City of Basketball Love

Finn Courtney (@finncourtney_)
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MALVERN -- Facing just a one-possession deficit at halftime, Germantown Academy had a clear chance to steal one from Malvern Prep on the road. 

Nick Harken had other ideas for the Friars on the most memorable night of his career.

The star 6-5 forward found paydirt in the second half, scoring 23 of his game-high 27 points (11-of-15, 1-of-4 3PA, 4-5 FT) in the final 16 minutes, to go along with nine rebounds and three assists. On a night when Harken scored his 1,000th point, he led his team to a 73-63 win and got the Friars to a 5-1 record in Inter-Ac play — trailing just The Haverford School (6-0) for first place.

“It feels great, all the hours I put in, just being able to be here with my teammates, my family and now making all the work pay off,” Harken said. “I’m gonna be remembering this for a long time. [...] We just made shots, we trusted each other, played good defense, were able to stop them and we ultimately got two feet in the lane, kicked it out and made some big [plays] at the end.”

Harken, who had a good freshman campaign and an even better sophomore year (17.5 points per game), is in the midst of his best season thus far and not just individually, he’s led this team to a markedly better season. For head coach Paul Romanczuk, his improved play has been well earned on and off the floor.

“He’s a gym rat, he is a worker, he’s gotten stronger, he’s improved his shot, he’s gotten more athletic, he’s just a warrior for us, but he’s not complacent with how good he is now,” Romanczuk said. “He can’t wait to get better tomorrow and that’s just such a defining characteristic of Nick. He’s so coachable, I can coach him hard and he’s perfectly fine with that and he’ll just keep playing and keep learning and he’s got a great mind and great feel for the game. I’m really proud of the young man he is and the young man I know he’s going to become.”

His play Friday was proof enough, as after just four points in the first half and getting whistled for three fouls late in the second quarter, Harken went to the bench with a minute left before halftime. And despite playing in foul trouble for the rest of the night, his play was on the level of a superstar.

“It’s not easy playing in foul trouble, pretty much the whole second half and we started him with those three fouls because we can’t go too long without him,” Romanczuk said. “He means so much to our team, so it’s not like I have a choice to go and not start him in the second half. It’s just the experience and his intelligence to kind of keep himself out of harm for us and for the team, because we need him out there."

Harken posed to commemorate his 1,000th point Friday (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL).

After a 5-5 record in Inter-Ac play a year ago, the Friars have jumped leaps and bounds in their 2025-26 campaign, now firmly entrenched in the league title race after the win over Germantown Academy.

“I feel like we’re really starting to click on all cylinders,” Harken said. “Our starting five, some of the bench guys, we really play well together, we trust each other. I feel really confident that we could beat anyone.”

For Romanczuk and co., Harken is one-half of a two-headed monster in the frontcourt with sophomore Logan Chwastyk with the pair combining for 50 points on the night. The 6-10 Chwastyk filled up the stat sheet on Friday night, with 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while making life in the paint tough all night for the Patriots.

“I think the two of them have been terrific inside, they’re both so versatile, they can play inside and outside, they’re both so skilled,” Romanczuk said. “That’s a great duo to have. I’m glad I have those guys and we can run our offense through those guys. They’re both very unselfish kids that can go and find [Marvin Reed], find [Collin Romanczuk], find [Ryan Melniczak]. We’ve had a number of guys step up throughout the year but those two guys have carried a lot of load for us.”

For Harken, who is Chwastyk’s senior by just a year, he’s seen the big man grow a ton in the past 12 months, from freshman to budding co-star of this dangerous Friars team. Their tandem, scoring success aside, was on full display with one dishing to the other to great effect all game long against Germantown Academy.

Logan Chwastyk added another 23 points for the Friars against GA (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL).

“If you just look at the numbers, the man’s averaging like 16 points, as well he’s a defensive presence and we can run our offense around him,” Harken said. “He scores inside, the next play down, he draws 2 defenders, I get a wide open layup, it’s just like a domino effect.”

Beyond the big 1-2 punch, Melniczak, a sophomore guard who transferred in from George School, helped dispatch the Patriots late in the fourth quarter, with five in the final frame including a dagger three-point shot.

“Ryan is the glue, he’s such a smart basketball player, he’s tough and he really knows how to play,” Melniczak said. “He knows how to get guys shots and he really is a connecting player, he really does a great job defensively connecting and also offensively connecting us. He takes care of the basketball and we’re just really happy to have him with us.”

There is no rest for the weary however and certainly none in Inter-Ac play. Malvern Prep’s next game on the docket is a massive rematch with The Haverford School, slated for Tuesday — a game with major Inter-Ac title implications, and a rematch after the two teams’ first go-round in January was decided by a Manny Butts game-winner for the Fords. 

And if you ask Harken, it’s a game he’s eager to get underway.

“Oh, we had them last time,” Harken said. “We lost on a buzzer-beater so we really should have won that game. So I think if we play how we did last time, slot in a little more defensively, make some more shots, we could beat them.”

By Quarter
MP:  12  |  16  |  18  |  27  ||  73
GA:    8  |  18  |  17  |  20  ||  63

Scoring
Malvern Prep: Nick Harken 27, Logan Chwastyk 23, Ryan Melniczak 11, Marvin Reed 6, Collin Romanczuk 6

Germantown Academy: James Brenner 19, Mick McKee 17, Thomas Rush 12, Anthony Stuard 8, Finnegan Reckner 5, Stanley Kraynak 2