Records are irrelevant when Council Rock North faces Council Rock South. Actually, just about everything except the game itself is irrelevant when the neighboring rivals meet.
“It’s always something we look forward to, and it’s going to be one of those games you remember years later when you’re hanging out with your boys talking about high school basketball,” Rock North senior Andrew Stress said.
Memories are made in games between the neighboring schools, and the latest chapter will be written when Rock South makes the short trip to Rock North on Tuesday night for what promises to be a spirited girls/boys doubleheader.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a packed house, and it’s going to be four quarters of everything they have against everything we have,” Stress said.
Throw in the little matter that the pep band will be there, and free t-shirts will be given to all Rock North fans purchasing a ticket for Tuesday’s ‘White Out’ (while supplies last), and it doesn’t take a whole lot to figure out this one is going to be intense.
“Usually when we play them, it’s a close game because it’s so emotional,” Rock South senior Cody Nowlin said. “Everyone wants to beat our rival, so everyone is pumped up for that game.
“Everyone is more focused and ready to play.”
The contest is the final game of the first go-round in conference play, and adding to the motivation for both squads is the fact that both are coming off disappointing losses
“It’s North-South, and that just adds to the emotional factor,” Stress said. “We need a league win, they need a league win, and it just makes the game that much more important.
“Every possession becomes that much more important.”
While Rock North (3-3) returned the nucleus of last year’s team, Rock South (2-4) found itself in a decidedly different position with just one returning starter – Nowlin.
“Having one senior that got significant time for us last year, we knew that we were going to have some ups and downs during the season, and hopefully, as the season progresses, we’ll play more consistently,” Rock South coach John Easterly said. “We have been playing pretty solid since the Hazleton Tournament. We ended up losing to a very, very good Hazleton team, but we felt we made significant progress in terms of the kids buying into how we want to play.”
The toughest lesson the inexperienced Golden Hawks had to learn, according to Nowlin, was the importance of each possession.
“You have to take care of the ball on every possession,” the senior guard said. “Every possession matters.”
The Golden Hawks had won three of four games before dropping a pair last week - first to Pennsbury (in overtime) and then to William Tennent. Included in that stretch of wins was an impressive 48-43 win over a surging Abington squad.
“At the beginning of the year, no one else really had any varsity experience, and it was just tough trying to hold the team together,” Nowlin said. “A couple of kids quit, and that was tough for us, but I feel we came together more as a team after that, and we’ve been playing better since that happened.
“As the season has gone on, people are starting to play more naturally. They’re not worried – ‘This is the varsity, and it’s such a big deal.’ They’re just playing.”
The Indians, meanwhile, fell to Abington on Friday night (51-42). The loss snapped a six-game winning streak that began with Rock North winning its own holiday tournament and included an impressive win over Neshaminy (49-43) - the Redskins’ only loss in league play this season.
“The middle part of that winning streak was probably the best we played all season,” Rock North coach Derek Wright said. “Friday night (against Abington), I thought we gave a good effort.
“We weren’t as focused and together as we needed to be, but Abington played very well. It’s just a daily grind for us like it is for every other team, and you can’t take a night off. You have to be ready to bring it every night, and for high school kids, that’s a challenge to find a way to motivate yourself and get up for each and every game and every practice.
“That’s the difference between the teams that win championships and the teams that hang around at .500. Great teams find a way to drive themselves every game.”
The loss to Abington, according to Stress, can be attributed to one simple fact – poor shooting.
“We just uncharacteristically shot worse than we usually do,” he said. “We’re going to have games like that when our offense isn’t there, and we have to fall back on our defense. Things will come.
“We’re still working at practice. I don’t think we feel badly about how we played – we just shot badly. It was their home gym, they came out ready to play, and they beat us. It was one of those games, and they’re a good team.”
Stress is the lone senior starter on a squad that features a ton of young talent, most notably a sophomore class that includes a pair of starters – forward Arron Goodman and point guard Aaron Morgan - as well as one of the first players off the bench, defensive stopper Matt McCloskey.
Juniors John Raymon and Charlie Anastasi – both of whom are 6-5 – are key players in the paint while seniors Tim Filer and Ty Bostain see action off the bench.
In the Indians’ six-game winning streak, four different players – Stress, McCloskey, Goodman and Raymon – led the team in scoring.
Still, Wright is looking for more consistency from all of his players every night.
“You have to depend on every guy, not just the guy that’s playing 30 minutes but the guy that’s coming off the bench or the guy that may not have played in the game but has to give the effort in practice to get everybody else ready or the guy that’s not playing in the game that needs to get someone who’s not playing real well fired up,” the Indians’ coach said. “That’s what we’re trying to teach our players – the importance of every role on the team.”
***
The Golden Hawks are finally getting back to full strength after enduring some early-season injuries. Junior Justin Thomas, a starter as a sophomore, suffered a high ankle sprain in the second game of the season and did not return until after the holiday break.
“Since he’s been back, he’s been playing great for us, getting rebounds and scoring,” Easterly said. “The first game back he had a double-double.”
Senior Terrence McGovern was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in September and is just now starting to come back.
While his teammates get healthy, Nowlin has carried the bulk of the scoring load, averaging 14.2 points a game. That, however, is just the beginning of his contributions to an inexperienced Golden Hawk squad.
“Cody Nowlin has been everything we wanted him to be as a senior,” Easterly said. “He’s showing that senior leadership we were hoping for from him, and he’s averaging 14-15 points a game.”
Recently, other players have started to pick up the slack. Sophomore P.J. Gallo, who saw varsity time the latter part of last year, has been in the starting lineup and coming up big recently.
“The past six games he’s averaging a double-double,” Easterly said. “The other day against Abington he had 11 points and 17 rebounds. He’s been phenomenal for us.”
Senior Jake Clopton has been the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 8.2 points a game.
“He’s had some really good games for us, and we’ll be looking for help from him as well,” Easterly said.
Pat Silverthorn, a junior guard, is averaging 5.1 points a game.
“He is really starting to come on for us, and he’s starting to handle some of the scoring load as well, which is alleviating some of the pressure off of Cody,” Easterly said.
Tip-off for Tuesday’s showdown is 8 p.m. at Council Rock North. It will be preceded by the girls’ game pitting league-leading Rock North against Rock South.
“Any time North plays South, you know it’s going to be a close, competitive game, and it’s going to be intense,” Easterly said. “That’s what we anticipate for Tuesday night.
“Yes, they have had ups and downs, but they’re a very, very good team. They’re very well coached, and they have a lot of talent on their squad. Given that, when you play North and South, it’s going to be competitive.”
Just the Facts
Last year’s record: Council Rock North 13-10 overall; Council Rock South 6-8 SOL, 11-12 overall
This year’s record: Council Rock North 3-3 SOL (7-4 overall), Council Rock South 2-4 (5-6 overall)
Last meeting: February 6, 2009 – Council Rock North 77, Council Rock South 68 (CR North: Andrew Stress – 24 points; Arron Goodman – 18 points; Tim Filer – 11 points; CR South – Tom Boyd – 15 points; Terrence McGovern – 12 points; Pat Fitzsimmons – 11 points; Cody Nowlin – 11 points)
Last game: Abington 51, Council Rock North 42 (Aaron Morgan – 12 points; Arron Goodman – 8 points; Charlie Anastasi – 7 points; Ty Bostain – 6 points; John Raymon – 4 points; Andrew Stress – 3 points; Tim Filer – 2 points)
William Tennent 61, Council Rock South 55 (Cody Nowlin – 16 points; Justin Thomas – 12 points; P.J. Gallo – 11 points; Jake Clopton – 6 points; Pat Silverthorn – 5 points; Terrence McGovern – 3 points, Chris Giampietro – 2 points)
Council Rock North
Projected starters and season averages (though Jan. 12):
#5 –Aaron Morgan (5-10, Soph., PG) 7.9 PPG, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
#10 – John Raymon (6-5, Jr., F) 9.2 PPG, 6.6 rebounds
#22 - Arron Goodman (6-4, Soph., F) 12.8 PPG, 6.2 rebounds
#23 – Charlie Anastasi (6-5, Jr., F) 8.3 PPG, 6.7 rebounds
#24 – Andrew Stress (6-3, Sr., G) 6.5 PPG, 2.4 rebounds
The rest of the Indians:
#2 – Matt McCloskey (6-0, Soph., G)
#3 – Liam Kane (5-10, Jr., G)
#4 – Kevin Bogucki (6-1, Jr., G)
#15 – Jordan Chernin (5-10, Soph., G)
#21 – Nick Donofy (6-2, Sr., G)
# 32 – Ty Bostain (6-5, Sr., F)
#40 - Bill McAlister (6-1, Soph., G)
#42 – Tim Filer (6-1, Sr., G)
#50 – Hunter Stevens (6-7, Jr., F)
Council Rock South
Projected starters and season averages:
#10 – Cody Nowlin (6-2, Sr., G) 14.2 PPG, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists
#21 – Pat Silverthorn (6-0, Jr., G) 5.1 PPG, 2.5 rebounds
#23 – Justin Thomas (6-3, Jr., F) 4.6 PPG, 5.8 rebounds
#25 – P.J. Gallo (6-2, Soph., F) 6.3 PPG, 9.9 rebounds
#32 – Jake Clopton (6-0, Sr., G) 8.2 PPG, 2.5 rebounds
The rest of the Golden Hawks:
#3 – Terrence McGovern (6-2, Sr., F)
#11 – Chris Giampietro (6-2, Sr., G)
#14 – Justin Lesher (5-10, Sr., G)
#20 – Steve Love (5-11, Jr., G)
#22 – Mike Dipaolo (5-10, Jr., G)
#31 – David Poehlman (6-4, Sr., F)
- Log in to post comments
0
