By: John Knebels Photos: Zamani Feelings & Kathy Leister
Inter-Ac Boys’ Basketball Round-Up – Among the recent storylines for Inter-Academic League basketball, Matt Dade became a highlight.
Entering a January 8 contest at Penn Charter with 987 career points, the Episcopal Academy senior forward poured in a career-high 35 points to become the 11th Churchman to reach quadruple figures. After adding 14 against Haverford School on January 11, Dade is the eighth all-time leading scorer at Episcopal. He joins junior Alex Capitano who scored his 1,000th point back on December 20 in a non-league match-up against Abraham Lincoln High School.
“It’s something I’ll always remember,” said Dade, referring to his floater in the lane late in the first quarter that halted play in celebration of his accomplishment. “The best part was that a lot of my family was there to see me do it.”
(L to R) EA senior Matt Dade and junior Alex Capitano each reached the 1,000 point milestone this season - Photo Courtesy of @EA_Athletics
Dade said EA assistant coach Tom Kossuth had alerted him of the upcoming milestone when he was at 900 points earlier this season.
Although excited about his individual accomplishment, Dade was not in a particularly good mood after the game because the Churchmen lost, 60-56. They then dropped a 48-46 heartbreaker against visiting Haverford School to put them at 1-2 in the league.
“It is very frustrating to lose games like that,” said Dade. “The best record in the Inter-Ac wins, so to lose any game is very frustrating for us.”
Victorious Penn Charter (1-2 league) was led by junior Ryan Holmes’ 20 points, eighth grader Mark Butler’s 12, senior Dylan Topaz’s nine, and senior Ryan Maloney’s eight.
Speaking of Holmes, the Penn Charter swingman is the next guy on the list of Inter-Ac 1,000-point scorers. After adding 12 in a lopsided defeat against visiting Malvern, Holmes has 912. Obviously, Holmes preferred to reminisce about the victory over Episcopal.
“It was an exciting win for us coming off the tough loss to Haverford,” said Holmes. “It showed our character as a team because we all stepped up. Even though being down in the first half, we found a way to come out with the win.”
Penn Charter coach John Owens agreed.
“Great team win,” said Owens. “As a team, we are learning how to compete for all four quarters. I feel that we have learned more about our team after the Haverford and Malvern losses than we have in the EA win. Hopefully, we can take those two lessons and use them as a teaching tool for the rest of our season.’”
Penn Charter vs. Malvern Prep - Photos by Zamani Feelings
Penn Charter vs. Malvern Prep - Photos by Zamani Feelings
Malvern Prep junior Deuce Turner already catapulted 1,000 points early in the season, and he has continued to add offense at a fierce pace. In Malvern’s two latest victories – 69-60 at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and 83-50 at Penn Charter – Turner scored a combined 43 points.
He was far from alone. Against SCH, sophomore Rahdir Hicks scored 19 and senior Fran Oschell tallied 15 while senior TyGee Leach and junior Spencer Cochran added eight apiece. Versus Penn Charter, nine different players reached the box score, led by Turner’s 24, Oschell’s 20, and Hicks’ 19.
“These wins were extremely important,” said Turner. “First, playing EA at their place is a challenge, but it has to be a tone setter to get us ready for Friday’s game (January 18) at Haverford. That’s a must-win game even though we will see every team again. We have to have the mindset that every game can make or break us from winning the league. This is the most important week, in my opinion.”
No argument from Oschell.
“Our league wins this week were very important,” said Oschell. “Each one is like a championship and we executed very well this week. Everyone contributed in one way or another, and we are very confident going into this week.”
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy captured its first league win, 76-69 over visiting Germantown Academy – this coming off a tough 69-60 loss to Malvern Prep. The difference was a balanced offense.
SCH vs. GA - PSD Photos by Kathy Leister
SCH vs. GA - PSD Photos by Kathy Leister
GA vs. SCHA Highlight Video by Kathy Leister
In the Malvern loss, senior Zyon Grant and junior David Robinson both contributed 21 points. In the GA victory, Robinson scored 19, Grant 12, junior Ke’Shawn Williams 19, junior Delonce Hines eight, senior Jesse Balcer seven, junior Jared Sprague-Lott six, and freshman Darius Isaac six.
“Against Germantown Academy, we just came out knowing we had to get one,” said Williams. “We’ve been losing close games and we’re tired of it. So we came out knowing we had to put four hard-fought quarters together to get a win, and with a good crowd behind us, that’s what we did.”
For Germantown Academy, the loss cemented a deflating week. The Patriots had put a scare into defending champion Haverford School before losing, 54-53, despite 22 points from sophomore Jordan Longino and 15 from senior Brian Basile.
Against SCH, those two joined senior Diego Carrasco and junior Luke Traina in double figures.
“With the Haverford game, I thought we fought hard against a really good unbeaten Haverford team at their house, but we missed tough shots and foul shots down the stretch that really hurt us,” said Longino.
“Against SCH, I thought we played hard and fought until the end in a very hostile environment, but they got hot in the third quarter and foul trouble haunted us throughout the game.
“Overall, I feel like we made some big strides as a team this week, and I see improvement with every game.”
Haverford School's Jameer Brown defends Penn Charter's Ryan Holmes - PSD Photo by Zamani Feelings
Although tested to the brink, Haverford School extended its league victory streak to 14 dating back to the 2017 finale. The Fords survived impressive efforts by visiting Germantown Academy (54-53) and host Episcopal (48-46).
Freshman Jameel Brown bucketed a career-high 22 – the first time he has led the Fords in scoring – while senior Christian Ray added 16 against GA. Ray’s 19 and sophomore Tyler Seward’s 16 fueled the win over EA.
“It’s a mixture of a couple things,” said Ray. “Teams are playing us harder, but we lost our focus and I didn’t do a good job leading these last couple of games. It falls on me and my leadership.”
Seward presented a similar analysis.
“We know that everyone’s gunning for us,” he said. “We just need to match their energy from the jump.”
(John Knebels can be reached at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)