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2014-15 CoBL Inter-Ac/Friends' League Awards

04/09/2015, 5:15pm EDT
By CoBL Staff

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The Inter-Academic and Friends' Leagues have a lot in common, with some of the oldest private schools in the region--and the country--belonging to each. We decided to combine the best of the two leagues for our Independent Schools postseason awards.

Player of the Year
Tim Guers--Sr., Germantown Academy

The reigning Inter-Ac MVP finished off his high school career with yet another Inter-Ac championship for coach Jim Fenerty and Germantown Academy, finishing off a string of three consecutive titles.

Guers, who will be playing at the next level at Division II St. Anselm’s in New Hampshire, led GA with 18.4 ppg in Inter-Ac play, trailing only two players on the league’s top scoring list. Guers saved perhaps his best performance in a GA uniform for his last Inter-Ac game.

Without a league playoff, and in a winner take all final game against Episcopal, Guers left no question as to who was the league’s MVP and best team, scoring a season-high 33 points as GA topped Episcopal, 74-50. The win avenged GA’s only Inter-Ac loss this year, a game in which Guers scored just 11 points.

In a league that boasts a slew of Division I players, Guers was, night in and night out, one of the toughest guards in the league. He should play a big role on a program who's fresh off a No. 3 seed in the East Regional in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

First Team
Nick Alikakos--Soph., Episcopal Academy
--Arguably one of the best Division I prospects in all of the Inter-Ac, Alikakos shined in his sophomore campaign at Episcopal. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 19 ppg and was dominant on the glass.

Levan Alston--Sr., Haverford School
--The Temple-bound guard was everything and more for The Haverford School, averaging 18.2 ppg while being the team’s facilitator on the offensive end.

Tim Guers--Sr., Germantown Academy
--He's not flashy, but the 6-2 senior guard got it done for the Patriots for the last two years. Terrific 3-point shooter and a crafty creator as well.

De’Andre Hunter--Jr., Friends’ Central
--Coming off of a lost sophomore season when he suffered a broken leg, Hunter rebounded to finish second in the Friends Schools' League in scoring at 20.9 ppg. This wing should see many more high-major offers coming this summer.

Ray Leon--Sr., Germantown Friends
--This high-scoring guard lived up to that distinction for an upstart GFS group. Leon led all Friends League scorers with 21.7 ppg and was one of the more entertaining shooting guards around, with NBA 3-point range and a crafty mid-range game to boot.

Lamar Stevens--Jr., Haverford School
--The Inter-Ac’s leading scorer (19.1 ppg) will be heading to Roman Catholic next season, but he made a big mark in his junior year at The Haverford School. Tough, physical wing had his way with opponents around the basket.

Second Team
Jair Bolden--Jr., Westtown School
--Every balanced scoring attack needs a catalyst, and Westtown had a pretty good one in Bolden, a talented guard who led the Moose with 13.3 ppg in league play.

Devon Goodman--Jr., Germantown Academy
--Guers’ running mate in the GA backcourt, Goodman had a very strong year for the Inter-Ac champions, posting a scoring average of 12.6 ppg in Inter-Ac play.

Jonathan Lawton--Sr., Friends’ Central
--A senior with one Division I offer to date (Radford), Lawton filled it up for Friends’ Central alongside DeAndre Hunter, averaging 14.8 ppg.

Sam Lindgren--Sr., Germantown Academy
--This Colgate-bound forward was a major interior presence for the Inter-Ac champs, Germantown Academy. Lindgren scored 11.7 ppg in 10 league games.

Cameron Reddish--Fr., Haverford School
--If you haven’t heard the name of this young guard, watch out. A 6-6 point guard with a very developed game for his age, Reddish averaged 12.5 ppg this year with two high-major players commanding touches ahead of him.

Edvinas Rupkus--Sr., Westtown School
--The 6-foot-3 senior off-guard played a pivotal role on a talented but young Westtown group. As a senior leader, Rupkus, a Lithuanian, was the calming presence while also providing a 3-point shot when needed.

Honorable Mention
Andrew Aldridge (Sr., Germantown Friends), Chris Anderson (Sr., Malvern Prep), Justin Anderson (Fr., SCH Academy), Mohamed Bamba (Soph., Westtown School), Joe Beideman (Sr., Moorestown Friends), Chuck Champion (Jr., Friends’ Central), Joey Fitzpatrick (Sr., Malvern Prep), Yohn Hall (Sr., Abington Friends), Mike Hinkley (Sr., Episcopal Academy), Vincent Jackson (Sr., Academy New Church), Quamier Johnson (Sr., Shipley School), Matt Woods (Sr., Episcopal Academy)

Coach of the Year
Shawn Werdt - Germantown Friends School

It looked like a long year ahead for Werdt, whose Tigers went 10-12 overall (4-5 in Friends’ Schools League play) in 2013-14, the first as a head coach for the former Philly U assistant coach. Then, in the offseason, his best all-around player, junior guard Austin Harriott, transferred to the Hun School (N.J.), leaving Werdt with an undersized, unproven group at a school that’s not exactly considered a hoops powerhouse.

Instead, GFS completely out-performed expectations, going 21-5 overall, with a 7-3 record in league play. A group of four seniors, led by 5-foot-11 shooting guard Ray Leon, 6-2 forward Andrew Aldridge and 5-8 twins Jamil and Jalil Pines-Elliott, played their hearts out all year long, with Aldridge regularly battling players with quite a few inches on him while Leon had to create his way to 20-plus points night in and night out against Division I guards.

And then, to silence any doubters who thought that the Tigers were just a byproduct of an easy schedule and a down year in the league, Werdt led his team to an upset over Friends’ Central in the FSL semifinals despite the Phoenix boasting a 6-7 Division I wing in De’Andre Hunter and two other D-I prospects in the backcourt. To back that up, GFS gave Westtown a game in the FSL final, losing 52-44 to a team that started five players all taller than 6-3.


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