John Easterly challenges his players to consider what their legacy is going to be when they leave Council Rock South.
This year’s senior class will leave a legacy of working hard that future classes would do well to follow.
“They come to practice, and they work hard every day at practice,” Easterly said. “That’s where it starts. It starts at practice, giving the kind of effort we expect of them.
“If the seniors are doing it, the underclassmen will do it as well. One of the things this group of seniors is going to do is they’re going to leave behind a dedication to working hard every day, especially on defense.”
This year’s seniors – Justin Thomas, Mike Dipaolo, Pat Silverthorn, Jason Tannenbaum and Jim Ivers – set the tone for the underclassmen.
“Coach always says how you practice is how you play in games,” Silverthorn said. “If you work hard in practice, you’ll get the same results in games.”
The Golden Hawks jumped out of the gate to a 4-2 start but then won just two of their next 11 games before stringing together a pair of wins this week. The players say the team remained positive even when times were tough.
“I owe that a lot to our coaching staff,” Dipaolo said. “Whenever we’re getting down on ourselves, they’re always telling us to keep our heads up and go get the next one. It’s good to have their support.”
In turn, the captains – Thomas, Dipaolo and Silverthorn - provided positive leadership.
“We had to show the other players you can’t get down on yourselves because that just causes more problems for your team,” Thomas said.
“When you start losing games, it’s easy to get frustrated,” Silverthorn admitted. “You just have to keep looking at the positive things and don’t really think about what you did in the past and move on.”
The players say they knew from the outset that their team would not be an offensive juggernaut this season.
“We knew going in that we would always need to be a strong defensive team,” Dipaolo said. “Defense was always going to be a big part of it if we were going to be in the game and have a chance to win the game.
“We knew from the start we needed to play good defensively, and we would have a chance to win.”
“We have been stressing defense since the beginning of the year,” Silverthorn added. “Our offense isn’t always there, but we can always rely on our defense to make stops and create offense for us when we’re struggling.”
Thomas echoed a similar sentiment.
“Since our first game, our defense has always been there for us,” the senior captain said. “We have never really given up that many points - we’ve held teams to lower scores.”
A testament to the Golden Hawks’ defense is the fact that they have held teams to under 50 points or less in 10 of their games.
“Our defense has been the cornerstone of our team the entire season, and it’s really kept us in games,” Easterly said. “If you go back and look at the box scores of our games, the end result might not indicate that the game was close, but if you look at those games, you’ll see we were in the games we lost until about three minutes were left in the game, and then the game kind of got away from us.”
Conversely, the Golden Hawks have scored 50 or more points in just eight of their games.“We have been struggling offensively,” Easterly said. “One of the things we have to do - and it’s been difficult being consistent with this – is control the tempo of the game.
“We definitely do that with defense, but it’s taken us too long to get that on offense. We have been playing better in the latter part of the season, and that’s because the kids are buying into the philosophy on offense that controls tempo – high efficiency shooting, making your free throws and playing inside-out basketball.”
A key to that inside-out basketball Easterly is hoping to see more of from his squad is Thomas. The 6-3 senior forward has been a workhorse under the backboards, routinely turning in double-double performances.
“The reason he’s getting 20 points a game is because my guards are giving him the ball,” Easterly said. “They’re giving him the ball in the right spots, and he’s getting high efficiency shots.
“When you have a kid like that who can score and he works hard – he gets second chance points. In our win over Abington, I think he had eight second-chance points of his 20. He’s getting good quality shots, and he’s getting hustle points. That’s why we’re playing better.”
While Thomas has been a consistent performer in the paint, Dipaolo – according to Easterly – brings that same consistency to the guard position. The senior guard is a four-year veteran, and after spending most of last season coming off the bench, Dipaolo has been a rock in the starting lineup.
“He’s not a big-time scorer, but he is by far our best defender,” Easterly said. “Every game we try and identify the opposing team’s best player, and as long as the kid’s not 6-8, that’s going to be Mike’s job. If he’s a guard, Mike’s on him, and his job is to shut him down or at least contain the player.”
In Rock South’s win over Abington on Tuesday, Dipaolo was assigned the task of containing high-scoring guard Wesley Rines. The Ghosts’ senior standout finished the game with just three points.
“I think Wesley is one of the best players in the league, but Mike held him to three points,” Easterly said. “That is Mike’s job this year, and he’s done a great job.
“He’s been a great leader, so consistent with his play and his demeanor that it’s really helped our young guards in Christian Crane and Zach Fitzgerald just watching him mature this year and play the way he has.”
Silverthorn is the Golden Hawks’ second leading scorer. A standout defender, he easily leads the team in drawing charges. The senior captain is providing a spark for the Golden Hawks off the bench after starting most of the games, displaying his maturity by elevating his level of play.
“He’s the kind of kid – our team will make a mistake on offense, and Pat will take it upon himself to come back and get a great defensive stop, whether it’s a rebound or a steal but most likely it’s a charge,” Easterly said. “We can always count on him to get that stop defensively when we need it.
“Pat has guarded some of the bigger guards in the league, and he’s done a really good job with that. He’s also provided us with offense. He’s done a real nice job. He’s one of our captains, and we rely on him to help get the other guys pumped up for the games.”
Ivers and Tannenbaum might not get a lot of playing time, but Easterly calls them ‘the ultimate teammates.’ “They play so hard at practice, and they play so hard when they get in the game,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “For example, on Saturday (in the Hawks’ win over Automotive), Jimmy had nine points and nine rebounds as a reserve. The attitude with those guys is just phenomenal.
“Jason’s kind of our spiritual leader. He’s the kid that all the boys kind of rally around. He’s best friends with a lot of the guys on the team. Both Jason and Jimmy have great attitudes and work hard all the time, whether they’re getting minutes or not.
“We talk about what are you going to leave for the next group – specifically, Jason and Jimmy will leave what it takes to be good teammates, whether you’re getting the minutes you hoped for or not. That’s a lesson for any high school basketball player.”
The Hawks are 8-10 overall with an important date against archrival Council Rock North on Friday.
The players are hoping their two-game winning streak is the beginning of a strong finish and a chance to earn a playoff berth. If hard work is worth anything, the Golden Hawks certainly can’t be counted out.
Just the Facts
This year’s record: Council Rock North 10-0 SOL (16-1 overall), Council Rock South 4-7 SOL (8-10 overall)
Last year’s record: Council Rock North 11-3 SOL (21-6 overall); Council Rock South 3-11 SOL (7-13 overall)
Last meeting: Jan. 7, 2011 - Council Rock North 66, Council Rock South 50 (Council Rock North: Arron Goodman – 23 points, Aaron Morgan – 14 points, Charlie Anastasi – 10 points; Council Rock South: Justin Thomas – 18 points, Christian Crane – 12 points)
Last game: Council Rock North 56, Pennsbury 37 (Arron Goodman – 29 points)
Council Rock South 46, Abington 45 (Justin Thomas – 20 points)
Council Rock North
Project starters:
#2 – Matt McCloskey (6-1, Jr., Guard)
#5 - Aaron Morgan (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#10 - John Raymon (6-6, Sr., Forward)
#22 - Arron Goodman (6-4, Jr., Guard/Forward)
#23 - Charlie Anastasi (6-6, Sr., Forward)
The rest of the Indians:
#3 – Liam Kane (5-0, Sr., Guard)
#4 – Kevin Bogucki (6-1, Sr., Guard)
#12 – Owen Rice (5-8, Jr., Guard)
#14 – Brandon Knotts (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#21 – Alex Corry (6-0, Jr., Guard)
#24 – Alex Jordan (6-2, Soph., Guard/Forward)
#31 – Kyle McCloskey (6-5, Soph., Guard)
#32 – Sam Ryan (6-3, Jr., Forward)
#42 – Jordan Chernin (6-0, Sr., Guard)
#50 – Hunter Stevens (6-7, Sr., Forward)
Council Rock South
Project starters:
#3 – Zach Fitzgerald (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#4 – Mike Dipaolo (5-11, Sr., Guard)
#5 – Christian Crane (5-10, Soph., Guard)
#23 - Justin Thomas (6-3, Sr., Forward)
#25 - P.J. Gallo (6-3, Jr., Forward)
The rest of the Golden Hawks:
#11 – Mike Brightcliffe (6-5, Jr., Forward)
#15 – Pat Silverthorn (6-0, Sr., Guard)
#21 – Nick Cocco (5-10, Jr., Guard)
#32 – Jason Tannenbaum (6-3, Sr., Forward)
#44 – Andrew Cohen (6-3, Jr., Forward)
#45 – Jim Ivers (6-6, Sr., Forward)
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