron off Funk's miss; a steal/layup by sr. F Luke Connaghan; and a close-in field goal by Connaghan off a feed by Funk. That last one made it 59-49 with 65 seconds remaining and by then the Raiders were reeling, big time. Kinda sad to see, honestly, because overall they'd played very well against an opponent with a higher profile. For example: While Ryan was scrambling to an 11-1 lead, Wood was missing its first eight shots. Wood's scoring wound up being quite balanced thanks to Funk (15), Connaghan (14), Fitzpatrick (13), Gillespie (10) and Pickron (eight). Sr. PF Ryan "In Your Hair" Neher, of football fame, had the other point. Pickron (10) and Connaghan (eight) led in rebounds, Connaghan registered four blocks, Connaghan/Funk halved six thefts and Funk had five assists (four after halftime). Thanks for those numbers, Blair. Fitzpatrick, who shoots from the next continent, let alone county, edged Gillespie in triples, 4-3. Ryan was quite top heavy in scoring due to soph WG Izaiah Brockington (20) and jr. WG-SF Austin Chabot (18). Brockington showed good/explosive body control while Chabot went the good/fluid route. Their shooting from the floor: Brockington (7-for-17), Chabot (8-for-13). Jr. PG Austin Slawter did a snappy job running the offense and sr. sub WG Kevin Nichols nailed two treys. Congrats to Ryan assistant Andrew Rogers, brother of Bernie, the head coach and a first team All-City honoree in 2008. He got married on Saturday to his now-wife, Candace, and the honeymoon is taking place in . . . oops, nowhere (smile). Andrew was on the bench, helping big bro. Honeymoon details TBA. Joe Fite, formerly of Score Service and a long-time teacher/coach in the Pub, was on hand to cover the game for a suburban paper. He's a Wood grad, so I'm guessing he wasn't displeased by the outcome (smile).

JAN. 12
TEDBIT
  It's still very early in Catholic League regular season play, of course, but something VERY uncommon is taking place so far. That is, the league's leading scorer is boasting quite a large lead over the runner-up. SJ Prep's Chris Clover has scored 96 points in four games for a 24.0 average. Holding down the No. 2 spot is McDevitt's Jayson Clark at 16.5. The differences between their averages is 7.5. If that holds, it'll be the second-highest difference between the one-two guys since 1950 (66 seasons). Below are all differences of at least 4.0. The late, great Tom Gola makes two appearances. Each time in the top slot.
  UPDATED ON FEB. 9: Chris Clover and Carroll's Derrick Jones are now on the list below. 

JAN. 11
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 69, Carroll 64
(At Cabrini College)
  At the EXACT instant Carroll's students, for the first time all game, began belting out the "I Believe" chant, sr. WG Gemil Holbrook made a halfcourt steal and drove in for a layup. First problem: Though he attended Carroll three years ago, Holbrook now plays for Roman. Second problem: That bucket put Roman ahead for good. True, the fourth quarter was just beginning and all kinds of stuff would happen thereafter, but this wasn't the first time the "I Believe" chant proved to be a jinx and I doubt it'll be the last. In fact . . . When Roman's kids finally cut loose with it, the Cahillites were up by 65-57 with only 46 seconds remaining after soph WG D'Andre Vilmar completed a three-point play. Jinx, Part II? Allllmost. With 4.5 seconds left, Carroll jr. PG Josh Sharkey bombed home a deep trey to advance the Patriots within three points. Eight-tenths later, Roman jr. PG Tony Carr wrapped up a wonderful performance by hitting both ends of a double-bonus. Cabrini's gym, one of my favorite places to watch a game (it's like a mini-Palestra), was brim-filled. And lots of entertainment was provided. Carr, the recipient of Aaron "Ace" Carter's multi-papers ink, was prominent. Aside from contributing 15 points and five assists, he claimed 15 rebounds. Yup, 15 rebounds. When was the last time you saw a point guard rack up that many? Though Carr did miss a pair of important one-and-ones in the fourth quarter (he's such a competitor, he's still probably beating himself up over that), again and again he made smart/crucial plays. He even had luck on his side. His one bucket in the fourth quarter came on what we'll call a side-belly flip. While rising for a shot, he semi-fumbled the ball and it wound up on the right side of his belly. But he regained control, pushed the ball hoopward and in it went. Roman's leading scorer as jr. WG Nazeer Bostick, with 22 points. He saved 18 for the second half and the outburst was highlighted by three dunks. He went 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter to key the Cahillites' 10-for-12 performance. Holbrook got Roman started and no doubt created some of the room that his teammates later enjoyed. He opened the game with a left-corner trey, then added one from the right wing. Though he went 0-for-6 beyond the arc thereafter, he did finish with 16 points (and five steals). Vilmar (11) and jr. F Paul Newman (five) completed the scoring. As in the recent Neumann-Goretti game, Newman experienced whistles frustration. Pretty much any time he breathed, he was hit with a foul. Sr. PF-C Manny Taylor went 0-for-3 while going scoreless. Sharkey (also four steals) led Carroll with 19 points while sr. F Derrick Jones (UNLV) and jr. WG Ryan Daly (son of former star Brian Daly; he's now a Penn State assistant) posted 17 apiece. Jones, who's springy beyond belief, also secured 17 rebounds while managing two dunks. Daly is mostly a wing sniper. He went 3-for-10 on treys and Roman did a respectable job of rarely letting him get completely comfortable looks. Roman's worst habit today was coughing up supposedly comfortable leads. The Cahillites led by 36-28 before the Patriots answered with a 13-2 run. And in the fourth quarter, they were in "command" at 58-46 and then again at 65-57; before they weren't. But in the end, the final lead stood up enough and Roman owned its second win of the week over a fellow toughie. Former Conwell-Egan coach Rick Sabol is now an assistant to Carroll boss Paul Romanczuk. Rick and his wife, Meghan, were accompanied by their five-month-old son, Trey, who was sporting the smallest Carroll sweater ever put on the market (smile). Jimmy Lynam was on hand, as were former Carroll coaches Barry Kirsch (basketball) and Paul McGeehan (baseball). Also spotted were some players from Inter-Ac schools. Ace, stat helper Amauro "Amar" Austin and I camped out at one end. I wound up sitting right next to injured Carroll star Ernest Aflakpui (right knee; Temple commit), who said he expects to be off crutches in about a month and back on the court in May. Here's hoping it happens sooner! Meanwhile, Ernest likely set world records for uttering "Oh, man" and "Oh, my God." That was his reaction to pretty much every play, good or bad. Mix in the accent and we're talking high-level entertainment (smile). 

JAN. 11
TEDBIT
  This is a post from the 2013-14 season, with necessary updates.
  Here's hoping we see a goodie this afternoon, 2:30 start, at Cabrini College when Roman meets Carroll. Since the coaches are Chris McNesby (Roman) and Paul Romanczuk (Carroll), we probably will. Those guys did their playing for the same schools and even graduated in the same year, 1995. They met six times then -- four times in the regular season and twice in playoffs -- and their teams have met five times since McNesby became Roman's coach for the 2008-09 season -- four times in the regular season and once in a playoff. Chris leads Paul, 7-4. There was one blowout. That occurred in the second regular season meeting in '94. The margin of victory in the other 10 games has been just 4.8 points. Look below for a breakdown. McNesby and Romanczuk also played in the 1995 All-Star Labor Classic. Who won? Chris and City bested Paul and Suburbs, 62-61. Because so many players are selected for each squad in the LC, playing time is limited. Chris had one point and two apiece of rebounds/assists. Paul went scoreless (took no shots) while adding two rebounds and one steal.

JAN. 10
TEDBIT
  Around this time last season, I did a list of all games I'd covered in which the final spread was 15 points, or fewer. Coaches, of course, are always ordering their teams to start strong and finish strong. Does it really matter? Last season, only one winning team had triumphed without winning the first or fourth quarter. This season? La Salle last night became the first to manage that feat. In their 66-58 win over Conwell-Egan, the Explorers seized the middle quarters, 38-24.

JAN. 9
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 66, Conwell-Egan 58
  The school record for points in one game at Conwell-Egan (nee Bishop Egan) is 42, and it belongs to Ike Robinson thanks to a vintage performance in 2010. By halftime tonight, it appeared jr. PG Stevie Jordan was going to make a strong run at trying to break it. Having shot 7-for-10 from the floor (one trey) and 4-for-4 at the line, he owned 19 points and most were coming in easy-as-pie fashion. He finished with 23. What happened? Defense happened, finally, and the Explorers played it on everybody over the final 16 minutes, not just Jordan. C-E shot just 9-for-24 beyond intermission, committed a bunch of turnovers and, in a very telling stat, earned just one assist. Again and again the Eagles went hard to the hoop and, often, things did not work out for the first guy and a second guy rarely saw the ball. Combining to shackle Jordan were sr. PG Najee Walls and his backup, soph Jarrod Stukes. Especially for Walls, the second half had to be particularly satisfying as he'd been prominent among the torched in the first half. An appearance by Stukes -- his brother, Amar, plays for La Salle University -- was a shade surprising. In the JV game, he took a shot above his left eye and the resulting bump was rather large. Once, in the varsity game, when he was down in a defensive stance near C-E's student rooters, Jarrod had a strange expression on his face. That look, coupled with the swelling, caused a kid to yell at him, "Why do you look like a fish?" Ha, ha. Trailing by 36-33 at halftime, La Salle rolled to an 18-4 advantage in the third quarter. It was a wonderful quarter for coach Joe Dempsey's club because six guys scored and everyone did little things, also. With 0:40 left, however, Walls was pounded on a layup attempt and gasps were heard throughout the gym as he hit the floor. To the naked eye, it had the look of landed-flat-out. But instead, it was almost as if he did a handstand while coming down. Quite scary, overall. Najee not only was able to return to action, but had half of his 18 points in the last session. Major props! Jr. WG Dan "Sniper to the" Corr used three treys to help tally 14 points. Sr. WG Shawn Witherspoon had 12 points, four assists and three steals and shared Ace's ink with Walls. Sr. frontcourters Dave Krmpotich (Colgate) and Shane Stark halved 18 points while "Krump" won the duo's rebound contest, 8-6. Four Eagles attained double digits. Following Jordan (sat down for a while in the fourth quarter with a severe cramp) were jr. PF-C Vinny Dalessandro (11), jr. G-F LaPri McCray Pace and sr. WG-SF Chase Kumor (10 apiece). Dalessandro and McC-P halved 12 boards. McC-P notched three assists while sub sr. G-F Jordan Burney hustled for three steals. What turned out to be a crucial swing occurred with La Salle up, 57-50. McCray-Pace's floater appeared to be the victim of a goaltend, but nothing was called. At the other end, Witherspoon went hard for a three-point play. C-E had a great student turnout and all kids were dressed in black. Well, except for one girl. When a ringleader noticed that, he tried to fire a black shirt to the last few rows while semi-barking, "Put this on!" Maintaining control of the kids was AD Jake Serfass. Oh, and he doubled as the head of the grammar police (smile). When the C-E guys yelled across to La Salle's few rooters, "We got girls!," Jake reminded them, "We HAVE girls." Soon, Jake was making the same correction when the kids bellowed, "We got the lead!" About midway through the fourth quarter, a front-row guy noticed that things were kinda quiet up top. He turned around hollered up in that direction, "Start cheering! Stop eating cheeseburgers!" Who knew there was a grill up there? (smile) With long-timer Rich Papirio unavailable, '74 Egan star Brian Townsend handled PA duties. In the afternoon, he reffed a freshman game at a Bucks County public school. Great to see Brian and his wife, Carolyn Giglio. Ace watched the game from the box behind and up to the side of C-E's bench. Guys doing radio broadcasts usually sit up there. For good reason, C-E superfan Billy Everett, president Janet Dollard and Serfass are thrilled with how nice C-E's gym looks after a full-scale renovation. Kevin "Sparky" Cooney, of the Bucks County Courier Times, was also on hand. His dramatic weight loss continues. Congrats on waving bye-bye to 140 pounds, Kev!

JAN. 8 (Evening)
TEDBIT
  Due to falling circulation and advertising, the Daily News recently was forced to make changes. As one of the recent hires, Aaron "Ace" Carter was among those who could have been laid off. Instead, he accepted an offer to join the Inquirer. He continues to cover city high school sports and many of his stories will also continue to be published in the DN. The Inquirer has early deadlines and space limitations, and for now it's unclear whether all of Ace's stories will still have the DN touch (as in, lengthy features as opposed to shorter game stories). We wish Ace the best and will continue to link to all stories concerning schools in the Pub/Cath/Int. Also, it's likely the DN will use interns to help with city coverage, especially at playoff time. For those who follow him, Ace's twitter handle is now @AceCarterINQ.

JAN. 8
TEDBIT
  In the 1994-95 basketball season, St. John Neumann went 0-14 in Catholic League play and some fans wore paper bags over their faces with Ain't John Neumann scrawled on the front. Luckily for CL fans, that mess was short-lived. Over the last 20 seasons, Neumann/Neumann-Goretti (the name change took place for the 2004-05 school year) and Roman have been top-notch programs together and have produced many, many, MANY terrific contests. Last night at Philadelphia University, Roman triumphed, 71-68. However, over the 20-year time frame, N/N-G still leads the series, 24-20, and its advantage in total points is 2,736 to 2,693, a difference of just 43. N/N-G leads in finals triumphs, 4-2, and in overall playoffs, 10-3. In games decided by no more than five points, N/N-G is also the leader, 12-10. In the '09 and '10 seasons, the schools were in different divisions based on enrollment. Their only meeting in that time frame occurred in the '09 final.

JAN. 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Roman 71, Neumann-Goretti 68
(At Philadelphia University)
  The Ben Franklin Walkout occurred with 2:47 remaining. That phrase was coined in the '80s based on what would happen at games in Franklin's gym. At the INSTANT the students/young adults thought there was no doubt about the outcome, they'd head for the exits and sometimes walk right across the court and cause a delay. Their thought process was, "This game is over. Only morons" (or a more raunchy word) "are still in the gym." Guess what? Tonight, the morons were the guys who left early. With 2:47 left, on a free throw, Roman increased its lead to 66-57. Yes, nine points. However, here came the Saints!! And here they came some more!! At 0:45, in fact, sr. CG Lamarr "Fresh" Kimble (Saint Joseph's) nailed a step-back, left-wing trey to create a TIE at 68-68. Those still around -- and not TOO many people had departed, honestly -- buckled their seatbelts and hoped for a classic finish. I'm sure no one would have minded seeing an overtime, or three. Following a timeout, Roman jr. PG Tony Carr dribbled away many seconds out front and finally embarked on a cleared-out drive. At 0:13, he spread-eagled in the lane and flipped in a lefthanded layup. Would N-G respond? Jr. WG Zane Martin, a lefty, wound up with the ball on the left baseline and began a hard drive. He then stopped and whipped the ball back toward the left corner. Unfortunately for the Saints, Martin's aim wasn't the greatest and the ball sailed out of bounds. Sr. WG Gemil Holbrook hit the back end of a double-bonus at 2.5 and a desperation heave by jr. G Vaughn Covington did not come close. The shot was launched from a spot not far from the scorers' table and covered about two-thirds of the court. Ballgame. A mighty entertaining one, at that. The one negative was that all big men on each team kept picking up fouls, often of the cheap variety. Overall, the refs were great, but I would have preferred seeing a shade more non-consequences banging. From the outset it was obvious that Roman, mindful that N-G's lineup includes four guards and non-physical specimens, intended to win this one inside. Check this out: when sr. PF-C Manny Taylor (6-6, 250; at least), bound for Rutgers for football, entered the game early, a spectator hollered toward him, "Some Kentucky fried chicken out here, Manny!" As in, enjoy your feast. Taylor bullied his way to 17 points while jr. PF-C Paul Newman, a lefty who has made great improvement since last season, added nine points. Both suffered whistle woes, however, and were not around by game's end. N-G's "bigs" (term used loosely, from the girth standpoint) also kept accumulating personals. Roman's overall headliner was Carr, who saved eight of his 16 points and four of his nine assists for the final eight minutes. Also, be hopped around from here to there and back to claim 12 rebounds. He's a very fluid kid and possesses the silent-killer trait. While he gives off a most-popular-kid-in-school aura, deep down he is ALWAYS trying to cut your heart out. His backcourt mate, jr. Nazeer Bostick, had 14 points. Holbrook added five points/rebounds and three assists and soph sub WG Dakquan Davis drained two treys for six points. The late comeback was not the Saints' first. They trailed at halftime, 34-25, mostly because Roman owned the inside and enjoyed success with high-low feeds. Three treys helped them rally, as did a 5-for-5 performance at the line in the third quarter. The cornerstones were brassy soph G Quade Green (11 of his 17 points) and Kimble (seven of his 17). The shots weren't clicking through much of the fourth, however, and that enabled Roman's edge to creep upward to nine, prior to the late rush. As the season progresses, seeing N-G really get out and go would not be surprising, especially if the shooting percentages are decent. Halfcourt ball does work in its favor, for now. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, a 6-8 soph, did have some good moments, however, en route to 14 points and six boards. Martin added 13 points, a team-high eight boards and three assists. Green's outing was enhanced by six apiece of rebounds/assists. Thanks to long-time website stalwart Amauro "Amar" Austin for the help with extra stats. And major praise to his 4-year-old daughter, Saige, for solid behavior (though did want to leave as early as the second quarter. Hey, she's 4. Cut her a break. Smile.) Roman had a strong section of student rooters and goofy costumes were everywhere. They also chanted "Mop the floor!" each time a kid came out to, well, mop the floor. Once, the kid did a fancy pirouette in mid-mop and the kids bellowed, "MVP! MVP!" Though Shep Garner (Roman '14) now plays for Penn State, his mom, Kim, sang the National Anthem. Beforehand, Roman AD Dan DiBerardinis said 1,000 tickets would be sold and that Philly U holds 1,260. The other spots would be occupied by those with passes. N-G product Tony Chennault, the DN City Player of the Year in 2010, was on hand, and he's making big strides in his filming career. Niiiice. Sign of the apocalypse: Roman assistant Thomas "Hockey Puck/Nutman" McKenna now has a cell phone. He called me the other night to ask, "Yo, how you chahge a cell phone?" Here's hoping the next question isn't, "Yo, how you texx?" All these years after it debuted, the Internet, in Puck's fascinating mind, is still called "the Webline." Ha, ha, ha.

JAN. 7
TEDBIT
  Yesterday vs. visiting Malvern, in an overtime classic, Episcopal's Nick Alikakos and Mike Jolaoso combined for 56 points (28 apiece) in a 78-75 victory. That's the sixth highest total racked up by teammates in Inter-Ac League regular season play over the last 30 seasons. The Whitworth brothers, Tim and Tom, own the top spot with 66 in Chestnut Hill's 68-56 win over Haverford School in '98. Jim Costello had the Blue Devils' other two points. Tim/Tom reached 50 five times that season and Tom had the higher total in three of those contests. Six of the players listed below advanced to the NBA. In the order they're listed: Alvin Williams, GA; Sean Singletary, PC; Wayne Ellington, EA; Gerald Henderson, EA; Rob Kurz, PC; and Matt Walsh, GA. PC's 2002-03 squad included two future NBAers (Singletary/Kurz) and now-Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan.

JAN. 6
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Germantown Academy 58, Penn Charter 39
  In light of the fact that GA returned five starters this season, and that PC brought back very few guys with much varsity experience, this game wasn't half-bad. Actually, the worst thing the Quakers did, at least in the second half, was threaten to bring about drama. Late in the third quarter, PC scrambled within 10, at 36-26, and, bingo, the Patriots posted seven consecutive points. Midway through the fourth, PC again reduced the deficit to 10 points, at 45-35, and the Patriots scored the next nine. Oh, well. Maybe the teams' next meeting will keep folks interested until the VERY end. Or close to it. There were some entertaining moments. On one play it appeared that GA sub jr. G Bailey Whitman had knocked the ball out of bounds off a PC player. To one ref, anyway. But another ref came trotting over and said Whitman had been the last guy to touch the ball. GA coach Jim Fenerty missed the second half of that sequence and was stunned when he saw PC about to inbound the ball. He screeched, "Who picked up the flag?!" Ha, ha, ha. Later, jr. PG Devon Goodman made a hard drive to the hoop and sr. PG Julian Johnson prevented a layup with a forceful slap. Figuring his coaches would be second-guessing the no-call, Goodman said quickly, "He got ball . . . He got ball." Wouldn't you know it? At the other end, Goodman snuffed all of a shot by Johnson and ... tweet! A foul was called. Perched near me was a GA loyalist taking photos. "Too MUCH ball," the guy quipped. Across the way were GA students. When PC's guys prepared to shoot free throws, they offered, at high volume, the sounds of chickens. Pwuck, pwuck, pwuck! Everybody was crackin' up. Near the end, one kid even offered the sound of a sheep. Baaaah, baaaah. Classic! Kids are not allowed to yell crass comments, but so far there is no rule against animal noises (smile). With the help of three treys, sr. WG Tim Guers led GA with 23 points. Soph F Evan-Eric "Tippy Toes" Longino (12) and Goodman (10) also scored in double digits. Guers also contributed seven boards and three apiece of assists, steals and blocks. Soph G-F Kyle McCloskey, who sometimes even lines up in the high post, had eight rebounds and three blocks. Sr. SF Sam Lindgren had six boards and Goodman dished four assists. In all, sidelined sr. sub/statman Gabe Alter had the Pats for 11 blocks. I suspected there were more. So did assistant Marty Weiss. He always cross-checks stats by watching the film. Maybe the total will rise. PC's scoring leaders were sr. WG Pat McCain (11, three treys), Johnson (nine) and jr. WG Jake McCain (eight, two treys), Pat's brother. Sr. PF-C Eric Stahlheber bumped and banged -- and even dove -- at every opportunity. Coolest spectator, by a landslide: Glenda Daulerio, a friend from long ago (just her luck -- smile) and the decade-plus coach of GA's girls' middle-school hoops squad. A while back, she was the adviser for a GA class that included now-famous actor Bradley Cooper. "He was a great kid," Glenda said. "Never caused one bit of a problem."

JAN. 6
TEDBIT
  Over the last 10 seasons, there have been 35 Catholic League games in which the losing team has scored fewer than 30 points. SJ Prep has been on the winning end in 11 of those contests and here's a breakdown . . . 

JAN. 5
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 51, Lansdale Catholic 28
  Shortly into this one, William "Speedy" Morris added another nickname -- "Mr. Impatient." The Hawks missed their first five shots -- star sr. G-F Chris Clover (Saint Joe's) took none of them -- and after sr. PG Jake Saba hit LC's first attempt, a left-wing trey at 5:07, Morris immediately called for a timeout and major ear-scorching took place. It worked, folks. By halftime, the Hawks were up by 27-10 and their largest lead was 27 points before LC slapped together some productive possessions over, say, the final five minutes. Overall, the Prep played tremendous man-to-man defense. The Crusaders shot just 5-for-25 in the first three quarters and, overall, seven of their attempts were blocked. Coach Chris Podsobinski's club was coming off a Friday night win over visiting West Catholic. LC's gym is small and cozy and here's guessing the 'Saders felt very comfortable. By comparison, the Prep's gym is as big as all outdoors and LC, truthfully, often looked dazed and amazed. Not the first time that has happened to visitors. Clover shot 7-for-11 (one trey) and 2-for-2 for 17 points while adding seven rebounds. He had some success with second-chance points and declined to force things when the Crusaders hit him with a box-and-one; sub jr. G Ryan Quigley was the main hustler in that defense. Jr. PF-C Pete Gayhardt had nine points (seven on free throws) and 12 boards. Sr. WG Brendan Burns had two steals and four assists while Gayhardt added three dishes. Jr. SF Chris Montie registered four blocks. Thanks to manager Paul Mauer for the extra stats. (By the way, sr. WG Jack Henkels was out with a foot/ankle ding.) Often, the Hawks, especially at home, torch opponents with treys. But today they went just 4-for-23. Thanks to two triples, sub soph G Mike Ottomano led LC with six points. Quigley collected four rebounds while jr. G Dan Modestine and sub soph G Craig Rosenberger (recently promoted to the varsity) halved four assists. Thanks to Podsobinski, an '03 LC grad, for those numbers. Beforehand, a wonderful "Empty Chair" ceremony was held, per a recent release from Bill Avington, the Prep's director of communications, to honor 91,000 servicemen and women who never returned from overseas conflicts since WWI. The chair was funded by a gift from the estate of Alfio Zappala (Prep '58) through the POW-MIA National Chair of Honor Program. Gathered at midcourt were about 20 men who served this country in various military branches. In the group: Dave Morris (Army), Speedy's brother; Billy Morris (Air Force), Speedy's nephew and a Prep football assistant (but not Dave's son); and Ned Dillon (Army), who operates the clock/scoreboard. Thanks for your service, men! Dave was one of the two men who unveiled the Empty Chair, which then was positioned at the scorers' table end of the Prep's bench throughout the game. Two guys who played for Speedy during his Roman stint, Randy Monroe ('81) and Alex Staranowicz ('82), were spectators. Condolences to the Luciano family on the recent passing of Emily "The Pizza Lady at 23rd and Indiana" Luciano, age 90. That's where the family was originally based, not far from Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium. Her son, John, starred in hoops at Judge and one of her many grandkids, Vincent, played for the Prep this afternoon in the JV game that followed the varsity tilt. John's wife, Mary Ellen, is the daughter of the Prep's football coach from 1980 through '87, Jack Branka. It was great to see Michael Kehoe, LC's JV coach. His dad, Tom, formerly was the head coach at LC (and his now-closed alma mater, Bishop Kenrick) and his brother, R.C., is the head coach at Holy Family University (he starred in high school at Roman). The coaching bug bit the other side of the family, too (smile). Tom's brother-in-law is none other than Phil Martelli.

JAN. 5
TEDBIT
  This will be impossible, no doubt, but try to forget for the moment that Chris Clover is still (a franchise-player) part of SJ Prep's basketball program. If he had transferred or given up hoops in favor of, say, swimming, he could have helped the Prep and Lansdale break the (suspected) Catholic League record in this afternoon's meeting, set for 3:30 in the former's gym. What kind? Fewest Points Scored in Catholic League Regular Season Play in the Previous Season by Members of Teams Now Playing Each Other? (smile) Clover, a Saint Joseph's signee, last season scored 286 points. But the others who are still around totaled nine and Lansdale's still-arounds managed 11. Pretty amazing, right? The Prep's guys aside from Clover are Pete Gayhardt (four), Temi Aiyegbusi (three) and Chris Montie (two). Lansdale's are Ryan Quigley (nine) and Jake Saba (two). Quigley was the coaches' MVP in Catholic AA football this past fall. Has a Catholic League team, you might be wondering, ever returned NO ONE from the previous season? I know of one time. In the 1971-72 campaign, Ryan's varsity numbered 15 players. EVERY guy was a senior. One member of that squad was sub guard Mark Heimerdinger, who went on to become the long-time coach at now-closed Cardinal Dougherty (1983-2009) and is now in his sixth season at Fels. Despite getting cleaned out, Ryan finished a respectable 8-8 in CL play in the '73 season . . . So, what IS the record for Fewest Points Scored in Catholic League Regular Season Play in the Previous Season by Members of Teams Now Playing Each Other? Can't be sure, but here's a strong guess. In that '73 season, Ryan of course returned no points. Wood returned 23 thanks to Joe Clark (19), Charlie Crunkleton (2) and Tony Crooks (2). 

JAN. 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner-Prendie 61, Ryan 47
  Just when it appeared we were about to see a decent stretch run in a basketball game, a hockey game broke out. The puck -- oops, ball -- zipped from this guy to that guy to another guy in very quick fashion and the resulting three-point play provided some breathing room for the Friars. In hockey, two assists would have been awarded. Getting things started was sr. WG Tom McLoone. The middle man was sr. PF-C Tyler Higgins. And the layup guy was sr. F Marques Jackson. When Jackson swished the free throw, 7:01 remained and the Friars owned a 48-36 lead. They maintained control thereafter and alumnus Jack Concannon claimed his first CL win in stint No. 2 as nee-Bonner's coach. Overall, this game oozed positives for the Friars, who'd fallen to Carroll before Christmas. My guess is that two-thirds of their baskets came off assists. Also, Higgins swallowed 19 rebounds, the field-goal percentage was impressive (19-for-28, .679) over the final three quarters, Jackson was a major factor at both ends and jr. PG Keith Washington was especially effective (12 of his 14 points) in the first half. A basket by Higgins on a pass from fellow footballer Joe "Obeardo" Oquendo provided an 8-2 lead four minutes into the game. Three-plus minutes prior to halftime, Washington drained a deep trey from the top-right of the key and the lead was 20-8. A special sequence was squeezed in two minutes later. Jackson seriously swatted a layup and the ball was recovered by Ryan on the wing. An aggressive drive immediately followed and jr. WG Mike Mercanti stepped in to take a charge. B-P's coaches responded with major appreciation. Mercanti and another sub, jr. F John Hargraves, had matching shooting stats -- 3-for-3 for six points. The former added four rebounds and several other "little things" to go along with his charge-take. McLoone, who mostly split time with Mercanti, went 7-for-8 at the line down the stretch to finish with 10 points. Washington hit most of his field goals off moves that included one or two quick dribbles. Just when I was wondering whether he could hit a standstill jumper, bang, he did. And it was a trey, to boot. The agile Jackson had 17 points and also was the defensive centerpiece. He limited jr. G-F Austin Chabot to two shots (neither hit) through the first 20 minutes. When Jackson went to the bench for a brief rest, Chabot hit a jumper. He then nailed three treys in the fourth quarter to notch 13 points. Jr. PG Austin Slawter, mixing jumpers with hard drives, totaled 16 points. Third in the scoring line, thanks to two treys, was jr. WG Colin Murphy (six points). B-P's president, Rev. James Olson, was in attendance and he stood for a while beyond the baseline at the far end of the gym. Sitting on the bench across the way, at least at that juncture, was Oquendo. I had to ask Father Olson, "I assume Joe Oquendo won't have that beard when school resumes tomorrow?" He laughed and said, "I was just looking at that. When the guys come off the court at the end, I'm going to say to them, 'Who besides me is gonna get a shave tonight?'" Ha, ha, ha. Before the game, meanwhile, the Friars lined up across that same baseline and some held aloft the American flag for the National Anthem. Chris Doran did his usual A-plus job as the PA announcer. All-time Bonner gridder Ed Monaghan (thrice a first team All-City honoree; at different positions) was among the witnesses and, like everyone, he loves the look of B-P's refurbished gym. Tom Clark was also on hand. He and Concannon were the starting forwards for Bonner's CL champs in '83. That was a fun team to cover!

JAN. 4
TEDBIT
  The Inter-Ac's Opening Tripleheader, named in recent years for former Malvern/Episcopal coach Dan Dougherty, is in the books and Germantown Academy still owns it. Yesterday at Philadelphia University, the Patriots thumped SCH Academy, 64-35, thus upping their tripleheader record to 18-3 (.857). Look below for each school's record and a list of the assorted sites. The first tripleheader to open league play would have taken place in January 1994, but a wicked snowstorm intervened.

JAN. 3
INTER-AC DAN DOUGHERTY OPENING TRIPLEHEADER
Haverford School 57, Episcopal 46
(With Notes on Other Games)
(At Philadelphia University)
  Haverford School sr. F Derek Mountain is a good kid and I'm friends with his dad, Steve, a football assistant at La Salle and a former player there, but I was kinda/sorta rooting against him with 45.6 seconds remaining. At that juncture Derek stepped to the line for a one-and-one. But he missed the front end and an unusual occurrence wound up being finalized at 0:00 . . . Only three Fords scored! Jr. F Lamar Stevens posted 24 points, sr. PG Levan "Shawn" Alston (Temple) added 20 and frosh G Cameron Reddish managed 13. Four other Fords attempted shots from the floor and they combined to go 0-for-7. Mountain was the only non-member of the Terrific Trio to try a free throw. In a game against Imhotep early this season, one reported boxscore also had three Fords scorers. Alas, another box for that same game had four. (Four turned out to be correct). Versus Phelps, jr. G Micah Sims (three) was the only extra scorer. There was also buzz about another three-guys-only game, and that turned out to be true. The opponent was Our Savior New American (N.Y.). Anyway . . . two definites and two almosts. Quite unusual! After three quarters, Haverford led this one by only 35-32 and Episcopal had some momentum thanks mostly to scrappy plays by sr. WG Mike Hinckley (11 total points). Thereafter, Alston (12 points, two treys; also four assists), Reddish (six; also four assists) and Stevens (four, also 17 rebounds) combined to shoot 8-for-9 while basically imposing their will. Stevens was a game-long force at both ends. Episcopal has a promising inside player in soph Nick Alikakos. Early, Stevens was a constant presence in Alikakos' space and caused some almosts. It took Alikakos a while to give off a now-I'm-comfortable aura and from then on he was mostly his usual self. Also noteworthy was the performance of EA sr. PG Mike Jolaoso. There was much on his plate today and though he often looked like his usual buzzsawing self, in the fourth quarter he went 0-for-6 and pretty much every shot fell short. Let's chalk it up to exhaustion and congratulate him on his overall effort. Jr. WG Conner Delaney hit two threes in the fourth quarter to help the Churchdudes hang around.
  NOTES: Germantown Academy beat SCH Academy, 64-35, in the opener. Amazingly, GA's starters scored from nine to 12 points -- sr. F Sam Lindgren (12), soph F Evan-Eric Longino (11), sr. WG Tim Guers and soph WG Kyle McCloskey (10 apiece), jr. PG Devon Goodman (nine). The rebound leaders were Lindgren (10), Guers (six) and McCloskey (five) while Goodman contributed six assists . . . Sr. QB Paul Dooley and sr. WR Dylan Parsons -- oops, old habits die hard; they're guards -- notched 10 points apiece and Parsons won the pair's rebound contest, 6-5. In the fourth quarter, Dooley hit Parsons with a WONDERFUL pass. Of 5 feet, maybe (smile). The play began with Paul's steal. He then drove roughly three-fourths of the court and dropped off the ball to Dylan for a layup. That's how good buddies roll . . . Jr. G Bailey Whitman helped to open things up by hitting two treys in the late going of the second quarter . . . Malvern beat Penn Charter, 58-38. Sr. WG Jack Doherty did his best work early, using three treys to post nine of his 11 points prior to halftime. Sr. WG Chris Anderson offered 12 of his 16 markers over the final 16 minutes . . . PC's scoring leaders were jr. G-F Harrison Williams (10), jr. G Jake McCain (nine) and jr. Evan Ferrell (eight, mostly off quality post-ups) . . . The Quakers' crowd-pleaser, however, was sub sr. G Frank McGlinchey. He's a cousin of the McCains (and Falcons' QB Matt Ryan) and the brother of Notre Dame soph gridder Mike McGlinchey and roughly 25 family members were in attendance. Frank scored two field goals in the second quarter -- follow off a spin move; spinning layup off a lengthy drive -- and each bucket caused his peeps (well, some of them -- smile) to explode out of their seats . . . GA product Greg Guers, now a redshirt junior playing baseball at Penn State, was in attendance. When I asked him whether he still beats brother Tim in games of one-on-one, he smiled and shot back, "I gave up on that last year when he won the (Inter-Ac's) MVP trophy." . . . Former Malvern/Penn baseball star Tom Grandieri was on hand to hang out with some former Friars. He spent last spring as an assistant at Episcopal (he was stationed at first base when I saw him), but this spring will guide the pitchers. As the game wound down, Tom said he and his buddies would raise funds to buy me some padding (since my butt was basically numb after sitting on hard stands for 4 1/2 hours). Ha, ha . . . Dan Dougherty was on hand and, like ALWAYS, it was great to see him! . . . I forgot to mention this in a report after another game, but Episcopal has a play called "Coach Doc." Niiiiiiice . . . Meanwhile, congrats to Steve Chadwin, the father of SCH coach Jamie Chadwin and a back-in-the-day assistant at GA. Today he collected win No. 600 at Abington Friends! . . . The legendary Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna was also on hand. He must have wolfed down 52 sodas beforehand because he kept talking and talking and talking and talking and, whoa! He's an assistant at Roman and the Cahillites had practice at 2 o'clock in another part of Philly U.'s gym. Ace Carter and I told him, "If you chirp this much at practice, they're gonna kick you out." At maybe 2:20, Puck came walking back into the main gym. You got it!! "They kicked me out," he said. "I was talkin' too much." . . . Had interaction with many more great people. Thanks, guys! . . . Oh, almost forgot. Before the GA-SCH game, I was informed that a reporter for a suburban paper had showed up to write about Mo'ne Davis (no explanation necessary) and SCH's basketball team. He'd been told by an editor that Mo'ne, just an eighth grader, plays for the boys' varsity. Oh, baby!

JAN. 3
TEDBIT
  Ten of the 14 guys now running Catholic League basketball programs notched wins in their first league game at those schools. The latest guy to earn a W was Chris Podsobinski, who last night guided Lansdale Catholic past West Catholic, 56-48, thanks in large part to Dan Modestine's 27-point performance. Bonner's Jack Concannon and McDevitt's Sean Ryan this season are beginning their second stint at those schools. Judge's Sean Tait (Wood) and SJ Prep's Speedy Morris (Roman) previously coached at other CL schools.

JAN. 2
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 61, McDevitt 50
  The refs should have worn shorts. Reason: This one had the feel of a summer league game. Outrageous intensity was pretty much absent and the teams went up and down in what, at times, was a carefree manner. Both teams launched LOTS of treys and McDevitt, specifically, almost never tried a shot off an old-school entry pass. One thing we learned for sure: Wood sr. F-C Luke Connaghan is nothing close to selfish. As detailed in a Tedbit this morning, Connaghan had scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. He owned 17 as this CL opener wound down . . . and never took another shot. First, he accepted a pass on the block but passed to a teammate near the foul line. Next, he wound up with the ball maybe 12 feet out along the lane and whipped a backdoor feed for a layup attempt. Then, he had the ball on the right wing and passed it slightly back out along the arc. At 1:18 he stepped to the line for a one-and-one. Clang. Foul shooting was not his strength tonight (1-for-6). He sat down for good with 30.3 seconds remaining. Connaghan, who's being pursued hard by the University of the Sciences and DeSales (others will join the fray; book it), shot 8-for-14 from the floor and swept 19 rebounds. His buckets included the desirable mix of hard drives, midair agility and medium range jumpers. He even attempted two treys, though neither found net. Connaghan scored five points in the first quarter as Wood swept to a 17-5 lead. Then, somehow, the Vikings missed their first 15 shots of the second quarter before Connaghan made a follow 3:06 before halftime to reverse a 20-19 deficit. Thanks mostly to soph WG Collin Gillespie, who drained a pair of late treys, Wood owned a 31-24 edge at intermission. Drama never made a second-half appearance. Frosh WG Tyree Pickron, who operated mostly out of the corners, added 17 points for Wood. Gillespie (three triples) had 12 and jr. PG Tommy Funk added 11 (along with seven assists). Somehow, sr. MB (stands for mad bomber) Cody Fitzpatrick went 0-for-9. Wood loyalist Jerry Greenberg kept noting, "He's missing because he's not far enough out." (smile) Pickron, who's quite springy, added eight rebounds while Gillespie scrambled for seven. Connaghan and Pickron halved six blocks. Thanks to assistant Blair Klumpp for the extra stats. McDevitt's leader, in the four main categories, was sr. PG Jayson Clark -- 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals. Soph WG Qadir Burgess managed 12 points while frosh WG Jaron Macon, also a promising gridder, had 10. He started and played through the first half of the JV game. Ouch, did I have to mention the JV game? McDevitt lost, 52-10. And the Lancers owned had a 5-4 lead after the first 2 1/2 minutes. Dave Luby coaches that squad and, as you can imagine, he was quite deflated afterward. He then served as the PA announcer and statkeeper for the varsity game, so major props to him for hanging in there. Sr. F Emanuel Folkes hit three treys for nine points and sr. F Isaiah Brooks claimed six boards. Wood's primary manager, Ryan Bates, was absent, but we'll forgive him. The Penn State commit was playing in a national all-star football game. Darn good excuse, right? (smile) Also on hand was McDevitt's manager during the 2013-14 season, star K-P Brendan Hanagan. He has retired his pencil (pen?) so he can just enjoy watching the games. Also in the house: Gtn. Academy coach Jim Fenerty and assistant Marty Weiss; ex-Dougherty basketball star Vince Shervin (his good buddy, Jerry McGinn, was the head ref in tonight's Alamo Bowl); ex-Wood football star Lonnie Manai; McDevitt fill-in football coach Karl Stout (Pat Manzi is expected to return from a health problem for the second semester; Karl's a 1981 Wood grad); local newspaper photographer Bob Raines (we were classmates at Penn Charter) and McDevitt's hoops coach in the mid-1970s, Ed Holzer. As always, apologies to anyone I neglected to mention. Oh, and Happy New Year!