the Khandyman Basketball 2012-13   Return to TedSilary.com Home Page     A sophomore at the Haverford School, Manav Khandelwal is very excited to cover HS basketball for tedsilary.com! From writing for the Bleacher Report to starting his own site, khandyman.com, to covering HS basketball, he lives and breathes sports.   You can follow him on Twitter @TheKhandyman.   To reach him via email: phillyfan362@gmail.com.

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MAY 8
A LOOK AT RECRUITING
  His dad played college basketball at Temple and won a national championship (albeit on paper) in high school. It’s fair to say soph guard Levan “Shawn” Alston has basketball “in his blood.” But that’s not what made him the 2012-2013 Inter-Ac MVP as voted by his opposing coaches. It’s his natural leadership skills and impeccable work ethic.

  Haverford basketball was, if we are having a candid conversation, the Inter-Ac’s basement dweller for nearly a decade at the start of the 2000s. Up until about 2011, when Alston, junior Eric Anderson, and soph Sean Lloyd joined the Varsity team, Haverford was always Episcopal Academy’s baby brother on the hardwood. That’s all changed.

  Despite playing in a very tough league last season, Fords basketball achieved a 17-9 record (6-4 in the Inter-Ac, good for 2nd). Many of their losses were forgivable, coming against the likes of Class-A state champions Vaux Cougars and PAISAA state champions Germantown Academy Patriots (x3).

  This rejuvenation has been led by Alston, who won Inter-Ac co-MVP this season after leading the league with 16.3 points and 6.4 assists per game. He also shot 43.9% from the field and 85.9% from the free-throw line, impressive clips for a guy who led Haverford’s fast-paced offense.

  Anderson and Lloyd also had seasons worth noting. Anderson, an athletic, 6’6” wingman who started at small forward for much of the season, averaged 12.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. Despite being ineligible during the Inter-Ac’s regular season due to league transfer rules, Lloyd still made his presence felt averaging 14.3 points per game during the regular season and then shutting down Westtown sharpshooter Jared Nickens ’14 in the first round of the PAISAA championship.

  Their success has continued into the Spring season. Alston is playing for the AAU powerhouse Team Final. It features such players as TreVaughn Wilkerson and Manny Taylor (Roman Catholic), Ahmad Gilbert (Constitution), Tyus Battle (Gill St. Bernard's), and Lamarr Kimble (Neumann-Goretti), some of the top 16-and-under players in the city. A rising junior, Alston has just burst onto the recruiting scene as of late, garnering a lot of national interest due to his brilliant play.

  He has received interest – he still cannot speak directly to colleges, so his AAU and Haverford coaches can speak directly to the schools – from a long list of schools that include Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State, Temple (his dad’s alma mater), Providence, Xavier, Harvard, and Yale.

  Of the schools he’s looked at, a select few have stood out. “Temple is where my dad went, I’ve been a fan my whole life. Michigan and Kentucky are two high-level programs with high-level coaches. Michigan almost won a championship this year, Kentucky won 2 years ago; both are winning programs.”

  That last bit is important, at least to Alston, who says, “Right now, all options are open, but I’d like to attend a school that can compete for a national championship.”

  He’s even received offers to play collegiate basketball at both Penn and Penn State already. Of the opportunity to play at Penn, he says, “It’s a chance to get a great education along with an awesome athletic career.”

  Anderson, the most senior of the three, is also the closest to making his final decision. His recruiting picture is more in focus than the other two; he has a total of seven offers, from Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Fairfield, Holy Cross, and Lafayette. He is also getting interest from Harvard, Penn, Notre Dame, and Rice. His AAU team is the Jersey Shore Warriors, whose roster also includes guys like Sean O’Brien (Penn Charter), Dominique Uhl (Pt. Pleasant Beach), Kyle Thompson (St. Joe's Prep), and Justin McFadden (Lower Merion).

  Of where his heart lies, Anderson commented, “There is not one school in particular that has stood out from the rest. I plan on getting out on some visits but as of right now I’m just enjoying the recruiting process and grateful for the interest schools have shown in me.”

  Lloyd is a member of the AAU squad Team Philly, sponsored by NBA guard Kyle Lowry. Other notable team members include Raheem Liggins (Constitution), Basil Thompson (Math Civics & Sciences), and Rashann London (Roman Catholic).

  Lloyd already has received a lot of interest from schools including Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami, Villanova, Virginia, Saint Joseph’s, Penn State, Delaware, Temple, Xavier, and Albany.

  Of those schools, Lloyd says, “Miami and Syracuse are definitely my dream schools.” Miami, which advanced all the way to the Sweet Sixteen this year after winning both the ACC regular season and tournament championships, would be a good fit for Lloyd; they play a man-to-man defense and like to play an up-tempo style that Lloyd fit in well with at Haverford.

  Overall, it’s clear that Haverford’s current roster is brimming with talent. Obviously, we have these three sure-fire Division-I recruits in Anderson, Alston, and Lloyd, but when you throw in players like soph Derek Mountain, who is receiving interest from Rice, Colgate, and Cornell after a strong start to the summer, and juniors Peter Blynn and Brendan Burke, you have a roster that will be the Inter-Ac favorites heading into next year.

 

FEB. 27 A LOOK AT LEVAN "SHAWN" ALSTON     The men’s basketball Coaches all-Inter-Ac teams were released last Sunday, February 17th, and Haverford’s Levan “Shawn” Alston, a sophomore,  made the first team and also won himself co-MVP with Germantown Academy’s Julian Moore. Basically, the rest of the league’s coaches unanimously consider Alston to be one of the league’s top two players.     Alston, who started every game this season at point guard for the Fords, led the league with 16.3 points and 6.4 assists per game. He shot the ball very well, at 43.9% from the field and 85.8% from the line. He also had nine 20-point games this season, most among all players in the Inter-Ac.     Alston, who was Haverford’s sixth-leading scorer last year, has improved tremendously over the course of the year. As his play continued to improve as did his confidence, and despite being a sophomore and a tad smaller than the average guard, he stayed aggressive and led Haverford’s balanced offensive attack.     This award means everything to Alston. “This award means a lot to me. It shows how much the teams in the Inter-Ac League respect my game,” he says. “But this award also is a testament to how much harder that I have to work. I am very grateful for the award and I am ‘beyond blessed’.”     He truly has worked extremely hard, improving all areas of his game. He is an excellent floor general, a top-flight passer, an innate scorer, and his defense has also become much better thanks to improved footwork and agility. He did a little bit of everything for Haverford this season, helping keep the team afloat even when his teammates struggled or missed time due to injury or ineligibility.     After Alston scored 15 points in overtime to help Haverford comeback and defeat Malvern earlier this season, head coach Henry Fairfax said the following about his young star: “Being a young, talented guy, Shawn is the one player that the opponents players key in on. Being patient is something I talk with him about everyday, and he was. Finally, with the game on the line, he was able to open things up and guide us to a win.”     Alston himself appreciates what Coach Fairfax has done to help him become the player he is today. “Coach Fairfax and the team put me in a position to succeed because they pushed me in practice. Fax always says if we prepare at a high level than the games will be easy. And that’s what we did.”     The Fords finished 17-9 on the season, with a 6-4 record in the Inter-Ac during the regular season. That was good for second in the league, and the team also made it to the semifinals of the PAISAA state tournament thanks to two big games from Alston. He scored 17 in the win over ANC and a game-high 21 to help them outlast Westtown two days later.

photo by Dawn Blake   They would fall, however, in the semis to Germantown Academy. That was the third and final time the two teams played, and the third time Haverford lost.   Alston, however, is excited for next season.  “I believe that we will improve and build on what we did this year,” he says. “I do believe that we can win the league outright but it will be a fight.” He has reason to be excited: Penn Charter will be losing big man Mike McGlinchey and GA, the league’s powerhouse, will be losing four-fifths of its entire starting lineup (with four Division I basketball players; you simply cannot replace that in one season). Expect the more mature and experienced Fords to really make some noise in the lnter-Ac in 2013-2014 while Alston makes an even case for MVP for the second straight year.     Haverford had two other players receive recognition on the all-Inter-Ac second team, senior big man Sema’j Reed and junior swingman Eric Anderson. Reed averaged 12.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while Anderson was third on the team with 11.1 points per game.

 

 

FEB. 17
THE KHANDYMAN TAKES A CRACK
First Team All-Inter Ac

Guard: Levan "Shawn" Alston, THS (Sophomore)

Guard: Sean O’Brien, PC (Junior)

Guard: Nick Lindner, GA (Senior)

Forward: Greg Dotson, GA (Senior)

Forward: Julian Moore, GA (Senior)

Second Team All-Inter Ac

Guard: Chris McNeal, EA (Senior)

Guard: James Drury, GA (Senior)

Guard/Forward: Eric Anderson, THS (Junior)

Forward: Mike McGlinchey, PC (Senior)

Forward: Sema’j Reed, THS (Senior)

Third Team All-Inter Ac

Guard: Andrew Bargmann, MP (Senior)

Guard: Jimmy Gordon, MP (Senior)

Guard/Forward: Drew Dowds, SCH (Senior)

Forward: Kevin Gayhardt, EA (Senior)

Forward: Ryan Ammerman, MP (Senior)

Underclassman of the Year: Mike Jolaoso (EA)

  Apart from Haverford’s sophomore sensation, Levan "Shawn" Alston, who is ineligible for this honor because of his status as co-MVP, Episcopal point guard Mike Jolaoso was the best underclassman (non-senior/non-junior) in the Inter-Ac this season, averaging 8 points per game in Inter-Ac play.

Defensive Player of the Year: Greg Dotson (GA)

  Honorable mention here goes to Haverford’s senior guard Chris Morgan, who averaged 1.5 steals per game during Inter-Ac play and was one of the league’s best press defenders.

  The Inter-Ac’s top defensive player, however, was Germantown Academy’s Greg Dotson, a senior. He was the guy who got key steals at the top of the key (which usually turned into highlight-reel dunks at the other end) and recorded crowd-silencing rejections. His quick hands make it tough for any ball-handler to take care of the ball. Dotson averaged 2 steals and a block per game and was able to limit some of the league’s top guards, including Haverford’s Shawn Alston, Charter’s Sean O’Brien, and EA’s Chris McNeal, at different points throughout the season despite constant hip ailments.

Most Improved Player: Shawn Alston (THS)

  What Shawn is not ineligible for, however, is this award, which is certainly his. Last year, Shawn was Haverford’s 6th man and their sixth-leading scorer. He was outshined by fellow freshman Sammy Foreman and then-sophomore Eric Anderson among others, receiving somewhat limited playing time and unable to show off his talents. This year is completely different. Alston has emerged as Haverford’s best player given a larger role in the offense. I’ll explain more down below but his confidence level has risen, as has his play.

Coach of the Year: Jim Fenerty (GA)

H  averford head coach Henry Fairfax certainly deserves recognition for completely revitalizing the school’s basketball program, but GA won the Inter-Ac title and PAISAA championship and thus their head coach Jim Fenerty gets the honor. As he told me earlier this year, “winning as the favorite is an extremely tough thing to do in this league,” yet he and the Patriots managed to do that 11 out off 11 times (including the playoffs) this season. He was able to keep a talented group of players, one that was predicted by many to win the Inter-Ac league handily at the beginning of the year, focused on the ultimate goal and help them have one of the best seasons in school history.

Inter-Ac co-MVPs: Greg Dotson (GA) and Shawn Alston (THS)

  These two are obvious candidates for this award. I’ve already explained Dotson’s prowess defensively, but he is also one of the league’s most athletic and therefore dangerous offensive threats. He averaged over 15 points per game in league play, including three 20-point performances. He is an above-average outside shooter and even better inside player, one who excels at cleaning up offensive misses, backing down a smaller defender, and catching the ball inside and taking it right to the hoop. He recently scored his 1000th point in the PAISAA final, and his presence on GA’s roster will be sorely missed along with their other seven graduating seniors.

Then there is Shawn Alston, the league’s leading scorer at 17.3 points per game. Shooting the ball at a high clip, however, is not the only thing he can do. He is an excellent floor general, a smart passer (as evidenced by his league-leading 6.7 assists per game), and a much improved on-the-ball defender. His exceptional footwork and sneaky athleticism round out his complete, Division I-worthy game.

 

FEB. 13
PA. INDY SCHOOLS QUARTERFINAL
Haverford 65, Westtown 56
Alston’s 21 Leads Fords into PAISAA Semis

  In the second round of the PAISAA men’s basketball tournament, the 5th^{-seeded Westtown Moose (10-12) visited the 4th-seeded Haverford Fords (17-8) on Wednesday night. Thanks to 21 points from sophomore point guard Shawn Alston, the Fords won 65-56 on a night when Temple head coach Fran Dunphy was in the building, scouting out the talent and taking in an exhilarating basketball game.}

This game was a back-and-forth affair in every respect. The Fords took the first punch, starting the game on a 10-2 run thanks to two consecutive three-pointers from junior sharpshooter Eric Anderson.

“[Westtown] came out playing the box-and-one, trying to contain Shawn. He found me for two open shots early in the game and I made both, which made them switch things up and took a little bit of pressure of him,” said Anderson of his early barrage. Anderson finished the day with 18 points.

Despite Haverford’s start trio, consisting of Alston, Anderson, and Sean Lloyd, making offensive plays early and often, Westtown would not go away quietly. Star junior Jared Nickens scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter, helping Westtown take a 31-24 with 20 seconds left in the 2nd quarter.

Of Nickens, Westtown head coach Seth Berger said, “To be honest, our offensive philosophy is to get him as many shots as possible. He’s very smart, very talented, but not a pig; basically, he takes advantage of the opportunities presented to him.”

But with 3 seconds left, Alston took an inbounds pass and took it hard to the basket, getting the layup to fall and drawing a foul in the process. He made the free throw, cutting Westtown’s lead to 4 at halftime.

Coach Berger thinks this was the turning point: “That three-point play at the end of the half really hurt us. It turned a solid, seven-point lead into a more fragile 4-point one and gave them momentum to begin the 3rd quarter.”

The 3rd quarter was another back-and-forth period, with Westtown making quick runs only to be matched by Haverford. Alston, who leads the city in buzzer-beaters (at the end of quarters) with six this year, made another one at the end of the third to cut Westtown’s lead to 47-46. A sophomore who’s gone from productive 6th man to the team’s most consistent player in a single season, Alston was happy with the team’s performance.

“Offensively, it was our job to attack them. We thought we could get into gaps in the half-court and score in transition at will. We also attacked the offensive glass all game long, and when we win the second-chance battle, we win the game.”

The 4th quarter was all Haverford. They won on both ends of the floor. Offensively, it was a collective effort. Eric Anderson hit a couple buckets early to get the ball rolling, and then Alston put the exclamation point on the huge win by getting a steal at midcourt and throwing down a huge one-handed jam on the other end. Big man Sema’j Reed, who did great work on the boards all game, hit five FTs to help seal the deal.

On his team’s 2nd half performance, Haverford head coach Henry Fairfax said, “In the half court, we were more patient and took quality shots. But it was all about the defense, getting to loose balls and defensive rebounds. It helped jump-start our offense and get us points in transition.”

Speaking of defense, the gameplan was all about stopping Nickens, and that’s exactly what happened. Sophomore Sean Lloyd, who also had 12 points, was fantastic in that regard, limiting Nickens to only three points on 1/5 shooting in the period.

Coach Fairfax had a myriad of good things to say about that stellar defensive effort: “Sean Loyd is a high-motor guy, but more than that he’s a team player. Any guy who’s willing to sacrifice scoring for hustling and good defense is someone we love to have. We know he can score, but today we learned what he’s all about on the other end of the floor.”

The Fords move on to play 1st-seeded Germantown Academy, an Inter-Ac foe who has defeated them twice. The first one was tightly-contested, with the second margin of victory being a tad wider.

That said, everyone on Haverford’s team is excited, from Coach Fairfax to Anderson. Fairfax remarked, “If you can’t get ready to play your Inter-Ac foe, the best team in the Inter-Ac that you almost beat twice, for a chance to move on to the state finals, something must be wrong with your ticker. And nothing is wrong with my guys’ tickers.”

Anderson echoes that feeling: “We’re all excited, it’s hard not to be. But we just have to come out and treat it like another game.”

Westtown’s other leading scoreres were Pierre Sarr (9 points) and Habib Garnim (11 points).

 

FEB. 1
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 78, Haverford School 53

            The Germantown Academy Patriots and Haverford Fords, the top two teams in the Inter-Academic League, faced off Friday night in a game that would likely decide the league title. The Patriots (20-5, 8-0 Inter-Ac) used 27 points from senior guard Nick Linder to clinch the league title.

            “At GA, we always have one goal at the beginning of every season: to win the Inter-Ac title,” said longtime head coach Jim Fenerty. “Everything else is just icing on the cake, but first you need to build the cake. The hardest thing to do is to win when everyone expects you to win. We played through injuries and achieved our goal.”

            The Fords (15-7, 6-3 Inter-Ac) started out well, tied late in the first quarter and down only six points at the half. After Fords’ big man Sema’j Reed, a senior football commit to Buffalo, put up big numbers in the first quarter, GA switched to a zone and forced several Haverford turnovers. Many of those led to big dunks by seniors Julian Moore, who is headed to Penn State, and Greg Dotson, who is uncommitted.

            The Patriots led 30-24 at the half, getting 11 points from senior guard James Drury. With Dotson, Linder, and Moore all battling injuries from the previous week, Drury stepped up with a couple big three-pointers to keep Haverford at bay.

            Sophomore guard Shawn Alston, who had nine points in the first half and finished the game with a team-high 18, was Haverford’s tone-setter offensively. But GA’s athleticism coupled with a few poor non-calls by the officials led to some frustration, and it led to problems, especially defensively, in the second half.

             Alston hit a floater two minutes into the second half to cut the lead to 3, 31-28, but that’s as close as things would get. Nick Lindner, who will be playing basketball for Lafayette next year, hit three three-pointers in the quarter which helped put more distance between themselves and Haverford. A couple more free throws by Dotson, and the Patriots were up 47-36 at the end of three.

            Then, with the Fords playing from behind, the floodgates opened up in the fourth and final quarter. Linder made all 12 of the free throws he took in that quarter while Drury was 5-for-6 from the line. That is more free throws in one quarter than Haverford attempted all game. The game, which started out as a tightly contested Inter-Ac showdown, ended as a 25-point rout in favor of GA.

            But Haverford coach Henry Fairfax isn’t down on his team. The team played well and fought hard despite getting some poor treatment from the officiating crew in the first half.

            For GA, however, it is all about the celebration. The team’s celebration nearly bubbled over onto the court as the horn sounded, but in the locker room it was mayhem. Coach Fenerty was drenched in water and the seniors relished a championship in their final season.

            Dotson, who has been pursued by Brown, Penn, Lafayette, and Canisius, said, “I’m really happy right now. It is the greatest feeling in the world. These are the best teammates I could have asked for. We’re like a family; when we need help or we need advice, everyone is there for each other.”

            The Patriots scoring leaders were Linder (27), Drury (19), Moore (13), and Dotson (11).

            The Fords were led by Alston (18), Reed (11), senior guard Chris Morgan (10), and junior forward Eric Anderson (7). Anderson added four blocks and five steals as well.

 

JAN. 25
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Haverford School 61, Malvern 58 (OT)

	The Haverford Fords came into Malvern expecting a battle against arguably their biggest athletic rival, but what they got was far more challenging and grueling than a battle. It was an all-out dogfight with both teams desperate for a key league win, but the Fords (15-5, 6-1 Inter-Ac) pulled it out in overtime, 61-58.
	Up 36-25 at the half, things were looking up for the Friars (5-15, 0-6 Inter-Ac), who remain winless this year in league play. Led by freshman William Powers and senior Jimmy Gordon, who each knocked down two three-pointers on their way to 10-point first half performances, the Friars came out energized. After falling to Haverford just a couple weeks earlier on a buzzer-beating putback by sophomore Derek Mountain, they knew their chance for a first league victory had come.
	As well as Malvern played offensively, Haverford struggled. Subpar ball movement coupled with extremely stingy defense by the Friars led to empty trip after empty trip.
	Haverford head coach Henry Fairfax knew the team had to simply stay the course. “At halftime, I just told them to stay together. This is a difficult league, a league that has little to do with talent and more to do with playing basketball and playing it the right way. I reminded them that they had an opportunity to do something special this season and it required making adjustments.”
	His team clearly understood the message, playing lockdown defense coming out of the half. In fact, during the first six minutes of the third quarter, Haverford outscored Malvern 9-2, which cut the gap to four, 38-34. The period would end with Malvern holding on to a fragile lead, 42-38.
	When asked about what contributed to his team’s increased defensive intensity, Coach Fairfax had a clear answer: “[Senior co-captain] Chris Morgan. He really hustled and he made big plays on defense; he just locked down No. 10 and forced a couple big turnovers.” Morgan finished with 9 points and a team-high four steals.
	As can be expected, the fourth quarter was a nail biter. After Fords junior Eric Anderson, who finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds, hit two straight jumpers to tie things up early in the fourth quarter, Powers knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to give his team a 45-42 lead with 5:43 to go in the game.
	The teams would then trade layups and missed free throws for the next couple minutes until Haverford made its decisive move. A Chris Morgan layup brought the game to within two, and on the next possession he went for a steal that would have led to a game-tying layup, but instead hit the arm of Malvern senior Ryan Ammerman. Ammerman may have led his team with 16 points on the night, but he would miss four free throws in the next twenty seconds that opened the door for Haverford. And they capitalized, getting senior big man Sema’j Reed one-on-one in the low post, where he made one strong move to the basket and laid in the game-tying bucket with 27 seconds to play. The fourth quarter ould end with the two teams tied 49-49.
	Enter Haverford guard Shawn Alston, the team’s leading scorer and Inter-Ac Player of the Year Candidate. Just days after hitting the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer versus Chestnut Hill, Alston had been frustrated time and time again at the offensive end of the floor. Malvern senior Sam Ramagano had played a terrific defensive game, limiting one of the conference’s top playmakers to only five points in the first four quarters.
	But just 11 seconds into the overtime period, Ramagano fouled out, and Alston took over. The sophomore sensation would score all 12 of Haverford’s points in the overtime period and help the Fords take their first lead of the game when it mattered most.
	Of Alston’s late-game heroics, Fairfax said, “Being a young guy, he is the one player that the opponents players key in on. Being patient is something I talk with him about everyday, and he was. Finally, with the game on the line, he was able to open things up and guide us to a win.”
	Alston remarked, “As a scorer, I just needed to take over the game, and that’s what I did in overtime. I took it over, and I’m happy to get the win.”

 

Player of the Game: Shawn Alston (HAV)
Anderson and Reed had solid games for the Fords as well, but Alston’s incredible performance in overtime earns him
Player of the Game honors. 12 points in any period is impressive, forget when it comes in overtime. He helped create
for his teammates early in the game but put Malvern away single-handedly at the end.

 

JAN. 19
SHOWCASE EVENT
Vaux 85, Haverford School 65