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Alikakos, Episcopal take down Inter-Ac leading Germantown Ac.

01/19/2016, 7:45pm EST
By Jeff Griffith

Nick Alikakos (above) and Episcopal pulled even with Germantown Academy in the Inter-Ac standings. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Over the past three seasons, the Germantown Academy Patriots have grown accustomed to being on top. Winners of back-to-back-to-back Inter-Ac titles, the Patriots most recently finished off their 2015 league title with a 74-50 crushing road win over Episcopal.

For the foreseeable future, however, Germantown Academy might have to get used to sharing their throne with that same Episcopal, after a hard-fought battle saw the host Churchmen squeeze out a 58-56 win to draw even with the Patriots atop the league standings.

“I’m ecstatic for my guys, not for me, I’m feeling really happy for my guys,” said Episcopal head coach Craig Conlin. “I’m happy for our program and for our school, and really ecstatic by the game plan our coaching staff put together and I’m pleased and proud of my assistant coaches. Our character in fighting back to tie them for first in the league, that’s what I’m most excited about.”

Germantown senior Devon Goodman, who has certainly gotten used to not just winning the Inter-Ac, but also beating Episcopal--as he had in all but one of his six previous attempts at GA--had a chance to change the outcome not once, but twice in the final 30 seconds.

Goodman, who dropped 14 points after entering the half with just two, first saw that opportunity with 25 seconds left down 57-56 at the free throw line, but missed both attempts.

Fifteen seconds later, Episcopal junior Nick Alikakos--who led EA with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks--headed to the charity stripe with a chance to put his team up by three. After Alikakos hit the first, Conlin called a timeout to talk things over. In the huddle, he continuously said the words, “When Nick makes this shot,” to preface the plan for the ensuing defensive play.

“That’s the mindset and the psychology behind the game and our program, constantly lifting guys up, lifting each other up and playing for our guys next to us, communicating positive thoughts,” said Conlin. “Lifting each other up instead of putting one another down, that’s what we’re all about. We believe that as coaches, we need to instill confidence and power in our players.”

Despite that confidence from his coach, Alikakos ended up missing that attempt, and thus gave Goodman his second chance to keep Germantown (13-5, 3-1 Inter-Ac) alive; the Patriot senior instead missed on a layup as time expired, closing the door on a GA comeback attempt that had lasted the entire second half.

Junior Evan-Eric Longino, who earned a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, also had a shot on the final possession but his putback attempt went right into the hands of Alikakos as the buzzer sounded.

“Goodman is a tough player, Longino dropped a lot of points on us today,” Conlin said. “They’ve got a lot of talent there, they’re tough, they’re a tough out, that’s for sure.”

Aside from Alikakos, a major key for Episcopal (11-5, 3-1 Inter-Ac) was the shot of both Matt Woods and Kyle Sacchetta, who knocked down key triples on six different occasions--the most important of which came off the fingertips of Sacchetta to build a seven-point lead in the early fourth quarter. Woods finished the game with 12 points, while Sacchetta added six.

Having players like those two sharpshooters that can fill in roles behind the prolific scoring power of Alikakos is critical for Conlin’s Churchmen, who constantly preach a united team mentality.

“A lot of that comes from our training sessions,” said Conlin. “We get on Nick just like any other guy here, and when the other kids see that, they think, ‘wow, if he can get on Nick like that, our best player, he’s going to get on all of us.’”

Not only does Conlin get on each of his players, but even more importantly, the players each hold each other accountable during the game in a much more communicative way than they did at the outset of the season.

“The communication that you’re hearing now, from the opening day of the season is night and day,” he said. “It’s so hard to get teenage boys to communicate with each other. That seems to be a difficult part of our job. So for them to talk, and huddle, and communicate, that’s part of the reason why we do this as a coaching staff. A lot of times, communication from the peers is a lot stronger than what we as adults or coaches could ever give them.”

For the Churchmen, without that communication and team unity they could easily have fractured and crumbled after a freak loss to Penn Charter by 16 points in the league opener. Just two and a half weeks later, that loss seems to have disappeared, as EA has swept through Haverford, Malvern Prep, and now Germantown to take control of its destiny in the Inter-Ac.

“Let’s just say we had some great teachable moments after that game, some great teachable practices,” Conlin remarked, with a chuckle. “But we noticed, when we looked at the six teams in the Inter-Ac, during the opener, that if we don’t come out ready to go and go all out, then we’re going to have regrets like we did after the Penn Charter game. We never want to experience that again. The PC game was a great learning experience for us, and I highly doubt our guys will ever come out and display that lack of effort that we did against Charter.”

“All five of the other teams can beat us,” said Conlin. “We know that we can beat all five teams, but if we don’t come out and do what we’re supposed to do with all out effort, all five of those teams can beat us on any night.”

With a win over the three-time defending Inter-Ac kings, it’s safe to say Conlin and his players certainly aren’t wrong in believing they can take down anyone in this league. The Patriots and Churchmen will have another showdown at Germantown in a few weeks, but for now the focus is on the next game against Springside Chestnut Hill.

“That feels so far away,” Conlin said of an eventual GA rematch. “We have a 24-hour rule with our kids. We want them to enjoy this for 24 hours, and when they come back to practice tomorrow at 3:45, it’s over. We’ve got to get ready for Chestnut Hill Friday night, at Chestnut Hill.”

“I know it sounds like a cliche,” he added. “But we’ve got to take it one at a time.”


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