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Conwell-Egan developing around experienced core

12/31/2015, 2:30pm EST
By Ethan Miller

Ethan Miller (@EthanMiller)
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After completing a remarkable season last year winning the AA state championship for the first time in school history, Conwell-Egan is looking to follow in those footsteps.

Although the Eagles lost PIAA Class AA Player of the Year Stevie Jordan due a transfer of schools, there is still serious potential for the Eagles. Conwell-Egan’s return of two players, LaPri McCray-Pace and Vinny Dalessandro who received PIAA all-state honors last season are looking to teach this young Eagle’s team the ropes to success.

After falling to last year’s PIAA A state champion Constitution in yesterday’s PBP Jameer Nelson Classic matchup, coach Frank Sciolla had a lot to say about the development of the team.

“Constitution’s backcourt is one of the best in the area. I think it was really good for our young guys to get this experience,” he said. “We had three guys who have never been in that situation before. When you put guys in those situations, they get sped up, so it’s something we practice and keep going.”

The Eagles are now 7-2 on the year, receiving their first loss to District 1 champion Abington, 63-61, in the fourth game of the season. That includes wins in their Catholic League opener over Father Judge and victories over North Penn, Central Bucks South and Trenton Catholic.

“Both of our losses are to high competitive teams,” Sciolla said. “Coming October 1, a lot of people thought we were going to fall off the ledge, so we’re happy where we’re at.”  

Coming down the stretch at the end of the second quarter, the Eagles turned the ball over four times which led to a 8-0 run for the Generals. Similar to the ending of the first half, the Eagles couldn’t handle the late-game pressure and lost 58-53.

McCray-Pace, a 6-foot-4 senior, finished with a game high of 22 points. McCray-Pace was all over the court for the Eagles, finding his way to rim but also shooting extremely well from the perimeter. His presence down low is extremely crucial for the Eagles considering he gathered seven rebounds for the team.

“I think LaPri handles things pretty well,” Sciolla said. “He’s just got to keep being positive and keep playing well. He’s done a great job all season, but he can’t do things for people.”

While there are some experienced guys on the court, there are still some young who are trying to find their niche to the game such as juniors Daniel Green and Darien Simmons

“Most of our guys are young, Darien and Daniel are just learning right now,” McCray-Pace said. “By February they’ll be able to call themselves experienced and ready to go for playoffs.”

Surrounding McCray-Pace is 5-11 junior guard Kar’ron Johnson who has received a lot of minutes due to Jordan’s departure from the backcourt. Another key factor is 6-6 sophomore forward James Leible who transferred from St. Joseph's Prep.

“The main focus is that all these guys are really young, they will develop, but it also takes time. It’s not an overnight thing,” McCray-Pace said. “As long as we keep doing what we’re doing such as walking them through the process we will be okay.”

 

The Eagles schedule doesn’t get much easier as their next two matchups will be against nationally ranked competitor Roman Catholic (3-0) and Lasalle High School (9-1).

 

“We will be ready for those games,” McCray-Pace said. “We just have to be physically and mentally prepared. We gotta look over the film from the loss (yesterday's game) and go over what we did right and wrong and try to perfect it, that’s all we can do to be the best version of us.”


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