Boys Basketball Notebook: Allen tourney a fixture on Springfield’s schedule
In the 22 years he’s been the head coach of Springfield, Kevin McCormick’s holiday schedule has been easy to script.
For 20 of those seasons, it’s been an automatic choice to head to the William Allen Tournament.
There are plenty of reasons why McCormick has perpetuated the relationship with that tournament, which this year brings the Cougars into contact with the hosts, GAR Memorial of Wilkes-Barre and Allentown Central Catholic for the two-day tournament Monday and Tuesday. But the story has much deeper historical roots.
William Allen is the alma mater of Skip Werley, Springfield’s long-time basketball coach and athletic director. Werley also coached at Ursinus College, where a mustachioed McCormick helped lead the Bears to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1981.
When Werley stepped down at the helm of the Cougars in 1994, McCormick took over. Werley’s coaching tree includes Steve Donahue, the current University of Pennsylvania coach who got his start as a volunteer assistant at Springfield under Werley and whose Quakers hosted Ursinus at the Palestra last week in a nod to his roots.
That respect for history is reflected in McCormick’s annual holiday scheduling.
“We just find that it’s a terrific high school experience,” McCormick said after Tuesday’s 64-43 loss to Garnet Valley. “The Allentown/Easton area just knows good basketball, and we always have a good experience there.”
In addition to exposing them to non-District One teams, the Cougars also face the challenge of an hour bus ride before a game in unfamiliar environs, the situation they hope to encounter come playoff time in districts or states.
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Hosting holiday tournaments remains popular in the Central League, where six schools invite teams into their gyms for multi-day events.
Marple Newtown welcomes Bonner-Prendergast as well as Bishop Shanahan and Phoenixville. Haverford’s Steve Juenger Classic includes Pope John Paul II, Academy Park and Malvern Prep, while the contingent assembling at Radnor for the Walt Katuzny Memorial Tournament (Collegium Charter, New Media Tech, Masterman) is less distinguished.
Penncrest faces a conquerable field, taking on Calvary Christian for the right to face the winner of Cheltenham and Henderson. Ditto for Garnet Valley, whose Varsity Club Tournament invites Delco foe Sun Valley as well as Lansdale Catholic and Archmere Academy on the boys side.
All five of those tournaments start Monday and end Tuesday, while Ridley’s Holiday Classic runs Tuesday-Wednesday. The hosts draw Interboro in the opener, the winner getting the victor of Cardinal O’Hara and South Philadelphia High.
Strath Haven stays local by venturing to the Great Valley Holiday Tournament, where it faces the hosts in the opener. If all goes well, both teams can avoid colliding with league foes Avon Grove and Harriton on day 2.
Chichester also heads to Chester County for the Unionville Shootout Tuesday and Wednesday. The Eagles are set to face the hosts, then Kennett.
Delco Christian tests itself at the Dick Dougherty Memorial Tournament in Bensalem, where it could meet Bicentennial foe Bristol on the second day after tangling with Northeast in the opener. The Christian Academy (to the Over the River Holiday Classic at South Hunderdon High School) and Archbishop Carroll (to the Primetime ESCIT Christmas Tournament at Trenton Catholic) each venture to New Jersey Monday and Tuesday, while Upper Darby travels to the State College Kiwanis tournament to take on Philly power Math, Civics and Science, then either the host or District Seven’s Burrell in a Tuesday-Wednesday event.
Then there are the showcases, led by an outstanding slate of games at the two-day Jameer/Pete Nelson Classic at Widener University Tuesday and Wednesday. Episcopal Academy takes on Ches-Mont National front-runner Downingtown West in the third game of a sextuple-header at 3:30. The fifth game pits Chester against Philly power Imhotep at 7.
Chester takes on Downingtown West in the second day of the classic at 7, right after Carroll tangles with St. Benedict of New Jersey. Penn Wood plays at 1:45 that day against Delaware’s St. George’s, while EA meets MLK at Chestnut Hill College at one of the classic’s satellite locations.
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Speaking of scheduling, you might glean from that jumble of games that Carroll plays three times in as many days to ring in the holidays. It’s all part of a concerted effort by coach Paul Romanczuk to challenge his team, a more onerous task than in previous years.
The last two years, Romanczuk accepted whatever tournament offers Derrick Jones, the 2014-15 Daily Times boys basketball player of the year and one of the nation’s most electrifying prospects, attracted. Recruits like Jones don’t come around often, Romanczuk reasoned, so he jumped at the chances to provide valuable experiences and national exposure for the entire team. As a result, the Patriots played teams from seven states en route to the PIAA Class AAA title game.
This season, Romanczuk jokes, “those invitations must’ve gotten lost in the mail.” Instead, he’s lined up some of the best local teams.
The unbeaten Patriots have taken on Academy of the New Church, Abington and Cheltenham from District One. They met District 11 Class AAAA power Parkland. They added the Inter-Ac’s Malvern Prep. They went to Penn Wood in a battle of Patriots.
“We just wanted to challenge ourselves with some really good opponents, some traditional powerhouse-type programs in District One and try to play as challenging a schedule as we can,” Romanczuk said after the Penn Wood game, an 80-39 demolition.
Senior guard Ryan Daly painted a more nuanced picture. Penn Wood was a team that sped Carroll up, like many in the Catholic League. Parkland was more halfcourt-oriented, mimicking Archbishop Wood and La Salle. ANC runs a frontline of 6-5, 6-6 and 6-9.
Romanczuk hopes the nonleague schedule he compiled imitates the nightly gamut of the Catholic League, replete with all of its keep-on-your-toes variation.
“Penn Wood has the quickness of a team like Neumann(-Goretti), like Roman,” Daly said. “They’re very quick. They play in transition, they press, they get steals, they get deflections. I think coach Paul has done a great job with the schedule of facing local teams that will prepare us well.”
“We want to play different styles of basketball because that’s what the Catholic League brings us on a nightly basis,” Romanczuk said. “You might go from a team that might play a little more deliberate to a team that wants to go up and down the floor, and you might play them on back-to-back nights or on a Friday and then a Sunday.”
To contact Matthew De George, email mdegeorge@delcotimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportsdoctormd. For full stat leaders, visit PAPrepLive.com.
