Friday night’s Council Rock North/William Tennent basketball game is an SOL Featured Game, sponsored by the Council Rock North Boys’ BB Booster Club. Check back for photos and a game story.
By Mary Jane Souder
Ask Kyle McCloskey the key to Council Rock North’s dazzling 12-1 start, and the senior captain immediately points to the team’s special camaraderie.
“We’re all really close,” he said. “This is the closest we’ve been since I’ve been here. We really pushed each other to get better in the offseason, and we really work well as a team.
“It’s all about trusting each other. We all have a tremendous amount of trust in each other. If you fail, you know your teammates are there to pick you up, and that helps a lot. Chemistry is a really big part of basketball, and this year we’ve had an amazing amount.”
That good chemistry is a recurring theme on this Rock North squad.
“We have been playing really well together,” junior Chris Rowland said. “We share the ball really well, and we have great chemistry.
“No one plays really selfish, and we play great on defense and just help each other out. We know each other’s tendencies on the court, and it all just helps us with our chemistry. We like playing with each other.”
“We’re a really close group of kids,” junior Josh McWilliams added. “We all like each other, so it’s not a problem spending a lot of time with each other.
“When we get to the gym, we know it’s time to work. We put a lot of effort into everything we do. We all like each other, so chemistry is just second nature with us. In the offseason, we played in a summer league, and we really got to know each other’s games because we hadn’t play with each other a lot before that. We have really meshed well with each other.”
While perhaps few would have predicted that the Indians would have 12 wins after 13 games, both players and coaches entered the season with high expectations.
“We all had real high expectations as a group because we know what we do, who we are and the work we put in, and I think that’s very healthy,” coach Derek Wright said. “What tends to be unhealthy is when we put other’s expectations on ourselves, and we’ve had that the last few years. It’s not good or bad, it’s just the way it is.
“That can be taxing at times, but it also can be exciting, which it was. What has been good so far is that our expectations have been mostly about ourselves, which has probably led to us feeling a little more relaxed, a little more comfortable and confident in who we are.”
The Indians lost to graduation two of the league’s top offensive players in Aaron Morgan - who is now starting at UMBC - and Arron Goodman as well as one of the league’s best defensive players in Matt McCloskey.
“A lot of people look at the skill players,” McCloskey said. “We lost my brother (Matt) and the two Aarons, and everybody thought that’s why we were going to be bad because we didn’t have kids that could score 30 a night at will.
“But a lot of people really stepped up and filled roles.”
And that has made all the difference in the world for an Indian squad that, according to Wright, boasts outstanding leadership.
“It starts with Rip Engel because he’s the guy with the ball in his hands most of the time, and he always starts us defensively guarding the other team’s point guard,” Wright said of his junior point guard. “We’re going to go as he goes in terms of his attitude and leadership.
“I think he really sets a nice tone. He’s one of the hardest workers in our program, and that’s always good when your better players are doing that.”
The seniors have also played key roles.
“Our seniors are terrific,” Wright said. “Kyle McCloskey, Brandon Knotts and Ryan Baker lead in different ways.
“Brandon is just a warrior on the floor. He models by the way he plays. Ryan Baker has the kind of personality that really can bring people together. He’s not afraid to do all the little things that not everybody recognizes. He doesn’t really care about points and recognition – he wants to win.
“Kyle’s a great people person. Everyone likes him. He keeps things loose in the locker room and on the practice floor, and that’s needed sometimes. He’s also played pretty well. Those four have been real instrumental.”
Several newcomers have also made significant contributions. Junior Chris Rowland is the team’s fifth starter.
“Although ability-wise, I thought he was ready to be a varsity player – his maturity and toughness has been a pleasant surprise,” Wright said. “He’s competed real hard, and he’s handled adversity well.
“I wasn’t sure mentally where he would be as a varsity player. I knew he had some of the physical skills, but he’s been playing like a man. Regardless of whether he’s making shots or not, he’s still doing things the right way. He goes after loose balls and gives up his body.”
Junior Josh McWilliams has given the team a spark off the bench as the sixth man.
“Josh has really thrived in his role,” Wright said. “He could easily be a starter, but he’s accepted being a go-to guy for us off the bench.
“He plays with a lot of confidence off the bench. He’s not afraid to make mistakes, and he’s really made some big plays for us.”
Both Baker and McWilliams dress and practiced with the varsity last year but played jayvee.
“Probably on a bunch of high school teams they would have been varsity players, but because of the players we had last year, they were behind some guys,” Wright said. “They paid their dues, and they were more than ready this year.”
McCloskey, for one, isn’t surprised to see Rowland and McWilliams step up this season.
“We always knew Chris was a knock-down shooter, and he’s really proven it this year and shocked a lot of people,” McCloskey said. “Josh is a really good all-around player, and he can do it all.”
Wright, like his players, can’t talk about this squad without talking about its chemistry.
“I think we have really good chemistry, which is very hard to teach and develop,” he said. “Sometimes it’s one of those things you have or you don’t. We try to develop it with a lot of stuff we do in the offseason.
“To be honest, a lot of it is the guys just really get along. They don’t have a lot of ego. They’re much more about we than me. I think that’s been a really big part of our success so far. I think everybody – player one through 13 – has thrived in their role and has really been a star in their role, whatever their role is.”
The Indians enter the second half of conference play with a 6-1 record, but the season, according to McCloskey, is about more than wins and losses.
“Our coach talks to us about living in the moment,” the senior captain said. “You’ll remember the process more than you’ll remember the game – what you did to get where you are, and he really reminds us to focus on the process of the whole thing. You might have a bad game, but just remember the good things about the season.”
So far, there have been plenty of good things for the 2012-13 Indians.
Just the facts:
This year’s record: Council Rock North 6-1 SOL (12-1 overall); William Tennent 1-6 SOL (3-9 overall)
Last year’s record: Council Rock North 21-7 (11-3 SOL National Conference champions); William Tennent 5-9 SOL (7-15 overall)
Last meeting: Dec. 14, 2012 – Council Rock North 53, William Tennent 45 (CR North: Brandon Knotts – 17 points, Kyle McCloskey – 13 points, Rip Engel – 12 points; William Tennent: Matt Alden – 20 points, Connor Spornak 10 points, Horace Spencer – 9 points)
Last game: Council Rock North 54, Council Rock South 50 (Rip Engel – 20 points, Brandon Knotts – 17 points, Kyle McCloskey – 10 points)
Harry S Truman 61, William Tennent 55 (Matt Alden – 24 points, Horace Spencer – 17 points, Vinnie Case – 8 points)
Council Rock North
Projected starters:
#10 – Rip Engel (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#14 – Ryan Baker (6-2, Sr., Forward)
#21 – Chris Rowland (6-1, Jr., Guard)
#22 – Brandon Knotts (5-10, Sr., Guard)
#32 – Kyle McCloskey (6-6, Sr., Forward)
The rest of the Indians:
#2 – Josh McWilliams (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#3 – Josh Josephs (Sr., Guard)
#12 – Matt Margolis (6-0, Soph., Guard)
#20 – Nate Kardos (6-1, Sr., Guard)
#23 – Steve Nowmos (6-3, Soph., Forward)
#34 – Quinn Johnson (6-4, Jr., Forward)
#40 – Will Desautelle (6-1, Fr., Guard)
#50 – Tyler Madison (6-6, Jr., Forward)
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