City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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EASTON — Dock Mennonite’s players heard all offseason this was the year they’d drop off, that they could be had, then promptly didn’t heed any of what was said.

The Pioneers had some work to do this year to prove that talk wrong, so that’s what they did. A team that redefined its image over the summer and fall, battled through the usual challenges of the season and merged its parts into a sum, Dock found itself right back where it was a year ago.

Dock’s season ended Saturday in a 61-51 loss to Holy Cross in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs, but it was a season of accomplishment for the Pioneers.

“I’m just really, really proud of my guys, they battled right to the end and that’s what we’ve always done,” Dock coach Mike Fergus said. “I loved coaching them.”

The Dock boys basketball team poses with the Bicentennial Athletic League trophy earlier this season. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

The dropoff some expected? Well the Pioneers did go 27-3 last season and only managed a 25-5 record this year, if that qualifies.

Dock went 14-0 in the BAL during the regular season, then one-upped that by winning the conference tournament for an undisputed title of sorts before securing a District 1 Class 2A title. Doing it the way they did, graduating six seniors that had four starters including the program’s all-time leading scorer Nathan Lapp, is what guard Vaughan Martin is taking away from the run.

“The way we persevered throughout the season, through all of our ups and downs, we had injuries, sickness, players being ineligible for states and districts, stands out,” Martin said. “The criticism we received before the season, we had a great team last year and everyone was doubting this team. I gotta say, I’m just proud of everybody for the way we pushed through and made it to the elite eight.”

Holy Cross, which will face District 12 champ Constitution in Tuesday's state semifinals, and Dock have become frequent acquaintances in the state playoffs. In 2020-21, the Pioneers knocked off the Crusaders while last year, Holy Cross returned the favor in the quarterfinals.

In a tip of the cap, Fergus said he admired the way Holy Cross redefined itself this year having lost some key players of its own and expected every bit of the tenacious game that unfolded Saturday. Dock started well, but Holy Cross’ transition game proved lethal all game long under the direction of CJ Thompson and Mike Hughes. Hughes, a junior guard, was outstanding for the Crusaders with 22 points and his pace and quick first step paired with a keen passing eye to fuel several of the Crusaders’ backbreaking runs.

“I felt like it was one of those nights, we don’t give up 61 points in a game very often,” Fergus said. “We didn’t stop the ball in transition, I took a timeout to tell us to stop the ball, we came right out of it and three straight times they went right through our defense.”

Hughes had nine and Thompson the other three of a 12-0 second quarter run that turned the game around and allowed Holy Cross to play from in front the entire second half. A 6-0 start to the third gave the Crusaders plenty of room to withstand any push Dock made, even when the Pioneers went into a full court pressure defense.

Dock still had a few chances. The Pioneers clawed within 52-45 and had a chance to trim it further but a runner on the baseline and an attempted putback were both off the mark with about two minutes left.

“We graduated six seniors from a 27-3 team, not many teams can lose that kind of firepower and the next year, go just as far in the state tournament,” Fergus said. “I told them - there’s some tears in there and kids are sad - but when you have a good team and a good program, you set yourself up for one of two things; great joy or great disappointment.

“The only way you have great joy is if you win a state championship.”

AJ Washington scored 17 in his final high school game, Vaughan Martin added 15 and Tony Martin put in 10. They, along with Ethan Parr, Brian Dorneman, Michael John and Josh Mascio formed this year’s senior class with Parr and John rounding out the starting five with the three lead scorers on Saturday.

There was still an adjustment period and some guys were out of the lineup at points for various reasons, but Vaughan Martin said once the team really came together around the start of the BAL playoffs, they knew how good they really were.

“When everyone’s enjoying their job, the whole team’s happy,” Martin said. “The way we played together was great all year. 

“I 100 percent see this as a successful season, I’m so proud of everybody.”

The work will start up again soon, with open gyms later in the spring then fall and summer leagues to follow and before long, a new group of Pioneers will be on their way to defining their identity. They’ll have a pretty good example to look up to. 

“The word on the street was, Dock, we can get them this year in the BAL,” Fergus said. “What di we do? We go undefeated 14-0, win the BAL tournament again, win the district again. They came together as a team, it wasn’t anything I did, it happened organically and we saw it in this game how much they wanted to win.”

By Quarter

HOLY CROSS 11 | 17 | 16 | 17 || 61

DOCK MENNONITE 17 | 7 | 6 | 21 || 51

Scoring

HC: Michael Hughes 22, CJ Thompson 15, Matt Lyons 13, Adam Badyrka 9, Mario Matrone 2

DC: AJ Washington 17, Vaughn Martin 15, Tony Washington 10, Ethan Parr 4, Brian Dorneman 3, Michael John 2, Koby Rollerson 2

PIAA 2A Boys
Quarterfinals (Sat., March 16)
2-1 Holy Cross 61, 1-1 Dock Mennonite 51
12-1 Constitution 69, 3-1 Lancaster Mennonite 38
7-1 Aliquippa 68, 9-1 Redbank 44
7-3 Fort Cherry 70, 7-6 Jeannette 60

Semifinals (Tue., March 19)
2-1 Holy Cross vs. 12-1 Constitution
7-1 Aliquippa vs. 7-3 Fort Cherry

Championship at Giant Center (Fri., March 22)
TBD, 2 p.m.