City of Basketball Love

By Matt Allibone (@Bad2theAllibone)
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(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 2025-26 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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At a recent offseason showcase, Council Rock South boys’ basketball coach Jim Cassidy gave his players a number to focus on this season. 

The number was 17. 

“They all looked at each other like, ‘What does that mean?,’” Cassidy said. “I told them, ‘That is the number of points we lost.’”

Council Rock South is entering a season of both continuity and transition in 2025-26. The Golden Hawks return seven seniors and four varsity letter winners from a team that went 13-10 last season. Cassidy has worked with most of the players since they entered high school. 

But Cassidy is also entering his first season as head coach following Andrew Rogers’ resignation after four seasons. And the Golden Hawks need to replace the production of M.J. Thompson, the dynamic wing who averaged 17 points per game last year but transferred to The George School in the offseason. 

Cassidy knows Council Rock South will need a slightly different formula for success this season. But that doesn’t mean he thinks the Hawks will take a step back. 

“I’ve known M.J. since he was in kindergarten. I love that kid and his family and we wish him nothing but the best,” said Cassidy, who has coached the program’s JV and ninth grade teams the past four seasons. “Our approach is going to be: We can’t make up for those points with just one player. If we can improve our team defense by two baskets per quarter we’re nearly there. 

“I’m not looking to change much from what Andrew did. We’ve had a solid run of qualifying for districts and I’ve got a solid rapport with the players coming back.” 

While Council Rock South is coming off consecutive appearances in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs, there is room for improvement. The Golden Hawks were 13-6 and in second place in the Suburban One Patriot Division after a statement win over first place Bensalem on Jan. 31. But they lost their final four games including a first-round district contest to Methacton. 

Cassidy thinks the team’s biggest focus needs to be on the defensive end. The Golden Hawks gave up an average of just 55 points per game last season, but allowed more than 60 (including two games over 80) in each contest of their four-game slide to end the season. 

They trailed by 20 points entering the fourth quarter against Methacton, and despite rallying to cut the deficit to six points, ultimately lost 83-72. 

“There were a couple of games that got away from us on that end,” Cassidy said. “We were a younger team and we just had a couple games with lapses in judgement. It was a good learning experience and it should translate to better decisions this year.” 

The 46-year-old Cassidy is a Holy Ghost Prep grad who has coached local standouts like Father Judge’s Marc Rodriguez and Archbishop Ryan’s Izaiah Brockington at the travel level over the course of his career. He plans to run a “modified Princeton offense” with four guards, one big man and a lot of motion that he’s learned from Andrew Rogers and Haverford School coach Bernie Rogers (Andrew’s brother) over the years. 

Without Thompson and last year’s senior captains Ryan Wekluk and Adam Elabed, the Golden Hawks will rely heavily on the senior backcourt of Ryan Delp and Ray Haglund this season. 

Delp is a 6-foot-2 shooting guard and three-year starter who averaged 15 points and 4.5 rebounds last season. He set the program record for points in a game with 32 against Pennridge last season. Haglund is a 6-foot point guard and “human charge machine,” according to Cassidy. 

“He told me he wants to be the program’s all-time leader in charges taken,” Cassidy said about Haglund. “And (Delp) is a great leader and total gym rat. I’ve coached these seniors at multiple levels since they entered the program which is a huge help.” 

A sharpshooter by nature, Delp said he’s made it a point of emphasis to work on his post game and ability to drive to the rim this offseason so teams can’t simply faceguard him like in the past. He thinks Haglund has the ability to score more this season due to his “quick, twitchy” skillset. 

Cassidy is also expecting big contributions from Owen McLean, a 6-foot-3 senior baseball star who can play all five positions on the basketball court. Football standout Joey Madara, another 6-foot-3 senior, will play in the post. 

Junior Lucian Mirc is a “fantastic athlete” according to Cassidy and will slot in at small forward. Cassidy and Delp both pointed out junior shooting guard Brendon Balmer as an emerging player who will be relied on to stretch the floor after playing JV last season. 

“Losing MJ is a big loss for us, so we have to play as a team to make up the difference,” Delp said. “Our mindset has always been to outscore teams, but those games we lost at the end (of last season) were all close and our defense was lacking. We need to communicate better this season. One thing led to another and things kept compounding. 

“We’ve lost in the first round the past couple years and we definitely want to win a playoff game now.”

While Cassidy thinks Council Rock South has a “beautiful” gym, he said there’s one thing missing. The Golden Hawks have never hung a banner for a Suburban One division title. 

Cassidy knows doing that this year might be a bold goal, but he thinks it’s possible. Council Rock South finished behind Bensalem and Pennsbury a year ago, but both of those teams graduated multiple standout seniors. 

“That’s been our white whale,” Cassidy said about winning a division title. “We were on the cusp of that last year. We want to start a run that could last a couple of years and be a state qualifier.”