City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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The York College men’s team is 7-0 and ranked 19th in the latest d3hoops.com Division III poll, and several players from the Philadelphia area have been key contributors to that early season success.

Leading the way for the Spartans is senior Jayden Rowe, a 6-foot-4 guard from Downingtown East, who scored his 1,000th career point earlier this year. His 22.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game lead the team.

“He’s always led by his work ethic,” said first-year coach Jared Wagner. “He has the utmost trust from the staff’s perspective and the players’ perspective because he’s earned that trust. He’s worked incredibly hard. He’s always been a high-level talent. What everyone is seeing now is the culmination of that hard work.”

Wagner, a former star point guard at York, was promoted from assistant coach to head coach on September 30 after long-time coach Matt Hunter left to take the head job at Gettysburg College. 

Wagner knew he was inheriting a team with talent but also one that lost its top two scorers from last season to graduation in Kai Cipalla, who is playing professionally in Portugal, and Jackson Mascari, a career 1,000-point scorer.

“We knew we had a very good team,” Wagner said. “When the guys came back in the fall, we were pleased with the shape they were in and the way they improved as players was surprising in a good way. We have a lot of talent with this year’s team. At the beginning of the year, we felt really good about this group.”

And they have not disappointed. York ranks 31st in all of Division III in scoring margin, winning by an average of 13.1 points per game. The Spartans play an entertaining style of positionless basketball that is easy on the eyes.

Rowe isn’t the only starter with Philadelphia-area roots. Senior forward Aleks Smith is a Souderton grad who was a bench player his first three seasons at York before earning a starting spot this year. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Smith is averaging 7.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game. 

“He’s another guy who has worked extremely hard,” Wagner said. “He’s put in a lot of time.  He’s always been a big strong dude that we thought would be able to guard the 5 spot consistently. He’s playing fantastic. He’s another guy who has earned what he is getting. He has worked extremely hard.”

Three more players with local ties are on the York roster.

Simon Dlugi, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Pennsbury, is averaging 7.2 minutes in five games this season. Wagner is pleased with Dlugi’s progress. He said that Dlugi has added 15-20 pounds to his frame and is dedicated to his individual skill development.

“He’s just so long and athletic and tough to keep off the glass,” Wagner said. “Simon makes those extra effort and hustle-type plays.”

Colin Treude, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward who played at Springfield (Delco), has played in all seven games off the bench.

“His versatility is incredibly important to us,” Wagner said. “He can guard 1 through 5. He’s another guy who is incredibly solid. He’s incredibly reliable. He’s always in the right spot. He has a super high basketball IQ.”

The final player on the York roster from the Philadelphia area is 6-foot-4 freshman guard Elijah Cline, who is an Owen J. Roberts graduate.

Wagner said that Cline, who has played in three games this season, is putting in the effort to improve his game.

“We loved his athleticism and knack to make plays in high school and AAU,” Wagner said. “He’s got a great personality. He’s one of our hardest workers. It’s just so exciting to see him and the other guys grow right in front of you.”

Despite their on-court success this season, the Spartans have been dealing with sadness off the court. Long-time Director of Athletic Communications, Scott Guise, passed away earlier this month at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer. Guise started working at York in 1995 and spent the next three decades there. The CoBL staff offers its condolences to Guise’s family and friends, as well as the entire York athletics department. 

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On the Rhoades to the top

Arcadia senior Hanna Rhoades became the program’s all-time leading scorer on December 6 in a loss to Widener when she made a pair of free throws early in the third quarter. Rhoades surpassed the prior mark of 1,277 career points held by 2008 graduate Caitlin (Sparks) Layne.

Rhoades, a 5-foot-5 guard from Abington Friends, now has 1,298 career points. She has been a consistent scorer during her career, averaging in double figures each year. Her coach, Diane Decker, is in her first season at Arcada, but she knew all about Rhoades before taking the job. Decker was the coach at Lebanon Valley, which is in the same league, the MAC Freedom, as Arcadia.

“Coaching against her, she was a big part of our scout and our gameplan,” Decker said. “We never, ever, ever wanted to give her an open three. We would take our chances on her with twos, but we were not giving her a three.”

As her coach, the goals have changed.

“Now,” she said, “I’m trying to get her as many as threes as we can. We try to put her in a position where she can get as many open looks as possible.”

Arcadia senior Delaney Bell, a 5-foot-8 senior wing from Bensalem, has 1,173 career points and is on the cusp of moving into second place on the all-time list.

“They’re going to leave 1 and 2,” Decker said. “Somebody will be 1 and somebody will be 2, which is kind of cool.”

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No sophomore slump for Coleman

Carly Coleman had a terrific freshman season for Immaculata when she was named the AEC Rookie of the Year. She has been even better as a sophomore.

Coleman, a standout at Cardinal O’Hara, where she won three PIAA championships and one Philadelphia Catholic League title, made an immediate impact last season for a Mighty Macs team that won the AEC title and played in the NCAA tournament. She averaged 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

As a sophomore for 7-2 Immaculata, the 5-foot-10 forward has increased her production to 17.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in every game this season and has reached at least 20 points in four of the last five.

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Dupriest leads Neumann to lucky number 7

The Neumann men’s team has reeled off seven straight wins to improve to 8-3 on the season. During that seven-game stretch, senior forward Donte Dupriest has been outstanding, averaging 25.4 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.

Dupriest, a 6-foot-4 forward from Philadelphia, has recorded at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in each of those seven consecutive victories. For the season, he is averaging 20.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while shooting 63.4% from the field.

Nationally among Division III players, Dupriest ranks third with eight double-doubles, 14th in rebounds per game and 21st in field goal percentage.

Dupriest won the AEC Player of the Year as a junior and would appear to be a favorite again as a senior.

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Layups

The Penn State Abington men’s team picked up its first win of the season - and the first at the school for first-year coach Sean Westerlund - with a 78-67 victory over Penn College on December 3. The Nittany Lions are 1-11 on the season. … Methacton product Nicole Timko, who spent two years at Christopher Newport and is now in her second season at Carnegie Mellon, is enjoying an excellent senior campaign. Timko, a 5-foot-10 guard who graduated in 2022 as Methacton’s all-time leading scorer with 1,748 points, has started all seven games and is averaging 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. … The Ursinus men’s team is off to a 5-2 start in part because of the play of 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Jamie Murphy out of Rockville Centre, N.Y. As a freshman, Murphy appeared in all 27 games off the bench, but this year he has blossomed as a starter, averaging 17.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 57.0% from the field. … After an 0-2 start, the Penn State Abington women’s team has won three in a row to improve to 7-4. A home matchup against 17th-ranked Trinity (Conn.) is up next on December 30. … Rasheem Dearry, a 6-foot-4 guard out of Cheltenham and a senior at Alvernia, is shooting 96.67% (29-of-30) from the foul line to rank third nationally in Division III. … The Valley Forge women’s team leads Division III in an unconventional category - least fouls committed per game. The Patriots have been whistled for only 66 fouls in seven games for an average of 9.4 fouls per game, and no player has fouled out of a game.