skip navigation

Prepping for Preps '16-17: Pennsbury

11/21/2016, 7:15pm EST
By Krisian Rhim & Josh Verlin

Tyler Sessa-Reeves (above) and the rest of the Pennsbury seniors were sophomores on the team's last state tournament push. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Kristian Rhim (@Legendary__Kris) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
--

(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2016-17 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed so far can be found here.)

~~~

Two years removed from a deep run in the state playoffs, the Pennsbury Falcons are trying to do similar things in 2016-2017 season.

In 2014-15, the Falcons -- led by now-Saint Peter's guard Cameron Jones, Baltimore City CC guard Mekhi Bryant and Delaware forward Derrick Woods -- went 12-4 in Suburban One-National play, 25-7 overall. That team made it to Temple’s Liacouras Center before losing to Abington in the district semifinals, and then won a few games in the PIAA Class AAAA bracket before a loss to eventual champion Roman Catholic in the quarterfinals ended their season.

Tyler Sessa-Reeves was a sophomore that year, and wants similar -- if not more -- success this season.

“I know our goals are to first win the league then the district and then go to states,” Sessa-Reeves said. Focus on our league first, (but) mainly we all want to go to states.”

Last year, the Falcons got off to a strong 7-1 start, then struggled the rest of the season, finishing 15-8 overall. A junior-laden group was bounced in the first round of districts by Central Bucks East, a disappointing finish for a program that’s made seven state tournament appearances in the last 11 years.

“We moved on from that, although it's all in the back of our heads and we understand we thought we should've had a better year,” Sessa-Reeves said. “We have a lot of kids coming back, so we all know we can do better this year all we have to do is work hard.”

Now all those juniors are seniors, and it’s a deep group -- especially in the frontcourt -- for head coach Bill Coleman’s seventh season at the Falcons’ helm.


Mark Flagg (above, in May) is part of a towering frontcourt for the Falcons. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Mark Flagg, a 6-7 forward with several Division II offers, leads the way after averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds a game last year; the face-up big man can stretch the floor out to the 3-point arc with ease. Isaiah Carpenter is the biggest body of the group at 6-9 and over 240 pounds, while their classmate Joey Monaghan, a 6-4 combo forward, is a scrappy rebounder who does a great job of cleaning up for his teammates.

With the addition of senior forward Billy Warren, whose family moved from Neshaminy into the district this offseason, the Falcons will have four players 6-foot-7 and over; Chad Weldon, a 6-8 junior, completes that quartet.

“Billy gives us another big man presence in the paint, and gives Isaiah a break when he needs it and Mark when he needs it,” Sessa-Reeves said. “Our offense works inside-out, so our role is to get (the bigs) the ball and if they get doubled, Coach [Coleman] says the bigs should trust in the guards to knock down shots -- and when we knock down shots they’ll be open in the post.”

Although, the forwards will be the focus, that puts Sessa-Reeves and fellow senior Addison Howard in an important position on the perimeter.

The two guards are both two-year starters, and though neither Sessa-Reeves (5-11) or Howard (5-9) bring a ton of size to the backcourt, they’re both capable ball-handlers who are more than comfortable firing away when open on the perimeter.

“Our guards have to set the tone on the ball defensively [and] make people uncomfortable.” Coleman said. “Offensively they have to understand what we want to accomplish, we favor the inside game but if we do that correctly you're going to get opportunities because people are automatically going to double.”

Though the team will be senior-heavy, Weldon and 6-4 sophomore Gary Francis, an athletic wing/forward with a strong body, will bring some youth to the Falcons’ rotation.

Coleman spoke highly of Francis’ work ethic, saying “out of all of our guys, he puts in the most work.”

One point that was stressed by both Coleman and Sessa-Reeves was defensive improvement. When talking about his defense and the impact the Falcons need to have on that end of the floor, Coleman referred to his 2014-2015 group.

That year, Woods served as a high-level rim protector, while Jones and Bryant -- and the rest of a big senior class that year -- paced the team by playing in-your-face, on-ball defense to rattle opposing guards and prevent opponents from getting into their sets easily.

It’s going to take that sort of effort on a consistent basis for this Pennsbury squad to live up to potential.

“We want them to channel effort and intensity on the defensive side of the floor,” Coleman said. “We were a very intimidating defense at that point, and that has to carry forward. What we have to understand is defense leads to easy offense, if played correctly.”

Though Sessa-Reeves, according to Coleman, has been the most vocal senior on his team, it’s certainly leadership in numbers for the Falcons, with plenty of players in their second or even third year of varsity hoops and thus equipped with the knowledge of what it takes to get it done in big games.

Coleman stressed the fact that leadership stemming from the players is necessary for success.

”We do have a group of seniors but everyone else is really young, we’re begging people to be the leader -- as a coaching staff we don't want to to be the leader,” he said. “We want to push them in the right direction, but we need a leader on the floor.”

If all the pieces come together, this is a Pennsbury squad that could certainly be there in the running for league, district and potentially even a state championship run.

“We have a great group of seniors,” Coleman said. “Our potential’s there. We just have to want it on the defensive side of the floor.”


Recruiting News:

HS Coverage:

Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Josh Verlin