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December reports

MARCH 24
PIAA CLASS AA STATE FINAL
Prep Charter 68, Aliquippa 66
  Anyone have a Bible? Before writing this report, I should probably place my left hand on the Good Book and raise my right hand and then swear/affirm/whatever that everything will be the whole truth, etc. And even THEN you might not believe it. As mentioned in the Alerts section, this game featured circumstances for the ages and somehow, incredibly, PC wound up with a second consecutive state title. We'll list some now, in no special order . . .
  *With exactly 4:00 showing on the clock in the fourth quarter, PC trailed by 14 points, at 60-46.
  *PC committed 33 turnovers, with SEVENTEEN coming from the team's far-and-away best players, the Memphis-bound Morris twins, 6-9 Marcus (10) and 6-10 Markieff (seven).
  *PC used its last timeout with 5:31 left in the THIRD quarter.
  *Marcus posted one field goal for the GAME.
  *In the first 12-plus minutes of the game, the twins combined for FOUR points.
  *Just before the third quarter began, a PC fan seated right behind press row yelled to the players, "It's a long bus ride home, without a W!" He did not get the desired response. Aliquippa scored six consecutive points in 48 seconds to zoom further ahead, at 37-23.
  *Markieff was the only Husky with a field goal over an 11-minute period that spanned from late-first to early-third.
  *Markieff incurred his fourth foul with 35 seconds left in the third quarter (and never fouled out).
  *Sr. G Kevin Radford incurred HIS fourth foul with 8 seconds left in the same session (and never fouled out). Side note: the official box lists him with three fouls, but No. 4 was announced at the time. It's a mystery (smile).
   So, how did Prep Charter win? In wild and wacky fashion. As much as PC slit its own throat again and again in the first 28 minutes, that was exactly what Aliquippa did in the final four. The Quips rushed and lost their poise and suffered a big blow with 2:24 left when their franchise player, sr. F Herb Pope (New Mexico State), fouled out with the score at 62-57. From then on, Aliquippa unraveled and the Huskies said to themselves, in effect, "These guys are pooping their pants. This game is ours to WIN!" PC caught two big breaks to help make up for the absence of timeouts. There were delays for injured players with 5:41 (a Quip) and 5:06 left (a Husky) and PC had a chance to collect its breath and regroup. And then, late in the game, as he later admitted with a smile, Marcus untied his sneaker and then got to re-tie it with the referees' permission before shooting crucial free throws, again buying valuable collect-yourself time. Here are the major moments of the final minute: Q went ahead, 66-63, at 0:57 on the follow of a missed free throw (made possible in part because Markieff, with four fouls, shied away); PC turned it over at 49.1; Q missed a one-and-one at 42.7 (with Marcus rebounding); Markieff dunked on a feed from Marcus at 0:32; Q missed a double-bonus at 0:22 (with Marcus grabbing the rebound); Marcus got the ball on the left wing, backed his defender into the lane and was grabbed as he began to execute a move at 0:11; he missed the first freebie, but hit the second to create a 66-66 tie; Marcus stepped forward to help on defense and made a steal at 0:07 at close to three-quarters court; Marcus was fouled almost immediately at 0:06 and nailed two FTs to make it 68-66 for just the Huskies' third lead of the game (also 6-5 and 8-7); before he could launch a desperation shot, which would have come from a shade inside halfcourt, a Quip was called for traveling at 1.4. Phew, what an amazing turn of events! PC wound up putting four players in double figures in points: Markieff (16), Marcus (11, thanks to nine FTs), Radford (14, 4-for-5 on treys!) and soph PG Parrish Grant (13). Markieff (16) and Marcus (11) enabled PC to ring up a 47-43 rebounding edge. Radford's importance to this win cannot be minimized. Aside from the treys, he was EXTRA disruptive on defense. Frosh Shaquille Duncan also posted an effort to long remember by grabbing six rebounds in just eight minutes. Aside from its cheerleaders, PC had maybe 30-35 rooters. Aliquippa, almost the exact same distance from Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center (it's 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh), appeared to have a couple thousand
   BONUS TIDBITS (with photos!)
   Meanwhile, this was the most time I've spent in a car in one day in my LIFE. Just short of eight hours. Phew! The ride home featured a guest appearance by Puck, who was (by choice) in the back seat the whole time and spent part of the journey napping and snoring, big-time! We stopped at a rest stop near King of Prussia and got some Burger King food. Puck thought we were going to eat there. No way! So, we're heading for the door and Puck says, "'Hold on, I gotta take a cwap." Oh, baby. He puts his soda and bag of food on top of a trash can. I walk out to go get the car. I pull up in front of the door and wait and wait and wait . . . and finally, I see Puck bobbing and weaving inside the building, blurting out comments. People are looking at him . . . yeah, like he's nuts (brilliant deduction). He finally comes out and I say, "What the heck were you doing?" He plays dumb (not a stretch). "Whatcha mean? Nothin'." I say, "I know exactly what happened. You put your food and soda on top of that trash can, then couldn't remember where you put it. You were looking all over, asking people if they saw your food." He starts laughing. "How you know? I thought somebody stole my stuff." We drive a little more and I call the wife to let her know our locale and to provide entertainment with assorted Puck stories. She's been listening to them for almost 15 years now. She always loves them. After maybe 30 seconds, I tell her, "Here, say hi to Puck." I hand Puck the cell phone. He starts blabbing about all the day's crazy stuff and then says, "Yo, who winning the game?" I tell him, "Puck, she doesn't watch basketball on TV. Unless I force her to!" He says, "Yo, what you watchin'? Put the NCAA game on for me. Channel 3. I need to know who winnin' for my pool." Anne's place in heaven is sealed. She actually changed the channel and told Puck that UCLA was winning, 32-31. "Yeah!" Puck roared. He gave me back the phone and I said to Anne, "That was fun, eh?" She said, "Was that really him? I thought it was you, imitating him!" For further enjoyment, here are some Puck photos . . .

This is Puck (right) and the Pittsburgh version of Puck. He goes by Deuce, though Puck, in all his puckedness, calls him "Goose."

This is Puck, sleeping in my back seat on the return trip from Penn State. That's part of me, driving (smile). I held out the camera and pointed it backward.

MARCH 18
PIAA CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
Imhotep 70, Bishop Hoban 52
  Thirty-and-0 and down they go! That phrase is not original. And who knows, maybe the guy I got it from “borrowed” it from someone else. In 1974, North Catholic went 16-0 in CL North play and its opponent in a Palestra quarterfinal was Dougherty. At the Markward Club luncheon that week, Dougherty coach Bob Harrington (continue R-ingIP, Bob; great guy!) told a few people, “Sixteen-and-0 and down they go . . . and don’t quote me until after the game.” Needless to say, Dougherty won. So did Imhotep, though it wasn’t easy. At least not early. And not even BEFORE early. Huh?? Well, Imhotep’s team bus experienced problems coming up the Northeastern Extension of the Pa. turnpike and coach/AD Andre Noble made the decision to wait for the fan bus, which was lagging behind, and put the players on that one. The game was scheduled for 3 p.m. The Panthers walked ONTO the court at 3:01 and tipoff was 3:25. Oh, baby. Only in the charter-school portion of the Pub (smile). In the early moments, the Panthers looked scared and/or groggy. All they did was miss shots and turn it over and Hoban, supported by maybe 2,000 fans (Imhotep had maybe 20) in the brand new gym at Bethlehem Freedom HS, jumped to an 8-0 start. Prospects for round No. 3 in the ‘Tep-Prep series (as in Imhotep-Prep Charter) were not looking good. Thankfully, the Panthers regrouped and wound up cruising and the next battle, in the Eastern final, will take place Wednesday night. (Details TBA tomorrow, hopefully). The ink went to sr. PF-C Kashief Edwards (Niagara), who scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half while adding six of his nine rebounds and posting all three of his assists. Check this out: until the waning moments, the Panthers’ second half field goals were exclusively twos by Edwards and treys by soph WG Will Adams (three) and sr. G Jermaine Washington (two). So, the inside-out offensive approach was working perfectly. Sr. WG-SF Hanif Nixon was a rock throughout. He grabbed eight rebounds, scored eight second quarter points (of 11 total) to key the comeback and dealt all five of his assists in the second half. Washington finished with 16 points and three assists. Adams went 4-for-5 on treys en route to 14 points. His other field goal was a dunk that followed a steal and drive over three quarters of the court. Will has a tender hand/thumb and had to sit out the previous game. He banged it pretty hard on his dunk and had it taped. Jr. G Lamar Trice posted four assists and a 4-for-4 performance at the foul line. ‘Tep-Prep could be VERY interesting this last time around. The winner will punch a ticket to Penn State, site of the state final next Saturday.

MARCH 17
PIAA CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
Prep Charter 65, York Catholic 57
   The plan was to catch an unusual "doubleheader" today. This one at 1 p.m. in Reading and Imhotep-Bishop Hoban at 5 in Bethlehem. Being WAY too concerned about travel time, as always, I got to this one a shade before 11:30 and briefly had the gym to myself. Then a ref and his buddy walked in, then some other folks and my cell phone rang. It was Imhotep coach Andre Noble, reporting that the Panthers' game had been postponed to tomorrow due to the weather. Hay-zoooooooooos. (So, after this one, I hightailed it back to Norristown to catch the second half of Gratz' win over Lower Merion. Amauro will do the report.) As this game began, it was easy to wonder how a team from Philly, with very little fan support, would fare on St. Patrick's Day against a team nicknamed the Fighting Irish -- yes, their uniforms are green -- with IMPRESSIVE fan support. Despite some shaky calls and admittedly poor play (can anyone here make a simple entry pass?), the defending state champs lived to see another round thanks to clutch foul shooting and good defense down the stretch. Everyone knows about the Memphis-bound Morris twins, 6-10 Markieff and 6-9 Marcus. Well, their mom, Thomasine,  also proved to be quite entertaining. She happened to sit right nearby behind one of the baskets and she came out with a series of funny remarks. Not real loud, but supportive. When one of her twins made a free throw, she would invariably utter, "Thank you, baby!" or "Thank you, sweetheart." On one occasion, BEFORE Marcus was going to shot a free throw, she said, "We need this." Clank. She followed up with, in stern fashion, "I SAID we need this." In time, if she keeps this up, she'll be as popular in Memphis as the twins (smile). So, how'd the big guys do? Both were dominating, which was to expected considering their height advantage. Markieff had 18 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, five steals and four blocks. Marcus had 23, 11 and two (in those first three categories). The next best Huskies were soph WG Jesse Morgan and sr. CG Kevin Radford. Morgan helped loosen things up by making five consecutive shots from the floor, including two treys, in a 14-point second half that enabled him to finish with 16. Radford went 5-for-6 at the line down the stretch and, more importantly, played staunch defense on Jacob Iati, YC's dangerous jump-shooter. Iati did finish with 18 points, but had no treys after the early part of the third quarter and made just two of his last nine shots. Before the game began, there was concern because PC kept not showing up. The Huskies did not make it onto the court until 12:48 some of YC's guys were on there as early as 12:20. I've been told PC was running late the other night for the Lower Moreland game, too. PC won this one, pretty much, with an 8-0 run to end the third quarter and make the score 38-35. They even got a break from the refs to help make it happen. With YC on offense, the buzzer inadvertently sounded (just a very short beep) and Iati stutter-stepped, thinking something was wrong. A travel was called and after a spirited exchange, that call stood. Morgan came down and hit a trey on a pass from Radford to make it 36-35. Morgan's next triple made it 43-37. Late in the game, YC posted back-to-back, three-point plays (neither foul would have been called in Philly; there was minimal contact) to draw within 59-57. Then, Marcus was called for a 5-secon violation as he tried to inbound. The twins' mom and those nearby were NOT happy. I think I might have heard the phrase, "Oh, here we go. Don't cheat us." Maybe five times (smile). YC inbounded and, with Radford in his face, Iati missed a left-corner trey. Jon Showers rebounded and whipped a pass out to Cory Stiles. He launched another trey that was partially blocked by Markieff. Marcus got that rebound, was fouled and made it 61-57 with two free throws at 26.9. Two free throws apiece by the twins closed out the scoring, with one last missed trey by Iati also part of the waning-moments scenario.
  BONUS TIDBIT!! (ha ha)
  As I arrived home, I could hear the phone ringing inside. I didn't get there in time, but while scrambling across the living room I could hear Puck on my answering machine, calling from Frostburg, Md., site of the Alhambra tournament. "He ain't answerin'. Yo, you try him." Click . . . The phone rang again. It was Roman assistant Chris McNesby. We laughed about Puck, of course, then he put Puck on his cell phone (brave man, that Chris McNesby because when Puck uses your cell phone, contamination is guaranteed.) Puck goes, "Yo, Ted!" I said some things. "Ted, you there? I can't hear you . . . Yo, Chris, I can't hear him. Here, you twy." Chris got back on and of course could hear me perfectly. THREE MORE TIMES, back and forth with Chris, Puck got on the phone and could not figure things out. It was classic Puckleheadness!! I told Chris, "Tell him to put it to his EAR! That might help!" Chris was beside himself. "I can't believe him. He keeps saying he can't hear you." Anyway, I gave the necessary messages to Chris and he spoke them out loud to Puck . . . The lunacy nevvvvvvver ends with the Puckster.

MARCH 14
PIAA CLASS AA SECOND ROUND
Imhotep 66, Wilkes-Barre GAR 34
  At halftime of this one I called Amauro to see how Prep Charter was faring against Lower Moreland. He said PC was trailing by four late in the first half and was basically sleep-walking. Well, that was NOT the case in the beautiful new gym at Freedom HS, in Bethlehem. Imhotep was extra aggressive from the very outset and seized the life from the Grenadiers. The Panthers ran and jumped and rebounded and whipped outlets and trapped guys for steals and played the way teams MUST play in the state tourney – as if the opponent is stacked with NBA players. Anything less and you leave yourself vulnerable. Hats off to coach Andre Noble and his players for coming into this game with the proper mindset and then MAINTAINING it when it would have been easy to downshift a gear or two. Never came close to happening. The early difference-maker was sr. F Tamir Johnson (Central Connecticut State), who wedged eight points, four boards, two assists, one steal and one block into the first six minutes before he had to sit down with foul trouble. His finishing numbers: 16 and seven in points and rebounds. Sr. F-C Kashief Edwards (Niagara) was a manchild inside with 17 points, 12 boards and four blocks. The other D-I signee, sr. G Jermaine Washington, mixed nine points, four assists and mostly flawless floor-generaling. Also starting was soph F Ivory Wells. I honestly didn’t remember seeing much of him earlier this season, but I LIKED what I saw tonight. He went hard to the hoop on several occasions and dared people to try to stop him. Nice! The DN attention went to sr. F Hanif Nixon, who has been forced to endure incredible tragedy in his life. Three brothers were shot to death, his dad died of cancer and his mom was batting cancer earlier this season. Hanif stepped away from basketball for about a month to help care for his mom and he greatly appreciates every moment he spends around his coaches and teammates. Noble used all 11 of his players and, near the end, it was nice to see jr. F Shawn Rodgers hit the scorebook. The biggest cheers were reserved for soph G Tyree Morgan, however. The cheerleaders shrieked with delight when they saw him heading toward the table and later kept chanting, “Ty-ree MOR-gan! Ty-ree MOR-gan!” Alas, Tyree launched no shots. (Doubt that’ll hurt him with the ladies in school tomorrow – smile. This kid appears to be very popular.) Those kids who are friendly with jr. F Demar Morine might want to check out his myspace page in the next few days. He said he needed a pic for his page and I think I obliged. No charge, of course. (ha ha).

MARCH 13
PIAA CLASS A SECOND ROUND PLAYOFF
Reading Central Catholic 54, Freire 45
  This was one of those pick-your-poison games. Freire coach Lawrence Threadgill said he was told by two other coaches that RCC would be very difficult to play man-to-man because of its ability to be patient and set millions of screens and wind up with fantastic shots. So, he opted to play zone and then later a box-and-one (because one of the Cardinals was sniping from distance in unconscious fashion) and, well, nothing worked out too well. Not sure if the Freire coaches noticed and, yes, I realize that quite young Freire (no seniors; just nine players total) is not exactly deep itself, but RCC used just five players until someone fouled out in the last minute and since it was VERY hot in the gym, I thought the best move would have been to run and run and run some more. Oh, well. Live and learn. If the Cards had not shot so well, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Then again, if the Dragons had done a better job of getting to the shooters . . . In defeat, the ink went to 6-4, 200-pound frosh Octavious Booker. He found it rough to finish inside against a big, strong kid in 6-6 Colin Naugle, and went 0-for-8 from the floor, but he did use his instincts and good hands to claim 13 rebounds. “Booker” it: this kid will be a force in the years to come. Jr. WG Jarrod Denard scored 17 points while hitting two treys (and missing his last four free throws after hitting his first two. Oddly, he had one mark apiece in the rebounds, assists, steals and blocks categories. Jr. PG Antoine “Blueberry” Singleton had to miss six minutes in the first half with an ankle ding. He finished with 10 points and three assists. When Blue went out, the Dragons were down by 13-9 after threy No. 3 by Matt Ashcroft. The deficit was 19-13 when he returned and the Dragons embarked on a strong stretch that saw them storm into the locker room with a halftime lead of 25-21. Denard provided the lead, at 23-21, with a top-of-the-key three and Singleton added to it by making a halfcourt steal and going in for a layup. Thereafter? Ugh. RCC scored 22 of the next 31 points. Like Shykee Brooks before them, Rysheen Dorn and Victor Pomales did nice jobs on Ashworth in the box-and-one. But in the second half, three other guys combined for five treys, thus enabling the Cards to finish with 10 treys for the game (and only eight regulars). To its credit, Freire did rally – in immediate fashion, too – after RCC built a 43-34 lead with 3:10 left. Dorn scrapped for a three-point play, then Denard canned a layup off a pass from Singleton. But from the right corner, a Cardinal put too much mustard on what was supposed to be an entry pass and the ball, holy Christmas, zipped right through the net! Unbelievable. RCC CTO (closed things out) from there. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Freire’s program next year. Everyone is DUE to come back. Will that happen? Well, two strong players did disappear during this season and with the way kids love to play hopscotch these days (encouraged by coaches/parents of all variety), nothing is certain. This was a fun night at Norristown. The AD, Chuck Knowles, formerly coached football at Conwell-Egan (and was the AD, as well) and one of his sidekicks, Bob Davis, is a buddy from way back in the Oreland summer basketball league. Bob introduced me to Norristown’s coach, Mike Evans, and I also got to catch up briefly with ex-Gtn. Academy legend Keith Wood (well, he IS still a legend – smile). Thanks to Chuck for letting me use his office to write the DN story. It was his birthday, but he was babysitting this doubleheader. (Congrats to Bodine’s girls for winning the opener! Photos of that one also are posted.)

This picture was taken at the CL basketball final. With me from L to R are Eric
"Neckbone" Williams (Germantown FB '07), Chris Banks (Northeast FB '05) and
Rockeed McCarter (Roman FB and BB '06). Chris was buggin' me to put this on the
homepage. My kids weren't havin' it (ha ha). Chris wrote for this site during his days at
Judge and NE. Somehow we survived .
    (Photo by Saadiq "Banks' Li'l Brothah" Stewart, NE FB '05)

MARCH 9
PIAA CLASS A FIRST ROUND
Freire 61, Nativity Pottsville 31
   After getting crunched in a A-AAAA semifinal vs. Gratz, and then having 10 days to lick wounds and develop cobwebs, there was no way to know for sure how Freire would react. The answer? Wonderfully! The Dragons did not get slain this time, folks. They delivered the punishment and did exactly to Nativity (one point short of a double-up job) what Gratz did to them. Phew, what would Gratz do to Nativity? Defense made this one a frolic job. Freire collected no fewer than 19 steals and had seven in the first quarter while shooting 8-for-15 and roaring to a 16-2 bulge. It was obvious that Nativity had not faced fast teams very often because the Hilltoppers kept making slow-paced passes that were picked off by the Dragons. Insult to injury came in the fourth quarter, won by Freire, 11-0. The ink went to jr. WG Jarrod Denard, yet another tricky-dick lefty with a variety of ways to score. He shows an effective, soft-touch, step-back jumper and can also seize the baseline and/or knife through the lane. He collected maybe four-five of his field goals off drives of half the court or more that followed steals. Frosh PF-C Octavious Booker had an impressive night with 15 points and 12 boards. He shows a lot of maturity and I like how he truly attacks/swallows the ball as it comes off the glass. Jr. PG Antoine “Blueberry” Singleton again showed why he’s a dynamite guy to have on a team. He played hard and sensibly with seven assists and five steals and I’m sure his teammates appreciate his skills and approach. Jr. F Ameen Rorie had eight boards and four steals and made four of his five shots for eight points. All nine Dragons saw action. In the A and AAA groupings, Freire will be the only Pub squad to see the night of a second-round game. Robeson, FLC and Comm. Tech all suffered defeats. Freire has reason to feel proud. Two of the better Dragons left school during the course of the season, with one moving all the way to Texas. The other dropped 23 points against Prep Charter in his one league appearance of the season, then disappeared to who knows where. I didn’t see this because I was down at the other end of the gym interviewing Denard, but Amauro said there was a vintage dustup right after the game between two adult Nativity fans. Please don’t tell me one guy was blaming another’s son for the loss. Um, your team lost by 30. Meanwhile, you know a Philly team is playing a team from WAY outside Philly when you pull into the parking lot and the car right next to yours has a front license plate celebrating the life and career of . . . drum roll, please . . . Elvis Presley. Hay-zoooooooooos.

MARCH 7
  The CL's all-star doubleheader has been POSTPONED. No date yet, but we've been told the games will not be played until AFTER the Alhambra tournament involving Roman/N-G/SJ Prep.

MARCH 6
PIAA CLASS A PLAY-IN GAME
Camp Hill 64, Robeson 55
   When the three zebras went to referees school, their major was traveling violations. Walking was called a minimum of 20 times and in time the players on both teams were scared to even think about beginning a move, let alone actually do so. This tilt was played at Northern HS, in York County not far from Harrisburg/Gettysburg, and the trip required a shade more than 2 hours. Why’d I go? Well, the Robeson coaches, Rob Powlen and Tahar Sutton, are good people and I hadn’t seen the Huskies all season and I was up for a little adventure and, what the heck, I just felt like going. Robeson played hard and mostly sensibly and its occasionally wacky moments were a result of overzealousness, not pigheadedness. While on the one hand it would be easy to point to back-to-back techs as the backbreaker, and complain about them long and hard as THE difference-maker, it’s also a fact that Robeson shot 3-for-19 in the quarter (third) when the techs occurred. Amauro and I were sitting across the way, but the second tech was doled out between shots of the first and appeared to result from an argument over whether a player could be subbed into the game to shoot ‘em. (Mark Citron, the girls’ coach and AD, later came over to ask us about that. Pretty sure it’s allowed. Well, at least I know Wood’s Fran McGlinn, once last season and once this season, was inserted into games to shoot techs.) Anyway, the four free throws made it 34-30 and CH eventually expanded its lead to 50-41 before Robeson made a late push that reduced the deficit to 50-49 on a steal and layup by soph WG-SF Dom Owens (14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals) before some late misfirings/turnovers caused defeat. Robeson’s girls played the first game (and also lost), but this was a nice overall experience for both teams’ players and that was the DN focus. The two senior Huskies are Fs Kahri Harris and Dom Medlock. The bouncy Harris, who’s being eyed by the state schools, had seven points, six rebounds and three steals. Medlock had 10 and eight. Like every Huskie, he missed some chippies. Jr. PG Rob Hall had five points and five assists and got help from frosh Jay Harris, a 5-foot competitor with flare and more than a little skill. Fun to watch! He nailed two treys while adding two assists and as many steals. The only player with height/bulk was soph C Daniel Mack (11 rebounds). Frosh G Xavier Brown added seven points. The drive home went smoothly. All kinds of tractor-trailers on the turnpike, and off to the side, but not many cars. How can people drive mile after mile after mile for a living and sleep on the side of the road? I’ll never understand that one (smile).

MARCH 5
SPECIAL NOTE
   The CL all-star doubleheader will be played WEDNESDAY at Judge, with games at 6 and 7:30. The dunk and three-point contests have been eliminated. Defensive MVPs and overall MVPs for each game.   

MARCH 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Roman 59, Neumann-Goretti 56
   The Cahillites were right on the verge. Right ON it. The this-does-not-look-good-at-ALL verge. Just under six minutes remained in a lively fray at the hallowed Palestra and Roman was down by 10 points, at 52-42. Yes, 10. So now, go back to the score line and do the arithmetic. Ch-ch-ch-ching. Roman closed with a 17-4 run! Amazing, right? (More amazing: if you're reading this report for the second time, for some strange reason, you might have noted that the numbers changed from 52-41 and 18-4. The reason? Mr. Pucklehead!! Amauro and I both remembered 52-42, but Puck kept insisting that it was 52-41. "It right here on my sheet. I wote down every scoring play. C'mon, use my stuff. I did play-by-play for the whole game. I told you I handle it, so you don't have to worry about it." This was over the phone, by the way. Puck neglected to put his carefully crafted play-by-play sheet on my clipboard before I left the Palestra. So, I called him Monday morning and asked him to check the play-by-play again. Because at 1 a.m., I watched the CN8 broadcast via Comcast On Demand and saw that the lead was 52-42, not 52-41. Me: "Puck, go get your papers." Him: "Why?" Me: "Because you messed something up." Him: "No, I didn't." Me: "Get your papers!" Him, after I can hear major scrambling of papers in background: "OK, what I gotta check?" Me: "Whether the score was 52-41 or 52-42." Him: "I got it right here. 52-41 . . . Oh, wait. Ohhh, I mess up. I got 50-42, then I got Wick Jackson gettin' a basket, but I wote down 52-41. Ohhh, I mess up. Should say 52-42. Oh, boy, I weally scwew that up, huh?" Me: "Royally. It was only the most important fact of the game." Him: "Man, how I do dat? How I wite down 52-41?" Me: "Because you're Puck, and you never cease to amaze and drive me crazy.") Anyway, the title is the 29th in school history (the CL was formed for the 1919-20 school year) and coach Dennis Seddon now owns the league mark for crowns with 10. Roman’s Billy Markward won nine in the ’20s and ‘30s. Dennis is the most unaffected guy you could ever hope to encounter and deserves every bit of good fortune that comes his way. After accepting the title plaque from CL boys’ hoops moderator Joe Sette, he stepped away and let the players bask in all of the glory. That action did not surprise me at all. In fact, I was surprised it took him maybe 2 seconds to step away instead of 1 (smile). A team with two high-profile Division I signees and a decided height advantage is not supposed to cough up an 11-point lead with a third consecutive championship just six minutes away. It happened, though. Believe it. The Saints missed shots and made mistakes to prevent shots and had problems with synchronization, and the final two shots wound up being threeball attempts by a guy, sixth man/sr. SF Mark Hatty, who’s not known for long-range sniping but rather timely little things mostly around the basket, especially on find-open-space follows. Oh, he can hit threes, and he has, but it was unfortunate that the Saints had to rely on him to perform that duty at the most crucial moments of the season. The Cahillites showed incredible resolve when they faced the 11-point deficit. Not only did they reel off 12 consecutive points, they did so in 1 minute, 40 seconds! Sr. WG Bradley Wanamaker, playing with four fouls, was a monster during that stretch. His best play was a perfectly whipped, thread-the-needle pass to jr. G Courtney Stanley for a layup at 4:34. That moved Roman within 52-51 and its fans were going nuts!! Soph PG Maalik Wayns was the next hero. He made a steal a shade beyond halfcourt and drove hard for a layup and a 53-52 lead. Moving ahead . . . Roman went ahead for good, at 56-54, as Bradley Wanamaker stole the ball from 6-9 sr. C Rick Jackson in the low post and found jr. SF Will Kirkland for a layup. The next bucket was also Roman’s as Wayns hit sr. G Brian Wanamaker, Bradley’s fraternal twin, for a 58-54 score. Jackson scored low on a feed from his ‘Cuse-bound best buddy, sr. PG Antonio “Scoop” Jardine, and Roman called time at 1:14. Some clock was wasted and then Bradley went hard to the hoop from the left side. Stalemate! Jackson met him at the summit and blocked the shot. The ball did not squirt free, so a jump ball was called and the arrow favored N-G. From there: Jardine missed a shot and Bradley was called for walking at 32.8; Hatty, left ridiculously wide open as Roman focused on others, air-balled a left-wing trey and the ball bounced off frosh G Tony Chennault out of bounds at 16.4. As Brian advanced upcourt, sr. G sub Wali Hepburn played great defense and the ball caromed out of bounds. The ruling: off Hepburn at 11.9. Roman again inbounded and Kirkland was spotted all by his lonesome coming in from the left wing. Trying to do too much too fast, he bobbled the ball but at least recovered and drew a foul at 6.4. He made the first to make it 59-56. He got a little happy on the farm, going from the line to midcourt to slap hands with Bradley and point to his dad in the stands before he returned to the line. He missed the second shot. Disaster for N-G. The rebound came out slightly long, to the top part of the lane, and no one bothered to check out Stanley. He had no trouble claming the rebound, then  went to the line for a double-bonus at 4.9. Oops, he missed both! Jr. F Jamal Wilson rebounded on the left side. He headed upcourt and passed ahead to Hatty. Mark stopped on the right wing, in front of N-G’s bench (east end of the building) and fired up about a 24-footer. The ball got rim, but not enough to bounce up and maybe have a chance to fall in. Ballgame. Four guys reached double figures for Roman – Bradley (17), Wayns (13), Kirkland  (12) and Brian (10). Stanley was the only other scorer with seven. Bradley, the subject of Rich Hofmann’s column (yeah, baby, famous columnist in the house! -- smile), added six rebounds, seven assists and four steals. My own story focused largely on Will Kirkland (his identical twin, Wes, was the seventh man). Double-figure scorers for N-G were Jackson (20, but 0-for-4 at line), Chennault (13, also three steals) and Wilson (10). Jackson added 18 rebounds and six blocks, so he finished the three-game playoff series with averages of 22.7 points, 14 boards and six blocks. Jardine dealt 11 assists and was guilty of just two turnovers, so that part of his outing was wonderful. He shot just 3-for-12. Jr. PF Rashad Savage grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out with 5:27 left. N-G was still holding eight, at 52-44. Hatty added four rebounds and two apiece of assists and steals . . . OK, because the overall effect was nothing outrageous (though it very much COULD have been), I held off in dealing with this year’s post-game issue. But 10 to 15 seconds after the game ended, maybe a half-dozen plastic bottles, filled to varying degrees with water/Gatorade/etc., thudded on the court at Roman’s end. If anyone was hit, I did not see it. Security personnel said they were thrown from a spot high above N-G’s bench, and one guy said most were thrown simultaneously by “young men” – he thought they were older than high school age; current students were behind the west basket -- in the same row of the stands. They quickly ran out a nearby exit. At least one bottle was thrown a short time later because it landed a shade to the left of press row. Roman’s players were hurriedly directed to their locker room for safety reasons, but later returned to accept the plaque and interact with Roman’s student rooters. Roman had a tremendous turnout and many of the kids came storming into the building the instant the doors opened, taking positions behind the east basket. They had juice from the very beginning. N-G’s turnout was also strong, but its enrollment is much lower than Roman’s and its group was slower to reach full strength.

FEB. 23
PUBLIC LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 PLAYOFF
Imhotep 80, Straw. Mansion 75
  The DN work is finished and it’s roughly 10:30 as I start this report. Again and again, the various elements of this all-time classic keep racing through my mind. Those in attendance in Mansion’s cozy, way-loud gym will talk about this one forever and the focal point will undoubtedly be The Great Collapse. Understandable, since Mansion did blow a 19-point lead over the final eight minutes, going 1-for-7 from the floor and 5-for-10 at the line and committing 12 turnovers. But here’s hoping folks also discuss the major reason for TGC and the events of the game’s early portion. Being a big fan of dead-eye shooters, I have to start there. In the first quarter, after missing his first shot, a threeball, Mansion jr. WG Dwayne Davis hit SIX consecutive treys. Yes, six. He did most of his damage from the right wing, with the first four coming against a zone. The Panthers then went man-to-man and he drilled two more. On No. 6, he was literally falling out of bounds in front of Mansion’s bench. Amazing! The Knights finished the first quarter with a 22-12 edge and Davis accounted for the other four points with one assist apiece on FGs by soph WG Eddie Frazier and soph PG Marcus Grimes. (In the CL North pre-playoff the other night, Judge's Kevin Lynch accounted for his team's first 19 points with 14 of his own and assists for the other five.) Davis hit no treys in the second quarter, but did go 4-for-4 at the line and mix in a regular FG to complete the half with 24 points. Third quarter? Two MORE threes in as many attempts (the city game record is 10 by Mansion's Maureece Rice in 2003) and a pair of free throws for a grand total now of 32 points. Ah, but problems were already developing. Davis incurred his third personal with 5:13 left in the session and his fourth at 1:10. Coach Gerald Hendricks took him out and left him on the bench as the fourth quarter began. He returned at 6:47 . . . and was gone just 7 seconds later because of a reach-in foul at midcourt. By then the lead was already beginning to dissipate and there was just no stopping the Panthers. Spurred on by their wildly energetic coach, Andre Noble, who kept stomping his feet and clapping his hands, they kept rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling and the eyes of Mansion’s youthful players kept getting wider and wider. Pretty early in the comeback, it was easy to tell that Mansion would either lose or barely manage to hold on, if only because Imhotep would be severely spent down the stretch from having expended so much energy. After Frazier made a free throw, Mansion was up, 72-65. The Panthers scored two quick field goals, with the second an impressive drive for a left-handed layup by sr. PG Jermaine Washington. Almost simultaneously, I looked at statman Steve Reid and he looked at me and our expressions both screamed, “Imhotep’s gonna win this game!” (And since Steve truly loves Mansion, it had to hurt.) The tie, at 72-72, came on a follow by very important frontcourt sub Hanif Nixon. Imhotep sr. F Kashief Edwards and Mansion jr. G Darren Lawrence then traded two free throws apiece. Lead for good: A foul-line jumper by Edwards on a pass from Washington at 1:08. Mansion could not deliver a counter-punch and as the final seconds melted away, the Panthers could not contain their enthusiasm. They did try hard, though, because they had almost no fans in the building – strangely, neither team bothered with cheerleaders today – and they knew the Mansion supporters were feeling all kinds of frustration/disappointment/anger/whatever. One of the best post-game visuals was the hug exchanged by Washington and Davis. Jermaine – remember, he was on the winning team – had a tear streaming down his face as he walked away and Davis was crying big-time. He pulled up his jersey to cover his face. What a moment. Finally, as the Panthers scrambled downstairs to their locker room, they allowed their emotions to bubble and it was quite a scene to see. Washington got the ink. He finished with 16 points, six assists and three steals and scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Edwards and sr. F-C Tamir Johnson, like Washington a Central Connecticut signee, also had seven points apiece in the fourth quarter. Nixon had six to complete a wonderful performance (17 points, seven boards, three assists). Imhotep’s other rotation guys were soph G-Fs Will Adams and Kenny Battle (six boards) and jr. Gs Lamar Trice and Steven Leath (three assists, three assists). Trice did his best to try to keep up with Davis after the early onslaught. For Mansion, jr. C Devon White, also saddled with severe foul trouble, had 13 points and 10 boards. OK, now it’s a shade after 11 o’clock and I’ll be posting this report momentarily. Around the city, I KNOW the players and fans are texting and calling each other to spread the word about this game. Some won’t be able to sleep until very late, if at all. It was THAT kind of game. With THOSE kinds of elements. A guy on one team hits six consecutive threes in the first quarter! The other team winds up winning by five points thanks to a 31-7 fourth quarter! Phew and phew again!!

FEB. 22
PUBLIC LEAGUE FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Penn 91, Bok 71
   This was my first look at Penn all season, and my first at Bok since early December. A more competitive game would have been nice, of course, and all of us could have done without the early ending, as caused by a fan disturbance with 13.1 seconds remaining. Harold Alexander, who had to miss this game, has obviously done a nice job in his first season as the Lions’ coach. His team plays hard and together and there’s an interesting mix of players. For way too long, Penn has been like a farm club for other programs. Did you know that ex-Sixer Marc Jackson began his high school career at Penn before transferring to Roman and that college star Mustafa Shakur did likewise before winding up at Friends’ Central. Even Germantown star Darryl McBride, a junior, played last year at Penn before hitting the pike. If Harold is able to retain the job – he’s not a teacher, and runs the risk of being supplanted by someone who is – the Lions could become dangerous over the next few years because he has good contacts around the city and Penn is easily accessible via the subway. Oh, well, we’ll see how it all plays out. The most productive Lions were jrs., F-C Kevin Hudson and WG Brandon Tondreau. Hudson is not that tall, but his instincts in the lane are quite impressive and he truly thirsted for the ball as it came off the boards. He’s a quick jumper, too. He had 19 points and 18 rebounds. Tondreau, a lefty who sports, believe it or not, a Mohawk haircut, is quite similar to a guy I saw yesterday, Lincoln’s Brandon Bowes. Tondreau is not as quick, but displays the same repertoire of shots, even from distance. He knocked down 23 points. The story was garnered by sr. CG Orie Johnson, who’s all of 5-2, 120 pounds. He had nine points and four assists and buzzed around all over the place. He holds long-time membership in the Fierce Competitor Club and it’s impossible not to want to see this kid succeed. Two more seniors, Curshawn Banks and Mark Allen, also do much of the ballhandling, as Orie sometimes plays on the wing. Srs. Jovan Smith and Anthony Parker lend inside help. Thanks to some JV additions, Penn had 18 players in uniform. Bok had eight. Ouch. The Wildcats killed themselves with nine turnovers in the first quarter and 4-for-14 miseries at the line in the first half. Corey Curtis (17) and Chris Parks (14) led Bok in scoring while Tremell Green swept 13 rebounds. The first and third guy are sophs and Parks is a junior, so coach Lloyd Jenkins could have fun next season as well. The problem began after deep sub Braheim Dixon (I know that name from somewhere; he must have played football) banked in a deep trey from the right wing while drawing a foul. At Bok, all spectators must watch the game from a balcony that runs the length of the court. Maybe 15 Penn girls were up there, cheering away, and some Bok loyalists began to harass them. There was pushing and shoving and a plastic bottle of sports drink came flying down onto the court. The refs waved their hands in it’s-over fashion and, yes, that was it. There was no MAJOR trouble, but as the Lions boarded their bus out on Mifflin Street, school personnel and police supervised. Meanwhile, one of the refs was Vince Trombetta, who happens to be the defensive coordinator for Bok’s football team. Vince is one of the all-time great guys, but there’s no way he should be officiating Bok games, especially a playoff game, especially since some of Bok’s hoopsters are also FB players. The whole scenario opens too many potential cans of worms. As I arrived at the school an hour before gametime, my cell phone rang. It was sidekick Mark “Froggy” Carfagno, suggesting I come up to the school library. Therein, FB coach Tom DeFelice was supervising an informal luncheon for his team. The highlight was the distribution of awards and beautiful jackets recognizing the Wildcats’ Class AAA District 12 title. Tommy introduced The Frogster and yours truly to the players and made some very nice comments about our work and the best thing was, he didn’t make us say anything (phew, thank goodness – smile). Some pics from the luncheon are posted in the same folder with the basketball shots.

FEB. 21
CATHOLIC NORTH PRE-PLAYOFF
La Salle 56, Judge 51
   There were two guarantees before this one even started: Clay Penecale would play well for La Salle; Kevin Lynch would do likewise for Judge. It happens EVERY year, folks. Guys who get dissed/screwed in the coaches’ All-Catholic voting wind up making a statement in the playoffs. Penecale, a jr. WG-SF, did not get royally dissed/screwed because he did finish sixth and head the second team. It would not have surprised to see him among the top five, however, and he certainly played like a first-teamer tonight (though he kinda waited until the second half – smile). At intermission, Penecale owned just four points on 2-for-6 shooting and it appeared his squad was soon going to have start exploring offseason leisure activities. La Salle was down, 30-20, and had trailed by 13 just moments earlier. But Clay molded (bet he’s never heard that line, eh?) a second-half turnaround by scoring 17 points. He mixed his patented dribble-dribble-stop-pop mid-range jumpers with a pair of threeballs and even went hard to the hole. I’d written about Clay earlier this season, so tonight the ink went to jr. CG Frank Pierson, the sixth man. And it wasn’t a stretch, by any means. His contributions were CRUCIAL to the win. After experiencing shooting miseries pretty much all season, Pierson went 4-for-5 with two treys for 10 points. Also, get this, he was second among the ‘Splorers in rebounds, with four, while notching two apiece of assists and steals. He was also Mr. Perfect Timing. With 2:08 left, having been given room, he made a brassy drive down the middle and swished a flip shot for a 50-45 lead. Then, after Penecale made a steal, he accepted a kick-out pass from jr. F Joe Migliarese (eight points) and banged home a trey for a 53-45 bulge. Judge kept toothing and nailing. In fact, on their last meaningful possession, the Crusaders even had a chance to tie. But after going 4-for-5 on treys en route to 14 points, jr. WG-SF Bob Zanneo could not connect on a straight-on attempt. The rebound kicked out long. Pierson made the grab and passed ahead to Penecale for a breakaway layup. Other things to note: jr. C Matt Crozier had 10 boards and sr. G sub T.J. Brown, on a pass from sr. G-F Anthony Acey-Davis, buried a trey late in the third quarter, just as La Salle was exerting its influence. Now, about Lynch. Though he did have a couple of down performances in league play, overall he was Judge’s mainstay and the only true ballhandler among the starters and I’d have to think the fact he did not make A-C at all caused his coaches to scratch their heads. Well, all he did in this one was have a DIRECT role in Judge’s first 19 points! He scored the first 14 himself, with two treys mixed in, then made assists to account for the next five as Zanneo hit a trey and jr. C Andrew Vose (eight rebounds) scored down low. Not bad, eh? Overall, Lynch went 9-for-9 (three threebies) and 4-for-6 for 25 points while mixing in four steals. It was a shame for him that such a memorable performance came in a loss. I watched this one from right behind the basket closest to the locker rooms in Ryan’s gym. Perfect for photo purposes. Plus, Hockey Puck didn’t want to sit there (he stationed himself off to the side of midcourt), so the night was pain-free (smile). Sitting right nearby was Jason Budd, a former Judge athlete and now an assistant principal. If I remember correctly, Jason said Zanneo ranks third in the junior class academically and is hoping to go Ivy. Great news! Also, he said the team is filled with character kids and that the starters, especially, likely have never been guilty of even one misstep that would have resulted in detention. Great news again!

FEB. 21
PUBLIC LEAGUE PRELIMINARY PLAYOFF
Mastbaum 76, Lincoln 64
  There are undoubtedly worse ideas, but none comes to mind at the moment: Never go TO Mastbaum with a team suffering from ballhandling issues. The Panthers often don’t have much height, but pesky guards are always in abundance and if you don’t take care of the ball, zoom, it’s goin’ in the other direction. ‘Baum roared to a 40-21 halftime lead mostly because Lincoln kept turning it over and over and over. When the Railsplitters did manage to get into halfcourt sets, their flow was mostly non-existent. They fared much better in the second half, but honestly, those 16 minutes mostly gave off a this-is-for-fun aura and Lincoln never truly caused consternation. Mr. Story Man was sr. PG Sean Rice-Fleming, who earlier this year told me just to use Rice but this time said his mom was adamant about the fact he’d better go back to using the hyphenated, full-blown version (smile). He carries just 145 pounds on a 5-11 frame, but don’t let that concern you. He plays with a bruiser’s mentality and makes the right decision again and again. Even when playing in whirlwind fashion, there’s still something calm and collected about his approach and that quality is extremely rare. He went for 19 points and eight assists and thoroughly enjoyed himself. The other two srs. of note are CG Marvin Warden and F-C Chris Ayandokun. Warden mostly plays off the ball on offense, in deference to R-F, but he’s also a point guard at heart and his ballhawking skills keyed the defense. He posted six thefts in the first half alone, along with four assists, and appeared not to care at all that he hadn’t even scored by halftime. Ayandokun is a thin, bouncy guy who projects as a SF. Maybe even as a WG down the line, depending on college level. He was also awesome in the first half, going for 12 points and nine boards. Jr. WG-SF Michael Rainey went for 21 points overall, mostly because he owned the baseline and near wing and was very decisive once he got the ball. If the opportunity was there, boom, he took it. The little-things guy was jr. PF-C Marvin Smith. But it’s pretty cool when your little-things guy can shoot 6-for-8 from the floor and total 14 points. Lincoln earlier this season had a respectable three-headed monster, but one of those guys disappeared due to academic ineligibility and the loss proved to be too much. The scoring machine is sr. Brandon Bowes, a slight lefty with a great touch and the ability to do things on the move OR while just flat-out gettin’ and launchin’. He went for 33 points and drained five treys. Check this out: He packed 19 points into the first 10 minutes of the second half by nailing seven consecutive shots from the floor. Four of them were threeballs! FB star Tyrone Bolden, who’s still trying to make a decision on what sport to play in college (maybe both), managed 13 points and nine boards. He had two wicked dunks down the stretch. One made it into Special Photos. One didn’t, no thanks to the ref who was standing right in front of me (grrrrrrrrrrrr, smile). As always, the visit to Mastbaum was pleasant. Teachers always seem to want to watch the kids play the games, and I hope the kids appreciate that such a culture does not exist at many schools. Once the bell rings, right out the door. Not at 'Baum. Phys ed teacher/coach Joanie Houston, a family friend famous for non-stop energy, dashed across the court right before gametime and led the students in cheers of “Let’s go, Mastbaum, let’s go!” Gotta love it!

FEB. 20
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Prep Charter 52, Imhotep 50
  Every team wants to win a division title. That’s especially so when losing means you might find yourself at always-tough Strawberry Mansion in a few days with the prospect of not being able to later advance to the state playoffs. Imhotep has three Division I signees in sr. G Jermaine Washington and F-Cs Tamir Johnson (both Central Connecticut) and Kashief Edwards (Niagara). Now, the Panthers also have a hard way to go in the AA portion of the Pub playoffs. Considering they blew leads of 10 points (halftime) and six points (after three quarters) in a home game, though the site was Finley RC instead of Lonnie Young, they mostly have themselves to blame. But there was one gigantic call that was just flat-out wrong, and it wound being a killer. With Imhotep up, 48-47, PC soph WG Jesse Morgan broke loose for had the look of an easy basket. However, the long-limbed Edwards showed incredible hustle and got back in time to prevent the layup. In fact, he delivered a very hard foul – making the perfect basketball play! – to assure that Morgan would have no chance for a field goal, let alone an and1. There was nothing malicious about the foul. Nothing to cause a fight. But a ref whistled an intentional foul and that meant, of course, that PC would keep the ball after the free throws. So, what happened? Morgan, a sweet shooter who had somehow gone 0-for-4 at the line to this point, knocked down two straight and then hit two MORE to give the Huskies a 51-48 lead. From there, Washington missed a trey and Imhotep got a break when the ball glanced off a PC player and trickled over the baseline. Washington inbounded to sr. F Hanif Nixon and he scored at 0:05. There was a long delay as the refs/scorekeepers tried to determine whether Imhotep even had a timeout remaining. This was at least the "dozenth" stoppage of the game for clock, score, foul, everything problems, and, man, does this crap get old. The clock operator kept putting too many points on the scoreboard and the refs kept saying he didn’t know how to take them off and would just not add any the next time that team scored. Oh, baby. Meanwhile, of course, the fans would get stirred up because they knew the score was incorrect. Anyway, Imhotep was granted the timeout and Morgan was hacked at 0:04. He missed the first, then made the second. A halfcourt desperation shot had no real prayer. The ink went to Morgan, who it four treys before his late heroics at the line and thus finished with 17 points. He said he routinely launches 500 shots a day thanks to sessions after PC’s practices and then later at night at a middle school close to his Olney home. The Memphis-bound Morris twin towers, Marcus and Markieff, had 14 points apiece. They never truly exerted their influence in the fashion we’ve come to expect except in the third quarter. Markieff did those honors, scoring nine points on a series of post-up moves. Marcus added 11 rebounds and three blocks. ‘Kieff had three steals. With 4:28 left, he momentarily fouled out. But there was major discussion and one ref overruled the other, saying the foul had been committed by Marcus. ‘Kieff never did foul out. After a rocky start, soph PG Parrish Grant recovered enough to deal four assists and keep PC’s second half turnovers to a minimum. Instead, it was Imhotep that became unraveled in the stretch. For whatever reason, Washington often did not have the ball and that just can’t happen. He’s a D-I signee, for goodness sakes. He has to DEMAND it, and his teammates have to make sure he has it. If he messes up, hey, at least the Panthers go down having taken the right approach. Edwards finished with 14 points and four of his field goals were unconscious dunks. Some of his jumpers were way-too-hard pictures of ugliness and I’m not sure what was going on there. But this guy is very athletic and quick off his feet and with proper development, we’re talking franchise player for the Purple Eagles. Johnson, who plays with a certain edge and, at times, appeared to get under the twins’ skin, had eight points and 10 boards. WG-SF Will Adams, a promising soph, had eight points and five rebounds. Maybe a dozen college coaches were in attendance, as were Gratz coach Leonard Poole and his predecessor, Bill Ellerbee. Gratz’ game with FLC, which would have been for the Division A title, was canceled because it had no true “meaning” (because the schools are in different classifications), so that gave Poole a chance to scout. Interesting tidbit: Imhotep’s cheerleaders spent the first half in the stands. They spent the second along the baseline behind the basket – you got it – where PC was shooting. They mostly behaved (smile), and did nothing more distracting than wiggle their fingers as PC guys shot free throws. But late, they also began to hoot and holler and hold up signs honoring Imhotep’s seniors and one of the refs finally made them move away from directly behind the basket. Two of the Philly cops on duty were former Pub stars and it was good to see them. Clyde Jones played PG for Gratz in the mid-70s (after advancing from being the manager) and Herman “Coozie” Willis was a productive starting forward for Overbrook’s 1983 title squad. Cooz was the leading scorer for 'Brook (19) in the 52-49 win over West that yielded the title. Moments after the game began, DN photographer “Joe Kaz” said to me, “Do you know that kid in the brown jacket over there? He just used your name to get in for free.” The game was going on, so I didn’t have a chance to look over right away. But when I was able to . . . Hey, it’s Bryton Hawthorne! Of “Lemme Bryton Your Day" fame on this website! The Brytster said he’ll be filing a report. My man! Bryton’s pop, Brent “McAdoo” Hawthorne, was also in the house. Wonder if he paid or got in for free as Bryton’s ride? (smile)

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 57, Judge 45
  Now that the Phillies are in spring training, let’s break out a baseball analogy. This game was like a pitcher’s duel that momentarily blows up in one crooked-number inning and then goes back to being a pitcher’s duel. Late in the first half, La Salle seized a 27-26 lead on a drive by jr. WG-SF Clay Penecale. As the second half opened, the Explorers steamed to 11 more consecutive points as Judge went 0-for-7 and the game’s competitive nature was pretty much squashed. Details: drive by Penecale; basket by sr. F Anthony Acey-Davis on a pass from jr. PG Mike Topley; layup by jr. C Matt Crozier on a fastbreak pass from Topley (after a block by Penecale); trey by Clay (gotta love the occasional rhyme); layup by Acey-Davis on a pass from jr. PG Frank Pierson. Judge’s cold spell was finally broken at 4:31 as jr. F-C Andrew Vose followed his own miss for a field goal but if I remember, the Crusaders never reduced their deficit to below six points for the rest of the game. The result created a tie for fourth place in the Northern Division between these squads and they’ll have to do it again in a pre-playoff (probably Wednesday at Ryan or Dougherty; I’d favor Dougherty, but which school’s kids would get to sit in the Looney Bin? -- smile). The inkster was Crozier, who played last year for Conwell-Egan and said he transferred strictly for academic reasons. The C-E folks must have believed him or they would have attempted to block his eligibility, right? Plus, he said he'd been trying since the eighth grade to enroll at La Salle. Matt goes 6-6, 220, and he was pretty effective around the basket not so much because of outstanding athletic skills but because of positioning, body control and relentless effort. He contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds and did much of his best work in the fourth quarter, thus assuring Judge would pull off no miracles. Penecale was a steady, multipurpose force throughout. Every so often, he made the kinds of plays that separated him from all other participants, and otherwise he was solid with just the basics. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals. Topley dealt three assists, ran the show and was primarily responsible for sentencing Judge counterpart Kevin Lynch, a senior, to 1-for-12 miseries from the floor. Mike’s backup, Pierson, was pretty darn spunky, too. Acey-Davis had eight points and three dimes and jr. F Joe “Gettin’ Miggy Wid It” Migliarese mixed five points and four boards. As for Judge, Vose shot shot 6-for-10 en route to 13 points and snagged six boards; jr. F Bob Zuh-Zuh-Zanneo managed nine and seven (along with three assists); sr. WG Bob Verrelle had four A’s and two S’s in addition to seven points; and sr. WG-SF Ryan Walker used a seven-point fourth quarter to finish with 12. Judge honored its first team, 1956-57, in a pre-game ceremony. Only three players were able to make it, but it was cool to see that they were joined by the coach, Buddy Donnelly. A very nice crowd was on hand, but there was little total noise from students. Very weird. I have long wondered why Judge does not take advantage of the fact there’s a stage at one end of the gym, as Roman does. Well, folks, there’s talk that coach Frank Cahill is trying to change that for next year. Handled the right way, a student presence on the stage could be very distracting for opponents, if not discombobulating. Of course, at a school named Judge, the guys would have to be called The Jury (smile).

FEB. 17
INTER-AC SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT
Final
Gtn. Academy 66, Malvern 56
   Not too many people in attendance overall, and very few were students, so the atmosphere was nothing special. The teams were quite loose during warmups and I feared that this could turn into a go-through-the-motions deal. That was NOT the case. The play was spirited and mostly crisp and it was impossible not to enjoy the game. But in the really big news, the photos aren't messed up by white or red eyes! Because of the many windows, Malvern's gym is very bright on sunny days, so I was able to bag the flash and go with natural light. Does it get any better? (Yes, if you're a professional photographer, and actually have a clue. But as I've said many times, these pics are free, baby, so keep the complaints to a minimum -- smile). GA's headliner, fittingly, was sr. CG Kyle Griffin, who's bound for La Salle. While others on both teams often displayed helter-skelter tendencies, Griffin was the picture of calm/collected throughout while still giving off the aura that he indeed was going for the jugular. He shot 8-for-13 and 8-for-9 for 24 points while adding nine boards and five assists. Sr. F D.J. Johnston was the Patriots' only other double-figure scorer, with 12, and he claimed six boards. Frosh G-F Cameron Ayers also was a mover-shaker, grabbing six rebounds, going 5-for-6 at the line and doggedly playing defense on Malvern's key man, sr. PG Joe Hoban. No one else had impressive stats, but all of the people used by coach Jim Fenerty made contributions and each time substitutions were made, the pieces just kept fitting. I don't see many teams a WHOLE lot, but I'd have to imagine GA was playing its best ball as the season concluded, and that's always a good idea. Hoban had a rough outing shootingwise, going 3-for-9 (floor) and 0-for-5 (line). He did add eight rebounds, five assists and two steals and, as always, got AFTER it. New Hampshire is checking him out for hoops purposes, though he could wind up going there for FB (wide receiver). Sr. F Mike Francisco was a game-long warrior in what will likely be his last hoops contest (baseball, Villanova). The lefty willed his way to 16 points, 11 boards, three assists and two steals. Another baseball's-first guy, sr. WG Phil Gosselin (infield, Virginia), also went out on a good note with 11 points and three assists. Jr. F Ryan Nassib, a QB with major promise, went berserk in the fourth quarter, scrambling for five of his seven points and all five of his rebounds. Two other seniors, SF John "Cheech" Alberici (I guess that's how he spells the nickname) and PF-C-enforcer-legend-FB star Paul Ostick, the future mayor of Ithaca, N.Y. (he's Cornell-bound), bowed out with four points and three rebounds, respectively. GA was mostly in control for the final three quarters. Malvern a few times caused the onlookers to think, "This COULD be a game at the end." But never were the Friars able to force that next thought: "This WILL be a game at the end." Not sure where I'm headed tomorrow for the final day of CL regular season play, but I know my car will rejoice. Malvern Thursday, Wood Friday and Malvern again today. Just a hop, skip and jump. To the 10th power! Anybody have a couple bucks for gas? (smile)

FEB. 16
Fran McGlinn's Big Night
(This is the story that appeared in the 2/17 Daily News)

FEB. 15
INTER-AC SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT
First Round
Penn Charter 63, Chestnut Hill 57
   At the risk of having my PC diploma revoked, I must say that seeing CHA emerge with a win would not have bothered me at ALL. Even a PC assistant acknowledged that CHA deserved to win and the first words out of head coach Jim “Flipper” Phillips’ mouth as he stepped out of the post-game locker room were, “We put the ‘dys’ in dysfunctional.” He then added, “Don’t write that down.” But I told him with a laugh, “Too late. I already did.” This was the best performance I’ve seen all season by an underdog squad and gigantic amounts of credit must go to the Blue Devils/Hillers. CHA had to go without its two reps on the coaches’ all-league team, sr. G Maurice “I Prefer Mo, Don’t You Know” Young (hand injury) and soph F Gary Lawrence (illness). Also, as rookie coach Mark Burke recovers from a health scare (he watched from the stands), Matt Paul has been calling the shots. (Before plunging forward, does Matt have wooden hands? Smile. At one point in the second half, he tried to encourage his squad by clapping and clapping and clapping. My ears still hurt and I wasn’t even sitting too close to him. Man, the noise was loud! Love the energy, though.) The headlining Hiller, in far-and-away fashion, was sr. PG Mike “Spike” Christiansen, who’s mostly famous for his legendary hair. In this one, he played as hard as humanly possible and left the gym with numerous admirers. He zoomed around the court in hard-to-believe fashion and more than once sped down the lane to challenge three-four defenders. He’s in many of the game photos. He finished with 14 points and five assists and I hope someone has great video of this tilt because it would be a treasured keepsake item for The Spikester. Wonderful job, young man! Sr. WGs Dave Jennings (13) and Mark Justice (10) also showed poise and brass and soph F Matt “Yup, Another Brother from THAT Star-Studded Family” Whitworth sniped for 13 points. Jr. F Mike Mattei, the FB QB, mixed five points, eight rebounds, five steals and at least four highly impressive inbound-play rockets. Geez, almost forgot. CHA didn’t win this game. Not from a lack of trying . . . The story went to PC sr. F Brian Teuber, who also played football and is bound for Drexel to play lacrosse. “Teubs” (or “Tubes” – still no word on preferred spelling) had 12 points, eight boards and six assists in a well-rounded effort. Sr. CG Sammy Zeglinski kept his career alive by pouring in 27 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter. He added three assists and four steals. Frosh SF Travis Robinson had 10 points. Sr. G Billy Goldman wanted to know during layup lines if I ever keep track of pre-game scoring. Um, no. He said he had eight points at the time of his question-popping. A couple minutes later, Malvern assistant Joe Redican, sitting behind me, noted, “That kid hasn’t made a basket since he asked you to keep track of his warmup points.” After the game, I hit the drive-thru window at the Burger King on Lancaster Avenue before heading back downtown to the paper. I would have gotten my food a shade faster, but only one gal was on duty and she spent a LONG time taking an order from a husband-wife team at the inside counter. It was Zeglinski’s parents! Nice to know I’m not alone when it comes to gourmet dining. Friday night will find the Ziggies back at Malvern for PC’s semi with Gtn. Academy. They did not want PC to lose this game, of course, but they very much wanted to be at Wood to watch Fran McGlinn in his three-minute stint vs. Ryan. John Zig coached Fran in AAU ball (Phila. Patriots) and last summer gave him two short stints in Orlando, Fla., in the national tournament. In one of them, Fran drained a shot from almost halfcourt. I’ll be at Wood. This is going to be a fun night! . . . Oh, and don’t forget. Chestnut Hill was highly impressive! (smile).

FEB. 15
INTER-AC SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT
First Round
Haverford School 56, Episcopal 41
   Is there anything quite as relaxing as a 2-hour drive to Malvern? Didn’t think so (smile). With the Expressway a mess because an ambulance somehow lost a wheel near Girard Ave., I bailed out at South Street, weaved through West Philly and Overbrook and then went straight out Lancaster Avenue. It took for-EVVVV-er. And a day. Or was it two? Every season for assorted reasons, there’s a decent team that I don’t get to see enough and in 2006-07 that ballclub has been HS. There’s much to like now, and for the future as well. The present is mostly sr. SF-WG John Haldy, who got the ink (but not for tomorrow; I did a feature story about him in today’s Daily News). The Virginia-bound Haldy (for lacrosse) totaled 16 points and three assists and every so often made a clutch shot or pass or defensive play to keep Episcopal just enough at arm’s length. The other srs. of note are WG Drew Goldstein and F Ben Grant. Goldstein and jr. Matt Wunderlich are pretty much bookends when it comes to controlling the Fords and making smart plays. Grant missed his first shot, then hit his final four en route to nine points. Pogo-sticking frosh Dan Stewart did not get many offensive looks, but did shoot 4-for-6 for eight points and grab eight boards. Jr. F Andrew Hubley and frosh PG Tyreek Duren had some good moments off the bench. In Year No. 1 After W&G, Episcopal finished on a disappointing note. As has been their habit all season (from what I’ve seen and heard), the Churchmen missed a bunch of chippies and were nowhere near as effective on the boards as their height advantage would have suggested. That being said, they could have won this game. With sr. PG Pat Kelly unavailable due to mono, classmate Blair Fox received extended playing time and was largely impressive, especially in the second half. The lefty finished with nine points, seven boards and four assists, and it was his trey (on a pass from sr. F Herb Bowen) that rallied EA within 45-39 with 6 minutes left. HS reeled off the next 11 points, with the first five coming on Stewart’s layup on a pass from Haldy and Duren’s trey off a steal. But right before those two buckets, EA was the victim of what certainly appeared to be a wickedly incorrect call as Fox went hard to the hole and was called for a charge. The defender still isn’t set (smile). Bowen had 14 points and seven boards in his finale. Sr. C Mike Nealis managed eight and four. Jr. G Dan Hilferty dished three assists.

FEB. 9
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 63, Malvern 52
   As this one wound down, the feeling was disappointment. In a season where parity was finally part of the Inter-Ac, I had a hard time accepting the fact that the game would not be decided by somebody’s last-second heroics. But GA deserves mucho credit. It did exactly what visiting teams are supposed to do in ultra-important games on hostile turf: make sure the crowd cannot be a late-game factor. The Patriots are young with a junior, three sophs and a frosh in the rotation (along with three seniors). Tonight they all looked like grizzled vets while capturing this showdown between teams that entered with identical 7-2 records. (This is the first time since 1980 that an 8-2 mark has been good enough to produce an outright title.) On Jan. 19, I covered the teams’ first meeting, at GA of course, and the Friars were the game-long aggressor while claiming a five-point win. The opposite was pretty much true this time. The day after that loss, the Patriots were sliced and diced by St. Benedict, a North Jersey (and national) power, and coach Jim Fenerty ordered them to show up at GA the next morning (yes, it was a Sunday; good thing the school has no religious affiliation – smile) to watch film and chat and chat and chat some more, with some physically demanding drills mixed in. They haven’t lost since. As Fenerty and star sr. WG Kyle Griffin mentioned, there was a need for the seniors to really assume positions of authority and to lead/push/prod the young-’uns. That happened. Much of the ink went to the La Salle-bound Griffin. Though he posted no field goals in the second half, shot just 3-for-9 total and needed a 7-for-8 showing at the line to conclude his night with a team-high 13 points, he dished six assists and made a series of smart plays as the outcome, in effect, was being decided. After three quarters, GA was ahead by only two,