Boys Basketball Notebook: Powers of observation have boosted Tyler Beaulieu
NEWTOWN SQUARE — Tyler Beaulieu’s sophomore basketball season ended after two practices. A dive for a loose ball, an awkward landing with a teammate on top of him, and a fractured clavicle meant Beaulieu was a spectator for Episcopal Academy’s season.
As “brutal” as the actual injury was, in his recollection, Beaulieu managed to get something from observing the season.
“It was interesting because you get a perspective of a lot of the guys that either don’t play or see things that you can’t see when you’re on the court,” he said. “It was kind of cool talking to them, and it was good to build relationships with kids. It gives you a new perspective of the atmosphere and the other parts of the game, being on the bench as opposed to playing.”
A year later, Beaulieu is healthy, committed to Cornell to play baseball and the Churchmen’s third-leading scorer on the basketball floor. He’s also, thanks in part to his time on the bench, wiser and more connected to his team.
Rehab was a long process for the outfielder. He had to re-learn how to throw, less because of any structural deficiency than to make sure he didn’t learn bad habits that could stress other parts of his kinetic chain. The injury was in his right (throwing) shoulder, and while rehab was easier because he doesn’t pitch, it still involved uncomfortable processes like having to watch his mechanics in mirrors and on video to make sure he was loading correctly and lined up along the right axis.
He wasn’t all the way back when the spring season started, but he got a full spring season and used the varsity campaign to reach full strength by summer. By October, he was committed to Cornell.
Beaulieu went into the basketball season prepared, one of myriad multi-sport athletes on the squad, as is the tendency at EA. He is the Churchmen’s third-leading scorer at 7.4 points per game. That includes back-to-back performances of 18 points in an overtime loss to Shipley and 21 in routing Bartram. Most importantly, he’s played all 20 games this year.
EA as a whole has undergone a reset. The Churchmen struggled through a 12-17 season last year under Brian Shanahan and are off to an 8-11 start under first-year coach Taylor Wright. The clear strength of the squad is in a junior class that includes Beaulieu and leading scorer Kevin McCarthy, who is averaging 18.0 points and has an offer from Florida Gulf Coast among other simmering Division I interest.
While they’re mired at the bottom of the Inter-Ac, winning just one of their first seven league contests, Beaulieu and his classmates have a longer focus to their goals.
“It’s been cool,” he said. “We’ve got a ton of young guys, a ton of juniors and a lot of freshmen. We have to understand that it’s not just our job to win games this year but build a culture to help win games in the future.”
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Age is not the impediment it perhaps once was to varsity minutes. At least not this season.
Penncrest’s standout has been Mikey Mita, a freshman big man. He’s averaging 10.7 points per game, with a little outside shooting ability and a nightly double-double threat. He’s missed the last four games with injury. With the Lions struggling through a rare rebuild at 4-15, Mita is a cornerstone to build around.
Archbishop Carroll started two freshmen on opening night, and both have remained vital rotation cogs. Ian Williams is averaging 9.3 points per game, while Nasir Ralls is at 7.2 ppg. They’ve combined for 53 made 3-pointers, Ralls third on the team and Williams tied for fourth. The program regularly gives young players minutes – Moses Hipps two years ago, Dean Coleman-Newsome the year before – and it’s paid off handsomely.
And then there’s Haverford School: Before his recent injury, Manny Butts was contributing significant minutes at 8.1 points per game as a freshman. The Fords’ leading scorer is an eighth-grader, Silas Graham, at 11.2 points per game. Graham has an impressive floor game, a modern wing who can shoot, handle the ball, rebound and defend multiple positions – even when he’s playing opponents some 30 percent older than he is and might not be done growing yet. Graham isn’t even the only middle-schooler in the Fords’ rotation, as Keron Booth is a reserve who has 19 points over eight appearances.
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Ah the paradox of PIAA’s basketball tournaments. States is so easy to reach … you know, if you make it to districts.
If the District 1 tournaments started at the end of play Wednesday, Delaware County teams would have the first two positions in the Class 6A field. Haverford (9-10) is 25th to make the 24-team field, and Springfield (9-11) is 26th. (That’s despite Springfield holding an 8-6 Central League record, though perhaps that’s an entirely different notebook.)
As of Monday, Chester – yes, Chester – had been on the outside looking in at districts in 26th, but the Clippers have since jumped to 23rd.
The Clippers have three games left: at winless Interboro (so no bonus points), against Eastside High of Paterson, N.J., and hosting Chichester, which can clinch its first outright Del Val League title in three decades. For a Chester program that has only missed states – states, not districts – twice since 1982, missing the local tournament seems unthinkable.
Of course, once you get into districts, you’ve got a 50-50 shot of making a PIAA tournament whose spots are as bottomless as a Chili’s drinks special. Twelve of 24 teams make it to states in 6A. Last year, that number included Haverford, while Chester made it as the District 1 Class 5A champ. The last team into the District 1 Class 6A tournament last year was Garnet Valley, which made the second round of states.
Delco also has the first team out of the Class 5A tournament as of Wednesday night in 9-11 Strath Haven, seeded 13th. Sun Valley, despite its 13-6 record, is only in 11th. Six from 5A go to states.
Contact Matthew De George at mdegeorge@delcotimes.com; you can reach him on Twitter @sportsdoctormd.
