City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The first major camp of the post-July live periods takes place this weekend, as Saint Joseph’s hosts 42 different teams on campus for its annual overnight team camp.

Here are the teams involved (all teams from Pa. unless otherwise noted): Bishop Shanahan, Blind Brook (N.Y.), Cape Henlopen (Del.), Cedar Cliff, Cedar Crest, Central Bucks West, Central Bucks West ‘B’, Central York, Christopher Dock, Cristo Rey (Mass.), Dallas, Donovan Catholic, Downingtown East, Downingtown West, Garden Spot, Graphics Campus (N.Y.), Governor Livingston, Longwood (N.Y.), Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Hopewell Valley (N.J.), Malden (Mass.), Manheim Twp., Methacton, Montgomery, Montgomery ‘B’, Putnam Valley (N.Y.), Palmyra, Penncrest, Salesianum (Del.), Scranton Prep, Scranton Prep ‘B’, St. Joe’s Prep, Somers (N.Y.), Souderton, Southern Regional (N.J.), Suffern (N.Y.), Timber Creek (N.J.), Warwick, West Chester Rustin, West Windsor-Plainsboro North (N.J.), Whitehall

A few local programs of note:

• St. Joseph's Prep has its sights set on a run to the Palestra this year, thanks to a strong group of upperclassmen that fill Speedy Morris' typically-short rotation. Senior big man Ed Croswell, a physical 6-7 forward, has several D-I offers; guards Kyle Thompson and Darius Kinnel are trying to play their way into that territory. Junior Gabe Arizin, a starter last year as a junior on a 15-win Hawks squad, should see a big increase in role now as a sharpshooting wing. They're all joined by 6-11 junior Jacob O'Connell, who spent the last two years at Eastern (N.J.) and has offers from Columbia and Stony Brook; O'Connell hinted in July he was hoping to be available for this camp but was unable to confirm at the time.
• Penncrest, the defending District 1 5A champion, returns one of the area's most electric scorers in Tyler Norwood. The 5-10 scoring guard with unlimited range is going to have to shoulder a heavy load offensively if Mike Doyle's Lions are going to make a run at the Central League and another district run, but he's got help from fellow seniors Chris Mills and Justin Heidig, back from last year's squad.
• The Ches-Mont league runners-up a year ago and a District 1 5A semifinalist, Bishop Shanahan returns most of its key pieces and has sights set on claiming both titles this year. Senior big man Kevin Dodds, a 6-6 lefty, has caught the attention of several D-II programs, while senior point guard David Angelo is popular amongst the high-academic D-IIIs. There's also 6-4 wing forward Tom Ford, a physical Hofstra lacrosse commit, plus 6-0 junior guard Joe O'Malley, the sixth man from a year ago.
• Downingtown East opened eyes last year with a 10-0 start to the season, though the Cougars couldn't quite sustain that level of success over the remainder of the year. But senior guard Malik Slay, who has an offer from Millersville, plus talented sophomore big man Andrew King are back from that team, and head coach John Goodman has enough firepower to spread around them to put together a team capable of challenging the likes of Shanahan and Coatesville for the Ches-Mont championship.

The camp is divided into pools for the Friday night and Saturday morning/early afternoon sets; once each team has played the other three teams in their pool, the camp will be re-pooled for Saturday night and Sunday’s games.

Pool A: St. Joe’s Prep, Whitehall, Downingtown East, Central York
Pool B: Scranton Prep, Bishop Shanahan, Cape Henlopen, Methacton
Pool C: Manheim Twp., Palmyra, Penncrest, Rustin
Pool D: Downingtown West, C.B. West, Malden, Salesianum
Pool E: Cedar Crest, Dallas, Somers, Governor Livingston
Pool F: Holy Redeemer, Timber Creek, Dock, Suffern
Pool G: Garden Spot, Longwood, Souderton, Donovan Catholic
Pool H: Montgomery, Graphics Campus, Blind Brook, Southern Regional
Pool I: Warwick, WWP-North, Cedar Cliff, Putnam Valley
Pool J: Holy Cross, Hopewell Valley, Cristo Rey, C.B. West ‘B’, Montgomery ‘B’, Scranton Prep ‘B’

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Friday, Aug. 4
7:00 PM
Hagan 1: Garden Spot vs. Longwood
Hagan 2: Souderton vs. Donovan Catholic
Practice 1: Holy Redeemer vs. Timber Creek
Practice 2: Dock vs. Suffern
Practice 3: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Whitehall
Practice 4: Downingtown East vs. Central York
Maguire: Montgomery ‘B’ vs. Scranton Prep ‘B’

8:10 PM
Hagan 1: Cape Henlopen vs. Methacton
Hagan 2: Penncrest vs. Bayard Rustin
Practice 1: Cedar Crest vs. Dallas
Practice 2: Somers vs. Governor Livingston
Practice 3: Warwick vs. WWP-North
Practice 4: Cedar Cliff vs. Putnam Valley
Maguire: Malvern Twp. vs. Palmyra

9:20 PM
Hagan 1: Holy Cross vs. Hopewell Valley
Hagan 2: Cristo Rey vs. CB West ‘B’
Practice 1: Montgomery vs. Graphics Campus
Practice 2: Blind Brook vs. Southern Regional
Practice 3: Downingtown West vs. CB West
Practice 4: Malden vs. Salesianum
Maguire: Scranton Prep vs. Bishop Shanahan

Saturday, Aug. 5
8:00 AM
Hagan 1: Whitehall vs. Central York
Hagan 2: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Downingtown East

9:00 AM
Hagan 1: Scranton Prep vs. Cape Henlopen
Hagan 2: Bishop Shanahan vs. Methacton
Practice 1: Garden Spot vs. Souderton
Practice 2: Longwood vs. Donovan Catholic
Practice 3: Holy Redeemer vs. Dock
Practice 4: Timber Creek vs. Suffern
Maguire: Warwick vs. Cedar Cliff

10:10 AM
Hagan 1: Downingtown West vs. Malden
Hagan 2: C.B. West vs. Salesianum
Practice 1: Manheim Twp. vs. Penncrest
Practice 2: Palmyra vs. Rustin
Practice 3: Cedar Crest vs. Somers
Practice 4: Dallas vs. Governor Livingston
Maguire: WWP-North vs. Putnam Valley

11:20 AM
Hagan 1: Holy Cross vs. Cristo Rey
Hagan 2: Hopewell Valley vs. Montgomery ‘B’
Practice 1: C.B. West ‘B’ vs. Scranton Prep ‘B’
Practice 2: St. Joe’s Prep vs. Central York
Practice 3: Montgomery vs. Blind Brook
Practice 4: Graphics Campus vs. Southern Regional
Maguire: JV Game

1:30 PM
Hagan 1: Holy Redeemer vs. Suffern
Hagan 2: Timber Creek vs. Dock
Practice 1: Scranton Prep vs. Methacton
Practice 2: Bishop Shanahan vs. Cape Henlopen
Practice 3: Garden Spot vs. Donovan Catholic
Practice 4: Longwood vs. Souderton
Maguire: Whitehall vs. Downingtown East

2:40 PM
Hagan 1: Warwick vs. Putnam Valley
Hagan 2: WWP-North vs. Cedar Cliff
Practice 1: Downingtown West vs. Salesianum
Practice 2: CB West vs. Malden
Practice 3: Manheim Twp. vs. Rustin
Practice 4: Palmyra vs. Penncrest
Maguire: Cedar Crest vs. Governor Livingston

3:50 PM
Hagan 1: Montgomery vs. Southern Regional
Hagan 2: Graphics Campus vs. Blind Brook
Practice 1: Hopewell Valley vs. Cristo Rey
Practice 2: Holy Cross vs. Scranton Prep ‘B’
Practice 3: C.B. West ‘B’ vs. Montgomery ‘B’
Practice 4: Dallas vs. Somers
Maguire: JV Game