City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
—

The final weekend of Philly Live brought a ton of talent to the courts at Jefferson University and St. Joe's Prep over the course of the weekend, including a number of local squads. CoBL was able to take in the action over the course of the weekend and catch up with some of the team's in (very early) preparation for next season.

Here's the first part of our high school notebook from the event:

~~~

More coverage from Philly Live: Day 1 Standouts | Day 2 St. Joe's Prep Standouts | Day 2 Jefferson Standouts | Day 3 St. Joe’s Prep Standouts | Day 3 Jefferson Standouts

~~~

North Penn looks to break cycle, return to states

It’s a trend the Knights are hoping to break.

North Penn has been able to break into the PIAA tournament but then not repeat the feat for a few seasons, most recently qualifying in 2017, 2020 and 2023. Last year, the Knights made the Class 6A field then made history with their first-ever state playoff win and with a strong core back, the goal is clear.

North Penn is hoping to break the trend and go right back to the state tournament.

“We’re looking to get to where we were last year and extend on that,” guard Ahmaar Godhania said. “It starts with us working on what we’ve got to get better at.”

North Penn went 0-2 at Philly Live II on Sunday, but not for lack of effort against two traditionally strong programs in District 11’s Executive Education Charter and Delaware’s Sanford School. The Knights were in each game late into the second half but couldn’t quite bring it home, something coach John Conrad cited as a point of emphasis for the coming season.

Last year’s Knights rallied behind their senior leaders and used an 11-game winning streak to secure the No. 6 seed in the District I 6A bracket. That run also put them in position to contend for the SOL Colonial division title, but a regular-season ending loss to CB East denied the Knights a conference championship.

“(CB) East is still the team at the top right now, so we have some work to do if we want to catch them,” point guard Norman Gee said.

The Knights might have the quickest backcourt in the SOL, and that’s before even factoring in who will play next to Gee. Gee, who started last year, is a blur with the ball in his hands but the senior also showed a lot of control on Sunday and can set things up in the halfcourt as well.

Teddy McAllister is the Knights’ other returning starter, with Mario Sgro, Ryan Deininger and Ryan Zeltt graduating. The three departing seniors were team leaders, with Sgro adding some more speed in the backcourt, Deininger bringing a balanced offensive arsenal and Zett, who will play football at Millersville, playing as the team’s stretch big.

Gee said that’s likely where the team will look most different, with Tre Simpson more of a post presence but also athletic enough to run the floor with the guards and wings.

“My job is to orient everybody who’s on the floor and get them where they’re supposed to be,” Gee said. “I’m going to try and get my teammates involved then when it’s time to turn it on, I’m going to turn it on.”

Godhania and Corey Meade figure to claim starting spots after featuring heavily as rotation players last season. While there are always a few other athletes who are football, baseball or another sport first who round out the roster, the Knights have a strong core of players who have hoops as their top sport.

“We all like playing with each other,” Godhania said. “We’re all basketball players, so that helps.”

“Basketball IQ is different from any other sport,” Gee added. “You have to play the game for a while to really understand it and we have a lot of guys who have done that.”

The Knights don’t want to be another three years before they’re a state playoff team again. The goal is clear, how they go about chasing it is what North Penn will have to figure out.

“That’s part of the enjoyment of coaching, you never really know until you get there,” Conrad said. “The guys we’ve been working with so far are doing a nice job and I think we’re just going to need the guys to buy into their roles and put the team first.” — Andrew Robinson

~~~

Phoenixville showing signs of promise with everyone back

This time last year, the Phantoms didn’t even know what they didn’t know.

A young Phoenixville team got some valuable lessons in the 2022-23 season, chief among them the painful but important knowledge of how it feels to come up short in a big game and to be left on the outside looking in at the playoffs. That’s enough to make anyone not want to feel it again and these Phantoms are eager to show they’re just getting started.

With a roster laden with talented underclassmen, Phoenixville is a year wiser and a year hungrier.

“I think most of it was just experience, we were probably the youngest team in the PAC last year,” senior forward Max Lebisky said. “Having everyone back is really helpful and should allow us to do to teams what they did to us last year.”

Lebisky, a 6-foot-4 post with some terrific passing skills, emerging junior wing Deacon Baratta and sophomore point guard Dawson Brown are the top three returning players from a year ago, with Lebisky and Baratta earning All-PAC honors. However, league honors don’t equal a ticket to the league playoffs and a costly late season loss to Pottstown not only kept the Phantoms out of the PAC postseason, it also helped put them on the wrong side of the District I 5A cutoff.

“We ended last season in a spot we shouldn’t have ended in,” Brown said. “We’re definitely hungry to finish in a better spot.”

Phoenixville went 2-0 on Sunday, hammering Pemberton and taking down Notre Dame-Green Pond while playing a team-oriented style that Baratta said was something they wanted to harp on after last season. 

“Last year was really our first time getting to experience PAC crowds and playing big games, so it shouldn’t be as nerve-wracking this year,” Baratta said. “As a group, we’ll be more prepared.”

Brown pointed to the team’s size as something that should be an asset, both in the PAC Frontier, but beyond if Phoenixville gets where it believes it should be. Senior Aidan McClintock is 6-foot-6, Baratta is listed as 6-foot-5 and the 5-foot-10 Brown was the shortest starter on Sunday, but they’re a team with some pace too.

The ball moves easily with this group too and the players around the core three should get plenty of opportunity. Lebisky noted Jehoash Leo as someone who’s really improved this summer, while Stephen Yurick, Christian Cervino and Anthony Cervino should push for minutes.

“We’ve got a much deeper bench this year,” Baratta said. “Last year, there wasn’t much of a rotation but we feel like one through 10 can all play. Everyone can shoot, everyone can pass, everyone knows how to play like a team.”

The Phantoms aren’t shying away from embracing what they have. Brown said he believes the team has the potential to be the best in the PAC and to follow that with runs into the district and state tournaments.

“I think we know what we can do and I think other people are starting to realize what we can do as a team,” Lebisky said. “We definitely have some expectations to meet.” — Andrew Robinson

~~~

Moultrie, Lincoln on the rise

Second-year Lincoln head coach Brandon Moultrie is raising his expectations for this season, and rightfully so. The Railsplitters return four starters and have a starting lineup of five seniors, with a group that has a good amount of size, length, and positional versatility.

The most impressive over two weekends has been senior guard Aldonis Martin, a 6-3 combo guard with soft touch from the perimeter, terrific passing abilities and the toughness to get to the hoop; senior guards Malachi Montgomery and Samair Patterson added more scoring to the wing, and 6-6 newcomer Javiere Russell plus 6-4 Edward Njau bring size inside.

“(Montgomery) and Samair Peterson, they’re the emotional charge, the voice, and (Aldonis) was always the captain of the ship, making the right decisions, level-headed,” Moultrie said. “But they’re all having a great spring.”

Moultrie, who also teaches at Lincoln, was the assistant freshman coach at his alma mater, Roman Catholic, two years ago before succeeding Mel Lindsay at Lincoln. Prior to Roman, he spent eight years coaching middle school at St. Martin de Porres, getting to work with developing talent like Hakim Hart (Maryland), Jalen Harper (St. Joe’s Prep), Tariq Jennings (West Catholic) and more. 

He’s got his work cut out for him in a Public League dominated by Imhotep and with quality programs like Constitution, Math Civics & Sciences, Dobbins and more returning plenty of talent, but after going 6-14 last year, a significant step forward would be a big win.

“This summer is [focused on] getting better as a team, implementing my actions and systems, and growing as individuals, working on their game, being at events like this, looking to go two or four-year colleges to further their education — preferably free of charge, if they can,” he said. “And just also growing them as young men.” — Josh Verlin

~~~

Atkinson-Payne hoping to help return Chester to power

Chester is a traditional powerhouse that is one of the more poached programs in District 1. Still, 2024 guard Dante Atkinson-Payne has stuck around.

The 6-foot guard wants to bring Chester back to its historic success after a down 2022-2023 season. The Clippers missed the District 1 6A playoffs one year after winning a second-straight District 1 5A title and falling in the 5A state semifinals to Imhotep Charter.  

 “It was a tough season,” he said. “The team didn’t come together how they were supposed to.

“It hurt me bad last year.” 

Atkinson’s been on the varsity roster since his sophomore year and has gradually increased his role. He hasn’t fielded any interest from college coaches yet. His performance against Timber Creek, N.J., on Saturday, may have turned some heads.

The quick-footed guard finished with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added four rebounds (two offensive), three assists, and one block. 

“I want to hoop,” he added. “I want to make it somewhere with this. I’m gonna keep fighting until I get to where I want to get.” 

Now entering his senior season, Atkinson-Payne is ready to make some noise with his teammates, who finally started to come together as a team in the final stretch of the regular season. 

“We got closer and we talk way more now and it’s way better,” he said.
“We [are] not the best we should be, but we’re working on it.” — Jared Leveson

~~~

Bloom’s Rutgers Prep brimming with young talent

Penn grad and former La Salle DOBO Matt Bloom has one of the most promising groups of young players you’ll see, Rutgers Prep (N.J.) looking very much like it’ll be a powerhouse in the Garden State before long.

The Argonauts didn't have a rising senior in the starting lineup these past weekends, starting junior wings Myles Parker (6-5) and Aiden Ur (6-4) plus 6-11 2026 forward Logan Franz and a pair of highly-touted freshmen, 6-2 guard Jacob Canton and 6-6 combo guard Andrew Kretkowski. They do have one projected 2024 starter, John Kelly, sidelined with his foot in a boot.

“We’ve been together less than two weeks, we’ve had a couple really, really good practices,” Bloom said. “Talent, length, size through the roof; we just lack experience. “All this group needs to do is keep getting better every day. That’s one thing I tell them: ‘there’s a lot of noise out there, rankings and people talking and all of that. But all you need to do is get better.’ 

“And if this group does that — if they stick together, buy in, keep getting better with these experiences, the sky’s the limit.”

There’s not enough room here to talk about the upside of each — Canton’s a terrific young lead guard, and Franz’s length affects the game defensively, with a developing offensive game; the two juniors are both Division I prospects as well. 

But the real standout this weekend was Kretkowski, who looks like he could be one of the best in the country in his class given his combination of size, athleticism, skill and on-court demeanor, already asserting himself like an upperclassman before even stepping foot in a high school hallway. Kretkowski made multiple CoBL standout lists this weekend, scoring 17+ points on different occasions while knocking down 3’s and scoring inside, making some great passes and reads that showed his instincts and IQ.

“He’s so versatile, and he does a little bit of everything,” Bloom said. “ He’s tough, he can shoot, he’s a mismatch nightmare. As he continues to kind of get used to the speed of this game, he’s only going to get better and better.” — Josh Verlin

~~~

Young core continues maturation for Cherokee 

Cherokee led throughout Friday’s third set at Jefferson, holding off a late Delaware County Christian rally to take a 58-53 win. Despite the Chiefs’ nine 2024 players representing the majority of the roster, it was relative youth that took another step forward for Cherokee at the Gallagher Center.

Rising junior guard Judd Holt led the victors with 23 points. He bolstered the Chiefs’ offense with his display of perimeter shooting and primary ball-handling, knocking down a pair of right-corner triples, plus one from straightaway.

“When he gets zoned in, he’s tough to stop,” Cherokee assistant Mike Albanese said. “He's got such a quick release that he’s tough to guard.”

Elsewhere in the youth movement, rising sophomore Louis Galasso showed why he played “major minutes” as a varsity freshman, Albanese said. Galasso dropped 14 points, including the finish of a pivotal and-one to expand Cherokee’s lead to 52-46 with 1:50 to go.

“We expect big things from him,” Albanese said. “He’s such a versatile player. He can shoot it, he can handle it, he plays great defense, he’s physical.”

Galasso was active on both ends of the floor against Delco Christian, looking very much in the flow of the offense and notching a steal the other way.

Also in double figures for the Chiefs was rising senior Will Carr, whose 12 points featured four key free throws made inside the final minute to preserve the win.

In all, Cherokee enjoyed the ball movement (and 11-point halftime lead) necessary to withstand DelCo Christian’s run down the stretch. The Knights pulled within two, their closest deficit, on rising junior Caleb Jameson’s three-pointer in the final five minutes. Though its comeback fell short, DelCo Christian scored 36 of its 53 points in the second half.  — Daniel Steenkamer

— Lonnie Diggs has kept Math, Civics & Sciences busy this spring. The Mighty Elephants have played in the Post and Pivot spring league, the Plymouth Whitemarsh spring league, at Rider’s team camp and now in both weekends of Philly Live.

“We were everywhere,” Diggs said Saturday after a win over Rutgers Prep (N.J.) at St. Joe’s Prep. “Trying to keep the guys busy, get them used to playing with each other, used to playing in their new roles.”

The only major returning piece is 6-6 senior wing Nasseem Wright, who’s going to have to shoulder a big load on the offensive end, no doubt. But he wasn’t at his best against Rutgers Prep, which made the win even better for Diggs, who got to see some of his lesser-known players set up. Senior forward Azeem Murphy, senior guard Aiden Brown and junior wing Alantay Dawson did most of the scoring, while senior point guard Kevin Carter, a reserve a year ago, was 5-of-6 from the foul line in the game’s closing minutes.

“He’s been with us since 9th grade, really hasn’t played much, he’s our starting point guard right now,” Diggs said. “He made foul shots down the stretch and made key plays, he’s been playing really well over the spring.”