BOYS BASKETBALL: With Two Weeks Remaining, The Inter-Ac Title is Still in Contention

Photos/Videos: Richard Barnes, Chelby Elam, Zamani Feelings, Mike Nance & Ryan Nix

By: Rich Flanagan

The Inter-Ac League season has reached its midway point and there is plenty to delve into as each team has played at least five games.

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy looked primed to close out the first half of the Inter-Ac season unscathed, but Germantown Academy had other ideas. The Blue Devils have a win over Episcopal Academy, which is seeing a resurgence under head coach Taylor Wright and a plethora of shooting options. Malvern Prep boasts one of the premier scorers in the area along with two of the best freshmen in the league, and Penn Charter has been gradually figuring things out, but can still play spoiler as we sprint toward the end of the season. Don’t count out Haverford School with its own impact freshman and seasoned veterans around him.

Here’s a look at where we stand through the first half of the Inter-Ac League season:

Episcopal Academy, Springside Chestnut Hill Sit Atop Standings

A season ago, the Churchmen secured a single league win with Wright tagged as the interim coach. A new group with a new head coach and system to install brought about growing pains and difficulty throughout the year, but Episcopal Academy (11-6, 4-1) has rebounded beautifully in Wright’s first season as the full-time coach. That resurgence starts with Kevin McCarthy. The 6-4 senior and Army West Point commit is avg. 21.4 points per game and has scored in double figures in every game he has played this year, with 10 20-point games. He hit five three-pointers and scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to down Malvern Prep to open league play. He went 8-for-17 from the floor with 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 59-57 loss to the Blue Devils on Jan. 17 and is coming off a 25-point outing in a 74-61 victory over the Friars on Friday.

McCarthy has ample help around him this season with 6-2 junior Matt McCarthy (11.1 ppg) and 6-7 sophomore Timmy Dennis (10.4). Dennis went for 21 points with four three-pointers as the Churchmen drilled 10 shots from deep in a 60-49 win over Haverford School on Jan. 24. He followed that up by scoring 17 points in that second win over Malvern Prep. Add in the emergence of Reggie King (6.6 ppg) – the 6-3 sophomore guard who has provided a scoring spark at different times this season including his 12-point performance in the league opener against the Friars where he sank four three-pointers – and Episcopal Academy has a multitude of perimeter shooters who can get hot and shoot the opposition out of the gym.

Episcopal Academy vs. Malvern Prep - PSD Gallery by Richard Barnes

Julian McFadden was excited coming into the season as Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (17-6, 4-1) had an array of guards perhaps no team in the Inter-Ac can compare, and it might just lead the Blue Devils to the title. All five starters are averaging double figures starting with Keni Williams (16.2 ppg), Cam Burns (14.4), Ronald Brown III (13.7), Owen Kelly (10.4) and Kam Waters (10.1). Williams, a 6-1 junior, is having a breakout season with six 20-point contests so far this season. Williams went for 10 points while Brown, a 6-2 senior, was 8-15 from the field on his way to 18 points in that win over the Churchmen. Kelly, the 6-4 sophomore, has been a pleasant surprise and he tallied 17 points and seven rebounds in that matchup with Episcopal Academy.

The Blue Devils subsequently beat Malvern Prep, 68-65 on Jan. 20 behind four double-digit scorers in Brown (16), Burns (15), Williams (14) and Kelly (12). Burns surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season and he has been superb in his final season going for 20 or more points six times. The Patriots got the best of the Blue Devils, 69-64 on Friday night but Burns hit four three-pointers and finished with 18 points, Brown added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Kelly chipped in 14 points and seven boards of his own.

Springside Chestnut Hill vs. Penn Charter - PSD Photos by Zamani Feelings

The Churchmen and Blue Devils face off for the final time in the regular season on Feb. 6 and that matchup could very well put the winner in the driver seat for the league crown.

Malvern Prep Looking to Savvy Vet and Talented Newcomers

When Andrew Phillips (Lafayette) graduated last season, head coach Paul Romanczuk knew much of the scoring burden would fall to Northeastern commit Ryan Williams, but he wasn’t sure how much. Williams, the 6-3 senior guard and Inter-Ac leading scorer, has been nothing short of fantastic in his final season, avg. 22.2 ppg and recording 14 games with 20 or more points, including three 30-point performances. Williams scored 11 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter of a 61-56 win over Penn Charter on Jan. 17 then scored 27 points in a 69-65 win over Germantown Academy with 13 coming after halftime.

Malvern Prep (14-6, 3-3) always knew production would come from Williams but where the additional scoring has come from has been a major surprise as two freshmen have led the way and provided scoring help on nights Williams has either been double-teamed or struggled. Marvin Reed (10.9 ppg) and Nick Harken (9.4) have burst onto the scene in the same way former standouts Deuce Turner and Rahdir Hicks did only a few seasons ago.

Malvern Prep vs. Episcopal Academy - PSD Gallery by Allie Riches

Reed, the 5-10 guard, is in the middle of his best stretch of the season that began with a 14-point game in a 68-65 loss to Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on Jan. 20, turned into a 20-point against Germantown Academy and closed with a 24-point performance in a loss to Episcopal Academy.

Harken, the 6-4 wing, had 14 points in that loss to the Blue Devils and chipped in 10 points in the loss to the Churchmen. The Friars are just behind the Blue Devils and Churchmen and while they have some ground to make up, Williams and the standout freshmen duo of Reed and Harken will have their opportunity to shine.

Penn Charter Not Done Yet

The Quakers have had some setbacks in year one under head coach Brandon Williams but still find themselves in position to make a last-chance shot at the Inter-Ac title. Two matchups with Episcopal Academy and one with Springside Chestnut Hill Academy linger for Penn Charter (11-9,2-3) and with the talent on this squad, it’s not that farfetched to think that four or even five wins are not within reach to close out the league schedule.

Jake West, the 6-2 junior floor general, is avg. 15.7 ppg in his first season with the Quakers after transferring over from Archbishop Carroll. He had 15 of his 23 points in the second half against Malvern Prep on Jan. 17. He also had seven of his 13 points in the final quarter as the Quakers dropped a 51-50 game to the Fords on Friday. Matt Gilhool, the 6-11 junior and Westtown transfer avg. 14.4 ppg, is starting to assert himself as evidenced by his 20-point game against Germantown Academy with 12 of those coming in the first eight minutes.

Penn Charter vs. Haverford School - PSD Gallery by Chelby Elam

Jamal Hicks, the 6-2 junior and Bonner-Prendergast transfer avg. 11.8 ppg, has been shooting the lights out of late. He made four three-pointers on his way to 22 points in that win over the Patriots then hit five more and scored 27 points in a win over the Academy of the New Church shortly afterward. He hit another pair of long-range jumpers and scored 15 points in that loss to Haverford School. The one player to watch down the stretch is 6-5 junior guard Kai Shinholster (10.1 ppg), who started off the season strong but has dealt with a number of injuries that have impeded his progress. If Shinholster can find his rhythm and West, Gilhool and Hicks continue their torrid seasons, the Quakers will be there in the end.

Rollerson Quietly Putting Together Historic Career

Before heading to Villanova, Jordan Longino put together the single greatest scoring career at Germantown Academy. He scored over 1,500 points in three seasons and finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,759). Even after moving on the next level, Longino is still revered both within the program and Inter-Ac.

The Patriots do not necessarily have a successor to Longino as teams change from season to season, but Bryce Rollerson is about as close as a program of Germantown Academy’s prolific history can get.

The 6-foot junior guard is avg. 22.0 ppg this season and has scored at least 20 points in 14 games, including a career-high 36 against the Blue Devils on Friday night. He scored 31 points and surpassed 1,000 for his career against Episcopal Academy on Jan. 12. He became the 26th player in Germantown Academy history to reach that mark and he is nowhere near done yet.

In that 36-point outburst, he shot 12-20 from the field and 10-12 from the free throw line. He had 13 points in the fourth quarter alone and added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals to give Germantown Academy (9-10, 1-5) its first Inter-Ac victory of the year. He has 1,151 career points currently, just ahead of 2007 grad and Florida Gulf Coast Associate Head coach Kyle Griffin. He is one of the most electric scorers in the area and still has a full season to play.

Bryce Rollerson talks about Germantown Academy's first Inter-Ac victory of the season vs. SCH, in a game where he scored 36 points - PSD Video by Ryan Nix

Germantown Academy vs. Springisde Chestnut Hill - PSD Gallery by Ryan Nix

Graham Performing Well for Fords

Haverford School (12-8, 2-3) has a pair of matchups with Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and one with Episcopal Academy to close out the league season and Silas Graham will be at the center of everything the Fords do in these next few weeks.

The 6-2 freshman guard and son of University of Pennsylvania Assistant Coach Nat Graham is avg. 13.7 ppg this season and has been affecting the game in a variety of ways.

He hit four three-pointers on his way to 16 points in Friday’s win over Penn Charter. He posted 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a win over Cristo Rey earlier this season then later scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in a win over Father Judge. He later went for 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in a 58-38 victory over Germantown Academy on Jan. 17. Graham is as versatile a player as there is in the Inter-Ac, and he can control a game from start to finish.