City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Andrew O’Connor (@loitercaptain)
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WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- West Chester University’s annual “Big 64” showcase tipped off on Saturday morning, with eight groups of eight teams taking turns playing on the four courts at WCU’s South Campus all weekend long.

Here’s a notebook from the second day of action:

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Garnet Valley’s Louden primed for big year
Andrew Louden wasn’t at Garnet Valley when the Jaguars came-oh-so-close to the District playoffs.

In 2013 and 2014, Garnet Valley ended the season as the team ranked 33rd in the District 1 AAAA ranking formula, just one spot away from a berth in the district playoffs and two wins from a coveted spot in the state tournament.

Louden joined the team last year as a transfer from Cardinal O’Hara, but an 8-14 season (3-13 Central League) wasn’t good enough to get quite that close again. Now, as a senior, he’s got one more chance to bring some recognition to his school.

“The ultimate goal is to make district playoffs this year and see what we can do, see if we can do any damage in there,” Louden said on Sunday after a win over Chichester. “I think overall as a team, our focus is getting into the district playoffs for the first time in maybe eight, nine years, so it’ll be a big accomplishment around Garnet Valley.”

Last year at this time, Louden was just settling into his new school, though he wasn’t totally unfamiliar with his teammates. He’d played against many of his teammates in CYO games and youth leagues, including two other starting guards, senior Carl Tienabeso and sophomore Austin Laughlin.

It’s the return of those three, the team’s leading scorers from a year ago, that has Louden feeling so optimistic about this season.

“I think not only am I more comfortable with the guys, but the guys are more comfortable with me,” he said. “We have a good relationship all around and the coaches are great. It’s been a lot different this time around especially with me being a senior, I’ve got to step up and be vocal and be the leader.

Louden is likely a few inches shy of the 5-foot-11 at which he’s listed, but he doesn’t let his size dictate his impact on the game. The point guard has a great feel for tempo and when to attack an opposing defense, and can knock down shots from all around the arc.

And he’s been garnering a good amount of Division III interest, naming schools like Ursinus, Widener, Penn State-Harrisburg, Immaculata, Albright and Scranton as those who had been in touch.

“He’s got a lot on his shoulders, because he’s our senior leader, he’s our best scorer, he’s probably our best defender,” Garnet Valley coach Mike Brown said. “We look to him for just about everything but rebounding.”

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Pennridge’s Long enjoying final year of hoops
If this is Danny Long’s last year of playing competitive basketball, he wants to go out with a bang.

Once the season ends, the Pennridge senior will turn his full attention to the baseball diamond, where he stars at shortstop for the Rams and is committed to play at Monmouth next year.

“After all the success we had last year, I want to go out on a good note again,” he said on Sunday afternoon.

Pennridge is coming off arguably its best season ever, a 26-7 year that saw them win a game in the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs for the first time in school history.

“That was awesome,” Long said. “We played a lot of good competition and it was good to reach that point and we’re looking to get there again this year.”

They’re going to have to replace a very important quartet of seniors, including Ursinus freshman Zach Muredda and Joe Molettiere, Long’s cousin and a fellow Monmouth baseball player.

It’ll certainly help having Long to lead the new crop, as the muscular 5-foot-11 combo guard is more than capable of creating his own shot, hitting several tough pull-ups in a win over Spring-Ford.

There’s always the chance that Long could try to be a two-sport athlete in college, and walk on to head coach King Rice’s basketball squad. If he hadn’t been a Division I baseball player, he’s certainly good enough to have gotten some Division II scholarship looks.

“I thought about (playing basketball at Monmouth), it definitely interests me,” he said. “I’m definitely going to miss basketball if I have to give it up.”

That graduating class and Long have been instrumental in helping head coach Dean Behrens install a new sense of toughness in the Rams, and it shows--Pennridge’s entire roster was diving on the floor for loose balls, crashing the glass and sprinting up and down the floor at every opportunity in the win over Spring-Ford.

“Our seniors were instrumental in that (mindset),” Behrens said. "Let’s face it there’s tons of talent, everyone you play has got talent, it’s coming down to little things--out-hustling someone to get an extra loose ball, rebounding the ball, talking defensively. You’re not always going to shoot the ball consistently every game, but you can always be consistent with defense and rebounding.” --Josh Verlin

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Quick Hits/Standouts
--Boys’ Latin had a good showing in a one-point loss against Penn Wood. Three of their seniors graduate from last year; Leo Gardner, Jahmir Green and Umar Saaba; leaving space for some new players to step up. Head coach R.J. McDaniel mentioned Cam Gardner-Nicholson as a guy who will inherit a bigger role, as well Jelani Mauge and Gus Sephes, who will look to resume their production from last year and push them past the second-place position they’ve fallen into the past two years in the Public League ‘B’ Division. Sephes, a 6-0 junior shooting guard, had a stellar shooting performance from ‘3,’ displaying excellent range as well as ball-handling ability.

--Conwell-Egan’s roster is finally settling down after an offseason that saw a bit of turnover. Archbishop Carroll transfer David Beatty looked like he’d be joining the Eagles before deciding to play his junior year at St. Benedict’s, but Egan landed another Catholic League transfer instead in former Prep forward James Leible, a 6-5 forward who looks like he’ll start up front next to 6-8 Pace (N.Y.) commit Vinny Dalessandro. Also new to the school is sophomore point guard Darien Simmons, a Philadelphia native who moved to Washington, D.C. when he was in elementary school; now back in Philly, the 5-11 guard will be a nice piece alongside Egan’s well-established backcourt of seniors Stevie Jordan and LaPri McCray-Pace.

--Neumann-Goretti senior guards Vaughn Covington and Rasheed Brown showcased their court vision in a win over Downingtown West, threading the needle for several fast break passes and lobbing several impressive alley-oops to their frontcourt. Browne proved to be a particular standout this game, serving as the ringleader for the beautifully chaotic circus that was their fast-breaks. A familiar scene today saw Browne catching an excellent outlet pass only to follow up with either a quick pass to a teammate racing alongside him for the assist, or a drive to the basket for a layup of his own.

--Lakewood (N.J.) has a very good senior point guard in Anthony Velasquez, who just arrived in the States a few weeks back from his home in Puerto Rico. A member of the Puerto Rico U-18 team, Velasquez is a crafty 5-11 point guard with a slick handle and ability to create his own shot, and he’s a good outside shooter and defender as well. Though a lot of the Division II and Division III coaches at West Chester were getting their first look at Velasquez, it’s clear that he’s going to be getting his fair share of looks, and could even get some Division II scholarships if he has a strong senior season for the South Jersey Group 3 school.

--It was a tough afternoon for Downingtown West, who had to go up against arguably the three toughest teams in the Catholic League in a row in Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic and Archbishop Wood. The Whippets didn't look too bad, losing to each by single-digits; Penn commit Ryan Betley played well all afternoon against the cadre of high-major guards he went up against, but the real breakout star for West was Dom Guerrera. The 6-foot-6 wing played tough in all three games, hitting several outside shots with a hand in his face and crashing the glass at every opportunity. He mentioned several Division III schools recruiting him right now, and has a chance to get some D-II looks if he continues to improve his shot selection.