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BOYS BASKETBALL: Impressive Starts, Standout Performances and Shocking Wins Highlight FSL Notebook

By Marc Narducci, 01/14/23, 1:30PM EST

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FRIENDS SCHOOL LEAGUE NOTEBOOK (As of 1/12)

Photos: Lennie Malmgren, Kathy Leister, Zack Beavers, Donna Eckert & James Quinn

By: Marc Narducci

Westtown’s Matt Mayock on the mark

Matt Mayock is known as one of the top shooters in the area, but Westtown’s 6-7 senior has much more to his game. Mayock, an American University commit, has worked hard to work on his all-around skills, but he shoots the ball so well, that those skills sometimes get overlooked.

“He can really shoot it, but he is a better playmaker than people think,” Westtown coach Seth Berger said.

Yes, there is more to his game, but the shooting is the skill that makes Mayock stand out.

Mayock doesn’t worry about how others perceive his game. The one thing everybody can agree on is that he is a winner and was a major part of last year’s Friends League title team.

“As far as showing people what I can do, I let my game do all the talking for me,” Mayock said.

His game has spoken volumes.

“He is an elite shooter,” Berger said. “I think he is going to be an impact player in college.”

Mayock began his career at Conestoga, but after two years he transferred to Westtown, where he reclassified. This is his third season with the Moose and just competing with all the high level players in practice every day, has benefited his game. Last year one of his teammates was 7-foot Dereck Lively, who is now at Duke and was considered the No. 1 high school player in the nation. 

“The practices have played a huge role in helping me develop,” he said. “When you have to finish over a player like Dereck, it makes it easier in the game.”

Mayock said he enjoyed recruiting and was grateful for the schools that showed interest. He also had a family that is experienced in recruiting that helped him go through the process.

His father Mark played football at Boston College and his mother Alix was a basketball player at St. Joseph’s University. His brother Angus played baseball at UConn and his sister was a basketball player at St. Joseph’s. (His uncle Mike Mayock is the former general manager of the Las Angeles Raiders who played at Boston College and in the NFL).

“My family made it easier (during the recruiting process) because they all had a lot of advice and experience,” Mayock said. “They were all helpful.”

Mayock said everything just clicked with American University.

“American is a place I could see myself playing a lot and I connected with the coaches and it is a really good academic school which was important,” he said.


Westtown senior Matt Mayock #33 - PSD Photo by James Quinn


Westtown coach Seth Berger - PSD Photo by James Quinn

Mayock, who is averaging about 12 points per game in a balanced lineup, says his role is different now that he is among the most experienced players on the team.

“We are a really young team this year,” he said. “I am more of a leader, trying to help the younger guys reach their potential.”

And he continues to work on his all-around game, which continues to grow, just as his shooting range continues to expand.

In last week’s key 59-51 Friends League win over the George School, Mayock led the way with 20 points, including four three-pointers. Malik Rasul added 19 and Matt Gilhool scored 12.

Game of the Week

Westtown is the standard bearer for the Friends League having won eight consecutive championships and the Moose are a viable title contender once again. With that as a backdrop, Friends Select had one of the biggest wins at least in recent school history with Tuesday’s 47-45 victory over visiting Westtown.

“When Westtown comes to town you sweat automatically because they have a great coach, a great team,” Friends Select coach Percell Coles said. “We had to bring our best game defensively first because it is hard to defend all that talent.”

As the score suggests, the D got an A for its effort.

“We rose to the occasions, played one possession at a time and it was great to have the home court advantage,” Coles said.

Christian Kirkland, Friends Select’s 6-8 senior, continued what has been a monster senior season, Kirkland had 12 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Sophomore Isaiah Marshall had the game-winning layup with 3.6 seconds left. He also finished with 12 points. Jalen Chiles chipped in with 10.

Mayock and junior guard Cam Wallace each had 15 for Westtown.

There have been some impressive nonleague wins this season for the Falcons, including victories over Penn Charter, the Hun School and Haverford School to name a few, but this one is by far the biggest victory.

It was more impressive since Friends Select lost its first Friends League game to the George School.

Westtown has beaten the George School, which shows that either of these three teams, along with possibly Academy of New Church and Shipley, have what it takes to seriously contend for this year’s title.

In an earlier 75-62 loss to George School, Kirkland led the way with 22 points.

Highly competitive George School

George School had a competitive game with defending champ Westtown before losing a 59-51 decision in the aforementioned game.

For George School, Luca Bevilacgua, a 6-11 sophomore, led the way with 17 points while 6-8 senior Kachi Nzeh added 13 points.

“The result didn’t go our way but hopefully we will meet them again,” said Nzeh, an Xavier recruit.

George School rebounded with a 79-57 win over Friends Central.

Christian Bliss, a 6-4 junior guard who recently received an offer from Villanova, led the way with 26 points.

Bevilacqua had 18, Nzeh added 17 and Dante Weise scored 10.

 

George School vs. Friends Central - PSD Highlights by Lennie Malmgren

Academy of the New Church off to impressive start

Academy of the New Church, which lost to Westtown in last year’s Friend League final, once again has the look of a contender.

The Lions improved to 10-2, 3-0 with Tuesday’s 61-56 win over host Shipley. 

Deywilk Tavarez, a 6-3 senior, scored 18 points. Bahsil Laster, a 6-6 junior, added 14 points, while 6-3 freshman Dior Carter scored 12 points.

Jarell Keel, a 6-3 senior, added nine points and 12 rebounds.

ANC won despite shooting 1-for-13 from three-point range.

The other Friends League wins for the Lions were 71-65 over Abington Friends, with Tavarez leading the way with 27 points, and 81-13 over Moorestown Friends.

Tavarez, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, is averaging a team-high 21.4 points, while Laster averages 14.4 points.


Deywilk Tavarez scored his 1,000th point vs. Moorestown Friends - PSD Photo by Donna Eckert

Grady leading the way for Shipley

In Tuesday’s 61-56 loss to Academy of the New Church, Shipley 5-10 senior Darrien Grady led the way with 21 points. Will Lange, a 6-5 senior, was the other double-figure scorer for Shipley with 13 points. He also had nine rebounds.

Grady is Shipley’s leading scorer, averaging 16.7 points. Imanuel Jackson, a 6-1 senior, averages 11.8 points.

Shipley had opened its Friends League schedule with a 66-38 win over Germantown Friends. Grady and 5-10 freshman Kody Colson, each had 14 points.

Germantown Friends’ Dill having a big freshman season

Germantown Friends is off to a 7-8, 0-2 start with a very young team. Jordan Dill, a 6-0 freshman, continues to impress. A combo guard who usually plays the two, Dill had 22 points in a 66-38 loss to Shipley.

Dill has been turning heads on and off the court.

Amir Staten, a 6-4 senior is providing great leadership, not to mention strong scoring and rebounding.


Germantown Friends freshman, Jordan Dill #4 - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister

In a 63-53 non-league win over Frankford, Dill had 27 points and Staten added 18, with junior Darius Frazier chipping in with 11.

First Friends League victory for Kangaroos

Abington Friends earned its first Friends League victory on Tuesday over Moorestown Friends, 65-19 after suffering previous Friends League losses to Academy of the New Church and Friends' Central.

The Kangaroos are led by 6-6 senior Ife West-Ingram, who is a Rider commit.

“He is a super athletic combo wing guard who plays on the perimeter plays in the post, plays above the and hits some threes for us,” Abington Friends coach Jon Wessel said. “He has been great for us.”

Wessel says that senior point guard Angel Otero is having a big year and is attracting Division III interest.

Another key contributor has been 5-9 junior Jared Shanken on what has been a balanced Abington Friends team.