Tuesday night’s Council Rock North/Bensalem game is an SOL Featured Game, sponsored by the Council Rock North Boys’ Basketball Booster Club. Check back for a complete game story.
Brandon Knotts is counting the days until Feb. 26, the day he has been given the green light to resume playing basketball. The Council Rock North junior has been sidelined the entire season after having surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder.
“I was looking forward to this season a lot after last year going to the final eight in the state tournament,” Knotts said. “When that (injury) happened, I was real disappointed. I just love playing with my team. It’s a bunch of great guys, and I wanted to play with them.”
Knox has another year of high school basketball left, but he knows he doesn’t have much time remaining to play with a very special senior class.
“This senior class has put in a lot of work over the past three-four years that they have been part of the program, all six of them,” Knotts said. “Even the guys that don’t play – they come out to practice and get the other guys prepared for the games even if they don’t get a chance to play in the games.
“This senior class set a good example for us in the future.”
The team’s six seniors – Aaron Morgan, Arron Goodman, Matt McCloskey, Alex Corry, Owen Rice and Jason Cavell – are part of the winningest senior class in Council Rock history, already accumulating 77 wins over the past four years with three regular season games and the playoffs still remaining on the schedule.
They also were part of squads that won back-to-back National Conference titles with at least a tie for a third consecutive conference title ensured this season.
“They’re an interesting group,” coach Derek Wright said. “They all have their own personalities, but they all get along.
“They can bust on each other, but yet you know they love playing with each other. Even the kids at school all like them, and the teachers like them. I could go on and on about them.”
Almost all of the seniors are connected by a common denominator – they went through the Upper Makefield Boys’ Basketball League. Dennis Helmstetter says he knew early on this group would be something special.
“You could see Goodman was going to be a good player – you could tell from fourth grade on he was special,” the organization’s long-time president said. “Aaron Morgan just matured and matured.
“Matt McCloskey was the same kid in fourth grade that he is today. He’s the kind of kid that would run through a wall for you if you asked him to. He was the best defensive player then, and he’s probably the best defensive player as a senior.
“Some years you have good ones, and some years they’re just average. Occasionally, you will get one or two players who will rise out of that age group.”
Two of those players who showed great promise – Goodman and Morgan – have gone on to earn full basketball scholarships to Philadelphia University and UMBC respectively.
“In the 22 years I have been running the league, I could count on one hand the number of kids that have gotten full scholarships,” Helmstetter said. “People don’t realize how difficult it is to get a scholarship, and to get a full one, that’s a pretty big accomplishment.
“You have on years and off years, and this particular group stayed together from fourth grade travel, which is when they started playing together. You can see what happens – the level of play when they’re seniors in high school is much further ahead than other kids who just play one or two years together. They know each other. They graduated from our program and went on to AAU, and they held together.”
Tuesday night’s game against Bensalem will not only be Senior Night, but it will also be Upper Makefield Basketball Night, a night to celebrate not only the senior class but also the organization that gave many of the Indians their foundation.
“Probably 80-85 percent of the kids have gone through the Upper Makefield program,” Helmstetter said. “We focus on skills more than wins and losses when they’re playing in the intramural programs.
“Our league is a teaching league, and that’s been our focus since the beginning. Our main objective is to prep the kids that want to continue on and play in high school and not just the boys but the girls as well.”
Helmstetter has opted to stay with the organization long after his children have graduated from the program.
“A lot of the adults aren’t even parents of kids anymore but are guys who love basketball and love working with kids,” Wright said. “A big part of any high school program is the experience they get in the community at younger ages. We are very, very grateful for everything they’ve done.”
Wright, like Helmstetter, knew he was inheriting a special group when this year’s senior class came on board as freshmen.
“I remember when a lot of these kids were in sixth, seventh grade and having a chance to watch them play travel ball with Upper Makefield,” he said. “It’s a very special group, and most importantly, they’re great kids.
“They’re people that I hope in the future I still have a relationship with. They have great passion for the game, which is what I look for first in a player. They take a lot of pride in their game.”
While Goodman, Morgan and McCloskey have been part of the varsity since they were freshmen, Rice is a three-year letter winner.
“You hear a lot about Arron and Aaron and Matty, but Owen Rice has been just a tremendous leader on our team in practice every day,” Wright said. “He gets along with everybody, and he has great enthusiasm.
“I had him in class, and he’s such a great representation of our program.”
Corry is a two-year letter winner while Cavell will be winning his first varsity letter this season.
“Jason Cavell is a kid who didn’t even make some of his middle school teams but by working and working, he has become not just a member of the winningest senior class in history but is someone who brings a lot of energy to practice every day,” Wright said. “We have used him in games here and there when we’ve had foul trouble.
“Alex Corry has been our sixth man most of the year, and he is the most improved player in our program. As a freshman, he got a little bit of playing time on the freshman team, and he has worked his way into becoming a contributor at the varsity level. He’s a great kid.”
All six seniors will be honored prior to Tuesday night’s game.
“They’re our leaders on the team,” junior Kyle McCloskey said. “They really set a good example. They don’t goof around at practice.
“In tough games, you feel comfortable with them on the floor because you know they’ll make the right decisions. They’re all very good players, and they’re fun to play with. We’re all having fun. This is my favorite year.”
In the stands on Tuesday night will be Helmstetter and Mike Dacey, the vice president of Upper Makefield Basketball.
“We’ll sit on the floor and we’ll reminisce about when they were in fourth grade, when they were in second grade,” Helmstetter said. “It is satisfying. It’s a really good feeling.”
Just the Facts:
This year’s record: Council Rock North 10-2 SOL (15-4 overall), Bensalem 8-4 SOL (11-8 overall)
Last year’s record: Council Rock North 27-3 (14-0 SOL National Conference champions), Bensalem 19-9 (11-3 SOL)
Last meeting: Jan. 13, 2012 – Council Rock North 55, Bensalem 50
Last game: Council Rock North 66, Council Rock South 43 (Arron Goodman – 21 points, Kyle McCloskey – 16 points, Aaron Morgan – 12 points, Rip Engel – 10 points)
Bensalem 68, Bethlehem Freedom 62 (Julian Hyden – 26 points, Leo Vincent – 19 points, Deion Jones – 8 points)
Council Rock North
#2 – Matt McCloskey (6-1, Sr., Guard)
#5 – Aaron Morgan (5-11, Sr., Guard)
#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)|
#22 – Arron Goodman (6-4, Sr., Guard/Forward)
#23 – Jason Cavell (5-8, Sr., Guard)
#24 – Alex Jordan (6-3, Jr., Guard/Forward)
#31 – Rip Engel (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#32 – Kyle McCloskey (6-6, Jr. Guard/Forward)
#40 – Ryan Baker (6-1, Jr., Forward)
#50 – Tyler Madison (6-4, Soph., Forward)
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