FSL BASKETBALL NEWSLETTER

VOLUME XXV NO. 5 February 21, 2008

ANC WINS 2ND CONSECUTIVE TITLE; 3RD IN FOUR YEARS

The Academy of the New Church was never really threatened in its 64-40 championship win over Friends' Central at Haverford College on Friday, February 15th. Sam Givens led the winners with 18 points, including a pair of authoritative dunks. Larry Loughery added 14 points for the Lions, who forged a 31-13 halftime advantage and played effective unselfish basketball throughout. Freshman Malique Killing paced the Phoenix with 14 points.

In the semifinals, which were postponed to Wednesday, February 13th due to inclement weather on Tuesday, host ANC defeated Shipley 76-40 and Friends' Central topped host Abington 66-59. The Lions had a comfortable 31-16 halftime lead before a 30-8 third quarter burst put the game out of reach. Givens led the way with 29 points, while Loughery added 14 and Kenny Ross 12. Clay Dalrymple paced the Gators with 16 and Aaron Summers chipped in with 10. Friends' Central led at the end of each period and increased a 2 point halftime lead to the final 7 point margin. The result reversed a 20 point regular season Abington win. Cyleb Burton led the Phoenix with 22 points (5 threes). Henry Lobb added 16 and Sam Propper had 10. Bryan Cohen led the Kangaroos with 22 (4 threes) and Will Wise and Jake Lerner each had 10.

ANC is joined by Malvern Prep, The Hill School and Solebury School in the semifinals of the state private schools tournament.

The final game on the 1st saw Sam Propper explode for 30 points to lead visiting Friends' Central to a 56-50 win at Westtown. The Phoenix senior netted 10 2's, two 3's, went 4 for 5 from the line and hauled down 10 rebounds in one of the top individual games in the league this year.

On Tuesday, February 5th Abington hosted Westtown and scored a 59-52 win. The 'roos overcame a 6-point halftime deficit, knotted the score after three periods and pulled away with a 22-15 fourth quarter surge. Two of the leading scorers in the league (Bryan Cohen and Lusito Jiminez) sat out this game. In their wake, Abington placed four players in double figures led by Walther with 19. Joey Gripper added 13 and Jabril Trawick and Jake Lerner each had 10. Matthew Lee led all scorers with 26 points while Berk Atuk added 16 for Westtown.

On Wednesday, February 6th Friends' Central visited Shipley and opened up a 13 point lead after three quarters on the way to a 56-47 win. Devin Coleman and Cyleb Burton each had 14 for the winners, while Propper chipped in with 13. Armond Leaks led the Gators with 12 points.

Also on the 6th George School held host Friends Select to two points in the third quarter on the way to a 54-29 victory. Kyle Scott led the Cougars with 10 points, while Corey Smith also had 10 for the Falcons.

The final regular season games took place on Friday, February 8th and it took a serious comeback by Shipley in their game at George School to avoid a three-way tie for fourth place. The Gators found themselves trailing 36-23 at halftime, before exploding for a 25-5 third quarter and then holding off the Cougars in the fourth quarter to secure fourth place and a semifinal trip to Bryn Athyn. Four Gators reached double figures led by Dalrymple with 19. Leaks had 12, Balderston 11, and Aaron Summers 10. Tapia had 15, Scott 14 and Garner 11 for the Cougars.

Had George School won, there would have been a three-way tie among George, Shipley and the winner of the Germantown-Westtown game. The visiting Quakers opened an early lead and had an answer for every Germantown surge in a very competitive game. Westtown had only four players score, but they all reached double digits. Lee led the way with 20, while Jiminez added 17, Josh Harris 13 and Atuk 10. Stewart had 22 for the Tigers and Jason Symonette added 11. Harris played spectacular defense holding Tigers' high scorer Bill without a basket.

ANC completed their undefeated regular season with a 68-47 win at Friends' Central. The Lions coasted after streaking to a 44-18 halftime lead. Sam Givens led the way with 15 points, while Loughery and Kenny Ross each added 13, and Shannon Givens chipped in with 10. Coleman paced the losers with 11 points.

In the final game on the 8th visiting Abington won every quarter, but none by more than 3 points on the way to a 49-40 win at Friends Select. The 'roos played again with out Cohen and were paced by Lerner with 18 and Walther with 13. Bruce Jackson topped the Falcons with 8 points.

Semifinal games on Tuesday, February 12th will feature ANC hosting Shipley and Abington hosting Friends' Central. The championship game will take place at Haverford College on Friday 2/15.

On Tuesday, January 22nd host Westtown opened up a 23-15 halftime lead over Friends Select, then survived a 3-3 third quarter on the way to a 41-32 win. Lusito Jiminez and Matthew Lee led the Quakers with 17 and 14 points respectively. Bruce Jackson and Brett Nagle each had 8 for the Falcons.

Also on the 22nd, visiting Germantown led at some point in each of the four quarters, but could not build or hold the lead and ended up losing 60-53 to Friends' Central. Devin Coleman led all scorers with 23 points, while Sam Propper added 14 and Cyleb Burton 11 for the Phoenix. Rasheed Stewart paced the Tigers with with 19 points, while Wes Bill had 16 and Nick Mraz 10.

The final contest on the 22nd saw George School top visiting Moorestown 54-48. The Cougars found themselves trailing by one point after three quarters, but surged 21-14 during the final stanza. Malik Garner with 24 and Emmanuel Tapia with 16 paced the winners, while Jake Montgomery (13) and Rushabh Thosani (11) led the Foxes.

Moorestown jumped right back into the fray as they hosted Academy of the New Church on Wednesday, January 23rd. The visiting Lions jumped out to a 33-18 first quarter advantage on the way to a 97-47 win. Sam Givens paced 10 ANC scorers with 22 points. Larry Loughery netted 15, Clay Penecale, 14 and Kenny Ross 12. Thosani led the hosts with 15 points all on threes.

On Friday, January 25th host Westtown edged George School by two points in each of the four quarters on the way to a 55-47 win. Jiminez again led all scorers with 26 points, while Josh Harris added 12 and Lee had 11. Tapia topped the Cougars with 19.

Also on the 25th visiting Germantown used a 16-11 3rd quarter advantage to pull away from Moorestown 47-40. Bill topped the Tigers with 15, while Stewart added 12. Thosani again had 15 for the Foxes, while Ben Bruvik chipped in with 13.

The final game on the 25th saw host Shipley build a 29-17 halftime lead over Friends Select on the way to a 62-34 win. Armand Leaks had 16 for the Gators, while David Balderston, Charles Dalrymple and Aaron Summers each contributed 10 points. Alex Zimmerman had 8 points for the Falcons.

In a matchup of the league's two undefeated teams, Abington could not keep pace with area #1 (US # 23) ANC. The Lions jumped out to a 21-9 first quarter advantage on the way to a 65-39 win in a game played at Penn State Abington on Saturday, January 26th. Penecale paced the winners with 23 points (7-9 from beyond the arc). Givens added 14 and Ross 10. Bryan Cohen topped the 'roos with 14 points.

Also on the 26th, host Friends' Central needed a 19-7 fourth quarter surge to top Friends Select 61-44. Burton had 22 (10 for 13 from the charity stripe) Propper added 16 and Coleman 10 for the Phoenix, while Ben Roach led the Falcons with 13 and Bruce Jackson contributed 11.

Three games were played on January 29th. Shipley hosted Moorestown and jumped out to a 20-4 first quarter advantage on the way to a 67-38 win. Balderston scored 17, Dalrymple 14, Armond Leaks 13, and Summers 10 for the winners. Thosani had 11 and Tim Cook 10 for the Foxes.

At ANC the Lions roared out to a 24-9 lead after one period and coasted to an 83-52 win over visiting Westtown. Loughery led 10 ANC scorers with 18 points. Sam Givens added 12 and brother Shannon had 11. Jiminez paced Westtown with 13.

Abington also raced out to an early lead in their home game against Friends' Central. The 'roos led 23-7 after one period and went on to a 62-42 win. Cohen led the way for the hosts with 19 points, while Jake Lerner contributed 15. Burton paced the Phoenix with 12 points.

Four games were played on Friday, January 11th as league action moved into full swing. Shipley visited Germantown and overcame a slow start (4 points in the 1st quarter) to eventually pull away to a 54-42 win over the Tigers. Dan Balderston paced the Gators with 19 points, while John McCann chipped in with 10. Rasheed Stewart led the hosts with 17 points and Wes Bill netted 12.

Abington visited George School and held the hosts to 14 second-half points on the way to a 54-43 win. The 'roos trailed after the first quarter and at the half, but put the game away with their tough defense down the stretch. Mike Walther and Bryan Cohen each scored 16 for the visitors, while Emmanuel Tapia led the Cougars with 19 and Kyle Scott added 13.

Academy of the New Church jumped out to a 36-9 halftime lead at Friends Select and coasted to a 67-34 win. Larry Loughery led the Lions with 16 points and Shannon Givens contributed 11. Corey Smith paced the Falcons with 11 points as well.

Host Friends' Central fell behind 24-14 after the first quarter, but stormed back with a 19-2 second quarter on the way to a 70-50 win over Moorestown. Devin Coleman led 9 Phoenix scorers with 18 points. Sam Propper added 14 and Cyleb Burton netted 10. Sean Denson (12) and Ben Bruvik (10) paced the Foxes.

On Tuesday, January 15th Westtown took a 71-40 homecourt win over Moorestown. The hosts held the Foxes to 10 points in each quarter while expanding an 11 point halftime advantage to the final 31 point margin. Westtown was led by super sophs Lusito Jimenez (29) and Matthew Lee (28). Rushabh Thosani paced Moorestown with 10 points.

Also on the 15th ANC took the short trip to George School and took home a 65-42 win. The Lions opened up a 39-16 halftime lead and coasted home from there. Kenny Ross led the winners with 20 points. Sam Givens added 12 and Clay Penecale netted 10. Kyle Scott paced the Cougars with 11 points.

On Friday, January 18th ANC jumped out to a 26-6 first quarter advantage against visiting Germantown on the way to a 79-44 win. Pennecale led 11 Lions' scorers with 13 points. Warren Gillis and Sam Givens each had 11 while Loughery chipped in with 10. Anton Popov topped the Tigers with 10 points.

Also on the 18th George School visited Friends' Central and found themselves trailing by 8 points after one period and by 9 points entering the final quarter, only to storm back and win 55-53 in overtime. Tapia again led the Cougars with 15, while Tom Wayda added 13 and Malik Garner 12. Burton had 20, Coleman 19 and Henry Lobb 10 for the Phoenix, accounting for all but four of the team's points.

On Saturday, January 19th there was another overtime contest as visiting Shipley trailed Westtown 33-19 at the half, before tightening the defensive screws and holding the hosts to 11 second half points on the way to a 57-52 win in extra time. Balderston again topped the Gators with 20 points. McCann added 16, including 6-7 from the foul line in overtime. Aaron Summers added 10 for the winners. Lee had 23 and Jiminez 16 for Westtown

Also on the 18th Abington's non league 87-53 victory over LEAP Academy was Steve Chadwin's 500th career win in his 29 year tenure as the Kangaroo's coach. Congratulations on the milestone.

Abington and Shipley opened the FSL season early with a December 20th matchup at Shipley. The hosts led by 4 at the half and by 3 after 3 quarters, but fell to the 'roos 4th quarter 13-8 surge to trail at the final buzzer 42-40. Jake Lerner led the winners with 17 points and Bryan Cohen added 10 points. Aaron Summers topped Shipley with 13 points and John McCann added 10. The Gators stayed in the game with perfect team free throw shooting (10-10), while Abington went 12-26 from the line.

Germantown traveled to Friends Select on January 4th to get an early new year's start on league play. The Tigers trailed after each of the first three quarters, before surging ahead in the final stanza, only to have the hosts tie the score forcing overtime. In the extra frame GFS netted 10 points (6 by Wes Bill) while holding the Falcons to just three made free throws in 6 attempts. Bill led all scorers with 19 points, while Corey Smith paced the hosts with 11 points.

On Tuesday, January 8th Germantown hosted Abington in a very exciting and entertaining contest which the 'roos won by a 52-49 score. Abington led throughout the first half, but never by a large margin. The Tigers pulled ahead in the third quarter as the held the visitors scoreless through the first five minutes of the period. Abington edged ahead late in the quarter and then Cohen hit a buzzer-beater three to put them up by four going into the final stanza. After a back-and-forth final quarter, GFS had the ball down by 2 points with 17 seconds left only to have the ball inadvertently dribbled off a teammate's heel on the way up the court. Cohen led all scorers with 19 points and Will Wise added 16 points all in the first half for the winners. Bill paced the Tigers with 18, while Rasheed Stewart added 12 and Max deLone had 11.

Congratulations to ANC for their big time win over nationally # 1 ranked St. Benedicts of New Jersey, 53-50 on January 8th. ANC is ranked 2nd in the Philadelphia area. Early season tournament play saw the Lions capture the Mercersburg tourney, while Westtown won the Battle of the Boarding Schools. GFS took second place in the Germantown Community Tournament. Abington did the same in the Hill School Tournament, as did Moorestown in the Audubon Tournament.

FSL Boys' Basketball Page

FSL Home Page