Jarrad Saffren takes a comprehensive look at SOL teams impacted by the length of the football season and features Pennridge, CR North and PW.
SOL Boys Basketball Notebook: Football season ends as basketball teams round into form
By Jarrad Saffren
One theme dominated the non-conference chapter of the Suburban One League boys’ basketball season. Many SOL teams did not start the season at full strength.
That is because football season runs late and basketball season starts early. The district playoffs do not end until early December, and a lot of teams that don’t make the playoffs still play on Thanksgiving Day. Basketball teams start practicing in the middle of November.
Even basketball teams that got their football guys back before the regular season were missing them for much of the preseason. This pervasive problem is the reason why basketball teams do not jell until around Christmas or early January, said Pennridge coach Dean Behrens.
I spoke with 22 of the 24 SOL coaches before the season and asked them how many football players are on their rosters. The totals are nine in the SOL Continental, 11 in the American, and 20 in the National.
Ten of the coaches said football did not hurt their preseason preparations. Most of them coach at schools where the football team missed the playoffs, lost in the first round, and/or did not play on Thanksgiving.
Both Council Rocks fit into this category. The Council Rock South basketball team has four football players on its roster. Two—Mike Stock and Alex Nordenholt—start for the basketball team. All four were present for tryouts.
“We really want our football program to do well. A lot of times that sets tone for the rest of the year for all boys sports,” said South coach John Easterly. “But it was a big plus to have them all through tryouts and the preseason.”
North has six guys who double as football players. All were back for basketball tryouts because the Indians’ football team lost in the first round of districts.
But the other twelve coaches were victimized by football season, mostly because their school’s football teams went deep in the playoffs or played on Thanksgiving.
Abington’s football team missed the playoffs but played on Thanksgiving. Point guard Dion Greene, a wide receiver and defensive back on the football team, did not get back to the basketball team until the day after Thanksgiving, a week before the regular season began. He played sparingly in the first four games before starting the fifth.
“It affected us a little bit,” said Ghosts’ basketball coach Charles Grasty. “He missed three months of basketball.”
Harry S. Truman played on Thanksgiving and Pennsbury reached the district semifinals. Both basketball teams were missing three key players until less than a week before their season openers.
“We were 12 or 13 practices in and now we have to have tryouts again,” said Pennsbury basketball coach Bill Coleman. “That’s just the way it is. Guys play two sports. If someone can contribute, we are not going to turn them away.”
Pennridge and Quakertown played each other on Thanksgiving. The basketball teams at each school did not get their football guys back until a week before the season started.
North Penn’s football team lost to Upper Dublin in the district final. The basketball Knights were missing football players Ricky Johns and Reece Udinski until the fourth game of their season.
But no team was hurt more than Upper Dublin. The Cardinals’ football team reached the state semifinals, losing on Dec. 12 to Parkland. Upper Dublin’s basketball team was missing eight players who are on the football team, including John Barrett and Ryan Stover, the first and third leading scorers on last year’s basketball team.
The basketball Cardinals, who reached the playoffs last season, started 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the SOL American.
“I like when they play multiple sports because it brings out the competitiveness in them. Guys who have been through playoffs in football are going to come in hungry,” said UD basketball coach Josh Adelman. “But it’s tough because you want to go into battle with all of your weapons and you’re forced to wait.”
Football season is over now. Upper Dublin was the last SOL team still playing, meaning all of the basketball teams are at full strength. It’s just a matter of football guys getting into basketball shape, which most have already done, Upper Dublin’s players being the exception.
Naturally, the schools not affected by football got off to hot starts. Two of them are featured below.
SOL American: Plymouth Whitemarsh is deeper than ever
The Colonials are 3-0 overall and 1-0 in league play, including a two-point win over SOL National power Pennsbury. PW is good every year, so this start should hardly be a surprise. But this year’s squad is different.
“We usually are 5-7 deep,” said Colonials coach Jim Donofrio. “This year we can go 10, 11, 12 deep, and there’s really no drop off.”
In the win over Pennsbury last Saturday, Donofrio played 11 guys in the first quarter alone, subbing four in at once at one point. Over the summer, the coach had no plans to mold his team into the high school version of 2014-15 Kentucky. It just kind of happened.
Six seniors returned from last year’s team, which went 26-4, won the SOL American, and reached the state quarterfinals. Those included starters Xzavier Malone and Mike Lotito and sixth man Oakley Spencer. Guards Grady Minick, Kevin Ashenfelter, and Davon Burrell were “in the rotation to some degree,” said Donofrio. “X and Mike were 30-minute guys. Oak was a 20-minute guy. Ash was a 15, Grady a 10. They all had some minutes.”
Guard Matt Walker was a sophomore last season. He was on varsity but barely played. “He just kept getting better and better all summer,” said Donofrio. “He was a three-point shooter who we noticed could rebound. As the summer went on, I said, ‘I don’t know if we can keep him off the floor.’”
Two junior varsity players—Cheo Houston and Alan Glover—also developed over the summer and earned spots in the varsity rotation, increasing it to nine players.
“No one was taking the reins and saying, ‘It’s obvious I’m the two-guard, or it’s obvious I’m the point-guard,’ so we thought it would be an interesting little chart for the season,” Donofrio said.
Then, in July, Donofrio got a call about an incoming freshman he had heard about: Center Naheem McCloud. The ninth-grader was 6-foot-7 in July. By August, McCloud had sprouted up to 6-foot-9. The coach said his green center has a “ways to go” but is already contributing. McCloud started Saturday to offset Pennsbury’s size.
Finally, as the school year began in September, Donofrio believed he had a 10-man rotation. Then, on Sept. 1, twin guards Ahmin and Ahmid Williams moved into the district.
“I heard over the summer that they were Cardinal O’Hara guys,” said Donofrio. “Then on Sept. 15 they are walking in the hallways.”
The Williams family had moved to Conshohocken.
“From the very beginning, they pushed guys to a new level of energy and toughness,” Donofrio said. “They are some serious high energy guys.”
So, in four months, PW went from six to seven to nine to 12 deep.
“This is not the team that grew up together. Not the, ‘Oh we’ve been together since middle school team,’” said Donofrio. “We had that last year and it was fun. And you win that way. This is the other way.”
Donofrio is not sure if he will stick with his ocean-deep rotation all season. He just knows it is working right now.
“We are trying to get wins while we figure it out,” he said. “We are going to go very high energy and very deep and see what happens.”
SOL National: Council Rock North continues to win with defense
It’s the number one principle that Indians coach Derek Wright preaches: “Defense is an attitude and a mindset,” he said.
The Indians’ coach drills man-to-man skills into his players for most of his practices. “There are certain things we focus on that aren’t the most fun ways to play in practice every day,” said Wright. “Older guys understand that they are the most important part of practice, so they keep it enthusiastic.”
In games and practices, Wright keeps track of charges taken, deflections, and contested shots to “teach guys that they are important.”
The hard work paid off for last year’s team. The 2014-15 Indians set a school record by allowing just 42.8 points per game, finishing 14-9, in third-place in the National, and reaching the district playoffs.
This season, the Indians are picking up where they left off. Wright’s 2015-16 squad is 3-0, and again, the Indians are winning with defense, allowing just 40 points per game, including 38 and 39 performances in their last two outings.
“We have some returning players who really understand and have bought into what’s important,” said Wright. “They lead the younger guys in practice and with what the expectations are.”
North’s three best defenders from last year are back, and they all share one essential characteristic.
“Will (Desautelle), Noah (Ehlin), and Tyler (Nowmos) can guard multiple positions,” Wright said. “Noah and Will are in the 6-foot-1-to 6-foot-2 range. They can guard on the perimeter and are athletic enough to guard a big if we need to. Which we will need this year because we aren’t big. Tyler is just an athlete. He’s a three-sport athlete, not just a basketball player.”
North opened its season against New Foundations Charter, which was led by career 1,000-point scorer Keith Blassingale.
“He was a guy who was much more perimeter-oriented. He could play point, wing, and was real quick and athletic,” said Wright. “I started Noah on him. Noah is a kid who can match quickness and athleticism, so he was a good guy for that.”
Last Friday against William Tennent, Wright focused on stopping Jon Ryan, the Panthers’ leading scorer last season.
“Will guarded him,” said Wright. “Jon is a stretch forward who can pop. He also can post. Will was better for that because he can go inside and outside.”
Ryan did not score.
SOL Continental: Pennridge role players complement stars
The Rams won the SOL Continental in 2013-14 and 2014-15, reaching states for the first time last spring.
The 2015-16 Rams are off to a 4-0 start, thanks largely to the inside-outside tandem of center Max Wagner and guard Dan Long, who have led Pennridge in scoring every game, combining for 35, 26, 46, and 32 points.
But the Rams’ role players are rounding into form as well. This year’s Pennridge squad may be even deeper than last year’s because of an unfortunate situation that turned into an opportunity for an underused player.
In the SOL Challenge last spring, junior shooting guard Stephen Lowry started “looking lethargic,” said Behrens. “We saw all these bruises on him. We were thinking Leukemia. Luckily it was only a blood disorder. We had to shut him down in February and March from basketball activity.”
Lowry was sent to Children’s Hospital and Ryan Cuthbert stepped in. The sophomore was the seventh or eighth man all season, but was also the only varsity player who had not scored all year.
“He felt like he didn’t play that well or as well as he should have,” Behrens said.
Cuthbert started all five playoff games, scored 13 points against Coatesville in the second round of districts, and “made the most of his opportunity.”
This season, Cuthbert is Pennridge’s sixth man. He has already proven that the end of last year was no fluke. Last Tuesday versus Tennent, Cuthbert dropped 13 points and grabbed six offensive rebounds.
Fortunately, Lowry healed over the summer and was ready for the start of the season. He is starting at guard again, but needed a few games to get back in shape.
“He’s not on track yet with his shot, but he’s looking real good in practice this year,” said Behrens before last Friday’s game against CB East. “He’s the type of kid who’s had games with 20. He’s another weapon we think we have.”
Lowry became that weapon against East, draining two threes during a 33-18 second half run that put Pennridge up for good. After each basket, Lowry pumped his fist and shouted at the raucous Rams student section.
Behrens was pumped to have Lowry back and to have Lowry and Cuthbert as contributors. He also thinks Pennridge is possibly deeper than last year.
“Our bench guys really stepped up,” said Behrens after the win over CB East. “We believe whoever we put on the floor can perform what we are looking to do. Like in football they say, ‘Next man up.’”
Power Rankings
5. Central Bucks West—The Bucks have been touted by multiple rival coaches as the favorite in the SOL Continental. They won convincingly in their first three games but lost in their fourth, 66-46, to Archbishop Wood.
4. Council Rock North—The Indians specialize in taking away what an opponent does best. They play Pennsbury Tuesday night in an early season battle for SOL National supremacy.
3. Pennridge—6-foot-7 center Max Wagner has offset the loss to graduation of First-Team All-SOL Continental guards Zach Muredda and Joe Molettiere.
2. Pennsbury—The Falcons’ only blemish is a two-point loss to loaded PW.
1. Plymouth Whitemarsh—Jim Donofrio has won 11 league titles in 17 previous seasons at PW. His 18th team could turn into one of his best yet.
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