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Prepping for Preps: La Salle College HS (Pa.)

11/18/2015, 2:30pm EST
By Thomas Primosch

Jarrod Stukes (above, in June) is one of four new starters for the Explorers. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Thomas Primosch (@ThomasPrimosch)
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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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After graduating nine seniors from a roster that went 21-7 and got to the quarterfinals of the AAAA state championship, one would think this year would be a rebuilding year for La Salle College HS.

That’s not how head coach Joe Dempsey looks at it.

Recent memory has proven that anything’s possible.

“Two years ago we lost the whole top six or seven guys and then the next year we made it to the state championship,” Dempsey said. “I’m not saying saying that’s going to happen again, but I like to believe in our system.”

The Explorers lost by one on a buzzer-beater in last year’s state playoff game against J.P. McCaskey, and they want to get right back to where they were last year.

Without the star power of other teams in the Catholic league like Roman Catholic or Neumman-Goretti, though, Dempsey’s team will need to rely on a balanced attack to generate offense.

It’s something he’s plenty familiar with.

“Last year, we had really balanced scoring and our top five scorers all averaged somewhere between nine and 11 points per game,” he said.

The Explorers graduated four starters, including three seniors who made All-Catholic League teams. David Krmpotich (14.2 ppg), a 6-7 forward who is now at Colgate, plus D-II bound guards Najee Walls (13.4 ppg)--who is playing at East Stroudsburg--and Nyack freshman Shawn Witherspoon (12.4 ppg), all were key members of last year’s team.

That’s the team’s starting backcourt, it’s best frontcourt defender and, when adding fellow graduate Dan Corr to the mix, more than 77 percent of its scoring.

Although the departure of those players will leave some big holes to fill, Dempsey is confident in the abilities of seniors Shane Stark and Ryan McTamney and he believes they can become the leaders of a young team.

“They’re certainly going to have to take more shots than they did their junior year and they’re going to have to take on more of a leadership role this year,” Dempsey said.

Stark, a 6-5 forward who has drawn interest from Ursinus and Kutztown, is the only returning starter from last year’s team.

The senior understands his role as a leader on and off the court.  

“I definitely have to be one of the leaders and that’s something I have to improve on,” Stark noted when asked about his presence on the team.

McTamney, a 6-5 wing who can stretch the floor, will be one of the focal points on offense for the Explorers.

Stark will mostly play down low, but at times he’ll handle the ball and he said he feels comfortable handling the ball on the perimeter.

“I’ll probably be down low, but I’ll be able to drive from the wing and short corner and stuff like that,” he said.

In the backcourt, Dempsey will rely on a pair of juniors, Jarrod Stukes and Matt Paulus, both of whom bench minutes a year ago but suddenly will be tasked to run the Explorers' offense and find open shots.

One of the keys for Dempsey’s team will be how well they defend. In a league with many high-level scorers, the Explorers will have find ways to keep teams from getting hot and running away with games.

Stukes--whose older brother Amar starred at La Salle College HS and is now a starting guard at La Salle University--and senior Dan Remolde will be the team’s two best on-ball defenders, but Dempsey isn’t afraid to switch styles if something’s wrong.

“Defensively we want to make the other team work every time and we like to mix our defenses up,” Dempsey said. “We play both zone and man, and we’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of doing that.”

One thing that that could hurt the Explorers is their lack of established players and Dempsey knows that. There is a ton of unproven talent next to him on the bench and it’s unclear who will step up to fill in as the part of the second unit.

“Depth is gonna be an issue,” Dempsey said. “When you lose nine seniors there’s a lot of opportunity for people.”

Despite not having many proven players, Dempsey is excited and confident that his team will be well prepared and ready to go when the season starts.

After all, two years ago it was Walls, Witherspoon and Krmpotich who were in the same exact position.

And that turned out just fine.

“When it’s time for kids to step and assume their turn, they’re usually ready because of how we practice and how we bring kids along,” Dempsey said. “It’s time for the younger guys to get their turn, and we’re looking forward to that happening.”


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