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92 in 92: Methacton (Pa.)

09/14/2014, 9:00am EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Last year, Methacton made an art out of winning ugly. The Warriors went 17-10 with quite a few games never making it to the 50-point mark, and even taking a few that didn’t make it to 40.

Perhaps no game was a better example of that than their District 1 AAAA playoff first-round game, where they managed to go the entire second half without a field-goal–and still beat Ridley, 46-38, thanks to solid defense and some timely foul shooting.

This year, don’t expect the Warriors to be quite so molasses-paced.

“Last year’s team, we were a lot more methodical and patient offensively, because I thought that played to the strengths of our team,” said Methacton coach Jeff Derstine, who’s going into his fifth year as head coach and sixth overall at the school. “We’ll play faster than we did last year; that being said, [while] we want to run and get up and down, we also don’t want to throw the ball all over the place and start turning it over.”

The biggest reason for the ability to play faster will be the team’s increased depth. Last year, due in part to experience and in part to a few injuries, Derstine kept his rotation around seven players, which forced him to try and limit possessions and thus avoid foul trouble.

This year, he’ll have a full seven seniors on the roster, as well as a few younger players who can come in and provide some depth.

Of course, they will have to replace three seniors in Joe Ruhl (6.5 ppg), Dillon Alderfer (4.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and most importantly Zach Jenkins, the team’s leading scorer (13.0 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg) from a year ago.

“[Jenkins] did pretty much everything that we needed him to do,” Derstine said of the 6-foot-5 forward, who went to James Madison and might try to walk on there. “He was a strong, tough player, he was our best rebounder, he led our team in scoring. He had the best shooting percentage, he did a little bit of everything.

“But I think Joe Ruhl and Dillon Alderfer, all three of them brought the same mentality to practice every day and to the court. They were great leaders, they were incredibly hard workers, and fortunately I think that the example they set for some of our younger guys has really been instrumental in how we’ve developed in the offseason this year.”

In addition to the three seniors, Derstine will also need to replace his starting point guard from a year ago. Richard Dunham, who would have been a junior this year, has transferred to Pope John Paul.

There is still plenty of experience returning, namely in the form of three juniors. Justin Ardman, the team’s leading returning scorer (10.0 ppg), is a 6-foot-3 wing who like Jenkins is going to have to do a little bit of everything this year. Two of his classmates, Sean Mann (7.0 ppg, 3.0 apg) and Tom Dyer (6.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg), were big pieces of the rotation last year as well; all three have been assuming leadership roles this offseason.

“I definitely think me and Sean Mann and Tom Dyer have taken full leadership roles, we’ve really stepped forward and been vocal on defense, setting a good example for the young guys and even the other seniors,” Ardman said. “But overall, all seniors play a part in leading the team and setting a good example.”

The rest of the senior class includes 6-2 forward T.J. Tornetta, who started to see more consistent time as the season went on, as well as Derek Ellis and Erik Marberger, who both played JV last year and dressed varsity.

Providing a boost up front will be 6-6 Chris McCarthy, who was dealing with injuries at the beginning of his junior season and never quite found his way into the rotation. He’ll be counted on along with the 6-6 Dyer and 6-3 Aardman to provide some size inside.

“Our depth is going to be big,” Derstine said. “Our seven seniors bring a lot to the table, we’ve got some younger guys that are going to be in the mix. Initially, it looks like we’re going to have a lot of depth that can really contribute.”

With all that depth, Methacton will be looking to avenge defeats to Spring-Ford in each of the last two Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) title games.

Last year, the Warriors came just one win away from not just the conference title but a berth in States; after losing to top-seeded Conestoga in the main bracket, they toppled Penn Wood before losing to Oxford in a playback game whose winner also qualified for the PIAA AAAA bracket.

They were in the state tournament two years ago as the seventh seed out of District 1, but lost to York in the first round.

“The past two years, we’ve made it to the conference championship and lost, so that’s definitely a big goal,” Ardman said. “But in the long run […] all seven seniors really want to make it a goal to make it to states again.”

No matter what style they play, that would certainly keep things exciting.