City of Basketball Love

Ray Dunne (@RayDunneBTB)
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Chances are, Thomas Ford may be most well-known around the Ches-Mont for lacrosse.

After all, the 6-foot-4 senior is committed to play lacrosse at Hofstra University following his graduation from Bishop Shanahan in the spring.

In an era of kids deciding to specialize in one sport to better their chances at receiving an athletic scholarship, Ford could have easily left the basketball court in full pursuit of his career in lacrosse.

However, the forward has continued to hit the hardwood long after his verbal commitment to Hofstra. His dedication to basketball is now paying dividends for the Eagles as a member of an extremely tight-knit senior class.

In Tuesday night’s 57-43 victory over Downingtown East, which moved the Eagles to 6-0 in Ches-Mont play, Ford’s athleticism was felt all over the floor. When the final buzzer sounded, Ford had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while gathering seven rebounds and dishing out two assists from the high post.

Even on nights when he isn’t putting up large point totals, Ford’s ability to assume many roles is an asset that head coach Ken Doyle loves to capitalize on.

“We know how valuable he is on both ends of the floor because he can handle the ball and he can guard basically all five positions because of his athleticism,” Doyle said. “He’s a huge, versatile piece for us that we wouldn’t be here without him.”

Ford is continuing a proud basketball tradition in his family.

His grandfather, Marty Milligan, played at Villanova from 1953-56, appearing in 67 games and averaging 5.1 points per game. Ford’s mother, Barb Milligan, scored 1,140 points in her collegiate career at Cabrini from 1987-1991. She remains in the top 10 all time in points, assists, and steals in Cavaliers’ women’s basketball history.

Ford’s family legacy in the sport is one of the main things that keeps him motivated as a basketball player. Ford said his grandfather is the biggest influence on his continued desire to be a multi-sport athlete.

Bishop Shanahan is certainly happy that Ford has stuck with hoops, as he’s a key part of an Eagles’ team that’s so far on track to outperform a breakthrough 2016-17 season.

Now a year removed from a season when they finished 19-9 overall, 10-2 in the conference, and made their first ever appearance in the Ches-Mont Championship, Ford and his teammates are back for more.

Tuesday night represented a chance for Bishop Shanahan to distance itself in the standings.

As Downingtown East began to close the gap that the Eagles had established early on, Ford and fellow big man Kevin Dodds (18 points, six rebounds) combined for a huge third quarter, scoring 13 of the team’s 16 points in the period. On the other end of the floor, the duo made life difficult for players attempting to attack the basket.

The intensity continued in the fourth quarter where the Eagles broke away from the Cougars en route to their ninth win of the season and a perfect 6-0 start in Ches-Mont conference play. The win sets the Eagles two games above everyone else in the National division. With a few more weeks to go, Doyle and players emphasized taking everything one step at a time, but Bishop Shanahan is in fantastic position to make a run at the Ches-Mont playoffs.

For Downingtown East, the silver lining had to be Malik Slay’s performance as he poured in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to go along with two steals. The loss puts even more emphasis on the huge game coming up against their cross-town rivals, Downingtown West. Both teams will enter 4-2 in conference play as the Cougars try to avenge an early-season 48-43 loss to the Whippets.

Slay also had a big third quarter which prevented the Cougars from falling out of the game, but Dodds and Ford were able to muster up a solid defensive fourth quarter that shut the door for good.

Ford’s attributes his quickness defensively and ability to rotate over with ease to his work on the lacrosse field in the spring and summer.

“I definitely see [the connection between basketball and lacrosse in] the hand-eye coordination and foot movement,” Ford said. “On the defensive end it’s just feet and having the right approach to go out to a person.

Despite missing workouts in the spring and the summer because of his schedule with lacrosse, Ford has not missed a beat when it comes to on-court chemistry with his teammates. That came long before most of them even made it to high school.

Senior guard David Angelo and Ford have been playing together since elementary school. Other teammates like Dodds and senior guard Danny DiBeneditto have also played with Ford for a long time. Working together for that long has been a driving factor in this team’s early season success.

The promising start, however, doesn’t have any bearing on the Eagles’ mindset. In what will be Ford’s final season, he’s not thinking too far ahead.

“We just have to stay on our grind and not get ahead of ourselves and look forward to our next two tough games,” Ford said.