By Scott Huff
Brooks & BrooksIt almost sounds like a law firm.
Brooks & Brooks
North Penn (8-1) has used the talented services of both senior Sean Brooks and junior Wes Brooks to get off to its terrific start this season.
“We really expected to be 8-1, maybe even 9-0, at this point of the season,” said a confident – but not boastful - Sean Brooks. “We lost to Pennridge (59-51), but we missed too many easy shots. I expect us to beat them next time we play.”
“We had a tough game against Central Bucks South,” said Wes Brooks in reference to the Knights 43-42 Suburban One League Continental Conference win over the Titans (2-8). “Sometimes we can get a little full of ourselves, and we have to get back to playing our game.”
The Brooks’ brothers have been playing their game – together – ever since the second grade. Both Sean and Wes were on Dad’s (Michael) travel basketball team, and both have thrived playing side by side on the basketball court.
“We both are similar types of players,” said Sean. “We are both guards who are pretty good three-point shooters. And we have a good sense of where we are on the floor at all times.”
“I know where Sean likes to get the ball on the floor, and he knows where I like to get it,” said Wes. “We play very well together.”
Not that there isn’t that brotherly rivalry between the two.
“Sometimes in practice we get into little fights on the floor,” said Wes. “And during the shooting drills, I’m all about beating him.”
“We get to play against each other in the local gym,” said Sean. “We really enjoy those games.”
North Penn has a couple of big conference games to play this week before the Knights can gear up for its return match against Pennridge.
“We play Quakertown (1-8) first, and we have to treat every team like a great team,” said Sean. “And it seems like Souderton (7-3) never loses at home and we play them Friday.”
The Knights hope to take a winning stand – with the aid of Brooks & Brooks.
Suburban One National Conference
Bensalem (8-2) finally caught everyone’s attention with a dramatic 42-41 victory over Neshaminy (7-1) in the featured game of the Suburban One National Conference last week.
It shouldn’t have taken that long.
“We have the pieces to be a very good basketball team,” said Bensalem head coach John Mullin. “We have some athletic players, some good shooters, and decent size.”
Perhaps the most athletic is Davonte Newkirk who powered a crowd-pleasing slam over a Redskin defender in the win. The best of the good shooters may be Leo Vincent who drained a three-pointer in the final seconds to secure the win over Neshaminy. And that 6-foot, 8-inch center – Calvin Brown – has been a human eraser in the middle defensively and a force off both the offensive and defensive boards.
The high-flying Owls have now won seven straight games, and in addition to handing Neshaminy its only loss, Bensalem has been the only team this year to defeat Glen Mills. The blue and white edged the Bulls (6-1) by a 53-52 score at home.
Home Sweet Home.
Bensalem has been tremendously successful (5-1) playing in its Owls Nest at Armstrong Middle School. The dimly lit – exceedingly confined – gymnasium is a throw back to days gone by.
“We will be playing in a brand new facility next year – it is beautiful,” said Mullin. “I just hope that we can have the same atmosphere we have at the old place.
“What we have now is a true home court advantage,” added Mullin. “We love playing here, and teams hate to come here.”
With the huge win over Neshaminy, Bensalem has begun to be in the same conversation as both the Redskins and Council Rock North as teams competing for a conference championship.
“We heard all about how good Neshaminy and Council Rock North were this year,” said Calvin Brown. “We knew that if we wanted to be talked about like them, we were going to have to go out and beat them.
“Both Neshaminy and Council Rock North are very good teams,” added Brown. “But we think we’re a good team too.”
And now, so do a lot of other people.
Suburban One League American Conference
Norristown (10-1) has proven to be one of the elite programs in all of Southeastern Pennsylvania in recent seasons, but not too much was expected of the Eagles this season.
Head coach Michael Evans was back for his tenth season as coach – and not too much else was returning in terms of talent on the floor.
In fact, the biggest ‘recruiting’ that Evans did off the floor was the expansion of the high school coaching staff with the addition of Bob McTamney and Tom Kehoe. McTamney was the former head coach at Bishop Kenrick, while Kehoe was the former head coach at Lansdale Catholic.
“They were both available and willing to become part of the program,” said Evans of the veteran pair. “Having them as part of the coaching staff has been nothing but a positive. They bring a tremendous amount of experience with them.”
And the results have been just as positive as the young Eagles have just a single loss this season – a 67-58 loss to District One power Chester.
“We learned a lot about ourselves after that game,” said Evans. “We knew what we had to work on, and we rebounded well from that game.”
Norristown came back and torched both Upper Moreland (72-38) and Upper Dublin (61-34) in SOL American Conference games.
Just like Norristown did in the ‘not too long ago’ days.
Odds & Ends
Upper Dublin (6-6) won its non-league game with Exeter on Saturday as the Flying Cardinals flew to a 53-34 victory.
Upper Dublin had 10 players get into the scoring column. John Decamara led the Cards with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Khalil Owens scored nine points for the winners, while Darrell Harrison added eight points.
William Tennent (3-7) lost its non-league game with Interboro on Saturday as the Panthers dropped a 76-57 contest.
William Tennent had a pair of players score in twin digits. Cole Weber scored a team-high 14 points, while Shakat Kofa scored 13 points for the Panthers.
Big games on the SOL campus
SOL American Conference
January 11, 2011
Cheltenham @ Norristown
January 14, 2011
Upper Dublin @ Wissahickon
SOL Continental Conference
January 11, 2011
Souderton @ Pennridge
January 14, 2011
North Penn @ Souderton
SOL National Conference
January 11, 2011
Council Rock South @ Council Rock North
Janaury 14, 2011
Bensalem @ Council Rock North
Suburban One Sports.com
‘Great Eight’
1. Council Rock North Indians
2. Neshaminy Redskins
3. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials
4. Norristown Eagles
5. Bensalem Owls
6. Pennridge Rams
7. North Penn Knights
8. Cheltenham Panthers
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