Drew, For Two!, BB 2005-06

Drew, For Two!

Drew Flanagan is a senior at Malvern Prep and has again offered to file reports on the basketball team. He describes himself as a hoops junkie and a big Villanova fan. We'll try not to hold that last part against him (smile) . . . Now that 'Nova is again successfully recruiting city guys again, they're not on our (crap) list.
He may be reached at irishflan22@comcast.net

FEB. 3
INTER-AC LEAGUE GAME
Malvern 62, Haverford School 51
Senior Night. Probably one of my favorite traditions in all of amateur sports. A night to recognize the efforts put forth for four years by the seniors. Malvern Prep’s senior class consists of Co-Captains Mike Creighton and Tom Grandieri, swingman Dan Dolente, 2-guard Nelson Way, center Matt Zwaan, Kevin “KJ” Dougherty, and lastly returning to the lineup Jimmie “Jamal” Cotton. Their senior year did not go the way they would have liked, with injuries, suspensions, and just erratic play keeping them from ever reaching their potential. Creighton and Grandieri refuse to make excuses on the season claiming that they had opportunities and just had not executed when they had to. With the players being recognized before the game with their parents, Mrs. Ostick started to sing the NCAA Tournament theme “One Shining Moment” and an emotional Mr. Ostick let the tears flow. When the game started everything went back to normal and it was just another high-school basketball game. The seniors, determined to win their last game in the O’Neil Center, went to work and they started out slow and fell behind early. An uncharacteristic three bomb by Matt Zwaan towards the end of the 1st quarter put some life back into the Friars as they got their legs underneath them. Tonight also was the return of the dynamic Jimmie Cotton and he did not disappoint. With Jimmie inserted back into the line-up the Friars are a completely different team. His scoring and overall good looks give the Friars the points they have been missing in his absence. With Jimmie bringing the funk, Paul “And 1” Ostick brought down an offensive rebound and laid it in being fouled in the process. Paul calmly sank the free throw and strutted his way back down the court. The Friars put the clamps down on defense and especially Mike “I Can’t Hear A Word You Are Saying” Creighton who did a good job defensively on Haverford SG John Haldy. Malvern took a 29-20 lead into the break and was looking to take control of the game in the second half of play. Haverford still had some gas left in the tank, though, and as the 3rd quarter began Haldy hit a tough fade-away jumper from the left elbow and Ferg Myrick had back to back putbacks. This Myrick kid looks like a baller and I hear he is only a Frosh. If the Fords can keep him there, unlike Sean Singletary, they might have a potential stud down the line. But, this was the Friars' night and it belonged to the seniors who all made steady contributions to the cause. Nelson “The Venezuelan Assassin” Way knocked down a corner three, then a baseline J to get the Friars going again. Cotton ripped Haverford PG John Cesarine and took it coast to coast for the bucket. Mike Creighton has his usual missed dunk attempt extending it to 5 straight games. He was later seen talking to himself saying, “One of these days.” Tom Grandieri was ripping boards and hit some mid-range J’s, while Kev “K-Swish” Doc hit a turnaround baby-hook. At the end of three quarters of play the Fords were still in it, only down 11. In the fourth the Friars hit their freebies and kept Haverford at a distance giving the Friars a win on Senior Night. At the post game press conference Malvern Coaches Kurt Ruch, Woody Burke, and Rick “Size” Colvin were overcome with emotion talking about senior night babbling into the microphone. The other Malvern assistant, former Cleveland State PG Joe Rogers, was emotionless and said nothing. Shocking to say the least. PG Mike Creighton used his time at the press conference as an advertisement for himself as he is in need of a prom date. He is looking for a female point guard. He describes himself as 6’1 stud with a body that won’t quit. He also likes pina coladas and long walks on the beach. Tom Grandieri took the mike and barked into it for five minutes claiming to be the Junk Yard Dog. Notable people in attendance were the Beamer brothers, Tim and Dave, who make the best brother combo since the Wayans brothers. O’Hara girl’s basketball PG, the lovely Miss Genna Micheck, Tom “The Wolfman” Schrader, and lastly Frank “Big Poppa” Grandieri, who skipped Brian Grandieri’s game against Yale to be there. The sacrifices we all make. Special thanks must go to Mrs. Creighton and Mr. Creighton for having the team and coaches over after the game.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to the Seniors.

JAN. 31
INTER-AC LEAGUE GAME
Episcopal 54, Malvern Prep 39
It’s your boy back again with another installment of “Drew for Tizzity Two.” The Gerald and Wayne show rolled into Chester County and a jam packed O’Neil Center for their final appearance in the Friar Dome. A large contingent of fans from various schools showed up, including a group of about 10-12 students from Great Valley, who came to suck up to kids their own age, and came wearing Duke and Carolina jersey (pretty sweet guys). For you people wondering where Great Valley is, it’s somewhere near Exton, but for regular folks like myself from Montgomery and Delco County, we could care less. The game started off slow with neither team being able to hit a shot until Henderson tipped in a Mike “Smokem” Yocum missed lay-up for the game’s first points and he had a fine afternoon from there. A few possessions later he pumped and went baseline and no one on the Friars came to help and the rim was left to fend for itself and he threw down a two-handed jam which was described as a “violent” by Havertown legend Pat Welde. Malvern hung tough and was down 13-6 after one quarter. The problem for the Friars all year has been their inability to put the ball in the hoop and that trend continued today especially with Jimmie Cotton still out of commission till Friday night against Haverford School. But, as always their D kept them in the game as long as it could. Kevin “K-Swish” Dougherty hit a late baseline J to keep the margin at 7 (24-17) at the half. Wayne Ellington made an appearance in the 2nd half coming out and hitting two early jumpers. The Churchmen extended the lead by using their length to control the offensive glass and change shots, while G continued his assault on the Malvern defense. One complaint I do have with this game is the officials. From the numerous games I have seen this year, EA has become the Duke of high school basketball by getting every call that is close. I mean Wayne and G are good, but calling fouls that are not there or blowing your whistle before contact is even made is not helping anyone. With no one on Malvern able to connect from the outside the Flight Brothers ran away with the game in the 4th quarter. The problem with defending EA is even if you shut down those two, Yocum hurts you 'cause he is tall, and Timmy Ivory can knock down the three when left open, and he did that against the Friars. Malvern ran outta gas and when the clock struck midnight the final was 54-39. A respectable showing by the Friars. At the post game press conference Malvern Coach Kurt Ruch said his team gave 110% and left it all on the floor. Malvern PG Mike “Chuckles” Creighton claimed he is lost without backcourt running mate Jimmie “Jamal” Cotton. Creighton also claimed that he and Jimmie are brothers. Mike was not wearing his glasses at the time and he was later informed that Jimmie was black and he was in fact white. Notable people in attendance were Malvern grads and Villanova Lax teammates Danny “Fo-Fo” Liva, Kev “KK” Kinsella, and his boy Fritz, who is from Texas and is dating Matthew Stafford's sister. Congrats to Fritz. Malvern’s next game is Friday night against Haverford for senior night.

JAN. 27
INTER-AC LEAGUE GAME
Penn Charter 54, Malvern Prep 36
Two hours. That is how long the game took. The worst part is, it was two hours of my life I will never get back. The Friars have struggled all year to close out games, but this one never had a chance to be competitive. Malvern was playing without its starting backcourt of Jimmie Cotton (school discipline) and Mike Creighton, who was held out for the first half due for receiving technicals in back-to-back games. Without Creighton or Cotton the Friars had no one to bring up the ball, and when Charter went to full-court pressure early in the 1st quarter, they might as well have mailed it in right then and there. Flipper Phillips' crew harassed Malvern all night long with the press and constant defensive pressure. The Quakers overplayed on defense all night doubling at every opportunity and Malvern had no answer. The only good thing that happened for the Friars this game was the fact that Sammy Zeglinski, who had 982 point for his career coming into the game only had 12 points and did not reach 1,000. Many thanks should go out to Sammy for missing some shots and Flipper for not leaving him in long enough. After one quarter of play PC was up 18-4 and then 29-10 at the halfway point. The Friars could not score and were getting killed on the glass and things just got worse from there. Creighton returned in the 2nd half, but it was too late for him to make any sort of an impact. After three quarters of play it was 42-16 and Flipper called off the diggity dogs and when the dust settled it was 54-36. There was no post game press conference and no players of the game. The loss dropped Malvern to 8-12 overall and 1-3 in the Inter-Ac.

JAN. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern Prep 58, St. Augustine (NJ) 36
B.Y.O.B. That stands for “Bring Your Own Booyah” and that is exactly what the Friars brought when the Hermits came into Malvern from South Jersey. St. Augustine is a perennial basketball powerhouse in South Jersey and has beaten Malvern three years in a row, but today was not the Hermits' day. To be honest the Hermits brought the Booyah in the early going and took a 15-6 after one quarter of play and a blowout seemed to be in order as the Friars looked out of sync in all facets of the game. But then something happened. I don’t know what it was exactly. It was a combination of things actually. Malvern’s defense took complete control of the game after Jr. Paul Ostick checked into the game. Malvern was getting handled down low and Malvern Prep head coach Kurt Ruch summoned in the goon (a la John Chaney) to play some low post defense, and that’s exactly what he did. Mr. Boombostick was indeed “very fantastick” and he shut down the Hermit big fellas Damien Long and Eugene Teague all afternoon, all while racking up a career high in minutes and rebounds. Malvern Prep’s 6-7 110 pound Jr. John “My Name Is Not Cheech” Alberici added 7 pts and some boards, but did not have Paulie’s girth down low. At one point during the heated contest Alberici was boxed clear out of the play by Long. At this point Malvern Prep OL Rob Bates screamed to him, “Get in the weight room!!” And immediately following the game Bates picked Alberici up and proceeded to bench press him all the way down the weight room for an impromptu workout session. Mind you, Bates is the same kid who squatted so much weight in a workout following a failed driver’s test, that he broke the bar in 1/2. The Friars' defense was staunch to say the least, only allowing 4 pts in the 2nd quarter. But, where would the scoring come from? Jimmie Cotton? No, he was suspended for the week for not shaving his rat mustache. Mike Creighton? He hasn’t scored 20 pts in a game since I beat him one on one in his driveway last week (final score 22-20 Mr. For Two) and not since 8th grade at St. Agnes before that. Tom Grandieri? Nah, no way. Brian Grandieri maybe. But, Tom? Well TG had an offensive explosion that will likely never happen again. Or it could, who am I to say? Grandieri’s afternoon started off by him jacking a three from 21 ft. It proceeded to bounce directly up in the air then in again, and it was that kind of afternoon. Later in the 2nd quarter he took an outlet pass from Kevin “KJ” Dougherty and took it the length of the floor. When he finished and was fouled, no call was made. The Villanova baseball signee was informed after the game by Mrs. Mary Agnes Ostick never to send a videotape to ‘Nova’s baseball coach because he is on the floor so much (Heyyooo). The defense continued and Dougherty knocked down some J’s and the score was 24-19 Malvern at the break. At the half Malvern honored some basketball alumni witch included former Villanova Head Coach Jack Kraft, who steered the Howard Porter-led 1971 Villanova Wildcats to the NCAA Title Game where they lost (68-62) to a UCLA Dynasty led by Henry Bibby (Mike Bibby’s Dad and former coach @ USC) and The Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden. (The game was voided due to Howard Porter's taking of money from an agent). Anyway back to the action…the onslaught continued in the 3rd quarter as the Friars outscored the Hermits, 14-1, and the offense was provided by none other than Tom Grandieri, who made a Freddie Mitchell-like catch in the corner, turned back and spun toward the basket, getting the tough bucket to drop. Next possession down Alberici showed off his new post moves getting Teague up in the air and laying it in for the easy two. The 4th quarter was nothing to write about as things started to get chippy and the St. Augustine players and coach Paul Rodio were not too happy with the officiating and other things. After a cheap shot on Malvern PG Mike “Snoodles” Creighton (Doodles is already taken), the Senior leader lost his cool and shouted something at St. Augustine Josh Thompson that should never be repeated ever again and was subsequently T'd up. The game slowly ended with profanity flying from the St. Augustine parents like an R-rated movie. Star Malvern hockey player Eric “E-Dubs” Wygant responded by saying, “Go back to dirty Jersey.” Free throws were shot and when the dust settled the final was 58-36 a convincing win for Malvern. At the post game press conference MP coach Kurt Ruch answered “No Comment” to every questioned I asked. St. Augustine coach Paul Rodio also declined to comment and I thanked him for giving Villanova Andrew Sullivan, ho contributed nothing in his 4 years @ Villanova. Paul Ostick stated that he was excited that he could spend a night on the town and wouldn’t have to spend all Saturday picking the splinters from his behind from sitting on the bench so much. Malvern plays @ Bonner Tuesday night.
Flanagan Game Ball goes to Tommy Grandieri, who set a career high with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

JAN. 7
INTER-AC TRIPLEHEADER
Malvern 54, Chestnut Hill 46
Wow. A whole day watching high basketball with Ted Silary. What a treat (Smile). Watched some good games at the Inter-Ac opener. The Penn Charter Fighting Zeglinskis almost knocked off the Gerald and Wayne Show, then Andrew Ott single handily beat Haverford to set up the nightcap. The Malvern Prep Friars entered the game 6-8 rebounding from a disastrous 1-5 start to go 5-2 in their last seven including winning 2 outta 3 in lovely Tulsa, Oklahoma, over Christmas. This game started out slow like molasses in wintertime slow, but progressively picked up pace as the game continued. Chestnut Hill opened up a 14-8 advantage after one quarter of play thanks to play of Roman transfer Malik Easterling, who has some nice post game. He continued his solid play throughout the game. The Friars turned it up in the 2nd quarter with their backcourt of Jimmie Cotton and Mike Creighton, simply known around Philly basketball as “chocolate milk.” Creighton was able to continue to get to the rack and pushed his streak of not making a jumper to a record amount of games. Congrats Mike. Jimmie did hit some jumpers and kept getting to the rack. The highly anticipated match up of Julian McFadden and Cotton was kind of lackluster. They are the two of the fastest players off the dribble in the Inter-Ac, but Jules “Lil Bow Wheezy” did a little too much dribbling. Also, a shoutout to CHA guard Mike Christiansen for having the best hair in the history of the Inter-Ac and knocking down a trey. Anyway, back to the game: The Friars trailed by three at the halfway mark, 23-20. CHA took control in the 3rd, outscoring MP 14-8 and Malik Easterling went to work in the post on Malvern Prep defenders Mike “Francisco” Garcia and John “Chris Charles” Alberici. There’s some ‘Nova humor in there for ya to enjoy. The Blue Devils had Malvern reeling going into the fourth, but the Friars and their fearless leader Paul Ostick remained undaunted. Paulie did not get in to this game, but did try to sneak into the game in-between the 3rd and 4th when coach Kurt Ruch wasn’t looking, but his attempt was unsuccessful. He also mentioned that he wanted to change his #30 to #76 in honor of his football number. He is universally known around Malvern and Delaware County as “Big Number Seventy Six” and to honor his favorite basketball player, Shawn Bradley. Ostick claims he oozes with potential though. The Friars came out gunning with Cotton hitting an elbow jumper and Tom Grandieri becoming the Windex man, cleaning up the glass. Grandieri says he tries to emulate former Georgetown Hoya, Jerome “Junk Yard Dawg” Williams.” Maybe he should try to use a better player. The Friars took control and never looked back midway through the 4th thanks to Joe “Don’t Call Me Joey” Hoban, who played a terrific all-around floor game and had the final steal off the Chestnut Hill inbounds to seal the win for the "Fightin' Friars.” Malvern (7-8) looks to get back to .500 against Penn Charter Tuesday and get to travel to Lower Merion Friday Night to take on the Flight Brothers (G&Wayne). At the post game press conference Malvern Prep coach Kurt Ruch shattered the world record for most cliches used in a 5-minute period and then topped it off by saying that Malvern is “taking it one game at a time.” Also Mike Creighton told Ted Silary to cram it, claiming Ted is biased against pass-first point guards. No, Mike, just pass 1st, 2nd and 3rd point guards.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to young Joseph Hoban who finished with 14 points and a key steal to seal the deal for the Friars.

DEC. 20
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern Prep 61, Downingtown East 48
And I’m back again for another round of Drew for Two. In my absence the Friars went 1-1 with a tough, hard-fought, four-point loss to St. Joes’s Prep and a nine-point victory over then-undefeated Archbishop Carroll. The reason there are no reports from me on those games are because Ted wrote them up and there would be no point in me repeating everything he already said (it's tough living in his large, Tastykake-caused shadow -- ha ha). The Friars, 2-5 on the year, were looking to continue their trek back to the .500 mark against the Ches-Mont League squad. The game started off slowly, then the Malvern D kicked into high gear. The press forced D-Town’s guards into bad turnovers all night and they were never able to recover. Malvern led 12-10 after the 1st, then outscored the Cougars 14-4 in the 2nd. Malvern’s 6-7 junior center John “Slim Thug” Alberici went to work on East, showing off his new array of post moves he developed in the off season. Over the course of the past three games he has become a viable offensive threat when called upon. Several times in the 2nd quarter, Malvern’s backcourt of Chuck Creighton and Jimmie Cotton, known simply known as “Salt and Pepper,” was able to penetrate and get to the rack and then look middle to the cutting Alberici or the sharp-shooting Nelson Way. Like I stated earlier the Friar press that looks eerily similar to Nolan Richardson’s 40 minutes of hell press that Arkansas used in the early 90’s and it allowed Downingtown to only muster 4 points in the second quarter and all were scored by Pat Devlin who is PA’s Player of the Year for football and has signed with the University of Miami. He scored 23 pts for the game, but at the post-game press conference he claimed he was “intimidated” by Malvern’s backup PF Paul Ostick, who sacked him multiple times during Malvern’s 23-20 win in football. Paul’s rebuttle was, "He better be intimidated.” Anyway, back to the game . . . With the Friars leading 26-14 at the half, the 3rd quarter became the Jimmie Cotton show where on three straight possessions he ripped the ball away and took it coast to coast for easy layups. At the end of the 3rd Malvern was up 43-27 and in the 4th the lead grew to as much as 23. Dan Dolente added 10 pts off the bench and Franz “Don’t Call Me Hanz” Berlacher made his triumphant return from injured reserve to knock down a jumper. Both benches were cleared and when the dust settled the final score was 61-48. At the post game press conference Jimmie Cotton was rushed away in a speeding car back to Upper Darby by his boy “Spike.” Most likely to avoid questions about his defense which showed up for the 1st time in 3 years. The Fightin’ Friars (3-5) return to action Thursday night in lovely West Chester for an out of conference match-up with the WC Henderson. It should be a standing room-only crowd for the return of WC’s prodigal son Mike Creighton.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to Cotton who had 20 and 6+ steals on the evening.

DEC. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern Prep 47, Shipley 40
And I’m back for another year of Drew for Two, and couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the site. A lot of people have being calling and asking me when I’m going to start writing again. People like Pat Murphy of everyone’s favorite “HawkTalk.” Pat is reportedly a big fan of mine and a closet fan of “Drew for Two.” We all thank Pat for his support. So here we go, the Friars traveled up to Bryn Mawr to take on Shipley in an early out of conference matchup. Malvern has started the year 0-3 with two tough losses to two very good teams in the nation’s capital, Gonzaga Prep and St. Alban’s, followed by a squeaker to Friends' Central. The Friars got down early thanks to some poor shooting and some bad officiating calls. Throughout the course of the game 10+ offensive fouls were called on both teams, which slowed down the flow of the game and left both teams scratching their heads. At the end of the 1st quarter Malvern was down 17-10, but started to pick it up in the 2nd by outscoring Shipley 13-3. The run was keyed by two long jumpers by Mike Francisco on good looks by Sr. PG Mike “Ballgame” Creighton, who would be stricken by foul trouble later in the 2nd half due to the absurd amount of offensive fouls called. The Malvern defense clamped down on Shipley’s two go-to guys Carrington Wiggins and Rick Horshaw, while Kevin Dougherty, fresh off a high ankle sprain, and Tom Grandieri controlled the defensive glass. Do not confuse Tom Grandieri with University of Penn combo guard Brian Grandieri -- their games are very different, but I have been told that they are in fact closely related (ha ha).. With the score 23-20 @the half Malvern decided to give the masses what they want and that was more Tom Grandieri who “exploded” for 10 of his 12 points in the 2nd half. A Jimmie “Soft As” Cotton 3-point play and put back by K-Doc put the Friars up 36-27 at the end of the 3rd. The 4th and final quarter was rather uneventful and the two squads went pretty much even with each other with missed shots and missed free throws until Creighton iced the game with the two clutch free throws in the game’s waning moments. The Friars (1-3) travel to Coatesville (where everyone is apparently related to Rip Hamilton) on Tuesday night, before coming back Wednesday afternoon for the home opener @the O’Neil Center against St. Joe’s Prep and Villanova signee Reginald Redding. The Friar Dome should indeed be raucous when Speedy and the Hawks come to town. At the post-game press conference Mike Creighton and Paul Ostick declined to comment on their performances and rightfully so. Grandieri claimed to be “afraid of the foul line” after shooting less than 5% from the line for the game. He said he wants no comparisons to his brother Brian and that he should now be referred to as “The Snowflake” because his game is so unique.
Flanagan’s Game Ball goes to “The Snowflake” for scoring 10 of his 12 points in the 2nd half and putting the Friars on his back and carrying them to their 1st victory.