To view game actions photos as well as photos of the Council Rock South Basketball Association youth league’s halftime game, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
HOLLAND – Tom Boyd admits life is different this year for a Council Rock South basketball team that lost the nucleus of last year’s squad to graduation, but while some might call it a major rebuilding year, the senior forward doesn’t look at it that way.“I think it’s more like pick up where we left off and continue what we had last year and know what got us there,” Boyd said. “Last year our defense hit some rough spots, but this year everyone is on the same page.
“We’re talking, we’re communicating. The team chemistry is a little bit better now. Last year we had great chemistry down the line, but right now our team chemistry is better than what it was at the same point last year.”
Early results suggest Boyd might be right.
Less than 24 hours after a huge win over Abington, Rock South took on Newtown in the nightcap of the annual PA/New York Challenge. The Golden Hawks survived a slow start to blow the game wide open, rolling to a 52-35 win.
“Last night was a draining victory,” Boyd said. “It came down to the wire until we started making foul shots.
“Then today it was like, ‘Who are we playing? Who is this team? We never heard of them.’ We did the same thing last year except we lost last year.”The Golden Hawks should be forgiven if they suffered a bit of a letdown after their monster 73-68 win over the Ghosts.
“We had probably the best game we played all year long at their place last night against a team that I think is one of the best teams in our league,” Rock South coach John Easterly said. “They’ve had some ups and downs, but at the end of the season, they’re going to be right there.
“We played a great game. It was high scoring, it was intense – up and down. We played the kind of game we want to play last night.”
Saturday’s game was devoid of emotional energy for the most part, when Newtown’s Jonathan Douglas connected to knot the score at 4:20 mark of the third quarter, it looked as though the Pioneers might hang around for the duration.
“I don’t want to say it’s a lack of intensity, but sometimes we got out of our element,” Boyd said. “We want to be a fast breaking team, and you’re going to have to settle down and run a halfcourt set.”
Fifty seconds after Newtown knotted the score, Boyd – who led a balanced attack with 12 points turned a turnover into a three-point play, and after a Newtown miss, Boyd buried a shot from just inside the three-point arc, putting the Golden Hawks on top 32-27. 
It’s the kind of play coach John Easterly has come to expect from his senior leader.
“He’s a special kid,” the Golden Eagles’ coach said of Boyd. “He realizes that winning games and doing well in games isn’t only on his shoulders, and I think that’s what makes him special. Some kids when they get the feeling they have to be that leader is they try and take everything on their own.
“He doesn’t do that. He’s a great teammate. He passes the ball around on offense, and on defense, he’s a team leader. When we need him to do the things that he’s doing, it’s not about him scoring points, which he can do, but he realizes he’s got to get his teammates involved. He doesn’t play point guard, but he’s kind of like that coach on the floor that you need.”
A bucket by John Thomas sent Rock South into the final quarter with a 34-27 lead, and the fun was just starting. Pat Fitzsimmons – who had all 11 of his points in the second half – buried a trey to open the frame.
“Pat plays with so much heart,” Easterly said of Fitzsimmons. “His hustle leads to those points. A lot of his points were after he hustled to a particular position on the court where we swung the ball to him, and he stepped up and he finished.”
Cody Nowlin put the finishing touches on a 12-0 Golden Hawk run when he buried a pair from the foul line that put Rock South on top 39-27.
“We started playing more disciplined basketball in the second half,” Easterly said. “One of the keys – we went to a zone in the second half, and they really struggled shooting from the outside.”
The win upped Rock South’s record to 4-3, and it is the first time the Golden Hawks have won back-to-back games this season. The big win, though, was Friday’s win over Abington.
“It was a pretty big win,” Boyd said. “We know we can win in (big) game situations. It was a total team effort. John Thomas had 23, but no one took over the game. We all played as a team, and it was good to see that because we all came together.”
According to Boyd, the Golden Hawks are taking it one step at a time.
“We’re kind of looking at it as climbing a mountain with baby steps – walking then sprinting,” Boyd said. “You want to build it day to day, and I think we’re getting there.
“I think our defense is picking up. We want to reach our peak at the right time of the season and just continue rolling.”
EXTRA SHOTS: At halftime of Saturday’s game, youngsters from the Council Rock South Basketball Association’s youth league played a spirited game. Photos of the youth league game can be viewed at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 52, NEWTOWN 35
Newtown (35) – Jonathan Douglas 5 4-4 16, Chris Fermaint 0 3-6 3, Jonathan Blair 4 2-2 10, Eddie Perez 0 0-0 0, Ronald Howe 0 2-2 2, Anthony Saldarriaga 1 0-2 2, Bryan Abreu 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 11-16 35.
Council Rock South (52) – Cody Nowlin 1 2-2 5, John Thomas 4 2-2 10, Tom Boyd 4 4-5 12, Pat Fitzsimmons 5 0-0 11, Justin Thomas 0 0-0 0, Jim Merron 2 2-2 6, Rus Chichkin 2 0-0 4, Paulius Mauricas 1 0-0 2, Jake Clopton 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 10-11 52.
Newtown 5 15 7 8-35
Council Rock South 12 9 13 18-52
Three-point goals: Jonathan Douglas 2, Cody Nowlin, Pat Fitzsimmons.
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