City of Basketball Love

By Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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Collegeville – The Methacton boys basketball team has a new assistant coach with a familiar last name.

Former North Penn head coach John Conrad, with more than 300 career wins, is now an assistant for the Warriors.

You get the feeling it has a little something to do with his son Mason, a junior guard for the Warriors.

“It’s a dream come true, it’s awesome,” said the elder Conrad. “Last year was tough. I think I only got to see six of his games. You know obviously I want to watch him play. I am so grateful to these guys for giving me an opportunity to watch him play and be on the staff.”

The younger Conrad put on a good show, scoring 7 of his 12 points during a dominating third quarter run which saw Methacton break open a close game and roll to a 58-41 win over Perk Valley in a PAC opener for both squads.

“This was huge,” said Mason Conrad. “It sets the tone for PAC play. It was a must win. We came out and did it.”

The younger Conrad remembers all the stops on his dad’s coaching career, attending games since he could walk. He has also been coached by his father most of his playing career until the last two seasons.

It’s not as if Conrad was struggling on the court, but feels a little more at home this season.

“It’s good, it’s good,” said Conrad of having his dad on the Methacton staff. “It starts a lot of arguments, but other than that it’s good. I like having him around.”

Not having his dad at games last year probably was more difficult for the elder Conrad. However, having Dad on staff makes the relationship that much smoother.

“I like having him there because he’s seen me more than anyone,” Mason Conrad said. “He knows what I’m doing wrong and why I’m doing it. He keeps me in check.”

It was also a no-brainer for Methacton head coach Pat Lockard, who is thrilled with an experienced coach like Conrad sitting to his right. He is already leaning on him for scouting reports and was happy to facilitate an easier year for both of the Conrads.

“Even from a non-basketball thing, it was 'my dad’s not here to see me,'” Lockard said. “'I can’t see my son being successful.' Even from that perspective they are able to be a father and son that they were hoping to be. It’s really fun to see that unfold from my seat.”

All of the skills that the younger Conrad possessed were on full display during that third quarter run after a tense first half which left the game tied at 21. Conrad started the second half by picking up a loose ball and starting a fastbreak with a dish to Wes Robinson and then followed it with a 3-pointer of his own. After a steal from Sal Iemmello (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) Methacton was up 28-21 and on its way to a dominating quarter. 

“He’s such an intelligent player,” said Lockard of Conrad. “He’s able to see some things before they develop whether it’s stealing a pass or making the right pass on offense. He’s a very high IQ guy out there. When we are playing through him and guys are moving for him we look really really good. As we continue to develop that connection it will only make us look better.”

It was a flawless third quarter from Conrad, who sat out most of the fourth quarter. He did make one mistake -- turns out he sat in the wrong seat.

“Yeah we have a new coach now, we gotta bump everyone down in the chairs,” Mason Conrad said. “It messes up the rotation.” 

Perk Valley though wouldn’t exactly go quietly into the night, cutting the deficit to five on a 3-pointer from Anthony Rodriguez. Methacton kept on responding, closing the frame a 10-4 spurt and led 44-33 after an Iemmello 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“Maybe a few nights we will have a 20-point scorer, 25 -point scorer,” Lockard said. “When we are playing our brand of basketball, it will be 15 points here, 12 points, 9 points here. We are really spreading it out and it will only make us tougher to beat and scout against. If we stay patient we can be effective. If we don’t we can get in a dogfight like that first half.”

The run kept on going in the fourth quarter as the Warriors scored the first 12 points and led 56-33 before both benches were emptied. Jahmir Carter put in four points during that stretch and finished with seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks on the night.

In a losing effort Ty Hoppenwasser was a bright spot with 11 points, 

“We gotta tidy up some things,” PV head coach Michael Poysden said. “The good news is that what we have to fix isn’t some insurmountable task. We have too many stretches when one mistake compounds into two and three. Those add up. I thought we were very shaky with the ball. I thought we did so many things well in the first half. Then our turnovers turn a level playing field into climbing uphill.”

By Quarter
Methacton 14 7 23 14 – 58
PV 9 12 12 8 – 41

Scoring
Methacton (58): Conrad 12, Lineen 9, Iemmello 14, Leckerman 2; Robinson 12, Carter 7, Leet 2.

Perk Valley (44): Tracey 3, Nester 3, Harken 5, Keough 2, Rodriguez 6, Boyd 7, Wesselt 2, Kelly 2, Hoppenwasser 11.