Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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DOYLESTOWN >> All Jake Bolger wants, and all he’s ever wanted, is a chance to play again.
Coming out of middle school and following a solid freshman season, the Pennridge basketball coaching staff had the guard pegged as someone who would help their program. Instead, Bolger spent much of the last two years sidelined while battling harrowing health issues but returned to the court as a senior.
Now, he and his teammates will have to spend a few nervous days waiting, the Rams’ District 1 Class 6A playoff fate in limbo after falling to CB West 65-50 on Tuesday night.
“It’s rough,” Bolger said, a few tears left in his eyes. “I’ve been playing with these guys since I was five years old. It’s just rough. I just hope there’s another one.”
Pennridge senior Jake Bolger battled serious health complications the last two years but has been a steady contributor in his senior season. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)
Bolger’s health is in a much better place now, but he’ll have to manage severe ulcerative colitis and a still-undiagnosed liver disease for the rest of his life. It’s a lot to ask of anyone, especially a high school senior, but Bolger is grateful of where he is now when he takes a look back on where he was just two years ago.
As he’s done all season, Bolger came off the bench on Tuesday and put full effort into every minute he got.
“It’s been really fun, it’s all I thought about for probably two years,” Bolger said. “I’m just glad I could be able to do it this year.
“Last year, we didn’t have a winning season and everybody else was hurt, it was just a really tough season and none of us could play together. It was just fun for us to be back out there.”
Dean Behrens is in his 27th season coaching the Rams, so it’s safe to say he’s seen a lot of things in his tenure in East Rockhill. What the veteran has never experienced is the situation his team now finds itself in, Pennridge entering play in the No. 23 spot in the Class 6A table and now reliant on other results over the next few days to determine its fate.
The Rams did get a few favors, with CB East defeating North Penn in overtime, Bensalem just edging Neshaminy and Conestoga downing Haverford in other results around the bubble. Still, the Pennridge players couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling leaving West’s gym on Tuesday and like Bolger, they shared a faint hope they’d get one more game together.
Behrens has also never experienced anything quite like what he’s seen Bolger go through the last three-plus years. He didn’t even list Bolger on the preseason preview submitted to Suburban One Sports, not out of malice, but just because nobody quite knew what the senior would be able to give the team this year.
“To have Jake play this year, I think he only missed two games, was outstanding. What he’s been through the last three-and-a-half years, I don’t think I’ll ever understand,” Behrens said. “I didn’t live it; he had to live that day after day after day.
“Getting to know his parents, I think it was a relief to them that he got to play a full season this year, have fun and be a normal 18-year-old kid. The last two years, he wasn’t really able to live a normal life, it was awful.”
Bolger wasn’t with his team on opening night of the 2022-23 season. Instead, he was in the emergency room, a six-hour stay serving as the start of a grueling two years of setbacks, challenges and hardship.
“It completely took me out,” Bolger said. “I couldn’t go to school. I couldn’t really do anything, I wasn’t out of the house, working out or anything for about six to nine months, somewhere around there.
“I don’t know if they’re ever going to really have a diagnosis for the liver just because it falls into a couple different categories.”
That first year, one he spent much homebound, Bolger admitted he had no idea what was in store for his future.
“When I was sitting at home for nine months, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to play again, even fully get back to school, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to live on my own,” Bolger said. “I just wasn’t sure.”
The regimen of medicines doctors put him on started to have an effect as his sophomore year ended and into that summer. Bolger came back for his junior year, seemingly finding his game again quickly until he had to change medicines.
Bolger explained that had been on prednisone, a steroid used to decrease inflammation and keep the immune system in check, and lowering the dosage led to some negative side effects.
“I can’t even explain how tired I was and how hard it was on my body,” Bolger said. “I played three or four games, started two of them, so I was able to work back and then it hit me again and I just couldn’t play.”
The senior said it was just as difficult mentally, but his desire to return to the court plus plenty of support from his family and friends helped navigate some of the most difficult times.
Behrens was worried when Bolger got sick again early this season, fearing another setback -- but fortunately, it was just a bout with the flu. After that, the senior was beyond dependable and Behrens said it’s likely the Rams didn’t get their 11 wins without him.
For Bolger, the night of Dec. 7, 2024 will always be a special one. The senior came off the bench in a 66-51 win over William Tennent – Pennridge’s third game of the season – hitting a trio of 3-point shots on his way to a game-high 14 points.
“I played well on offense and defense, I played a lot, it was just great,” Bolger said. “I got texts from aunts and uncles, they all said they were really happy to see me back out there.”
It’s a game Behrens won’t soon forget either.
“It was remarkable just how aggressive he was,” Behrens said. “He looked like the player we thought he was going to be when we saw him play back in middle school. Jake’s easy to coach, he’s a dependable kid, it was just all what he was fighting with health wise.
“He went through a lot of adversity and I hope it’s something he never has to deal with again. I hope he’s through the worst of it and will go on to be very successful.”
No matter what Bolger was dealing with, whether he was well enough to make a practice or sit on the bench for a game or if he had to stay home, Behrens always kept his spot on the team.
It’s not a gesture that went unnoticed.
“He’s been really good to me,” Bolger said. “Not a lot of coaches would have taken me back on the team or worked with me when there were ups and downs. I wasn’t here one day and there the next, it meant the world to me that he stuck with me.”
However his immediate future on the court shakes out at the end of the weekend, Bolger is set beyond this year. The senior will be attending Saint Joseph’s University next fall to study computer or data science, his academics not slipping either through all his adversity, and he’s earned a pretty substantial scholarship for his efforts.
Health-wise, Bolger said it’s just a matter of managing his condition going forward.
Bolger, one of seven seniors, isn’t the only one of them to have gone through adversity in their four years. Co-captain Marley Steward returned to the court this year after a devastating compound bone fracture in his leg took him out last season and guard Charlie Rising has seen his impact limited this year by health issues of his own.
Behrens gave the group off Wednesday, then they’ll keep it light Thursday and Friday before awaiting the final verdict on Sunday when the brackets are posted.
“We just have to wait it out and see,” Bolger said. “Hopefully, there’s another one for all of us.”
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CB WEST 65, PENNRIDGE 50
CB West knew its playoff fate well before Tuesday’s finale.
The Bucks, who were hit hard by graduation off last year’s SOL runner-up and District 1 playoff qualifier, weren’t going to see their season continue next week. Instead, they used the night to celebrate their lone senior in Roman Kulesa and he put on a show in his final high school game.
With a couple rows of friends in the baseline bleachers urging him on, Kulesa scored 23 points and had the proverbial passing of the torch with six assists as the Bucks rolled.
It was sophomore Dan Pellegrini, one of several underclassmen who will take the mantle for coach Adam Sherman next season, who came out hot with nine points in a stunning first quarter that saw West build an 18-0 lead eight minutes in. Pellegrini finished with 17 points and freshman John Vrettos added seven.
West didn’t cool off, getting the lead to 30-5 midway through the second quarter. Kulesa found his offense in the frame, notching 10 points, then finished strong with seven fourth quarter markers before he subbed out for the first, only and last time with 1:12 left on the clock to a nice ovation.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 18 | 14 | 14 | 19 || 65
PENNRIDGE 0 | 12 | 20 | 18 || 50
CBW: Roman Kulesa 23, Dan Pellegrini 17, John Vrettos 7, Gavin Reichner 4, Carter Bass 4, Ben Kondyra 3, Connor Chuo 2, Isaiah Rubenstein 2, Jack Chuo 2, Eli Wolf 1
P: Xavier Peters 18, Marley Steward 8, Ryan Schwind 6, Jake Bolger 6, Rownan Smith 4, William Wallace 3, Connor Murray 3, Cade Bachman 2
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