TOWAMENCIN — Every season Dock Mennonite Academy plays a difficult non-league schedule.
This season, those games included matchups with the Suburban One League’s Upper Dublin, the Philadelphia Catholic League’s Lansdale Catholic, the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Phoenixville and Spring-Ford and the Philadelphia Public League’s Overbrook and Dobbins.
The Pioneers won two of those six games, but the challenges help them in Bicentennial Athletic League games. They improved to 8-0 in league play and 10-4 overall Tuesday evening with a 56-38 win over Calvary Christian Academy at Dock Mennonite Academy.
“From a size and athleticism standpoint there is a little bit of a difference,” Dock guard Vaughan Martin said. “Phoenixville, we’re going up against 6-7, 6-8, 6-4, so we’re used to moving the ball around taller, faster opponents. Defensive standpoint too, guarding certain guys that are extremely better at a different level – it gives us a huge advantage in the league.”
“Nobody in our league has played a schedule remotely close to what we’ve played,” Dock coach Mike Fergus said. “We always play a really tough non-league schedule. We do it every year because it just helps us for league play, then for districts and hopefully states. It’s tough early, maybe, because you’re playing some teams that are bigger and more athletic, but down the road it pays off.”
Dock (10-4, 8-0 BAL) wasted no time pulling away from Calvary Christian (8-5, 4-4 BAL). Tony Martin hit a baseline floater on the first possession of the game and started an 11-0 run for the Pioneers, who shot 5-for-5 during the fast start. They were 7-for-8 from the field while building a 15-2 lead and held an 18-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
“We were just moving the ball against the zone and finding the open guy,” Vaughan Martin, who scored nine of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter, said. “We stayed disciplined on defense and that gave us some run-out layups. We were cheering each other on and we weren’t getting too ahead of ourselves.”
The lead grew to 32-14 at halftime and neared 30 in the third quarter. It was 45-24 after three quarters and 56-38 at the final whistle.
AJ Washington and Robbie Sukaley scored eight points apiece while Tony Martin and Justin Panaia each added seven.
“Finding the open guy, moving against the zone and we executed on plays a lot better,” Vaughan Martin pointed to as reasons for the Pioneers having their best offensive performance of the season so far. “We just didn’t really dribble as much. We took one or two dribbles at the most and then we passed it off.
“The JV team at practice helps us. Certain guys, like Xavier (Mitchell) and Marques (Brown) and Kobe (Rollerson), they help us a lot with moving the ball against zone. Our JV team is taller than our varsity team. Our practice intensity definitely helps us.”
FERGUS HITS MILESTONE
In December, Fergus won his 650th game when the Pioneers beat Phil-Mont Christian Academy.
“It’s a nice milestone,” Fergus said after the Calvary Christian game, his 654th win. “I’m actually more proud of the fact that I’ve been able to coach for 47 years. I’m a guy that likes people who can do something well for a long time. That’s what it means to me. It’s a tribute to all the great players, teams and places I’ve had. They’re the reasons I won games. It wasn’t because of me.”
“I think it’s great to play with a coach that’s had 650 wins,” Vaughan Martin said. “Not everyone can say they got to play with a coach like that. That means your coach is experienced and he’s coached for a while.”
Dock Mennonite Academy 56, Calvary Christian Academy 38
Calvary Christian Academy 2 12 10 14 – 38
Dock Mennonite Academy 18 14 13 11 – 56
CCA: Zack Prince 3 0 0-0 6, Caleb 1 0 0-0 2, Gabe Jean-Baptiste 0 0 2-2 2, Derek Bergin 3 0 1-1 7, Ethan Fleming 0 0 0-2 0, Josh Laventure 0 0 0-0 0, Jesse O’Bott 0 1 2-2 5, Jerry Poliard 2 0 0-0 4, Jake Torressen 1 0 0-2 2, Micah Prate 2 0 0-0 4, Mark Kolonja 0 1 0-0 3, AJ Ortiz 1 0 1-2 3, Pat Hahn 0 0 0-0 0. Total 12 3 6-11 38.
DMA: AJ Washington 4 0 0-0 8, Ethan Parr 2 0 0-0 4, Robbie Sukaley 1 2 0-0 8, Tony Martin 2 1 0-0 7, Vaughan Martin 4 2 0-0 14, Michael John 0 0 1-4 1, Justin Panaia 1 1 2-2 7, Bryan Dorneman 0 0 2-2 2, Josh Mascio 0 1 0-0 3, Marques Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Xavier Mitchell 0 0 0-0 0, Kobe Rollerson 0 0 0-0 0, Myles Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Sam Miller 1 0 0-0 2, Markos Burleigh 0 0 0-0 0. Total 15 7 5-8 56.
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