City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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TOWAMENCIN >> As he readied to inbound the ball at the start of the third quarter Tuesday, the last thing Nathan Lapp heard wasn’t exactly encouraging.

The Dock Mennonite Academy senior guard was in closing distance of his 1,000th career point but it seemed like he wouldn’t be getting any extra help.

“I was 21 away, we’re eight games into the season and we have hopefully at least 20 more, so I was going to let it come to me,” Lapp said. “The ref was talking to me before I inbounded the ball and he said ‘I’m not going to make it easy for you, man,’ and I laughed and said ‘I know.’ I just went out, played out like I always do and I got it.”

Joke or not, the officials certainly didn’t do Lapp any favors when they called a potential and-one opportunity that could have netted the milestone point into a foul on the floor later in the quarter. It didn’t matter in the long run and with a little more than a minute left in the third, Lapp finally got to 1,000 — and 1,001 — by hitting a turnaround jumper along the baseline.

“I usually never take a shot like that,” Lapp said. “I felt a guy on my high side, I swung, got the open shot and made it.

“It’s been a goal of mine since I was five, six years old. I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to score 1,000 points and I’m just relieved it came true.”

Lapp has been scoring a little less this year, although his 24 points in just three quarters against Owen J Roberts in Tuesday’s 65-41 win would say otherwise, while playing with a more well-rounded game. All the proof was in the first play of the game, Dock winning the opening tip and Lapp charging into the lane only to pass up a shot for a kick-out pass that Vaughn Martin knocked down for a three.

Against the Wildcats, Lapp had six assists and did most of his damage in and around the lane. Pioneers coach Mike Fergus, has praised Lapp’s more under-control style of play this year but chalked the senior’s approach up to something he’s only seen in a select handful of players he’s tutored.

“He’s a warrior, I love him to death, I wish I had five players just like him,” Fergus said. “I’ve had very few players in my coaching career who play as hard and are as competitive as him. He’s just a bulldog out there.”

Like many athletes at a small school, Lapp is a standout in multiple sports. In fact, as good as he is at basketball, it’s only his second best sport. Lapp’s future will be on a baseball diamond, having committed to Millersville, one of the premier programs not only in the PSAC but Division II as a whole.

Fergus, who’s had quite a few baseball/basketball standouts in his tenure at Dock, noted Lapp’s ferocity in his play is very different from the demeanor of most the other seamheads he’s coached. While Lapp’s competitive hoops days will end sometime this spring, he’s not planning to go away quietly.

“I have a bunch of goals for this year,” Lapp said. “I want to win a district championship — we fell short of that last year in the championship to Executive Ed — I want to win the BAL playoffs this year and I want to make a deep run into states to close out my career in basketball.”

Lapp’s more poised game is the payoff from a lesson learned the hard way last season. 

“Last year in a regional game, I had three charges taken against me and I learned from that game,” Lapp said. “When I drive in and see two or three guys collapse in on me, I know somebody’s open, so I taught myself to have my head up and kick out and that’s what’s been working for us.”

Lapp had the moment of the night, but it’s arguable one of his teammates had the play of the night. Dock’s third quarter was about perfect, the Pioneers holding OJR to just four points, the milestone basket and Tony Martin getting the whole place riled up when he threw down a vicious dunk over a defender in transition off a turnover.

Vaughn Martin had 11 points, Tony Martin finished with eight and Hoyt Bultje had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Pioneers, who will face Souderton on Wednesday in the title game of the Tim Ehst Holiday Tournament.

“We come out for games really strong, it’s a trademark of this team, we come out focused and have good first quarters,” Fergus said. “Our schedule has been good. We tried to make our non-league schedule as good as we could and it will help us down the road.”

Tuesday was Lapp’s night but the senior is hoping there won’t have to be too many more of them like that as the Pioneers navigate the remainder of their season. Not that he doesn’t enjoy scoring, but he wants everyone else to have a part.

“Each year, you have to adapt to your team,” Lapp said. “Last year, I felt like I had to score 20, 21 a game to win and this year, I don’t have to do that because we have so many scorers on the team, we have such a well-rounded team we feel like we can be unstoppable.”

By Quarter

DOCK MENNONITE 19 | 16 | 26 | 4 || 65

OWEN J ROBERTS 10 | 10 | 4 | 17 || 41

Scoring

D: Nathan Lapp 24, Vaughn Martin 11, Tony Martin 8, Hoyt Bultje 8, Ethan Parr 8, AJ Washington 4, Lane Bergey 2

OJR: Tyler Rossi 10, Jack Cashman 8, Luke Fryer 8, Elijah Cline 4, Joe Yellowtail 4, Danny Cashman 3, Nate Iyoob 2

SOUDERTON 70, DOBBINS TECH 43

Nate Hemsing did not play a lot of varsity minutes last year.

Now, the senior is an integral cog of Souderton’s offense, his confidence, range and a really quick release give the Indians a lot of space to operate. Tuesday, Hemsing was feeling and then some as Souderton buried a good Dobbins Tech team under a barrage of perimeter jumpers.

Leading the way was the guy who barely got off the bench last year, with Hemsing drilling 8-of-12 from three on his way to a career best 26 points.

“We have plays we run through to get me open, we have motion, a little bit of everything, guys that drive and kick and I end up open,” Hemsing said. “I know where to go, I know how to get to my spot and they find me.”

Hemsing had a 21-point game against North Penn the week before Christmas, although he did most of his damage in the second half that night. He did not need that long to get going Tuesday, canning the first of his eight treys on the very first possession.

At halftime, he was tied with James Blair with 11 points and three makes from behind the arc. In the third quarter, Hemsing outdid himself. After missing his first attempt of the half, a three of course, he also went 0-of-2 at the foul line then ascended to a plane of existence most shooters only dream of.

It doesn’t take the senior long to get his shot off, which helps him get going in a hurry.

“It’s awesome, I feel like I can shoot in people’s face,” Hemsing said. “Even if they’re on their way out, right in front of me, I still feel like I can get it off.

“I’ve been shooting that way for years, I just trust myself at this point.”

Hemsing hit four straight from long range to close the third, the first two standard catch-and-shoot fare. The third was a bit more brazen, with Hemsing catching a pass on the wing, taking a dribble to his right and pulling up as a Dobbins Tech defender came flying out past him.

“It was a bit of a heat check,” Hemsing admitted. “But, it worked.”

He closed the quarter with another three, a little more conventionally, for a 12-point quarter. Even with Dobbins Tech face-guarding him in the corner the entire fourth quarter, Souderton’s movement on offense was enough to get the guy off him long enough for Hemsing to get off one more three and bury it.

It wasn’t quite Klay Thompson levels of points per dribble, but Hemsing was quick to shoutout his guards for all they do to get him the ball. He and Blair — who had 20 of his own — in particular have a really good chemistry while freshman Chanse Salone and senior Jared Zimmerman were also able to give Hemsing some clean looks to pull on.

“We’ve got a great point guard in James Blair, he always knows who’s open,” Hemsing said. “Chanse Salone, he’s just a freshman, but he’s playing great.”

Hemsing credited his time with the PA Runnin’ Aces under Jay Joseph last spring for helping shape him up for a breakout senior year and for the Souderton coaches for trusting in him to play such an important role in their offense.

“I didn’t get a lot of minutes, but I kept my head about it and I was ready this year,” Hemsing said. “The coaches let me know ‘you’re going to have a role, get ready for it.’ I took that to heart and used the last year to prepare.”

Hemsing hasn’t had any college interest come his way yet, but he’d like to take his game to the next level and knows the best way is to keep producing. It wasn’t all shooting on Tuesday either, the senior adding six rebounds, four assists of his own and a couple blocked shots.

Souderton has a tough test in host Dock Mennonite in Wednesday’s title game of the Tim Ehst Memorial Tournament, but the Indians are hoping to spring into SOL crossover play next month then make amends in their second trip around the SOL Colonial.

“This is just the beginning, we’re just getting started here,” Hemsing said. “We feel like we’re only going up from here.”

By Quarter

SOUDERTON 17 | 19 | 16 | 18 || 70

DOBBINS TECH 13 | 9 | 12 | 9 || 43

Scoring

S: Nate Hemsing 26, James Blair 20, Chanse Salone 10, Levi John 5, Jared Zimmerman 5, Aiden Maue 3, Clinton Kikonjo 1

D: Zachary Campbell 11, Kareem Diaz 9, Saleem Hudson 6, Samel Thomas 6, Jarell Little 5, Gabriel Galloway 4, Tylee Richardson 1,  Damire Sherman 1