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BOYS' BASKETBALL: 2020 Visions Set on Achieving League and State Titles for All Philadelphia Catholic League Teams (Part 2)

By Rich Flanagan - Photos/Videos PSD Staff, 12/03/19, 12:45PM EST

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By: Rich Flanagan

Photos/Videos: James Williamson, Patty Morgan, Angelise Stuhl, Kathy Leister, Geneva Heffernan & Mike Gray 

PHILADELPHIA –The rigorous Philadelphia Catholic League is widely known throughout the country, let alone the state. So when invited to join the league last year, Devon Prep knew it had to make an immediate statement. 

Devon Prep

Head coach Jason Fisher and Devon Prep (4-17, 2-12) came over to the PCL after having been in the Bicentennial Athletic League since 2007. They fared well in their first season winning their first-ever PCL game against Father Judge then later adding a triumph over Lansdale Catholic. Point guard Nick Crowe drilled a three-pointer with six seconds left to force overtime against Archbishop Wood. While they didn’t win the game, it was momentous sign of growth for the Tide in their new league.

Fisher, a four-year starter at the University of Scranton where he scored 1,557 career points, stressed the need to set goals each season and how his goals for year one in the PCL were met.

“We set overall goals for the program and regardless of what league we’re in we try to adhere to them,” Fisher said. “Last year, I wanted the guys to be accountable for their actions. As far as basketball, I wanted them to compete every night. Playing in the Catholic League is different than the (Bicentennial Athletic League) and poses as lot of different challenges.”

Crowe, a 5-8 senior point guard, is a fourth-year starter who avg. 10.3 ppg last season. He missed the majority of his sophomore season with a concussion but was resilient as a junior, most notably his 17-point outburst vs. the Vikings. 6-2 junior guard/forward Eamonn Walsh is a third-year starter who avg. 8.5 ppg which including a 22-point game against O’Hara. 6-6 senior Scion Dorsey will be a major contributor. He transferred over from the Haverford School after his sophomore. He had 18 points against Archbishop Carroll last year. Junior forward Mike Ferry, who had 10 points vs. Lansdale, and 6-3 senior forward Nick Perullo both started the second half of the year and should be slated to start once again.

Archbishop Ryan

Joe Zeglinski enters his fifth season as the head coach of Archbishop Ryan (14-11, 7-7) and they’ve made great strides under his leadership. They’ve been to the PCL playoffs each season he’s been at the helm, which includes a pair of appearances at the Palestra. Additionally, he’s taken his team to the state playoffs twice, including last year where they defeated West Chester East then fell to eventual champion Moon. The Raiders lost Second Team All-Catholic Ja’Quill Stone (Grayson College (Texas)), who was third on the team with 11.4 ppg, steady guard Jerry Weiss (Holy Family) and sharpshooter Colin Reed, who was a Third Team All-Catholic as a junior.

Having players who are a staple to the program is crucial to Zeglinski and he feels the 2019 class continued that recent trend.

Devon Prep vs. Archbishop Ryan 2019 Highlights by James Williamson/PSD

“I think it all starts back with guys like Austin Chabot, Freddie Killian and Austin Slawter. Guys like that and of course Izaiah Brockington and Matiss (Kulackovskis), two who are playing Division 1 basketball," said Zeglinski. "It started with those guys building a foundation. Then, we had guys like Ja’Quill and Jerry continue that and those are the types of guys you want to have in your program.”

Zeglinski will have his top two scorers back from a season ago in 6-4 senior forward Gediminas Mokseckas and 6-5 junior forward Aaron Lemon-Warren. Mokseckas was a Third Team All-Catholic after avg. 12.3 ppg. He picked up an offer from Campbell over the season. He spent time this summer with the U18 Lithuanian National Team practicing and participating in tournaments. He nearly missed making the full roster. Lemon-Warren avg. 11.7 ppg on his way to a Third Team All-Catholic selection. He has offers from Bowling Green, Saint Louis and Richmond already lined up. Filling in for Stone at point guard will be 5-11 junior Dominic Vazquez. 6-6 senior center Christian Isopi will start at center after playing JV last year.

Father Judge

The Raiders top rival, Father Judge (10-13, 4-10) is looking to build on a PCL playoff appearance.

The Crusaders had their share of games slip away such as the loss to Devon Prep and a loss to St. Joe’s Prep on a buzzer beater. Even more so, they led Neumann-Goretti by four late but unfortunately fell by six points.

As Sean Tait begins his 11th season as the head coach of the Crusaders, he has a number of key pieces coming back. While the team lost Second Team All-Catholic Shane Dooley, a three-year starter who avg. 15.5 ppg a year ago and is now playing football at Wester Chester, Alphonso Chie and Jack Boyce, Tait played several sophomores who earned valuable experience. 

2019 Northeast Classic Archbishop Ryan vs. Father Judge Highlights by Angelise Stuhl/PSD:

5-10 junior guard Nahseer Johnson avg. 12.5 ppg which included a 31-point performance against the Hawks. 5-9 junior guard Justin Blythe had 15 points vs. La Salle after missing the first half of the season with an injured ankle and 6-0 junior guard Aidan Dooley, Shane’s brother, started every game last season whil having three games in double figures during league play. Aidan, the Crusaders starting quarterback, tore his labrum in the early part of the year against Germantown Academy and the timeline is to have him back by January 1, according to Tait.

Throwing a large group of underclassmen out onto the floor is tall order but Tait was thrilled with how the 2021 class handled the adversity.

“We were going to roll the dice, play these sophomores and see where it goes,” Tait said. “To make the playoffs in the PCL with four sophomores playing the minutes that they did for us is keeping us really excited around the gym.”

The Crusaders will look to 6-8 junior center Rymir Shaw to man the middle once again. While still very raw, he has shown the ability to control the glass and alter shots in the paint. His offensive game is continuing to develop but he has shown flashes like a 10-point game against the Saints. Another player who should battle for minutes is 5-9 sophomore guard Jordan Reinhart.

Cardinal O’Hara

Cardinal O’Hara’s Ryan Nemetz is another head coach who is beginning his second season at the helm. After scoring over 1,000 points in high school and graduating from Bishop Hoban, now Holy Redeemer, Nemetz played at Kutztown before becoming a student assistant under Fran Dunphy at Temple University as a senior. After stops as an assistant at IMG Academy and Eastern University, he took over the Lions (9-13, 3-11) and is working at “establishing the culture and finding the guys who want to put in the work and are good student-athletes.” It seems like after one season he’s ensuring that culture is in place.

O'Hara vs. Father Judge Highlights by FJ alum Alex Duda/PSD:

Adrian Irving, a 6-0 junior guard who transferred from Wilmington (Del.) after his freshman year, avg. 14.0 ppg which included a season-high 27 points against Bishop McDevitt. Tre Dinkins, a 6-1 senior guard, scored 10 or more points in six PCL games before an ankle sprain derailed his season.  Ant Purnell, at 5-11, will be the Lions starting point guard this year. He had 16 points against Father Judge.

Add in 6-0 junior guard Jameel Burton and 6-2 senior guard Kevin Reeves, a three-year starter, and Nemetz has a squad that cannot be overlooked.

“I view us as one of those teams that will surprise some teams,” Nemetz said. “As we only won three games in the league, teams will be looking down on us because we’re small and inexperienced but just going out there and proving that we belong in this league is going to be extremely important.”

 Down low the Lions will rely on 6-6 junior forward Solo Bambara, who Nemetz says, “his best days are ahead of him.” Jax Trickey, a 6-8 junior forward who transferred from Sanford (Del.), will be the starting big man in the four-guard offense. 6-4 senior guard Momo Korture and 6-2 freshman guard Jaiden Rogers will be compete for minutes.

Conwell-Egan

Another jumpstart team with a lot of optimism is Conwell-Egan. The Eagles (3-19, 2-12) are led by second-year head coach Adam Bowen, who was hired a week before the 2018-19 season began. He was the fourth different head coach in four years. It was back in 2015 that Frank Sciolla and the trio of Stevie Jordan (Rider), LaPri McCray-Pace (Morgan State) and Vinny Dallesandro (Holy Family) led the Eagles to the PIAA 2A title.

The program has gone through a lot of restructuring over the last few years but Bowen is locked in for year two and ready to get Conwell-Egan, which hasn’t made the league postseason since 2017, back amongst the best in the PCL.

“The atmosphere of the games is second to none,” Bowen said. “The passion of the league throughout the Philadelphia area is amazing. Every, single game within the league, you’re preparing for guys who are high Division 1 players and maybe even some future pros. It really makes you prepare and focus, and if you’re doing it right, it should make you raise what you do in order to compete at the highest level.”

Bowen has had success as a player and he’s hoping to duplicate that as a coach. He played at Council Rock North with former Penn State standout Ben Luber under Derek Wright, the younger brother of the Villanova head coach. The pair helped lead CR North to the District 1 title game where they lost to Chester. He played three years at Cabrini before returning to his high school to coach the freshman team. He also founded the PA Playaz AAU program and coached former national champion Ryan Arcidiacono, now with the Chicago Bulls, for five years.

He’s establishing a culture that hasn’t existed within the Eagles program for a few years and helping his players improve. 

“(The administration) asked me to come in and change the culture of the team. It took a while but toward the end of the season I think we started to do that,” according to Bowen. Their improved play showed at the end of the season when they closed out the year with wins over Lansdale Catholic and Devon Prep while losing to Father Judge by only three points.

They only lost two key pieces from last year in DJ Auten, a starter who transferred to Morrisville, and Stewart. They return two starters in junior captain Mac Coyle, who had 10 points against Lansdale Catholic, and 6-4 senior forward KJ Davis, who broke out for 21 points against Archbishop Carroll and 26 vs. Archbishop Ryan. There have been a multitude of additions to the Eagles' roster this season but the biggest may be 6-1 freshman point guard Alex Ings, brother of Chris. The family moved so they could be closer to the Rider University campus and that caused Alex to enroll in the Bucks County school instead of following his brother at Neumann-Goretti.

Conwell-Egan vs. Carroll 2019 Highlights by Patty Morgan/PSD:

Alex will be the starting point guard and Bowen isn’t afraid to hand the freshman control of the offense.

 “He has unbelievable potential,” Bowen said. “He’s going to start the year as our starting point guard. He’s still learning how to play the game with his decision-making. We’re going to put the ball in his hands from day one and see how it goes.”

Alex will have experienced starters in Coyle and Davis to lean on as he transitions to the high school game as well as several transfers. 6-7 junior forward Donald Imo transferred in from Truman High School, 6-6 sophomore forward Jordan Garrison came over from Bristol, 6-5 junior forward Joey Venuto moved from Council Rock South and 6-3 junior guard Samaj Moore transferred in from Hamilton (N.J.). Depth has been an issue in recent years for Conwell-Egan but Bowen has talent at a number of positions.

West Catholic 

West Catholic (6-16, 3-11) hasn’t made the PCL playoffs since 2016 behind high-scoring guard John Herndon (17.3 ppg that year). Head coach Miguel Bocachica played at Imhotep and graduated in 2008. He played collegiately for LIU Brooklyn, West Chester and the University of Great Falls (Mont.) and also played two seasons in the Puerto Rico Professional League. He returned to the states and made various coaching stops along the way including as an assistant with the Panthers where he helped lead them to two PIAA 4A titles.

Bocachica was eager to get his first head coaching job and he saw an opportunity with the Burrs, who did not have a foundation in place prior to his arrival. He was their third different head coach since that last playoff appearance.

His goal was to give the Burrs a coach they could grow with and someone who wants to reenergize the program.

“For me, going into that situation and them having their third head coach in four years, they gave me everything they had,” Bocachica said. “It wasn’t easy to change the culture and get them to understand my way of discipline. It wasn’t always perfect but for the majority of last season they tried to do everything the new way, the way you’ll see things now.”

West Catholic vs. Wood 2019 Highlights by Kathy Leister/PSD:

The first-year head coach had several players to lean on including Imere Harris (Gwynedd Mercy), Sukky Nd-Ezuma (Gettysburg College), Samier Kinsler and 6-9 center Lionel Diarrassuba, both of whom are at Covent College Prep (N.J.). Harris finished his career with 1,156 career points and Kinsler, who was originally committed to Chestnut Hill College, avg. 11.4 ppg. His second season will allow me to be more of hands-on head coach with quite a few underclassmen.

Nasir Griffin, a 6-6 sophomore forward, already has an offer from NJIT. He played a lot as a freshman, avg. 7.7 ppg included 24 points against Lansdale Catholic and 20 vs. Father Judge in back-to-back games. He’ll also be joined by a pair of twins in 6-3 sophomore guards Kareem and Kaseem Watson. Kareem will play the point and Kaseem will be at the shooting guard spot. They did not play much being behind Harris and Kinsler but they will be the starting backcourt this season. 6-3 senior guard Zahir Rawls, who had 11 points against Neumann-Goretti, will also be in the rotation.

Lansdale Catholic

Lansdale Catholic (5-17, 1-13) looks to be one of the more improved teams in the PCL this season under fifth-year coach Joe Corbett. The former standout at Hobart College, where he was a four-year starter who scored 1,701 points and corralled 1,249 rebounds and a finalist for the Jostens Trophy, the Heisman trophy of Division III basketball, in 2003. The Crusaders, who haven’t made the league playoffs since 2013, lost three seniors in Nick Romeo (Washington College (Md.)), Tim Cunane and Kyle Kane.

Corbett, who was an assistant at the Haverford School where he played prior to coming to Lansdale Catholic, knows last year did not produce the results the Crusaders' program had hoped for but the experience was invaluable for young roster.

“Last year, as a program, it was bit of a letdown,” Corbett said. “The coaching staff had higher expectations than what we ended with. We learned what it takes to compete in the Catholic League. We had a lot of young guys play key minutes for us. They saw that you have to play for 32 minutes and there is no guaranteed win in the Catholic League.”

His team returns 6-6 junior forward Hunter Healy, 5-8 sophomore point guard Liam McDonnell, who started a number of games as a freshman, 5-10 junior guard Shawn Gibbons and 5-11 senior guard Jamir Hicks, who had 13 points against Archbishop Ryan. The Crusaders added two transfers as well in 6-2 junior Jeron Phillips Jr.,  who was the quarterback at Tatnall School (Del.), and 6-6 junior forward Jimmy Casey (Quakertown). Both were standouts on the Lansdale Catholic football team this season. Casey was a Suburban One League Continental Conference Honorable Mention at Quakertown which included a 22-point, 12-rebound performance against North Penn. 

St. Joseph’s Prep

Head coach William “Speedy” Morris has won over 350 games during his time at St. Joe’s Prep (13-11, 7-7). The Hawks are two years removed from their last state playoff appearance behind Darius Kinnel (Jefferson), Kyle Thompson and Ed Croswell, both of whom are at La Salle University. That year, they also advanced to the league semifinals. Last season, behind 6-11 center Jacob O’Connell (Princeton) and two-year captain Gabe Arizin (walk-on at Richmond), Morris’ team won an opening round game vs. Archbishop Ryan then nearly pulled off the upset of the season in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Roman Catholic. They led for much of the game, behind Second Team All-Catholic guard Trevor Wall (16.6 ppg) who had 20 points but couldn’t hold on, losing 55-50 at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall.

Wall, the 6-1 senior guard, returns to the starting lineup along with 6-3 senior guard Chris Arizin (11.2 ppg) and senior guard Brian Geatens, who had 20 points in a game against West Catholic last season.

With the league not bringing home a home a state title for the first time in six years, the PCL has an added dimension to it as the teams look to parlay their dominance within the league into a trophy at the Giant Center in Hershey.

There is talent across the board from top to bottom this season and the league should be as competitive as ever.

It might only take a few minutes to understand the talent level that will be on display this year. Take it from Bowe, who watched it firsthand two years ago andis now coaching it.