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Penncrest Shootout Preview (June 3-4)

05/30/2017, 10:45am EDT
By Josh Verlin

Tyler Norwood (above) and Penncrest are hosting a 36-team shootout this upcoming weekend. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Penncrest High School will play host to three dozen high school programs this upcoming weekend for the annual Penncrest Shootout, and there’s quite a lot of talent that’ll be going through the Media, Pa. school’s three courts over Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s the full list of participating schools (all from PA): Academy Park, Archbishop Wood, Avon Grove, Bishop Shanahan, Bonner-Prendergast, Cardinal O'Hara, Central Bucks West, Conestoga, Council Rock North, Council Rock South, Delco Christian, Dock Mennonite, Downingtown East, Eastern University Ac. Charter, Episcopal Academy, Garnet Valley, Germantown Academy, Harry S. Truman, Kennett, La Salle College HS, Lower Merion, Marple Newtown, Methacton, Oxford, Penncrest, Phila. Academy Charter, Phil-Mont Christian, Phoenixville, Radnor, Springfield (Delco.), String Theory Charter, Sun Valley, Upper Darby, Upper Moreland, West Chester East, Wissahickon

A few notables:

  • The defending Catholic League and PIAA Class 5A state champions, Archbishop Wood loses three college-bound seniors, including PCL MVP Collin Gillespie (Villanova) plus Matt Cerruti (Lock Haven) and Keith Otto (Moravian), there’s still plenty of talent left for head coach John Mosco, and repeats in both are very much on the table. Division I-bound seniors Seth Pinkney (6-10), Karrington Wallace (6-7), Andrew Funk (6-4) and Tyree Pickron (6-3) form a terrific core, and look out for youngsters like sophomores Zahree Harrison and Chris Garland plus incoming freshman guard Rahsool Diggins.

  • The likely Central League favorites heading into 2017-18, Lower Merion will ride a strong 2019 class the next two years, and this is the time for that group of rising juniors to start really asserting themselves. Guards Stephen Payne and Jack Forrest have the highest ceilings of the group -- Forrest, a 6-4 sniper, has really started to assert himself of late -- but Darryl Taylor and Theo Henry both got plenty of varsity experience as sophomores as well.

  • Also in the Central League, a few other programs that should be there for the league’s Final Four: keep an eye on Conestoga, with senior wing Charlie Schappell and point guard Zach Lezanic leading the way; host Penncrest has the most electric scorer of the bunch in rising senior guard Tyler Norwood, who led the Lions to the District 1 5A championship as a junior, but they’ve got to replace four starters from that team. And then there’s Garnet Valley, led by senior guards Austin Laughlin and Connor O’Brien, plus junior big man Cade Brennan, all who are back from the first team to win a district playoff game in the school’s time in the “big school” classification.

  • The co-Inter-Ac champs from a year ago, Episcopal Academy loses two terrific seniors in Nick Alikakos (Navy) and Conner Delaney (Johns Hopkins), part of a five-man senior class, but has already added at least one key piece for the next few seasons. Alex Capitano, a talented 6-4 wing, joins the program from Great Valley, reclassifying from 2019 to 2020, and will make his Churchmen debut this weekend; he’ll join rising junior Matthew Dade, another 6-3 slasher, to form a powerful 1-2 scoring punch for Craig Conlin. The team they tied with, Germantown Academy, loses do-everything seniors Kyle McCloskey and Evan-Eric Longino, and it’ll be very interesting to see how the Patriots handle their first event without that pair of four-year starters in the lineup since 2013.

  • A few others to note: Methacton boasts a talented duo in rising junior shooting guard David Duda Jr. and rising sophomore big man Jeffrey Woodward, both of whom started the entirety of the 2016-17 season, which saw the Warriors make the District 1 6A playofs; Bonner-Prendergast features rising senior forward Ajiri Johnson, a 6-8 forward with several Division I offers, but incoming 6-9 rising junior Tariq Ingraham is not expected to make his Friars debut just yet; Downingtown East should be in the running for the Ches-Mont title behind rising senior guard Malik Slay and impressive 6-6 rising sophomore Andrew King; speaking of the Ches-Mont, defending runner-up Bishop Shanahan returns rising seniors David Angelo at point and Kevin Dodds in the middle, plus multi-sport athlete Thomas Ford and more.

Full Schedule
Saturday, June 3
8:00 AM
Main 1: Radnor vs. Kennett
Main 2: Delco Christian vs. Sun Valley
Aux: Upper Moreland vs. WC East

8:55 AM
Main 1: Episcopal Ac. vs. Truman
Main 2: Conestoga vs. CR North
Aux: Academy Park vs. Archbishop Wood

9:50 AM
Main 1: WC East vs. Kennett
Main 2: Delco Christian vs. Upper Moreland

Aux: Radnor vs. Sun Valley

10:45 AM
Main 1: Episcopal vs. Archbishop Wood
Main 2: Academy Park vs. CR North

Aux: Conestoga vs. Truman

11:40 AM
Main 1: Radnor vs. WC East
Main 2: Sun Valley vs. Upper Moreland
Aux: Delco Christian vs. Kennett

12:35 PM
Main 1: Academy Park vs. Truman
Main 2: Conestoga vs. Archbishop Wood

Aux: Episcopal Ac. vs. CR North

1:30 PM
Main 1: Penncrest vs. O'Hara
Main 2: Bonner-Prendergast vs. D’Town East
Aux: Garnet Valley vs. CB West

2:25 PM
Main 1: Marple Newtown vs. Phila. Ac. Charter
Main 2: Springfield vs. Dock Mennonite

Aux: Phil-Mont vs. Octorara

3:20 PM
Main 1: O'Hara vs. CB West
Main 2: Garnet Valley vs. D’Town East
Aux: Penncrest vs. Bonner-Prendergast

4:15 PM
Main 1: Phila. Ac. Charter vs. Octorara
Main 2: Springfield vs. Phil-Mont Christian
Aux: Marple Newtown vs. Dock Mennonite

5:10 PM
Main 1: Bonner-Prendergast vs. CB West
Main 2: Garnet Valley vs. O'Hara
Aux: Penncrest vs. D’Town East

6:05 PM
Main 1: Marple Newtown vs. Phil-Mont
Main 2: Octorara vs. Dock Mennonite
Aux: Springfield vs. Phila. Ac. Charter

~~~

Sunday, June 4
8:00 AM
Main 1: Lower Merion vs. Germantown Ac.
Main 2: Upper Darby vs. Shanahan
Aux: La Salle vs. Wissahickon

8:55 AM
Main 1: Methacton vs. CR South
Main 2: Phoenixville vs. Avon Grove
Aux: EUAC vs. Oxford

9:50 AM
Main 1: Lower Merion vs. Wissahickon
Main 2:  La Salle vs. Shanahan
Aux: Upper Darby vs. Germantown Ac.

10:45 AM
Main 1: EUAC vs. CR South
Main 2: Phoenixville vs. Oxford
Aux: Methacton vs. Avon Grove

11:40 AM
Main 1: La Salle vs. Germantown Ac.
Main 2: Upper Darby vs. Wissahickon
Aux: Lower Merion vs. Shanahan

12:35 PM
Main 1: Methacton vs. Oxford
Main 2: EUAC vs. Avon Grove
Aux: Phoenixville vs. CR South


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Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Josh Verlin  Boys HS  Bicentennial League (B)  Phil-Mont Christian  Dock Mennonite  Archbishop Wood   Bonner-Prendergast  Cardinal O'Hara  La Salle College HS  Conestoga  Garnet Valley  Lower Merion  Penncrest  Upper Darby  Marple Newtown  Springfield (Delco.)  Oxford  Kennett  Sun Valley  Avon Grove  Bishop Shanahan  Downingtown East  West Chester East  Academy Park  Episcopal Ac.  Germantown Ac.  Phoenixville  Methacton  String Theory