City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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NEWTOWN — Luke and Ryan Melniczak really had no choice but to like basketball. Their father, Steve, and their mother, Dana, were both 1,000-point scorers at Cairn University. When the family moved to their house in Langhorne about 10 years ago, Steve turned half of the lawn into a basketball court.

It is on that basketball court where Luke and Ryan developed their basketball skills with their father as their coach. These days, Luke and Ryan are still playing basketball with their father as their coach. But, now, Luke and Ryan are playing for George School, and Steve is an assistant coach for the team.

The brothers, Luke, a 6-foot-4 senior wing who plays both inside and out and is a fierce defender, and Ryan, a 6-foot freshman point guard with an impressive handle, started together for the first time as their father watched from the bench during George School’s 64-45 win over  Friends’ Central in a Friends School League game on Friday evening at the George School Fitness & Athletics Center.

“It means a lot to me,” said the 18-year-old Luke of playing with his 15-year-old brother. “It brings me so much joy. I always wanted to play with him. I love it. It’s been a blessing.”

Said Ryan: “It’s the first year and our only year playing together. It’s been a blessing. I love being his teammate and playing on this team.”

In the first half, the brothers connected for a basket with Ryan throwing a perfect pass to Luke for a layup.

“It’s surreal,” Steve said. “It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s been great.”

The crowd included both sets of the Melniczaks’ grandparents, their younger brothers - Trey (13) and Justin (9) - and their mother.

“I love it,” Dana said. “It’s like a dream for us. It’s been such a special year.”

The left-handed Luke has been a varsity player since his freshman year. As a sophomore, he was a key part of the George School team that won the Friends School League title and endured a heartbreaking loss in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championship game.

He has transformed from primarily a three-point shooter to a leader who can score from all three levels and is the team’s defensive stopper.

“I’ve taken more of a leadership role this year,” Luke said. “I felt like I had to step up this year.”

After a slow start offensively on Friday - “I missed a bunch of easy shots,” he said - he finished with 13 points.

“He’s one of the best players in the area that nobody is talking about,” George School coach Ben Luber said.

Luber said that the competition Luke has played against in practice during his career - including former teammates Christian Bliss who is now at the University of Virginia, Kachi Nzeh who is now at Penn State University and Dante Weise who is now at Millersville University - helped him develop, as has his dedication. 

“It’s a product of his hard work,” Luber said.

Luber said that when he saw Ryan play this summer at the DMV Live event at DeMatha High School he knew Ryan could contribute this season as a freshman.

“He has great instincts,” Luber said. “He’s fearless.”

Ryan scored 8 points and put on a dribbling display that at times left the crowd in awe.

“I’ve been a point guard my whole life,” he said. “I like playing offense and defense. I bring energy to both.”

George School, which improved to 11-4 overall and 3-0 in league play - despite being without 6-foot-11 Luke Bevilacqua, a Lafayette commit, all season - used its pressure defense to disrupt the Phoenix. Peyton Miller led the Cougars with 18 points, while Luke Melniczak added 13 and Kasey Fleming scored 12, but it was the defense that was the star on this night.

“We’re trying to force tempo,” Luber said. “We do have quick guards with good instincts who are tough and tenacious - which are good qualities for a pressing team. We have a scrappy and talented group that are pests on the defensive end.”

The Cougars led 15-8 after the first quarter and 26-18 at halftime; they held the Phoenix without a field goal in the second quarter.

“They are a well-coached team,” Luber said of FCS, which was led by Gabe Moore (16 points), Patrese Feamster (12) and Oben Mokonchu (10). “They have plenty of guys who can fill it up.”

George School extended its lead to 47-29 at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter on its way to the victory.

Afterwards, Luber said that he had not thought about the fact that this was the first time the Melniczak brothers were in the starting lineup together because Ryan plays the minutes of a starter even though he had been coming off the bench.

“It was cool to see,” Luber said.

The Melniczaks would agree. When Steve would bring an eighth-grade Ryan to George School’s practices last year and saw that he possibly could have a role with the team as a freshman, he thought about the possibility of his sons playing this year together with him as one of their coaches.

“It’s definitely been as I hoped,” Steve said. “It’s been amazing.”

~~~

By Quarter
Friends’ Central: 8 | 10 | 11 | 16 || 45
George School: 15 | 11 | 21 | 17 || 64 

Scoring
Friends’ Central School: Gabe Moore 16, Patrese Feamster 12, Oben Mokonchu 10, Pierce Blackwell 4, Evan Boyer 2, Ari Jograj 1

George School: Peyton Miller 18, Luke Melniczak 13, Kasey Fleming 12, Ryan Melniczak 8, Reeve Sysko 8, Fallou Diouf 4, Mac Kipper 1