City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman used one word early and often when talking about his 2015-16 team.

“It’ll be fun,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to watch them grow.”

The Falcons are certainly in a different place than they’ve been the last few seasons, when the trio of Derrick Woods, Cameron Jones and Mekhi Bryant gave them one of the more talented trios in the Suburban One League, not to mention all of District 1 basketball. There's a reason they went 25-7 last year and made it all the way to the state quarterfinals, after all.

But they’re all graduated now, with Woods (St. Bonaventure) and Jones (Saint Peter’s) beginning their freshman seasons at Division I schools while Bryant begins his college career at Baltimore City College (Md.). Also gone are senior contributors Juan Perez Jones (Northampton CC), Nick Cereby (Bryn Athyn) and Zack Dea.

“We have just about 250 points’ worth of scoring coming back,” Coleman said. “There’ll be some growing pains, only one of those guys coming back really played major minutes for us.”

That one player is Rob Daly, a 5-11 guard who loves to bomb away from beyond the 3-point arc, but has the physicality to attack the rim and finish through contact. That’s thanks to his a defensive back on the football field, and he’s looking into attending several Patriot League schools for that sport.

Last year, Daly was a complementary piece for the Suburban One League runner-ups and District 1 AAAA semifinalists, but this year he’ll be one of the Falcons’ primary ball-handlers and responsible for a good portion of their offensive output and defensive energy.

“I know I’m going to have to step up and be a leader this year, especially with the younger guys we’ve got,” Daly said, “but I think we’ve got a great core group of guys coming back from last year. We might be young, but I think we’ll still be alright.”

While Woods, at 6-8, gave Pennsbury a solid interior presence last year, it was still a very perimeter-oriented group with the 6-2 Jones, 5-11 Bryant and 5-10 Perez Jones.

This year, Coleman has two post players in his starting lineup, juniors Mark Flagg and Isaiah Carpenter. They’re both very different; Flagg, at 6-7 and 190 pounds, is a stretch forward with a rapidly developing offensive game and Carpenter is a 6-8, 270-pound power forward/center with soft hands and a big body.

As the focus of Pennsbury’s attack shifts closer to the basket, Coleman anticipates his team’s overall style will have to change as well.

“Our mismatches are in the paint, so everyone will probably be surprised a little bit how we play,” he said. “A little more patient, working to get paint touches first, in-and-out and then going from there. Probably a lot more zone defensively than we’ve ever played. Our strengths are our frontcourt, and we have to take advantage of that.”

Along with Daly, Coleman has 5-9 junior Addison Howard and 5-10 junior Tyler Sessa-Reeves who will be seeing a lot of time in the backcourt, with some to-be-determined freshmen and sophomores that will have a chance to earn back-of-the-rotation minutes.

The final member of the Falcons’ top six is 6-4 junior Joey Monaghan, a tough combo forward with a nose for the ball and a solid face-up game within 15 feet.

If there’s a breakout star in the making on Pennsbury it’s likely Flagg, who’s now solidly on the radar of Division I schools after a good summer with the Jersey Shore Warriors’ 16U squad. He’s becoming a much more confident shooter with a quick trigger from out to the 3-point arc, and as he gets stronger will become a real problem to defend over his junior and senior seasons.

“He’s developed both for us over the last two years,” Coleman said. “He’s not afraid to mix it up a little bit down low with a true post player but he can extend the floor. He will create some mismatches for us; him along with Isaiah, we’ll have a good in-and-out game this year.”

In addition to their focus on winning the Suburban One League and making another run in districts and states, there’s one team in specific that Pennsbury has its eye on. SOL rival Abington beat Pennsbury four times last year, including twice in the regular season and again in the league’s first-ever championship title game.

The last defeat, a 49-40 loss in the district semifinals, made it nine in a row in the series for the Galloping Ghosts.

“It’s definitely one of our priorities, that and winning the league,” Daly said. “I think they had our number the past couple of years but I think we could definitely switch that around this year.”

Abington’s got plenty to replace as well, however, considering its starting backcourt of Matt Penecale (West Chester) and Amir Hinton (Lock Haven) are both at Division II schools, and there’s no clear frontrunner in the entire Suburban One.

So if all the pieces come together, this Pennsbury group could certainly surpass its more-heralded predecessor in one or more areas.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Coleman said, “and it’s going to be fun.”