Check back for a complete game story about Tuesday’s Abington/Council Rock North game, an SOL Featured Game sponsored by the CR North Booster Club.
By Scott Huff
Council Rock North welcomed Rip Engel to the team after the Indians began the season with a disappointing 1-3 start. Since then, Rock North is a perfect 10-0 and is mentioned as one of the elite teams in District One.
Engel – a highly touted sophomore - transferred to Council Rock North from Roman Catholic in late December. And the change of schools has been a very positive move for everyone.
“I mainly transferred because of the commute from home to Roman,” said Engel. “It was about an hour ride on the train to school, and it just seemed like I should change schools and go to Council Rock. The coaches and players have been really cool and it has been an easy transition.”
“The players on the team, especially the seniors, welcomed him and made him feel like part of the Council Rock North basketball family,” said Council Rock North head coach Derek Wright. “We have a little different basketball culture here, and Rip has made a great effort to learn what we want him to do to help us win basketball games.
“A big plus for Rip is that he loves to compete,” added Wright. “He is a great ball handler, and our turnovers have gone down since he has been on the team. And he values being a great off the ball defender, and he guards most of the good point guards on the other team.”
Engel joined a talented Rock North team that featured a wonderful senior guard in Aaron Morgan. Morgan will attend UMBC next season on a basketball scholarship.
“I try to do as much as I can to help Rip,” said Morgan. “He came from a successful program, and all I really do is try and show him how we do things here.
“He is a good basketball player and a good kid,” added Morgan who has started since his freshman season for the Indians. “I know what he is going through as a sophomore, but he has played a lot of high level basketball already. He has made us a better team.”
“Aaron has been a huge help to me,” said Engel. “Sometimes we are on the floor together, and it is great playing with him. We can share the point guard position, and that makes the game a lot of fun.”
“Aaron has embraced Rip as both a person and a player,” said Wright. “Aaron knows that the more help we can get him at the guard position, the better player he is going to be. Aaron and Rip can compliment each other on the floor.”
Right now, Engel is coming off the bench for the Indians. Morgan, Arron Goodman, Alex Jordan, Kyle McCloskey, and Matt McCloskey are the current starting five.
“The coaching staff felt that was the best fit with him coming to the team in the middle of the season,” said Wright. “Rip can gives us a spark offensively, but he also gives us a spark on the defensive end of the floor. Some players might have an issue coming off the bench, but he has great character and has accepted that role.”
“It was a little hard getting into the flow of the game coming off the bench when I first got here,” said Engel. “But now it is fine – not a problem. Whatever it takes for us to win basketball games.”
And the Indians have won basketball games ever since Engel’s arrival to Newtown. But one of the three losses that Rock North suffered prior to his arrival was a 54-51 loss to host Abington in a Suburban One League National Conference game. It snapped a 35-game conference winning streak for the Indians.
“I hope the players are looking forward to this game, I know that I am,” said Wright as the Indians host Abington on Tuesday night. “Abington has a talented team, and they were able to take something away from us in that first game.”
“We need to come out more aggressively than we did the first time we played them,” said Morgan. “I think that we were still trying to find our identity, and we didn’t have Rip on the team for that game. I think that now we are starting to come together as a team.”
“I know that Abington has some really good guards in (Jordan) Simmons and (Anthony) Durham,” said Engel. “It is going to be a challenge to beat them.”
Engel has started to make a name for himself in the Suburban One League – and how do you get a name like ‘Rip’?
“My dad’s name is Ray, and when he played football at West Chester, the coaches used to call him Rip,” said Engel as the WCU coaches referenced former Penn State University head coach Rip Engle – the predecessor of Joe Paterno. “He liked the name - and I got it.”
Rip Engel will be in the scorebook this time around when Rock North hosts Abington Tuesday night – and that has been a very good thing for the Indians.
Just the facts:
This year’s record: Council Rock North 7-1 SOL (11-3 overall); Abington 5-3 (12-4 SOL)
Last year’s record: Council Rock North 27-3 (14-0 SOL National Conference champions); Abington 9-13 (5-9 SOL)
Last meeting: Dec. 20, 2011 – Abington 54, Council Rock North 51 (Abington: Jordan Simmons – 13 points, Anthony Durham – 11 points; CR North: Arron Goodman – 17 points, Aaron Morgan – 10 points)
Last game: Council Rock 59, William Tennent 46
Abington 69, North Penn 55 (Jordan Simmons – 21 points, Anthony Durham – 20 points, Chris Ruhl – 10 points, Jiere Morrisey – 9 points)
Council Rock North
Projected starters:
#2 – Matt McCloskey (6-1, Sr., Guard)
#5 – Aaron Morgan (5-11, Sr., Guard)
#22 – Arron Goodman (6-4, Sr., Guard/Forward)
#24 – Alex Jordan (6-3, Jr., Guard/Forward)
#32 – Kyle McCloskey (6-6, Jr. Guard/Forward)
The rest of the Indians:
#4 – Josh McWilliams (5-9, Soph., Guard)
#10 – Alex Corry (6-1, Sr., Guard/Forward)
#12 – Ross Wilson (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#14 – Brandon Knotts (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#15 – Chris Rowland (5-11, Soph., Guard)
#21 – Owen Rice (5-8, Sr., Guard)
#23 – Jason Cavell (5-8, Sr., Guard)
#31 – Rip Engel (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#40 – Ryan Baker (6-1, Jr., Forward)
#50 – Tyler Madison (6-4, Soph., Forward)
Abington
#2 – Jiere Morrisey (Jr.)
#3 – Zaahir Baldwin (Sr.)
#4 – Anthony Lee (Soph.)
#5 – Jordan Simmons (Jr.)
#10 – Jordan Neeley (Fr.)
#11 – Thomas Kennedy (Sr.)
#12 – Anthony Durham (Jr.)
#20 – Michael Griffin (Jr.)
#21 – Marvin Crawley (Sr.)
#22 – Matt Penecale (Fr.)
#23 – Mark Bond (Soph.)
#24 – Dillon Tranquillo (Jr.)
#30 – Patrick Rice (Jr.)
#33 – Khalid Gibson (Jr.)
#44 – Christopher Ruhl (Sr.)
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