Kev's Korner

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Kevin Hanlon is our friskiest correspondent. He played for Judge in 2000 and brings a lot of passion (along with a poison tongue). He insists he can watch Northern Division teams with an objective eye. We try to believe him. He is also an assistant coach for St. Matthew, in Mayfair. Heaven help these lads!
You may reach "Mr. Sunshine" at ImThatDamnGood23@aol.com

JUNE 16
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I started my coaching debut for St Matt's this weekend. It is summer ball and
wins and losses do not matter, so who cares what the record is so far,
although it is OK. First off, the guys played hard for the most part and
played together. We played aggressively in some games and less aggressively in
others. This is a good group of guys who want to win and get better as
players. I see these guys having a good season as long as they improve on
their game all summer long. They are one up on a lot of teams because of head
coach Jim Ricci and the staff. He knows his basketball and gets the best out
of his players. I, on the other hand, am learning just like the players as it will
be my first year as a coach in organized basketball. I look forward to
helping the players improve and learning how to be a good coach from "Parise".
So with a lot of hard work these guys are capable of being a very good group
of players. They seem to listen and not think they know it all. I know it is gonna
be a fun ride this year back at my old school. I lost the championship my 8th
grade year to St. Chris; they have a good program over there and I am sure
will be good again this year. It will be a fun year and as the guys improve
and get better I will get their names out here on Ted's site, but they have
a lot of hard work to do. I would like to thank "Parise" for the chance to start
my coaching career back at St. Matt's under him. I know I will learn a lot and
it is nice to be back.

APRIL 23
Top returning players in the Northern Division (uniform number; grade they will be in next year)
Arch Ryan
12 Jr Mike Devine, 15 Sr Chris Kozole, 10 Sr Andy MacDonald
Arch Wood
10 Jr Greg Arrow, 15 Sr Tim Dougherty, 11 Sr Mike Spadafora
Conwell-Egan
22 Sr Andrew Holland, 10 Jr Rob Biernat
Card. Dougherty
22 Jr Isaac Greer, 25 So John King, 10 Sr Mike McDonald, 24 Sr Tim Smink
Bishop McDevitt
11 Sr Isaiah Pinckney
La Salle
20 Jr Brian Donahoe, 30 Jr Chris Reedman, 33 Sr Rob Sullivan
North Cath.
41 Sr Charles Hook, 52 Sr Sean Murphy, 32 Sr Don Welte
Judge
21 Sr Kevin Pierce, 10 Jr Bill Geiger, 12 Sr Ryan Haigh

The North should be wide open next season with Card. Dougherty, Arch
Wood, La Salle and Judge as the top 4 teams in the division. With Dougherty
and Wood the two favorites. Dougherty has a good scoring bunch between Isaac
Greer and Tim Smink, these two are 1st All-Catholic pre-season picks.
Wood of course returns an all underclassman lineup and a lot of people's MVP, Mike
Spadafora. I feel that there are 3 or 4 people contending for the MVP next
year. Judge needs a lot of guys from JV to step up, but that is how it is every
year at Judge so they will be contenders. Geiger has 2nd team ability and
Haigh has 1st team talent. La Salle is always good with the work of Marty
Jackson and Sullivan has 1st All Catholic talent if Marty lets him loose on
offense. Arch Ryan has some talent too and should be in the fighting for that
4th spot. Call me crazy but I dont think the MVP is a lock for Spadafora,
Greer, Smink and Sullivan all could be in the running. The North should be
exciting as ever and, who knows, a lot of unknown players are gonna be looking
to make a name for themselves. My top four: Dougherty, Wood, Judge, La Salle.

MARCH 25
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
If you read my article in the Daily News back in 2000, I said how I wanted to be coach after I got out of College, well this past weekend I got my first kind of coaching experience. It was at the EOM tournament in South Philly. I had the privilege to coach some North Catholic players. Freshman Sean Thompson is about 5'4 but is only 14 and did not even start to grow yet he looks like he will grow to about 5'10. He was a starter for North`s freshman team, he is one of the best young point guards I have seen in a while and is working hard in the weight room and on the court. He should have been moved up for North at the end of his season, but from what I hear he was told he was too short. What does that have to do with anything? No wonder North did so bad last year. Get with it -- when a kid can play don`t hold him back because you think he is too short. He has a good handle and a good 3-point shot. I am very high on this kid. He has a bright future ahead of him and great legacy in his family, His Uncle is the great Mike McCarron from North Catholic. Very coachable kid with great attitude. Next up was Charlie Hook. He is a junior at North and received some
varsity time this year, but was mainly a JV player. He is 6'3 very athletic 3 man, he has a nice 3 point shot and can drive to the hoop and finish and get up there for a white boy. He plays good defense but needs to hit the weight room. If he works on his handle I can see him as being an All Catholic next year. Also very coachable. Next was Ryan Sullivan. He is a junior at North, he is 6'3 big
man he was not afraid to bang he had nice hands and a nice foul line jump shot. He is also the funniest on the team (but not the brightest, ha ha). Next up was Sean Murphy. He is another 6'3 big man who played varsity for North last year; another big man with nice hands and a touch around the rim. He also could hit a 15-footer with ease. Nice kid and very coachable. Should have a nice season next year with not a lot of big bodies in the North next year. Next up was Brian Hannan. He is a football player and a starter for the baseball team, he was probably our best defender but did not like to stay in his zone. He was an aggresive player and very coachable. Last but not least Craig Lonergan. He is a 5'10 point guard who mainly played JV last year, but he has very good
ball handling skills and a nice 3 point shot. As of right now the starting point guard job is his to lose. He reminds me of me -- a lefty, talks trash, does not get imtimidated and plays hard. Should have a great year. He was our leader on the court. We won our first game by 35 beating host EOM green. We lost our second game by 9 points to Holy Terrors but played with no effort and everyone seemed tired, we cut it to 4 five times but just could not get over the hump. We came all the way back from 16 but could not ever get within more then 4, but the guys played hard and unselfish and listened to their coach. Next up for our 3rd game of the day we won by 18. We came out and played real hard and jumped out on Max Myers early and often the guys wanted revenge. They listened to their coach and it paid off. So that took us to Sunday, I should have known that this day would not be good. First, all the
streets were blocked. Second, 4 guys showed up (seems that Craig had a late night with his girlfriend did not wake up in time for his game so we had to forfiet the game to a team we beat by 40). Other than that it was a good tournament, the kids played hard and were fun to be around. Also my assistants were Fran Hamilton and Mike Wild. Both have signed on to play at Holy Family College Divsion 2 school. Mike has transfered from Division 1 Elon to Divsion 2 Holy Family. He was hurt most of his freshman year. I liked coaching the guys from North they were funny and played hard, it was a good weekend and everything I thought coaching would be. I would like to thank these guys for listening to me and playing hard and making it a fun weekend.Can`t wait to get my own high school program in a couple of years. For now I am trying to get on Jim Ricci`s (Parisi) staff for next year at St.Matts they are a powerhouse and he is a legend of a coach who I could learn many many things from. I hope to help these guys out in the summer time too as they are looking for summer leagues to get into, if anyone knows of any please email me, they want to play in the Hunting Park League, they want to get better by playing better teams. Thanks, I will have a food for thought next week.

MARCH 14
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
As I was watching halftime of that great championship played between Roman and Neumann, they interviewed Joe Parisi head of the Ad`s of the Catholic league. He said they were looking into the possibilty of playing a tournament as the playoffs! Every team would make the tournament, it would be 1 seed vs 8th seed and so on, this would give every team something to play for, and the
first round games would be played on the higher seed's home court. Then the next round would be played at La Salle, then the semis at temple and championship there too. This is a great idea and if it comes through then the AD`s should be applauded for this step in making Catholic basketball better! This now gives kids who might be having a bad year a chance in to be in a playoff atmosphere, think about some of the kids that have never played in the playoffs, they are missing out on so much and this would change it all!
Now it also gives a meaning to play the games so you can now have home court advantage,and may make the games even more competitive than before. Now every teams has something to play for even if they start out slow! This is such a great idea,why hasn't anyone thought of this before? I know that I will do whatever I have to do to help try get this through and make it happen.
Everyone deserves something to play for, just think this year Egan beats Judge, then they would be going into the tournament with a ton of momentum and just having gotten their star back could have very easily made it to the semifinals, then it would not have mattered how much time Walt missed because now he was back for the tournament and could have made somethings happen. Now
I say if this happens, let's take it one step further -- after the tournament let the Pub and the Catholic League Champ into the state playoff system to play for the state title! It is not fair that we can not play for the state championship. Last time i checked we are from Pennslyvania, why cant we play for it? I know there are probably reasons that I don't know of, but I still think it is not fair. That would put even more emphasis on winning the championship to get into the state tournament, I just think it is unfair that we can't get into the State tournament! Congrats to Neumann you guys won it all and it was a hard task, you guys overcame injuries to your star point guard, and big man was hurt too and still held off a strong Roman team that is not easy even when you have your starters. So I say you guys earned to be called Catholic League Champs! If anyone has suggestions for my food for thought (or my 2 cents) or a
topic they would like me to talk about let me know I am open to suggestions!

FEB. 11
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 55, La Salle 53
Once again a great game in the North. I am lucky I get to cover good basketball. Judge has a history of losing to La Salle and it seems like La Salle always has Judge's number. This year Judge has swept the series for the first time in a WHILE. For La Salle it was a homecoming for three players -- Sr 6'1 Tom Mattern, Jr 6'1 Rob Sullivan and Soph 6'0 Brian Donohoe all are from Northeast Philly and St Matt's. The players did not disappoint. Mattern had 13 points and 5 rebounds and hit some very big shots to keep La Salle in it. He played very well and I was a bit surprised they went with sr. G-F Gabe Marabella for the last shot; Tommy was 4-7 from 3. Donohoe had 6 points early on (2-4 from three) and looks to be a good one. I cannot wait to see him and Judge soph Bill Geiger go head to head next year. They both look really good. For Judge once again 6'1 Kevin Wolf stepped his play up with 14 points and 5 assists. 6'3 Rich Schmidt had 9 points and still has not played D. He should have had more but some horrible traveling calls by the ref took away some points from him. I think we should have a poll on the worst refs in the league; they were pretty bad today. Judge looked to be in control for this one but La Salle would not go down without a fight. Sullivan started out a little bit shaky but ended strong with 16 points and 6 assists. He had a 3 at the buzzer to make it 55-53. He should be getting more shots in their offense, but for some reason he does not get a lot of looks and I don't know why! Marabella played his usual strong game (11 points, 8 rebounds), but had a
key turnover at the end to put the game out of reach. The biggest clutch plays down the stretch came from Judge sr. G-F Brian Mooney. He ended with 12 points and 7 rebounds. He hit a clutch 3 and huge free throws to put the game out of reach. 5'11 G John Horcher also played strong for Judge hitting a couple of big 3`s. He ended with 8 points.This one came down to who would have the last posession with Judge up, 51-50, La Salle was holding for the last
shot. Marabella missed and Mooney rebounded. He sank 2 free throws. Marabella then came down and got stripped once again.Moon hit the free throws, then Sullivan came down and hit a 3 at the buzzer to give us our 55-53 final. This was a great game with a battle of 2 great coaches, I know I am from Judge but La Salle's Marty Jackson is a good coach. Coach of the year is a hard one because Judge is on such a tear but then you see the job Bernie Rogers is doing at Ryan and as of now it has to be really close between the 2. A couple members Judge`s championship team back in 98 were in attendance -- Brendan Ferns, Brian Fox, Kevin Huckle, Chris Roantree (his sister is better though), Matt McKeever, Jim Reeves (and his girlfriend Colleen Hellwarth) and of course, me! I was a soph on that team and I got a jacket too! Judge is now 11-0 and each game is going to be harder and harder to win and keep the undefeated record intact. The fab three on the bench are Pat Hampson, Colin Kilkenny and Matt Costello. It should be a great stretch run in the Catholic League North! Where real basketball is played!

FEB. 9
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 44, Ryan 43
This game was a classic Northern Division battle. I can not say enough for what Bernie Rogers has done for Ryan's program. They are fun to watch and they play with pride that they were missing the last couple of years. They played hard and did not back down from the first place Crusaders. The gym was packed with Ryan students and The Abyss. They were going back and forth with each other all game and made for a great setting for the players to play in
front of. Judge jumped out in front early on and looked in control til Ryan came storming back lead by senior 6'3 F Chris DiStasio. He ended up with 13 points and 6 rebounds, he started taking over late. I thought he should have taken over earlier; no one on Judge can match up with him because Rich Schmidt still does not play D. Ryan's comeback also was created by the defense of jr. G Chris Kozole (9 points, 4 steals). He is a feisty defender. For Judge 6'2 sr. G Kevin Wolf has been stepping up his game big. He had 16 points and 6 assists and hit some big 3`s early. For Ryan, deep sub 5-10 Jim Hunt had 7 points as the guys in The Abyss chanted "Sell out!!" Jim was a JV Judge player last year. He played pretty well and actually took the last shot for Ryan, which went wide right. For Judge 6'3 Rich Schmidt had 9 points and still has not played D yet! Best chant of the night went to the Abyss and the chant of UNCLE TIMMY, for Judge AD Tim Ginter. The Abyss was big part in the victory for Judge. Judge almost lost this one with Ryan getting the ball and holding the last 40 seconds down by 1 point and Hunt got the ball on a kick out from DiStasio. But overall this was a classic Catholic League battle, the best league in the city no doubt! Judge is 10-0 and has been playing with the bullseye on them, every team is shooting to break up that perfect record! Should make for a great run these last couple of weeks in the North!

FEB. 2
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 62, Wood 58
This one was a classic from start to finish. Judge jumped out early and hit open shots. Wood, on the other hand, could not hit anything early. They went in at the half down 18. To their credit they came out for fighting and were not going to back down. I thought this game would feature a battle between three possible MVP candidates -- Judge's Brian Mooney and Rich Schmidt, and of course Wood's Mike Spadafora. I came away with the feeling that if Wood had a better record, Spadafora would win the MVP. But his team is in fifth place and you can't give it to him if his team ends up in that position. In my opinion it has to go to a Judge guy if they finish in first. Judge's 6'2 CG Kevin Wolf stepped up his game and contributed with 15 points and 7 assists. For Wood, soph 6'1 Greg Arrow chipped in with 10. Mooney, a 6'3 sr. G-F, was in some early foul trouble and only had 10 points but was on the boards with 8 tough rebounds. He did what he had to do to lead his team to victory. For Wood, 6'3 jr. Spadafora was his usual self. He dropped 19, thanks to a three at the buzzer. He is as good as people say he is, trust me. He is so smooth with his handle and his shots and makes good decsions. Wood is going to be very ,very good next year. For Judge they improved to 8-0 and 6'3 Rich Schmidt had 15 points and 5 rebounds and has still played no defense, and Judge is still unbeaten. Pretty amazing, right?. The
crowd was once again in full force. Even though Wood had a lot of supporters, Judge's crowd was better. No crowd is like the Abyss. I saw many former Judge folks in the crowd -- Matt Henrich, Dan Greenberg and Mr. Greenberg, Judge aide Eddie
Brun (he was begging to get his name on here), Kevin Huckel, Chris Klos and, last but not least, the best coach in the city St.Matt's Jim Ricci. It's a toss-up between him and my coaches at Judge; very close. Well Judge is in control of its own destiny, and things look good for the Crusaders. Don't be afraid to email me with your thoughts!

JAN. 26
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 57, Conwell-Egan 41
This game was one-sided from the beginning. Judge had total control the whole way. The atmosphere was pretty good for a C-E game, they have not had a winning season in........I can not even tell you. So any crowd they can get is a bonus. I was expecting to see big things from Egan's 6-3 Jr. FAndrew Holland, but he was totally shut down from beginning to end, he had ZERO points at the half and 3 points at the end of 3. That speaks volumes for Judge; he came into the game averaging 18.8 and ended up with 11. Also for C-E, 6-2 Tom Jackel had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Leading the way for first place Judge was 6-3 senior Rich Schmidt, who had 18 points and 8 rebounds. It still amazes me, though, that Judge is 7-0 and I still have not seen Schmidt play defense yet. Sr. CG Kevin Wolf had 11 points and 10 assists and a lot of nice passes going to "Dean 3:16'" 6'2 senior G-F Mike "Dean" McCauley (12 points). Sr. WG/leader Brian Mooney had a couple of deep bombs, ending with 10 points and 9 rebounds. I want my $4 admission back because Judge senior F-C Mark Dickson was not able to make it worth my while because of early foul trouble on questionable calls. Special thanks to Judge manager Jeff Smigelski for hooking me up with the game stats, and Fran Costello for getting me a refreshment at the half. At the halfway point Judge is undefeated and looking pretty good, but there will be many challenges ahead. Judge AD Tim Ginter was at the game, and he said I should thank him because he taught me how to write sentences in history class last year. Thanks Tim!!!

JAN. 21
CATHOLIC NORTH
La Salle 48, Ryan 33
This one started out in typical Northern Division fashion -- s-l-o-w -- and stayed that way for about three quarters. It was close throughout until La Salle breaking it open in the fourth. It was a good, competitive game with Ryan playing hard, trying to prove it should be considered among the North's elite. It was tied at the half with a mind-blowing 17-17 score. For La Salle, 6'1 sr. G Tom Mattern ended with 12 points after hitting a couple of tough shots. 6'1 senior Gabe Marabella is La Salle's heart and soul and he had 15 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 6-8 from the field. He plays really hard. For Ryan, 6'3 senior Chris DiStasio had 14 points and 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Ryan had trouble getting him the ball in positions where he could do more. Ryan had an off day shooting; the Raiders went 2-for-14 in the fourth and it is tough to win shooting that way. For La Salle 6'2 junior PG Rob Sullivan had 12 points while shooting 8-10 from the line in the fourth quarter, he also had 8 assists while running the show. Both teams played hard and are in good position to challenge Judge for first place. Be on the lookout down the stretch for a battle for the top in the North.

JAN. 12
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 53, Ryan 35
This was a big game for both schools. Both teams came in at 2-0 and atop the North. And you could just sense that this was gonna be a great game. With first-year coach Bernie Rogers restoring the pride back into Ryan, this had all the makings of a barn-burner. The game was sold out, standing room only. Judge of course had the student section filled with the Crusader Crazies, aka the occupants of The Abyss. They were loud and and into the game from the very start. Judge jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first. Ryan came back in the second with the shooting of sr. G-F John Capella. He is a great outside shooter and all of his shots were right there. It was Judge, 19-16, at the half. Sr. WG Brian Mooney took it upon himself in the second half to lead the Crusaders to victory. He stepped it up big-time to pull the Crusaders ahead, 35-20, at the end of the third. He got a lot of open looks from sr. PG Kevin Wolf (eight assists). In the fourth Judge pulled away with Mooney, who was not only scoring but rebounding like crazy. Mooney ended up with 22. Sr. F-C Rich Schmidt kicked in with six points, but was ineffective because of the defense of sr. F Chris DiStasio. For Ryan, sr. CG John Pellegrino played OK, but missed a lot of shots. He controls the offense well. Ryan seemed to be muffled by Judge's zone and was able to find a rhythm. The great rivalry is now back. Special thanks to Mr. Kilkenny (aka "Special K"). He runs the food service for the games and by far has the best food for price in the Catholic League. And to Mr. Tom Quinn for providing security at the game. There were no incidents despite the large crowd and I tip my hat to him. I'll be back next week when Judge plays their other main rival, North Catholic. Or if I get off my dead butt and see a game this Sunday!