Philly Basketball 24 • 7 • 365

City of Basketball Love

Current Section

Home

92 in 92: Sanford School (Del.)

11/26/2014, 9:00am EST

By Tom Reifsnyder

Sanford School (Del.) 2017 G Eric Ayala was one of the top freshmen in the area last season. (Photo: Tug Haines)

Tom Reifsnyder (@tom_reifsnyder)
–

(Ed. Note: This piece is part of CoBL’s “92 Stories in 92 Days” high school season preview, which will feature a different team in the CoBL coverage range each day from September 1 to December 1.)

Stan Waterman loves a good challenge.

A perennial winner in his 24 years as head coach at Sanford, Waterman led the Warriors to three straight Delaware State Championships from 2010 to 2012. In 2013, Waterman fell one game short of a four-peat as Sanford lost to Howard in the DIAA Final, 81-62.

Last year, Sanford finished with a 19-4 record and advanced to a DIAA Quarterfinal, which they lost in overtime to St. Georges Tech, 69-66.

The end of the 2013-14 season was a little out of the ordinary considering the team’s recent success, but it didn’t stop Waterman from masterminding a daunting schedule for the upcoming season.

Sanford will only play five home games in 2014-15.

“We are the ‘road warriors’ this year,” Waterman said. “It’s just sort of a product of picking up so many games in tournaments and games that are neutral sites so we had to give up some of our home games to get some of the games that we were able to pick up.

“We usually get a pretty ambitious schedule and I’ve been talking to the guys about that all summer.”

Waterman’s bunch is poised for some tough sledding early on, as Sanford will play just one home game in its first 13 matchups of the season.

Some coaches and players might shiver at the sight of the Warriors’ schedule, but sophomore guard Eric Ayala eagerly awaits the challenges that lie ahead. Ayala, a 6-foot-2 combo guard, faced a lot of high-level talent over the summer with 15U WE R1, a Delaware-based AAU program.

Following a strong freshman campaign, Ayala is poised to be Sanford’s go-to scorer this season. The Division I prospect, considered one of the better sophomores around, is already hearing from mid-to-high-major programs.

“I’m ready,” Ayala said. “I think I improved a lot over the summer and preparing for this year.

“I’ve been lifting and improving my figure, staying after practice and shooting some extra shots, and working on my defense especially because there’s going to be a lot of tough games where I’ll have to guard some of the best players on the other team, so I’ve really been working on that.”

Along with Ayala, junior Mikey Dixon is also slated to log major minutes in the team’s backcourt. Dixon is a 6-foot combo guard with good ball handling and outside shooting ability. Although junior Kyle Evans will likely start at the point, Dixon has been preparing to take on a bigger playmaking responsibility this season.

“I’ve really been trying to improve my point guard skills, like my court vision and making the right decisions, things like that,” Dixon said. “I’ve also been working on keeping my jump shot consistent.”

Senior Jahni Love and junior Freddy Ryle will provide some nice depth for the team’s loaded backcourt. Love is a 5-7 defensive stopper who prefers an up-tempo style while Ryle, a 5-11 off guard, excels in catch-and-shoot situations.

As Ayala, Dixon and Evans hold down the starting guard spots, junior Jacob Walsh will be ‘the man’ down low for the Warriors. At 6-8, he is the team’s tallest player by far. While most of the team’s scoring will come from its talented backcourt, the rebounding burden will land mainly on Walsh. Any offensive outbursts from the junior center will simply be a plus.

While Walsh is Sanford’s only true ‘big’, senior Shomi Edeki and sophomore Connor Rufo are two gritty 6-3 forwards that will be significant contributors to the team’s inside play on both ends.

Although most teams look to a single player, often a senior, for guidance, Walsh views Sanford’s leadership dynamic as more of a team effort.

“With our team, I feel like everybody kind of helps out,” Walsh said. “We all kind of take turns when it comes to different aspects.

“Also, we don’t have any new guys this year, so everyone knows what we’re doing for the most part and that definitely helps.”

The team’s leadership-by-committee mindset is likely due to the departure of Todd Hughes (Delaware State) and Anthony Mosley (University of Delaware), who are both playing Division I basketball this season.

Hughes and Mosley were major contributors to Sanford’s success throughout the past four years, but Waterman believes his current group will compensate for the team’s loss of talent and leadership.

“Both Todd and Anthony were starters on two of those state championship teams, so they had been around for a while and they were big strong guys who could score the basketball,” Waterman said. “I think this year we won’t be as talented…but we’ll probably be a better team.

“I like the chemistry of this year’s team a lot better.”

Regardless of how Sanford fares this season, Waterman’s ‘road warriors’ will be as battle tested as any team in the state by season’s end. In December alone, Sanford will take on Imhotep Institute Charter HS (Pa.), Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) and Christ the King HS (N.Y.); but the tough matchups don’t end there.

In January, Waterman’s squad will face Penn Wood HS (Pa.) in the Kobe Bryant Classic at Chestnut Hill College and Teaneck HS (N.J.) in the Battle by the Bay at Atlantic City HS (N.J.).

Waterman knows his team has a tough road ahead of them, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I think it’s probably one of the more challenging schedules that we’ve put together but I try to do that every year by design,” he said. “We want to play the best talent out there and we’re not afraid to play anybody, and as you can tell we’ll play them anywhere.”

After winning three state championships in a five-year span, Sanford is no stranger to high expectations. This season, however, Waterman is treading lightly when it comes to discussing his team’s potential.

“Right now the only goal we’re talking about is getting better everyday, and then we feel like we’ll let the chips fall where the may,” he said. “I feel like if we do the things that we set our minds to do and work on them everyday then we have a chance to have a special season, and I’ll leave it at that.”

~~~