City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)

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After the conclusion of the Pennsbury’s contest against Harry S. Truman on Thursday night, all of the members of the Pennsbury Regional Basketball League, the local league for youngsters in the Pennsbury area, were invited down to the floor to get autographs from all of the Pennsbury players.

To no surprise, all of the kids flocked to Pennsbury senior forward Mark Flagg, the Falcons' latest Division I commit.

“That was pretty cool,” Flagg said. “The younger kids look up to us a lot so there was a good environment in here.”

Flagg put on a show in front of the countless members of the league that were in attendance on Thursday as the 6-foot-8 senior cashed in for 29 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and swatted away four shots on his way to propelling Pennsbury to a 62-49 victory.

His huge performance comes on the heels of the announcement of his college decision, as the senior forward made the decision to attend Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday.

“When I went up there, it just felt right,” Flagg said. “Coaching staff is great, the team is great, a lot of great players there and it felt right. It just felt like a good place for me to be.”

After receiving offers from Division II schools such as Holy Family,  East Stroudsburg, and West Chester, along with garnering interest from other Division I programs like Delaware and UMBC, Flagg thought that St. Francis was the best place for him.

What set St. Francis apart for Flagg was their unselfishness and ability to share the ball, along with proving that they are capable of winning as the Red Flash topped Robert Morris by a score of 89-83 in overtime when Flagg was on his official visit last weekend.

Along with their ball movement, Flagg saw an extra effort from St. Francis head coach Rob Krimmel that the other coaches recruiting him weren’t putting forth.

“The way they move the ball and share the ball. The coach showed a lot more love at the end than most of the other coaches,” Flagg said. “It was just a great environment when I went there. I liked it a lot.”

Although most Division I recruits had announced their decision by January 29, when Flagg made the choice to go to St. Francis, waiting was always the plan for the Pennsbury star.

“I was planning before the season to wait and see what I can get,” Flagg said. “I was waiting for an official visit and I was waiting for just the right fit. St. Francis came, I went for the official, it felt right and I knew it was going to be a great place for me so I committed.”

After getting the burden of making his college decision off of his back, Flagg can now turn all of his focus to the remainder of Pennsbury’s season, where the Falcons find themselves in the middle of the Suburban One League playoff hunt with just one regular season game to go.

“It’s a stress reliever,” Flagg said. “I can just come out here and focus on high school basketball for now and know that in the summer time I’ll be over there. It’s a real boost for me.”

Focusing on high school basketball is just what the senior forward did, as the senior scored 20 of his game-high 29 in the second half after his team took just a 29-27 lead into halftime. 

“My shot wasn’t falling in the first half,” Flagg said. “But the guys gave me confidence to go out and shoot the ball like I usually do and it started falling in the second half.”

After starting off slow in the first half, Flagg found his game in the second half and willed his team to the win by getting to the line 19 times in the second half, while knocking down 12 of those freebies.

“Everyone knows Mark is the man. It’s important that he gets off. We got him to the free throw line,” Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman said. “It was good to see.”

Along with getting it done inside for Pennsbury, Flagg also brings a unique skillset to the game as the big man stretched it out and knocked down both of his three-point attempts on Thursday.

“It provides us a lot of flexibility in how we run our offense,” Coleman said. “He’s versatile, he can play outside, he can handle it, he can break pressure when we need it. It’s good to watch.”

Aiding Flagg in leading Pennsbury to victory was senior forward Billy Warren, who scored 13 points and also grabbed six rebounds.

For Truman, Danell Snelling led the way with 20 points and four rebounds in the loss.

Coleman is hoping that the win over Truman will propel Pennsbury to battle their way into the league playoffs.

“We need to finish strong,” Coleman said. “We still have an opportunity to get in the SOL tournament, we still have an opportunity to get a first round bye and a home game so we have to finish strong. We have one more game left and that’s the idea.”

With Coleman focusing on both the league and District I playoffs, Flagg is right on the same page with his coach. 

“We’re looking to get back to Temple for the District I finals. We think we can do it,” Flagg said. “We’re still a great team and we can get there.”