City of Basketball Love

Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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Fresh off the most successful season in Methacton history, the players may be different, but the message from head coach Jeff Derstine remains the same.

“Our mentality is always to play team basketball,” Derstine said. “From an energy and effort standpoint this group plays incredibly hard. We’re going to really try to get after it defensively and play team basketball just like we try to do each and every year.”

Last year, Methacton finished 13-1 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10), and won the league title after a 73-63 win over Pottsgrove. The run did not end there, as they advanced to the second round of the state tournament for the first time in school history before losing to eventual state semifinalists J.P. McCaskey 65-52.

The reigning PAC-10 champions are replacing seven seniors, and all five of the starters from last year’s historic season, including All-PAC-10 first teamers Chris McCarthy and Justin Ardman. They are also replacing Tom Dyer and T.J. Tornetta, who each scored in double figures in the PAC-10 Championship.

The only player with significant varsity experience as a part of the rotation is 5-11 junior guard Patrick O’Neill. O’Neill came off the bench last season, and was the 8th man out of an eight man rotation. Outside of the 5-11 guard, this Methacton team features 6-3 center Stephan Savage, who is slightly undersized but brings a physical presence and a defensive enforcer to the paint.

“I’m not the biggest center in the league,” Savage said. “But I’ve been working on stepping out and hitting that short corner shot. I have to focus on being big, being aggressive, and being strong.”

In a team that is searching for a few leaders to step up, the Methacton big man hopes that he and fellow seniors can set a good example for the younger guys and repeat last year’s achievements.

“We don’t have the talent or star power to go one-on-all and drop 30 points a game,” Savage said. “All of our seniors have to play together and be leaders together.”

Derstine wants his team to learn from last year’s successes and help to replicate and build on them this year despite not having the same talent on the team.

“Every team is different, and one of our objectives is to play to our strengths. We have a group of guys ready to play hard and play together,” the sixth-year head coach said.

Even though repeating as PAC-10 champions could be difficult because of the high turnover from last year’s team, the Warriors head coach believes this Methacton team needs to match last year’s confidence level.

“Our guys (last year) played with a lot of confidence,” Derstine added. “I think confidence is understanding what your roles are and that is why we are emphasizing that this season.”

Senior guard Jake Cardarelli, one of the team’s leaders, is hoping that this Methacton team can be as resilient as last year’s team, which had multiple comebacks wins and pulled away late in games with regularity.

“Every single game it seemed like there was a point in the game where a team would go on a run,” Cardarelli said. “Our seniors would not let that affect them. We’ve just got to stay positive and stay focused.”

The season does not start easily for a team who is still trying to figure out who is going to be in the rotation. Methacton opens PAC-10 play at Phoenixville, then plays Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley, all 3 of which are expected to be frontrunners for the league title.

In addition to in-conference challenges, Methacton has scheduled multiple games out of conference, including C.B. West and their season opener against Quakertown.

“I look across the board at our schedule, and our guys need to be ready to go. There’s a lot of talent in the league and our guys need to be ready to play at a high level,” Derstine said. “That’s why I challenge the players and have them challenge each other every single day.”

In the end, it will be very difficult for Methacton to replicate the achievements of last year’s team. But if they stay focused, learn to play with one another, and gel sooner rather than later, Methacton can outperform their expectations

And Savage knows that this Methacton team is not to be overlooked once they learn to play together and find their roles within the team.

“Everything is coming together like a big puzzle, and we’re getting closer every day,” he said.

For Methacton, the pieces are there. Now they just have to put them in the right place.