City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

~~~

Mike Fergus has won a lot. Everywhere. And that’s no exaggeration.

In a career that’s almost at its 50th year, starting as the girls’ varsity basketball coach at State College High in 1977-78 and continuing through stints at seven other high schools and colleges before landing at Dock Mennonite in 2014, Fergus has won 670 games overall, 100 at four different high schools.

Over his 11 years at Dock, Fergus has built the Pioneers into a Bicentennial Athletic League powerhouse with seven league titles and a whole bunch of district championships, including the last two District 1 2A crowns. They’ve won 44 straight BAL games, are 89-9 in the last seven years in the league overall, 152-41 in that time, according to Fergus. 

“Our kids at our school, there’s kind of a torch passed on from each year to the next, and we’ve got the program to that spot where we expect to be successful,” he said. “Winning breeds winning.”

Even if his players weren’t even born until well into his tenure at North Penn (1996-2008) or perhaps while he was at Upper Perkiomen (2008-11), Fergus’ experience is apparent through his practices and on-court know-how.

“Any time you have a question or anything — there hasn’t been one thing I’ve asked him that he doesn’t know,” senior Robbie Sukaly said. “He knows everything, he does his research, he’s always prepared. That’s the main thing about him, he’s always prepared for everything. Game situations, late-game situations, last year we had a bunch of those and he knew exactly what to do.”

This year, Fergus could have one of his best teams yet. 

Coming off a 25-win season that ended in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals, the program’s high-water mark thus far, Fergus and the Pioneers are aiming for Hershey. They did graduate starters Vaughn Martin, Ethan Parr and AJ Washington, but Fergus has a deep and experienced group to work with, along with more height than he’s had in decades.

The Pioneers’ attack starts with a four-year starter in the backcourt in 6-foot-2 guard Tony Martin, who’s never lost a regular-season Bicentennial game. Sukaly, who’s 6-4 joins him back in the starting lineup, though the North Penn transfer was ineligible for last year’s state playoffs. Justin Panaia, a 6-2 wing, rounds out the senior class. 

There’s a lot of length in the classes below. Xavier Mitchell (6-7) and Akoi Deng (6-5), both juniors, give Dock the biggest frontcourt in the BAL. Throw in 6-5 sophomore Markos Burleigh, plus Sukaly and a whole bunch of 6-1 and 6-2 guards, and it is size across the board for Fergus. 

Fergus said the last time he had this much size was in the late 1980s with Robert E. Lee High School (now Margaret Long Wisdom High School), when he coached players like Ulises Asprilla (Baylor) and Corey Henderson (Texas A&M). 

“And the nice thing about these big kids is (they’re) mobile,” he added. “They’re not stiffs, they can move. It’s going to allow us to be more versatile on defense. I’m a man-to-man guy but we’re going to play zone at times. We’re going to use our length, I’d be stupid not to.”

The backcourt isn’t just Martin and Sukaly, either. Juniors Sam Miller, Myles Johnson, Josh Miller and Marques Brown give them additional perimeter depth, as do sophomores Koby Rollerson and Matthew Tollerson-Irby, a Bonner transfer.

“We got some new guys this year, some young guys that we think are going to be really good for us,” Sukaly said. “This is definitely the biggest team I’ve played on, we should be really good on the glass, and really big compared to last year.”

The BAL race this year seems to be led by Dock, Delco Christian and newcomer Chester Charter, which is loaded under former Math, Civics & Sciences head coach Lonnie Diggs, in his first year at the school in its first year in the league. Church Farm, long a factor in the race, was a name thrown around by several coaches as a dark horse to watch.

To make sure his team is prepared for a potential state run, Fergus scheduled non-league games against Phoenixville and Lancaster Mennonite, as well as a trip to State College for an early-season weekend tournament. 

The District 1 2A field is small with only six teams, four of which make the postseason bracket; both district finalists also qualify for the state tournament. The chances of Dock making it at least that far are high; after that, anything goes.

“We know we’re going to get the best game out of everyone we play, everyone’s coming for us and we’ve got to be prepared and not be over-confident,” Sukaly said. “Just play our game, and whatever happens, happens.”