City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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HAVERFORD — Connor Scanlan is a top-of-the-order bat and infielder for the Haverford School baseball team in the spring. He was the quarterback for the football team this fall.

His role during his three years on the Fords’ basketball team has been a lot less glamorous.

“Always the first guy off the bench, always the guy diving for loose balls, taking charges, any way to get on the floor is my MO,” Scanlan said.

A grind-it-out 59-50 win over the Hun School on Thursday was the perfect setting for the stocky 6-footer to shine in his role. He tallied just five points but grabbed seven boards, dished out a pair of assists and took three charges on the defensive end in the victory.

“That was unbelievable,” Rogers said. “He was getting the ball in the teeth of the D, making great passes, taking charges, battling guys 6, 7, 8 inches taller than him. He helped us not let their height be an issue to win the game.”

“He kind of made a play every time we needed it.”

Haverford star sophomore forward Manny Butts went down with a knee injury in the team’s scrimmage Saturday. He had an MRI on Thursday to figure out his status for the rest of the season, but the Fords’ knew they would be without him on Thursday.

Juniors Jacob Becker and Leo Becker — both 6-foot–5 — provided some size in Butts’ absence. Scanlan also knew heading in he would have to play big in the matchup.

“Somebody’s gotta step in and take that big man spot and be tough with the ball any chance we can get,” Scanlan said. “Any chance I get to play, I’m gonna make the most of it every time.”

Hun scored the first basket of the game and held the lead the entirety of the first three quarters, going up 30-23 at half and maintaining a 37-34 advantage heading to the fourth. The Fords were 0-fer from 3-point range through the first three quarters and unable to find consistent offense.

Scanlan worked in the middle of the Hun’s defense to try and generate good looks for his teammates. He stole some extra possessions by taking charges and grabbing rebounds. Chants of “Scanny!” could be heard after each big play, as the senior helped energize his team despite a rough offensive outing.

“It’s what you hope when guys are in your program,” Rogers said. “He kind of knows what we do and how we do it. As a senior, he’s thinking one step ahead of a lot of guys and it kind of helps. He’s one step ahead of his teammates and other teams, and it kind of helps get guys in good positions.”

Haverford’s first long ball finally fell with 6:30 left in the game when junior KJ Carson gave the Fords their first lead, 39-37. Carson finished with 16 points (two threes) and freshman Silas Graham added another 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Junior guard Evan Large was the other unsung hero with 10 big points.

Graham’s triple with three minutes left gave Haverford the lead back. A Scanlan and-one a few moments later helped the Fords grab momentum — a technical on Hun after the play didn’t hurt either — and Haverford never trailed again. Carson went 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final quarter to finish things off.

“It was definitely a momentum switch,” Scanlan said of the and-one. “I thought we played pretty good defense overall, trying to get defense to go to offense. We weren’t hitting shots but shots will come. It was just one of those days. But I'm glad we stuck together and dug out the win.”

Scanlan, a Fairfield baseball commit, said he’s stuck with basketball over the years because it was always the most fun. He and guard Billy Rayer are the lone seniors for the Fords this season. The goal is to take the young group as far as they can go this year and set them up for the years to come.

“Playing the last few years on varsity, I’ve kind of seen everything,” Scanlan said. “I’ve seen guys who are 7-3 and guys who are 5-4. Me and Billy experienced a lot of varsity basketball, so we’re trying to pass it down to a still really young team that can be good this year and be in the future.”

Haverford School 59, Hun School 50

By Quarter:

HUN SCHOOL: 16  |  14  |   7   | 13  ||  50
HAVERFORD :  10  |  13  |  11  |  25  ||  59

Scoring:
HUN: Matt Land 10, Derrick Melvin 9, Sam Wright 9, Mac Kelly 8, Drae Tyme 5, George Xoxakos 5, AJ Mickens 4.

HAVERFORD: KJ Carson 16, Silas Graham 13, Evan Large 10, Jacob Baker 6, Leo Baker 5, Connor Scanlan 5, Billy Rayer 2, Dillon Gamble 2.