“As much as I love basketball, I never wanted a season to end more,” the Neshaminy senior said. “It wasn’t fun to lose 21 games. I was actually happy at the end of the season.”
That three-win season is little more than a distant memory for Warhola these days as the Redskins – in two short years - have made a rapid ascent from basement dweller to conference contender. They enter Friday night’s game against archrival Council Rock North alone atop the National Conference standings with a perfect 3-0 record in league play.
“Now instead of us going out and trying to get an upset, we’re the ones with the bulls-eye on our backs,” Warhola said. “We know everybody is going to give us their best shot to try and knock us off.
“That’s a good feeling compared to my sophomore year.”
The Redskins’ fortunes changed dramatically last season with the arrival of freshmen Ryan Arcidiacono and Tyler Katz.
“It was great,” Warhola said. “Not only did they bring a lot of talent, they brought a winning mentality to the team. My sophomore year, we just went through the motions, almost expecting to lose, and when we won, it was the best thing ever.
“Last year when we lost, it was so much more painful because we expected to win with these guys on the team.”
The Redskins won 13 more games in 2008-09 than they had the preceding year, finishing the season with a 9-5 mark in league play and a 16-10 record overall.
Not too far down the road, Rock North also benefitted from an influx of young talent with the arrival of an outstanding freshmen class of its own last year.On Friday night when the neighboring schools meet in a key SOL contest, those freshmen – now sophomores – will play starring roles for their respective teams.
Neshaminy will start sophomores Arcidiacono and Katz while sophomores Aaron Morgan and Arron Goodman will be in Rock North’s starting lineup with sophomores Matt McCloskey and Billy McAlister seeing action off the bench.
In addition to talent, all six sophomores – as well as Neshaminy junior Dwight Williams - share another common denominator. They are teammates on the elite Pa Playaz AAU squad.
It’s a not-so-minor detail that Neshaminy coach Jerry Devine would like his players to forget about when they take the court on Friday night.
“It kind of makes me nervous that these kids are friends, and that’s what we’ve been talking about,” the Redskins’ coach said. “You have to let that go.
“I’m doing my best to make them enemies. After the game, they can go out for ice cream if they want, but we want to get away from that. A local rivalry is great, but sometimes you get caught up in it and forget about what you’re trying to do.”
What the Redskins are trying to do is establish themselves as a legitimate frontrunner in the National Conference, something no team not named Pennsbury has been able to do in the last four years.
The Redskins are 7-2 out of the gate, and according to Devine, they’re coming together as a team.
“Early on, you could see Dwight, Ryan and Tyler playing well together because of AAU all summer, and those three were at a different level and on a different page - not in a bad way but because they had played so many games together,” the Redskins’ coach said. “At our summer league, you had one starter, and we really didn’t have a chance to see what those five, six, seven or eight guys were going to do together and when they would jell together.
“The process has been fun to see – how unselfish all of them are and how they really like each other on and off the floor. It’s fun because at practices you’re not dealing with the attitudes some coaches are dealing with. We have a good time at practice, and the off-the-court stuff – we really don’t have that.”
Meanwhile, the Indians – after winning their first two games – dropped three in a row. Since then, they have won three straight, including the championship in their own Holiday Tournament with a win over Archbishop Ryan.
The Indians (5-3) are 1-2 in league play, and while some might suggest Friday’s game is a must-win, Wright doesn’t look at it that way.
“I hate to be cliché, but it’s more important for us to be better on Friday night than we were on Tuesday night and make progress game by game,” he said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we need to concern ourselves with ourselves and not necessarily our opponent.
“Certainly for fans and for the players as far as standings, it’s an important game, but I’m more concerned about our performance. We want to be the best we can be in February and hopefully still playing after that. Friday night is the next step toward that.”
No one will argue that the Indians boast plenty of talent, but bringing that talent together, according to Wright, and ‘playing well as a team as opposed to a group of individuals’ has been the biggest challenge.
“We have some young guys who haven’t had a lot of varsity experience, and we have some guys who have had a lot of varsity experience,” the Indians’ coach said. “It’s a challenge to get us all on the same page, and that’s our job as coaches – to get the most out of their abilities as a team. Right now, that’s what we have to focus on.
“When we put it together and guys buy into their roles and accept that winning as a team is more important than individual accolades, then you can have something special, and that’s where we want to be. We’re not there yet, but that’s what we’re working on every day.”
The Indians boast a roster with an abundance of forwards, and four of their five starters – Goodman (14 PPG), Charlie Anastasi (10 PPG), Andrew Stress and John Ryamon - are 6-3 or taller. The Redskins’ lineup is guard-oriented.“We ‘re a team based on defense,” Warhola said. “Our defense gets us a lot of easy buckets.
“We know they have Arron Goodman, who’s a very good post player. We want to try and keep the ball away from him and not let the other people hurt us at the same time. We’re going to have to help a lot. Team defense is absolutely huge for us.”
Running the show for the Indians will be sophomore point guard Aaron Morgan.
“He’s done a great job,” Wright said. “He’s one of a couple of guys that has given us consistent efforts.
“He has played extremely hard and defended really well. He’s been really unselfish, and those are the things we ask of all of our players.”
Wright went on to acknowledge the solid play of several other players.
“John (Raymon) is doing a nice job,” the Indians’ coach said. “He’s given everything he has physically. He’s a real unselfish kid and a great teammate.
“Charlie Anastasi has been great too. It’s hard to have a leader as a forward because he doesn’t have the ball that much, but when he’s on the court, he’s at the right spot and making the right plays and decisions.”
On the other side of the court, the Redskins boast four players who are averaging in double figures -Arcidiacono (17 PPG), Mike McGarry (14 PPG), Katz (12 PPG) and Williams (10 PPG).
“That’s what makes it difficult to defend us because the guys share the ball so well,” Devine said. “Ryan has the potential to get 25 points a game, but he doesn’t. Mike McGarry has the potential to get 17-18 a game, and there have been times when they do that, but we have four guys with double figures and Steve (Warhola) with eight, so it’s kind of hard to key on one guy when every day it can be somebody different.
“We have always been very close as a team, and we do a lot of things together off the court, but it’s fun to really watch them play together and develop into a seven or eight-man unit.”
Bringing it all together for the Redskins is their point guard and lone senior – Warhola.
“He’s been through the program at the worst time and now is starting to see the fruits of his labor,” Devine said. “When I got the job, he was the first guy we looked at as a ninth grader to kind of groom.
“He’s special to our program, and he’s special to me. Sometimes – in the outside world – he goes unnoticed, but he does a great job. If he wasn’t handling the ball like he does and distributing the ball and controlling us, it would be real easy for guys to key on Ryan, but he doesn’t allow that to happen.”
It’s still early in the season, but Friday night’s game promises to be an interesting test for both teams.“This game is special for the kids because they play AAU, but for us as a team, every game is special because it’s been a while since we were able to compete,” Devine said. “And it’s been a while since the league was able to compete, so for four years, everyone was playing for second.
“Now everyone has that feeling that on any given day – and it’s evident by what’s been happening – you can compete.”
***
PA Playaz is a story all its own for this is the remarkable story of a local AAU squad turned national power.
It began innocently enough when – as fourth graders – this very special group of players won the title in the Suburban Travel League, a league that encompasses Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
One year later, they won it again as fifth graders. The group kept winning at every level, and when they were in seventh grade, they joined forces on the PA Playaz.
“I thought they were talented, but I had no idea they were this talented,” PA Playaz coach Gene Rice said. “Every year they kept getting better and better.”
In addition to Arcidiacono, Katz, Williams, Goodman, Morgan, McCloskey and McAlister, sophomores Owen Rice and Dan Schmidt – members of Rock North’s jayvee – are also members of the PA Playaz team. If you’re counting, that’s nine Neshaminy and Rock North players on one of the nation’s top AAU teams. The only two players on the roster who don’t attend those two schools – Central Bucks South sophomore Dan Brown and Malvern Prep sophomore Brendan Kilpatrick – are also local products, making this team very unique on the highly competitive AAU circuit.
“Most of the time when there’s a really talented kid from Bucks County in basketball and they want to play on a high end AAU team, they have to align themselves with a traveling national team either from Philadelphia or South Jersey,” Rice said. “This is the first time there has been this much talent in one grade level.”
Over the past three years, the PA Playaz has compiled a dazzling 143-15 record. In its first year, PA Playaz finished 11th at AAU Nationals. One year later – when its players were in eighth grade, the team finished sixth.
Last year, the team opted to forego competing in AAU Nationals to participate instead in several prestigious by-invitation-only tournaments.
At the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas, the team was 6-1, winning six straight and defeating the number one team in the country – Dream Vision from San Diego (To view highlights of that game as well as another Super 64 contest, visit the links at the bottom of the page.)
“Dream Vision had five states represented with the 10 kids, and there were 25 Division One coaches watching that game,” coach Rice said. “Our kids beat the number one team in the country that probably has two or three future McDonald’s All-Americans.”
Over Memorial Day Weekend, PA Playaz accepted an invitation to play at the Tournament of Champions in North Carolina – a tournament for the top 32 teams in the country. PA Playaz finished in the final four, and Arcidiacono was on the all-tournament team.
The squad has traveled to West Virginia, Florida, Rhode Island and Tennessee and has experienced success at every stop. Last year, PA Playaz captured the Mid-Atlantic Division A championship and also won the Carrier Classic at Syracuse University, the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at Temple and the March Madness Tournament at Girard College.
Not surprisingly, the players have caught the eye of more than a few college coaches.
“In July, the Division One college coaches are allowed to watch the kids,” coach Rice said. “They don’t usually come to watch a group this young, but when you have really talented kids, they find out, and they come.
“St. Joe’s and Penn State – their coaches watched all 11 of our games in July.”
While their AAU resumes are second to none, the players’ main focus these days is on winning in the SOL where they have made their presence felt.
“You love any time you have a group of kids that have a passion for the game like they do,” Wright said of the PA Playaz players he has inherited. “They want to get better, and they want to be great.
“They haven’t accomplished a whole lot yet (in high school), but they have the right goals in mind in terms of team success. What’s exciting is helping them to meet those goals.”
Tip-off time for Friday night’s showdown between Neshaminy and Council Rock North is 7 p.m. at Rock North.
Just the Facts
Last year’s record: Neshaminy 16-10, Council Rock North 13-10
2009-10 record: Neshaminy 3-0 SOL (7-2 overall), Council Rock North 1-2 SOL (5-3 overall)
Last meeting: Jan. 27, 2009 – Neshaminy 52, Council Rock North 51 (Neshaminy: Ryan Arcidiacono – 18 points, Tristen Emig – 14 points. Council Rock North: Arron Goodman – 18 points, Charlie Anastasi – 12 points)
Last game: Neshmany 68, Harry S. Truman 42 (Dwight Williams – 17 points; Ryan Arcidiacono – 15 points, 8 assists, seven rebounds; Tyler Katz – 12 points; Mike McGarry – 8 points; Steve Warhola - 6 points; Charlie Materella - 5 points; Bobby Marterella - 5 points)
Council Rock North 55, William Tennent 40 (Arron Goodman – 16 points; Aaron Morgan – 9 points; Jon Raymond – 8 points; Charlie Anastasi – 7 points; Andrew Stress – 7 points; Tim Filer - 5 points; Matt McCloskey - 3 points)
Council Rock North
Projected starters and season averages:
#5- Aaron Morgan (5-10, Soph., PG) 8.5 PPG, 3 assists
#10 – John Raymon (6-5, Jr., F) 9 PPG, 7 rebounds
#22 – Arron Goodman (6-4, Soph., F) 14 PPG, 8 rebounds
#23 – Charlie Anastasi (6-5, Jr., F) 10 PPG, 5 rebounds
#24 – Andrew Stress (6-3, Sr., G) 5.8 PPG, 2.5 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)
Neshaminy
Projected starters and season averages:
#4 – Steve Warhola (5-9, Sr., PG) 8 PPG, 4 assists
#11 – Tyler Katz (6-2, Soph., F) 12 PPG, 3 assists
#15 – Ryan Arcidiacono (6-3, Soph., G) 17 PPG, 7 rebounds, six assists
#21 – Dwight Williams (6-3, Jr., F) 10 PPG, 5 rebounds
#22 – Mike McGarry (6-6, Jr., C) 14 PPG, 8 rebounds
The rest of the Redskins:
#5 – Joe Bianchino (6-0, Soph., G)
#10 – Bobby Marterella (6-1, Soph., F)
#12 – Dave Baron (6-5, Jr., F)
#13 – Randy Young (5-8, Jr. G)
#20 – Justin Andrews (5-7, Fr., G)
#24 – Donte Smith (5-10, Jr., G)
#32 – Charlie Marterella (6-1, Jr., F)
#44 – Richie Schafer (5-9, Soph., G)
Links for PA Playaz highlights:
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