City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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CHESTNUT HILL — When Leo and Jacob Becker moved down to Philadelphia and enrolled at The Haverford School, Fords coach Bernie Rogers figured it couldn’t hurt to add a pair of physical 6-foot-5 forwards to the mix. 

He had no idea how valuable those additions would be. 

Thanks to the Becker twins’ presence, the Fords have been able to survive a pair of preseason injuries to two of their best players to not only stay afloat in the Inter-Ac, but keep themselves in the league title race. The two played a key role Tuesday afternoon as Haverford School made sure it would be a factor down the stretch run of the regular season, knocking off co-leader Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy 72-52.

Jacob, who starts for the Fords, contributed 14 points against SCH Academy (17-7, 4-2), including a quartet of 3-pointers, grabbing six rebounds. Leo, one of the team’s top reserves, didn’t enter the scoring column but grabbed a couple rebounds and dished out a couple assists — both to his brother — while playing tough defense. 

“They’ve been great, highly coachable, great teammates,” Rogers said. “Just nothing but good things to say. They’ve blended in well — great students, good people and we’re excited to have them.”

Without them, who knows where the Fords’ season would be right now.

The Haverford School (13-8, 3-3) looked ready to be a contender before this season, picking up some big wins over the summer. Then 6-7 forward Manny Butts and 6-2 guard Duke Cloran, two of Rogers’ starters and some of his most talented prospects, both tore ACLs in the run-up to the season. 

Without much other size on the roster, suddenly the Beckers’ presence on the roster was a critical addition rather than an additional luxury.

“It’s unfortunate we had two big losses,” Jacob Becker said, “but I feel like a lot of people have been able to step up, and us two have been able to step into the (post) spots since Manny got hurt. 

“It’s been an adjustment, especially for everyone. But I feel like we’ve been doing pretty good at it.”

The Fords proved they’d still be competitive in December, beating the likes of Father Judge, Hun School (N.J.) and others, but lost their first two league games at Penn Charter and Malvern Prep to drop behind the pack. A loss at Episcopal Academy last week didn’t help. 

Just when it looked like they might be a year away from competing, the Fords rallied, beating Penn Charter on Friday before downing SCH Academy.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Rogers said. “We took two tough games to start the league, we had some guys hurt, not that that’s an excuse, but we were banged up and I think we’re getting better and we’re responding.”

Tuesday’s win was the 128th for Rogers since he came to Haverford School in 2015, making him the Fords’ all-time leader in wins. He’s also still the all-time wins leader at Archbishop Ryan, where he collected 212 victories in 15 seasons.

More importantly, it opened up the Inter-Ac with four games to play. Haverford’s win, combined with one by Penn Charter over Episcopal Academy later in the afternoon, has the six-team league as tight as can be. SCH and Episcopal are in front with 4-2 records; Haverford and Penn Charter right behind them at 3-3; Malvern Prep is 3-4 and GA 2-5, those two facing an uphill battle to finish at the top but very much ready to spoil the fun for others down the stretch.

The Fords don’t quite control their destiny — that’s whichever team wins the second matchup between SCH and Episcopal — but winning out and finishing with a 7-3 record would give them a good shot to at least finish with a split title. 

“(It’s) a five-team race with four games left,” Rogers said. “It’s exciting, but I think it also shows the strength of our league from top to bottom.”

That’s something the Becker twins have noticed as they get used to Pennsylvania hoops after spending last year at Pioneer Academy (N.J.), playing against an assortment of teams from North Jersey. Natives of Brewster, New York, they first played at the Masters School (N.Y.), but have come down to the Philly suburbs after their father got a new job in the area.

“[In] New Jersey and New York it’s a lot of iso ball, take your man to the basket,” Leo Becker said, “but here’s it’s a lot of pass and cut, college offense, more ‘find the better shot and move the ball.’”

“It’s anyone’s game. Anyone can win,” Jacob said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, really, it just matters how hard you work. Even the best teams, what seems to be the best teams are being beaten by the ‘lower-tier’ teams, but it’s really anybody’s game here.”

Haverford got an outstanding outing Tuesday from freshman Silas Graham. The 6-4 guard went for 20 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals as he impacted the game at both ends; the son of Penn assistant Nat Graham has emerged as a local star this season.

“It’s almost like, it’s so consistent that he does everything as a basketball player that we do, we just expect it,” Rogers said. 

Junior guard K.J. Carson added 17 points, all in the second half, exploding in the third quarter (14 points) as Haverford turned a 33-25 halftime edge into a 55-38 lead going into the fourth. SCH Academy, which had struggled to get good looks against a stout Haverford press, couldn’t muster a run as the second half went on.

The Beckers know this season is far from over, that there’s only three days to prepare for a visit from Malvern Prep, 49-35 winners over the Fords back on Jan. 12. But they have thought about what happens next year, with Cloran and Butts back in the fold along with Graham, Carson and several other young members of the roster. 

“We’re really excited,” Leo said. “Especially people coming back from injuries, we’ve got a lot of potential for next year. I think we could even go undefeated, or at least win the Inter-Ac.”

That second part might not have to wait a year. If the first six games of Inter-Ac play have taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

By Quarter
Haverford School:  21  |  12  |  22  |  17  ||  72
SCH Academy:      12  |  13  |  13  |  14  ||  52

Shooting
Haverford School: 26-52 FG (9-23 3PT), 11-12 FT
SCH Academy: 17-57 FG (5-20 3PT), 13-19 FT

Scoring
Haverford School: Silas Graham 20, KJ Carson 17, Jacob Becker 14, Billy Rayer 8, Connor Scanlan 7, Evan Large 6

SCH Academy: Owen Kelly 20, Ron Brown III 9, Camden Burns 9, Joe Flach 5, Kam Waters 2, AJ Trunfio 3, Keni Williams 2, Ryan Kull 1