City of Basketball Love

Ryan Coyle (@RyanCoyle35)
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(Ed. Note: This story is the latest in 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 2021-22 season preview coverage. As we publish more, the complete list of schools previewed will be found here.)

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When your top overall player, who also happens to be the MVP of your conference, departs the program due to graduation, there is an expectation that your success will dwindle. Delaware County Christian head coach Reggie Parks has the luxury, though, of bringing back his second-best player from last year, as well as the runner up for the league MVP.

That player just happens to be his son, 6-foot-2 guard, Josh Parks.  

Parks averaged 15.8 ppg and 7.0 rpg during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, which saw Delco Christian go 11-5 and lose to Bristol in the District 1 Class 1A championship game, but with some key pieces departing from the program he could see those numbers take a big leap. It will be a situation to monitor, though, how he operates without his sidekick this season. 

“We have some talent coming back,” Reggie Parks said. “But, it was nice last year to have that one-two punch.”

Departing from the Knights program was Bicentennial Athletic League MVP Earle Greer, a 6-6 guard who averaged 16.1 ppg and is now doing a year of prep school at Rocktop Academy. They also lost another key piece in center Jordan Mitchell, who averaged 13.6 ppg and 8.8 rpg and is now playing football at Kutztown University.

Despite those key losses, there is optimism with Parks’ program that this team could do more damage than last year’s squad, which fell in the District 1 Class A championship game to Bristol. 

“I feel like we have high expectations,” Josh Parks said. “We lost a couple of key guys, but I like the pieces that we have returning. We have played together for awhile, so that is a good edge to have. We are all really excited to get back out there and for the season to start.”

While Greer and Mitchell were two key cogs for the Knights, the Newtown-based school, as the younger Parks noted, brings back some key ingredients. This was a team that played a lot of underclassmen and they will be banking on their experience and development from last year to pay dividends and make a run at the BAL and District 1 title this year.

“We have another senior that we are going to be counting on this year in Josh Dell’arciprete, he is a fantastic shooter,” the older Parks said. “He shot 37% from 3-point range last year and he almost averaged double figures last year, and I am expecting those numbers to jump up more this year. Another senior we will be relying on is Jace Kees. I am expecting big things from those guys this year for us.” 

Dell’arciprete should be in line for a big jump in scoring to help replace the numbers from the departed Greer and Mitchell as he averaged 8.8 points per game last year, which was good enough for fourth on the team. 

Rounding out the rotation this year for Delco Christian will be the likes of Lincoln Palmer, who returns after a year-long hiatus due to COVID reasons. Josiah Gaines, A.J. Baker, and Titus Meyers, all who saw time for the Knights last year, will be in the mix for minutes and have some varsity experience. The younger Parks also noted that a few freshmen could be in the mix for minutes as well. 

The Knights fell in the district title game last year to Bristol 63-58, but were without Greer due to COVID and that forced a few rotation players to step up and take his minutes, which they weren’t accustomed to doing much throughout the season.

While this year's group might not be as talented as last year's team at the top, they have more depth which will go a long way in determining how far they can eventually go. 

“We have more depth and more athletes this year than last year,” Reggie Parks said. “If you look at our lineup from last year, Josh and Earle averaged 30 minutes a game, Dell’arciprete averaged 29 minutes a game and Kees averaged 27 minutes a game. 

“When we lost Earle due to COVID for the championship game, you saw that our lack of depth hurt us when kids who were only playing 15 minutes a game had to step up and contribute more without a lot of experience. This year I think we have a lot more depth. I think I can play with 10 guys.”

Delco Christian, to reach their goals is going to have to gradually grow on the defensive end of the floor as the season develops, but Reggie Parks is confident in this bunch on that end of the floor.

“I think this team has to defend better and I am confident that they will defend better,” he said. “I am hoping that depth helps us defend better because guys won’t be playing as (many) minutes on the floor.”

Parks’ squad bread and butter is on the offensive end of the floor though. With this year’s attack being led by the younger Parks as he enters his senior season, he is going to need to be the outright leader to make a run at their respective conference and district championships. 

“The biggest thing I am looking for out of Josh as a senior is leadership and continuous growth,” Reggie Parks said. “Him and Earle were 1 and 1A. If you look at their stats, him and Earle were pretty much identical across the board. Now, with Earle gone, we are counting on Josh to step up and be the main leader on the team now.” 

Playing for your father might not always be sunshine and rainbows, but Josh is confident with his father leading the way.

“It has been an up and down ride playing for my Dad, because he has been coaching me my whole life,” Josh said. “We certainly have had our moments where we have barked at each other. But overall, I would say he is a very good coach and I like having him push me.” 

On offense, Delco Christian likes to attack their opposition with a guard-heavy approach and spread out their opponents. Josh’s ability to score from all three-levels, attack the rim, and find teammates will be what makes their offense really go.

“We are going to spread teams out, try to identify mismatches, and attack them,” Reggie Parks said. “We will shoot a ton of threes and fast break a lot. I want to try and outscore you with that style of play if we can. Last year we averaged 60.3 points per game. I expect to average more than that this year.”

While the depth has improved in Newtown this year, a major question mark is in the air centered around how the Knights will fill the void left on the glass by Greer and Mitchell, who combined for 17.5 rpg. With a lineup that features a lot of guards, that could be the key to their season.

“I’m looking at a couple guys to pick up some of that production down low,” Reggie said. “We are going to make it work though as a team on the glass. We have to rebound as a group.”

Physical intimidation might not be the strength of this bunch, but with a savvy lead guard and a bunch of athletic shooters around him, Delco Christian figures to be right back in the mix to make it back to the district championship game again, this time bringing back the trophy to Newtown.

“I would tell people not to judge a book by its cover,” Josh Parks said. “We lost a couple of our main guys last year, so people on the outside don’t really know what we have. After we get going, I think we have some guys that are really going to step up and make a difference this year.”