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NEBL Notebook: Wednesday, May 6

05/06/2015, 11:30pm EDT

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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The 2015 edition of the Northeast Basketball League continued Wednesday night with just two games up at the Mayfair Recreation Center (2990 Saint Vincent Street). CoBL will be providing coverage of the NEBL and its 20 teams over the next eight weeks, with coverage every night of the action, every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday.

An up-to-date schedule and standings can be found at our NEBL homepage; here’s a notebook from the action on Wednesday, May 6, with results first and some quotes afterwards:

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New Foundations 52, Bensalem 51
Bensalem went on a 15-5 run after being down 39-31 midway through the second half and took the lead, but the strong play of New Foundations guard Keith Blassingale down the stretch preserved the win for the Northeast Philly charter school. Blassingale led New Foundations with 13 points, but none were bigger than his 3-pointer and layup on back-to-back possessions with inside of two minutes to play. Bensalem had a chance with two shots at the free throw line to tie the game or take the lead, but was unable to convert either attempt. Bensalem had four players in double figures, with Brandon Vaughn leading the way with 15 points.

Archbishop Wood 84, Paul VI 55
Archbishop Wood grabbed an early lead and then ran away with the game against a Paul VI team that had just six players. Rising senior point guard Tommy Funk led the way with 20 points for Wood, which had nine different scorers on the night. Also in double figures for the Vikings were Keith Otto (16) and Tyree Pickron (10). Paul VI was led by 18 points apiece from Justin Ryder and Voshon Mack.

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Funky facemask leads young Wood group
There’s nothing like a brotherly game of 1-on-1 in the driveway. Especially when the whole family is around for a Communion celebration this past weekend at the Funk household.

Archbishop Wood junior Tommy Funk was taking on his older brother Matt, who graduated Wood last year (2014). Funk, a rising senior point guard, won the first game and was trailing by one in game two when he got a rude awakening.

“He was going at the ball, I was going the opposite way and his forehead went right across my nose,” Funk said.

The result was a broken nose. So Funk played in Wednesday’s NEBL opener for his Vikings with a facemask.

It didn’t seem to affect his jump shot.

Funk poured in four 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points in Wood’s rout over Paul VI.

“It wasn’t that bad, I was just kind of getting used to how it feels,” Funk said of the facemask. “It’s nothing different, really. You can still see everything.”

Everything included his fellow Vikings on the court at the Mayfair Rec Center. Funk looked all of the floor general he’s expected to be next year, dishing out assists and running the floor with poise.

The Vikings graduated five seniors and return just three players who contributed substantial minutes at the varsity level last year: Funk, rising sophomore Tyree Pickron and rising junior Colin Gillespie.

But that’s not to say Wood doesn’t have some young talent waiting in the wings.

Rising junior Keith Otto impressed on wednesday night with 16 points. Rising sophomore forward Karrington Wallace (9 points) looks like he’ll become a solid presence in the post.

Wood also has a pair of rising seniors in James Gillespie (7 points) and John Fleming (5 points) who have a little bit of varsity experience from last season.

Funk’s younger brother Andrew, a rising sophomore, could contribute as well. He knocked down two 3-pointers on Wednesday.

Either way, Wood will go as far as the one who wore the mask Wednesday takes them.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun having more of a control of the team,” Funk said. “They’re young, they’re going to make mistakes. I just have to learn how to deal with that. In can be frustrating at times, but it’s good to be able to work with them because they have a lot of talent.”

“It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing how they can develop throughout the summer and then working into the season.”

Funk, who holds a scholarship offer from Army, is still hearing from Ivy and Patriot League schools looking for his services in college. He plays his AAU basketball with the Jersey Shore Warriors and has plenty of time to work on his game before July’s live recruiting period to get additional offers.

“I’m working on my jump shot, knocking it down consistently,” Funk said. “I was knocking down shots tonight, other nights I’m a little inconsistent with it.”

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Quick Shots
--Paul VI has a very talented point guard in 2017 Justin Ryder, who plays his AAU basketball with Team Final Blue. At 5-foot-10, Ryder is a pretty shifty guard that showed a knack for getting in the lane and creating, despite his team getting blown out. His 18 points were almost lost in the near-30-point drubbing his team suffered.

--New Foundations Charter guard Keith Blassingale was pretty impressive in Wednesday night’s action. His shot wasn’t falling early, but it did when it counted as he nailed a big 3-pointer late in the contest. The 6-foot guard also showed a pretty good ability to get to the rim.