City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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MALVERN — When Preist Ryan sprouted to 6-feet tall in eighth grade, his father finally pushed him into hoops. A high school career that started at a small school in Pittsburgh eventually took him to Pennsburg, Pa. last year with the hopes of elevating his game.

As he winds down his days at the Perkiomen School, it’s clear that’s exactly what the postgrad forward has done. 

The 6-6 forward went from a player who somewhat blended into the background last season to an integral piece and primary scorer on a Panthers squad that won its first Pennsylvania Independent Schools championship last weekend and will compete for a league title on Saturday and in the National Prep Championship next week.

“Last year, we were a great team, but being an actual contributor on a day-in, day-out basis and being a leader of the team, it’s definitely fun,” Ryan said. “Seeing guys like (sophomore) Gabe Tanner grow up and in a championship game come out and have a 20-point game, it’s a lot of fun. We’re vibing very well this year.”

After a quiet PAISAA title game as he dealt with foul trouble, Ryan scored a game-high 23 points in Friday’s 114-82 Great Atlantic Conference semifinal win over Kiski School, advancing to Saturday’s championship game against Our Saviour Lutheran Prep back at Phelps at 3 p.m. Macon Emory added 21 points (five threes) and Florida commit Thomas Haugh scored another 20, while sophomore Gabe Tanner added 12 and Brant Byers scored 14 off the bench.

Outings like Friday night have become the norm for Ryan in his second season at Perk. He and Haugh average about 20 points per game apiece while classmate Bobby Rosenberger (Saint Francis), the PAISAA title-game hero who missed Friday's game, is right behind.

“He can really just score the ball in a variety of ways, and he’s matured in that his decision making is better,” Perk School coach Thomas Baudinet said. “The game has slowed down for him more, and he picks his spots well and he’s a very difficult cover because he can score in the post, he can score in the midrange and he can score in the perimeter and he has a good combination of skill, size and strength. 

“He’s really hard for other teams to guard and he’s been a consistent bucket getter all year for us. He’s really improved and his maturity and discipline has improved on the defensive end. He needs to continue to grow in that area, but it's a lot better than it was last year.”

Ryan chose to do his damage inside on Friday night, scoring in transition and in the paint. He’s relentless down in the paint, whether that’s attacking the glass or finding his way to the hoop.

“That’s just the way I was raised,” Ryan said. “That’s how I do everything, to the fullest extent that I can." 

He showed off the shooting stroke with a pretty turnaround jumper in the lane in the second half Friday. Though didn’t have to show it off against Kiski but his range extends beyond the arc as well.

Baudinet said Ryan was a totally “below the basket” player last season in his first year with the Panthers. This season Ryan would agree he’s much more adept at finishing through and above traffic.

“A lot more bounce,” Ryan said with a grin. “I used to not be able to dunk with my left hand before I came here and now two-foot, one-foot, it’s all good.”

Even before the hops came in, the Pittsburgh native has bounced around throughout his hoops career. He was at Vincentian Academy in Pittsburgh in 2019-20 and then Richmond Heights, a public school outside of Cleveland, Ohio, in 2020-21 before arriving at Perk last season.

Ryan entered his postgrad season without a scholarship offer. He now has two, earning offers from Division II programs West Chester and Pittsburgh-Johnstown this season. Baudinet said interest in Ryan from Division I programs has heated up as his career winds down. There have been “whispers” and check-ins throughout his high school career, but within the last month or so it’s picked up steam.

Ryan mentioned Iona, Wagner, Youngstown State and Ohio as a few of the schools he’s talked to. Baudinet noted Binghamton, Wright State, Youngstown State, Robert Morris and Eastern Kentucky as a few others.

“It definitely feels good,” Ryan said. “It’s been a long time coming. Like no offers, and I have some D-IIs I got this year. It’s really just been a whole process getting better with Coach B everyday. At the end of the season, I’m hoping I can find the right fit somewhere and I’m able to go somewhere I know I’m going to be able to play and make a contribution next year.”

The Panthers will play in Saturday's GAC championship game at Phelps hoping to add some more hardware and then continue their season at the National Prep Championship at Clark University in Massachusetts next week from Wed., March 8 to Fri., March 10.

It will give him one last chance to showcase himself at Perk.

“He’s just been playing consistently well all the time,” Baudinet said. “For him, next week could get him a lot of offers in a national tournament because it was very well attended last year. If he plays well there this year, that could change things dramatically for him.”

Ryan’s excited about where he’s at with his recruitment but also excited to see what Perk can do after a subpar showing at the national championships a season ago.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Ryan said. “We made it last year. We didn’t do so well. We lost a lot of games, but this year our team has a lot better energy going into it. Last year, we lost in the state championship, this year we won. A lot more high energy, we’re just going to trust our practice and hope to compete.”

By Half

Kiski School 34 | 48 || 82

Perk School 55 | 59 || 114

Scoring

Kiski School: R Okeugo 16, M Shea 15, G Okeugo 13, A. Vizenor 12, R Lain 9, M Hartley 5, M Vujovic 3, E Evanchez 3, D LaPaz 2, N Anderson 2

Perkiomen School: Preist Ryan 23, Macon Emory 21, Thomas Haugh 20, Brant Byers 14, Gabe Tanner 12, Trey Lieb 9, Demajh Salisbery 6, Alfredo Addesa 5, Patrick Downes 5.

~~~

Our Saviour Lutheran's Ryan Williams catches an alley oop Friday against Phelps School in the GAC Semifinals. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Our Saviour Lutheran bounces Phelps School

Host Phelps School fell behind early in Friday’s GAC semifinal against Our Saviour Lutheran Prep (N.Y.) and never found a way to dig itself out of the early hole.

After the Lions trimmed an early 17-point deficit down to five before half, OSL ran away with things late for an 89-72 win. Seydou Traore led the way with 20 points and Isaiah Philbert (17), Elijah Hernandez (16), Ryan Williams (15) and Jamaal Morris (10) joined him in double figures. Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson and Justin Houser both had 14 and IV Petitt added 12 for Phelps.

Hernandez made some tough shots early as OSL jumped out to a 28-11 lead less than eight minutes in. Petitt knocked down a couple shots for Phelps to help the Lions trim the deficit to 40-35 at half. Phelps got the lad down to three a few minutes into the second half, but OSL responded with a run and kept the Lions at bay for most of the half. Williams had 13 of his 15 after break, including a putback slam.

Phelps was within six, 76-70, with 4:20 to play in the game, but OSL finished on a 19-2 run to seal the win and a spot in Saturday’s championship game against Perkiomen School.

By Half

OSL 40 | 49 || 89

Phelps 35 | 37 || 72

Scoring

OSL: Seydou Traore 20, Isaiah Philbert 17, Elijah Hernandez 16, Ryan Williams 15, Jamaal Morris 10, Edwin Linares 7, Quincy 4

Phelps: Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson 14, Justin Houser 14, IV Petitt 12, Charlie Bell 9, Saleem Payne 8, Will Riley 6, Onyx Naoni 5, Gavin Doty 4