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St. Joe's Commuter Team Camp Notebook (Pt. 2)

06/18/2018, 12:30pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The St. Joe’s commuter team camp took place this past weekend, with 28 teams -- 27 from the tri-state area and one from Puerto Rico -- coming to Hagan Arena and attached practice facility for six games over the course of three days.

Here’s Part 2 of a notebook from the weekend; Part 1 can be found here:

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Nick Crowe (above) and Devon Prep jump from the BAL to the PCL this year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Devon Prep working through biggest offseason yet

Jason Fisher sprung the news on his team last fall.

After the 2017-18 season, Devon Prep would no longer be a member of the small-school Bicentennial Athletic League. Instead, the Tide would be making quite the leap -- right into the powerhouse Philadelphia Catholic League.

“I was kind of shocked,” rising junior guard Nick Crowe said. “They have a lot of talented people there and we’re a very small Catholic school and it’s not what I was expecting to hear. It’ll be a good challenge.”

With 149 boys enrolled, according to the PIAA’s 2018-19/2019-20 classification reports, Devon Prep will be the smallest of the 15 schools in the PCL, though not by too much; West Catholic has 163 boys, with Bishop McDevitt (191 boys) a bit bigger. But there’s no denying the Tide will have some catching up to do on the hardwood.

Last season, Devon Prep went 5-16 overall, with a 4-11 record in BAL play, playing against schools like Delco Christian, Church Farm, Jenkintown and more. Gone from that squad are five seniors, who all spent time in the starting lineup throughout the season.

For the inaugural year in the PCL, Fisher will rely heavily on Crowe, a 5-8 guard who missed most of his sophomore year with a concussion suffered in the third game of the season. Also expected to carry a good part of the scoring load is Eamonn Walsh, a 6-3 rising sophomore wing forward, while several other juniors and sophomores jump into the varsity pool as well.

The Tide went 5-1 over the course of the weekend, losing to Great Valley at the buzzer to close out Sunday, but there’s no doubt that the competition they’ll face in league play this upcoming will be significantly tougher.

After all, the Catholic League boasts teams like Roman Catholic, Bonner-Prendergast and La Salle, all of which have multiple Division I basketball prospects in the starting lineup, and other impressive athletes up and down the roster. Devon Prep, which didn’t have a starter taller than 6-foot-1, will be physically outmatched in every league game, at least for the time being; the hope is that being in the PCL will elevate the school’s profile, leading to a larger enrollment and more serious athletes.

For now, they’ll have to deal with what they’ve got.

“I feel like we have a chance against some teams, but most of the teams are going to be kind of hard to beat,” Crowe said. “But we’re just going to have to work at it.”

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Greg Sylvester (above) and Holy Ghost are looking to build on a 16-win season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Holy Ghost Prep gearing up for big year
Holy Ghost Prep has its sights set high in 2018-19.

And with good reason.

The Firebirds won 16 games a year ago and qualified for the PIAA Class 5A state tournament, where they bowed out to Overbrook in the first round. But with four starters plus a key reserve returning from that squad, and several other top Bicentennial Athletic League teams losing key players to graduation and/or transfer, Holy Ghost is expecting to better that mark this winter.

“I think we achieved what we wanted [last year], we wanted to get into the state tournament, so that was a goal that we reached,” rising junior wing Sean Elliott said. “Next year we want to get past that, so that’s our goal.”

Elliott’s older brother, Jack Elliott, is the only starter not returning, as he begins his time as a student at Providence College. But the younger Elliott brother looks primed to take a big leap forward after coming off the bench in his sophomore season.

A 6-4 wing, Elliott was hitting shots from the mid-range and beyond the 3-point arc all weekend, utilizing a high-and-deliberate release on his jumper to get his shot off over defenders, whether it was off the catch or a one-dribble pull-up.

“He’s got a great upside,” said Tony Chapman, who’s preparing for his 41st season as Holy Ghost’s head coach. “He’s got to get more greedy, he’s got to realize what he can do, but it’s all a learning process, he’ll get there...if he gets stronger and puts on 10 pounds or so, that’ll help.”

Also returning are 5-11 senior point guard Greg Sylvester and his cousin, 6-4 senior Sean Sylvester, plus 6-3 senior Jack Rittenmeyer; that trio represented three of 10 juniors on the roster a year ago.

That experienced rotation’s effort was in midseason form this weekend, as the Firebirds were constantly throwing their bodies around, diving on the floor for loose balls and crashing the glass as a unit. That’s expected from Chapman’s program, as the coach has prided himself on defensive effort over the years.

If the other end comes along, Prep could be bringing home its first BAL title since 2012.

“They’ve got to work in the summertime and shoot thousands of shots and work on pump-fakes and work on penetrating...we do that, and we pick up offensively and we have a chance to e a decent team,” Chapman said. “If not...we’ll win some, we’ll lose some, but it’s going to be hard the whole year. We’ve just got to be better offensively.”

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Quick Hits
-- Under the guidance of head coach and former St. Joe’s assistant Mike Doyle, Penncrest has been one of the better defensive teams in the area over the last few seasons, winning District 1 5A titles in both 2017 and 2018 thanks to a tremendous effort on that end of the court as well as the scoring ability of senior guard Tyler Norwood. With Norwood (Wilmington U) and his classmates, defensive standouts Justin Heidig and Chris Mills, all moving on to college, Doyle needed some new faces to step up and answer the call. Senior wing Malcolm Williams looks like he’ll be the driving force for Penncrest this year, but keep an eye out for sophomore Denzel Atkinson-Boyer. A 6-6 forward with long arms, Atkinson-Boyer isn’t ready to add much yet offensively besides the occasional stick-back, but in a Central League largely devoid of height, his length inside will provide some issues for opponents.

-- Eastern (N.J.) big man Ryan Ems had a strong outing against Germantown Academy on Saturday, scoring 22 points and generally getting whatever he wanted around the rim. A 6-7 lefty with a strong body and wide shoulders, Ems bullied his way around the hoop, converting two of three 3-point play opportunities; on the one he didn’t, he got his own miss and the put-back. He’s hearing from a list of D-II and D-III schools that already includes Scranton, Gettysburg, East Stroudsburg, USciences, Ursinus and Ithaca.


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