By Scott Huff
It was never a question of if – it was always a question of when.
Neshaminy junior Ryan Arcidiacono eclipsed the 1,000-career point barrier with a sensational 29-point scoring effort against Pennsbury in an 83-52 Redskin rout.
The talented Villanova-bound guard now has an astonishing 1004 points during his still very active scholastic career.
“It was great to have my family there at the game,” said Arcidiacono. “I needed 24 points going into the game, and I wasn’t too sure that I was going to it.
“Plus, it was nice to get it against Pennsbury,” added Arcidiacono as Neshaminy had dropped 11 straight to the Falcons. “I’ve never been on a team that has beaten them.”
At one time, though, there was a question of where the gifted young eighth grader would attend high school.
“I was always a Catholic school kid,” said Arcidiacono. “And up until July of my eighth grade year, I wasn’t sure of where I was going to high school.
“I considered going to Penn Charter, but I would have had to repeat eighth grade,” added Arcidiacono. “I thought about going to Archbishop Wood – and I really didn’t know too much about Neshaminy.
“I heard good things about Coach (Jerry) Devine,” continued Arcidiacono. “I finally decided to go to Neshaminy that summer.”
The Neshaminy program – at that time - was far from the well-respected program that it is today.
In 2005-2006 – the Skins won all of two games; in 2006-2007 the total doubled to four wins; and in 2007-2008 the Skins fell back to three total victories.
And then came Arc as a starting freshman – and Neshaminy finished 16-8 with an appearance in the PIAA Quad-A District One Playoffs.
“I would have to say that Ryan was a huge part of us turning the program around,” said Devine. “Of course, he didn’t do it all on his own.
“Ryan has continued to get better on the floor, but his biggest contribution to the team has been his leadership,” added Devine. “He knows that we go as he goes. If he works hard in practice – which he does – the entire team works hard. He is great with the younger players.”
Last year as a sophomore, Arcidiacono led the Redskins to a 20-9 season and a second appearance in the playoffs.
This season Neshaminy has jetted out of the blocks with a perfect 4-0 record – included is a 64-57 victory over defending PIAA Quad-A state champion Plymouth Whitemarsh.
The one hurdle the Skins had not been able to clear in Arc’s freshman and sophomore season was PW. The Colonials captured a 74-54 win in 2008 and a 79-59 win last season.
“It seemed like C.J. Aiken blocked every one of our shots in those games,” said Arcidiacono in reference to the starting center this season for the St. Joseph University Hawks. “(University of Pittsburgh recruit) Jaylen Bond is a great player, and it was a great win for our team.
“Coach had us well prepared to beat them,” added Arcidiacono. “We had a great game plan, and we executed it as a team.”
The 2010-2011 Redskins have great expectations.
“Having a player of Ryan’s ability gives us a chance to play teams at the highest level of competition,” said Devine. “We get invited to some pretty good tournaments, and it gives us a lot of exposure.
“Ryan Arcidiacono is going to leave a great legacy at Neshaminy,” added Devine. “There is no question of that.”
Arcidiacono answered that question as an eighth grader.
**Patriots win first for Coach Henrysen**
Central Bucks East won its first game for new coach Erik Henrysen as the Patriots won a SOL Continental Conference contest against Hatboro-Horsham. Henrysen was an assistant coach at Archbishop Ryan for the last 10 seasons.
“It seemed like a long time coming,” said Henrysen as the Patriots dropped their first three games of the season. “There were a couple of game that we could have won, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities at the end of games.
“We have been trying to get across to the players that they have to sustain effort for 32 minutes,” added Henrysen. “We need to put a whole game together if we want to win basketball games.”
Henrysen has been impressed with the talent pool at CB East.
“The players are really talented, and we have a chance to be good,” said Henrysen. “We want to build some momentum in the Wissahickon tournament. It would be nice to put some wins together before we go back into our conference.
“We play Pennridge when we get back into the conference schedule,” continued Henrysen. “They have a very good team – one of the best in our league.”
CB East has received excellent seasons thus far from a pair of swing players. Both 6-foot, 3-inch Ryan
O’Neil and 6-foot, 2-inch DJ Beausejour have played well both inside and outside for the Patriots.
“Ryan and DJ can pretty much play anywhere,” said Henrysen. “They have been a good pair to build around.
“As a new coaching staff, we want to build a solid program,” added Henrysen.
One win at a time.
***Bond – Jaylen Bond***
Plymouth Whitemarsh plays its basketball in the Suburban One American Conference, and the Colonials play a caliber of hoops that is often too high for some of the teams in the conference.
Such was the case of Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 87-29 conference victory over winless Upper Moreland last week.
Jaylen Bond – the Colonials 6-foot, 7-inch senior co-captain – outscored the entire Upper Moreland team. Bond scored a game-high 35 points, hauled in 17 rebounds, blocked four shots – and did it all in only three quarters.
“I try to come out and focus on every single game, it doesn’t matter who we are playing,” said Bond – who will play his basketball next season for the University of Pittsburgh. “My goal is to stay humble and produce. We want to go back to states, and we go out and try to win every game.”
The Colonials have not won every game this season. PW dropped a 64-57 contest to Neshaminy in the finals of the Rock The Rim Tournament that the Colonials hosted.
“No loss is a good loss, but that game showed that we have to play better defense if we want to beat the good teams,” said Bond. “We’re going to be a pretty good team, but we have to focus on the little things.
“Without CJ (Aiken – St. Joseph University) there is a lot more pressure on me,” added Bond. “But this team is really excited about what we can do this year.”
****Odds & Ends****
Bensalem (4-2) came up with a huge win last Wednesday as the Owls flew to a 53-52 victory over previously unbeaten Glen Mills (4-1).
Alex Agyedu scored six of the final eight points for Bensalem and finished with 10 points. Leo Vincent led the Owls with 13 points, while Calvin Brown scored eight points and collected a dozen rebounds.
Pennridge (7-0) remained unbeaten with an easy 69-32 non-league victory over winless Upper Perkiomen (0-7) last Wednesday.
The Ram guard tandem of senior Mike Guldin and junior Tim Abruzzo each scored 19 points. Pennridge outscored the Indians 26-7 in the third period.
Abington (3-4) won its non-league game last Thursday against visiting Central Bucks South (1-5) as the Ghosts outscored the Titans 63-58.
Abington had a pair of players in double figures as DJ MacFadden scored a team-high 14 points and Wesley Rines added 13 markers.
Steve Schneider scored a game-high 21 points for South, while James Delgato scored in twin digits with 15 points.
Upper Dublin (4-3) captured a non-league victory last Thursday against Methacton (4-3) – 50-43.
John DeCamara scored a game-high 19 points for the Flying Cardinals – hit on three 3’s – and had four rebounds. Khalil Owens had six points and eight rebounds for the winners.
North Penn (4-1) rebounded from its lone loss of the season with a 60-30 victory over Spring-Ford (4-3) last Thursday.
Matt Possanza led the Knights with a game-high 17 points, while Janeus Somers and Sean Brooks each scored 11 points for NP.
**Suburban One Sports.com**Super Seven**
1. Neshaminy Redskins [4-0]
2. Council Rock North Indians [3-1]
3. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials [3-1]
4. Norristown Eagles [6-0]
5. Cheltenham Panthers [4-0]
6. Pennridge Rams [7-0]
7. North Penn Knights [4-1]
- Log in to post comments
0
