skip navigation

Prepping for Preps: Germantown Academy (Pa.)

12/05/2015, 8:10am EST
By Ari Rosenfeld

Devon Goodman (above) is entering his third year as GA's starting point guard. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
--

(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)

~~~

For two consecutive seasons, Germantown Academy had the good fortune of trotting out the same starting five in every game, barring a minor injury or two.

The results could not have been any better, with the Patriots capturing Inter-Ac championships in both seasons, bringing their present streak to three titles in a row.

But good things must eventually come to end, and gone now are Tim Guers (St. Anselm’s) and Sam Lindgren (Colgate), both of whom received All Inter-Ac First Team honors last year.

“It’s a tall task replacing those two guys but we’re going to give it a shot,” said head coach Jim Fenerty, who’s entering his 27th season at the helm. “If we needed a key basket, Timmy Guers was always there or Sammy Lindgren was there. Now our guys are looking around saying, ‘Okay well, Coach, who do you want to take that shot?’ My answer has always been 'the guy that’s open.' I think that’s how we'll do it.”

Fenerty has his fair share of returning options, however, most notably Penn commit Devon Goodman. A true floor general entering his third year in the driver’s seat of GA’s offense, Goodman will have more opportunity to display the scoring ability that he’s showcased over the summers with his Team Philly AAU program.

“Somebody’s gonna have to step up and do some more scoring and I think Devon is capable of doing that, but he’s also very capable of making the guys around him better players,” Fenerty said. “I told [Penn head coach] Steve Donahue the other day, ‘I think you got a steal here. This kid is just a terrific kid and a terrific basketball player.’”

Also returning to the starting lineup for the third straight season will be the junior tandem of Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey, with both players adding a different element to the Patriots’ offense.

At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds with a capable jumper and handle, Longino presents a matchup nightmare for just about any team that GA will face this season. The quarterback for the Patriots’ football team and a Division-I recruit on the gridiron, McCloskey also stands at 6-5 but is more of a pure wing as potentially the most explosive athlete in the league.

“Those two guys, they’ve been starting since they were freshmen and they know how to win,” Fenerty said. “The secret to our success has been our ability to play good defense and share the ball, and I think both of them are really good at that.”

The Patriots once again have hopes of winning the Inter-Ac, but will need contributions outside of their big three if they’re going to topple formidable challengers in Episcopal Academy and Malvern Prep.

Back from last year’s rotation are seniors Joe Stinson, a wiry 6-10 New York University (D-III) recruit, and Bailey Whitman, a do-everything guard. Junior guard Cole Storm will also be in the mix after seeing spot minutes last season.

The piece Fenerty seems most excited about is senior forward Gabe Alter, who has missed each of the last two seasons with injuries to his knee and his hip.

Alter was on the varsity bench and played significant JV minutes as a freshman, and flashed enough talent in open gyms this fall to earn a preferred walk-on spot at Colgate before even playing a varsity minute. Just now working his way back to full health, Fenerty is expecting him to help fill some of the scoring void left by Guers and Lindgren.

“He’s back as a senior and playing really, really well, and I think he’s capable of scoring some points for us,” Fenerty said. “With his injuries, he very easily could’ve packed it in. He’s one of those kids that even with injuries, he was always at practice and he was one of the first guys there.

“This kid’s had more physical adversity than one should have and he’s bounced back admirably and handled it real well. I’m really proud of him.”

Working in some new pieces for the first time in over two years, Fenerty understands that his team might take some lumps early in the season. He mentioned that the plan is for the Patriots to be a better team than they are right now by January, when Inter-Ac play tips off.

And while another league title is obviously the ultimate goal, GA knows that even on the heels of a three-peat, getting through the six team, round-robin regular season unscathed will be no small feat.

“I think we’ve got a very tough road ahead of us. We expect when we walk into a gym that we’re gonna get everybody's best game and that’s pretty much what happens,” Fenerty said. “In all honesty, I haven’t even mentioned the word ‘championship.’ I won’t do that. What I want them to do is I want them to get better every single day, and if they get better every single day we’ll be fine.”


Recruiting News:

HS Coverage:

Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Ari Rosenfeld  Inter-Ac  Inter-Ac (B)  Germantown Ac.