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PHOENIXVILLE BOYS BASKETBALL
The Phoenixville Area High School boys and girls basketball seasons for 2007-08 came to an end Thursday night with first-round setbacks in the District 1 Class AAA playoffs.
The Phantom boys fell to Radnor, 50-39, in overtime on the Phoenixville floor to complete an 11-14 season overall, including 6-7 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference for second place in Division II and a berth in the Final Four playoffs. Phoenixville was the seventh seed in the tournament while Radnor from the Central League was the 10th seed.
Phoenixville completed its sixth season under head coach Bill Detweiler, who was assisted by Jim Stinger and Lou Brignola.
Phoenixville had a basically new lineup this year since most of its players graduated from a team that finished a perfect 15-0 in the PAC-10 in winning the league title last winter. The Phantoms also finished third in districts and reached the second round of the state tournament a year ago.
However, Jon Hogga, Jon Crabtree, Tom Beasley and Kyle MacLelland were all impact players from that squad who graduated. Hogga, the school’s second all-time leading scorer, and Crabtree was the league’s Most Valuable Player as a senior, and he and Crabtree were both chosen as first team all-league players.
Hogga is playing Division I college basketball at St. Peter’s, Crabtree is at Division III Gwynedd-Mercy, Beasley is playing football at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and, and MacLelland is playing Division I men’s tennis at Lafayette.
Zach Wise and Jesse Daywalt were returning starters as seniors this year for the Phantoms. Wise led the PAC-10 in scoring at 18.3 points per game. A four-year varsity player, he played on two PAC-10 championship teams. Daywalt was a three-year starter at point guard. Primarily known as a defensive specialist, Daywalt had to adjust to all the ballhandling and tried to become more of a scoring threat this year.
Junior center Greg Peters, junior guard Yusuf Brown and senior guard Jordan Thomas were the other starters against Radnor with senior forward Jim Sands and sophomore guard Corey Gordon coming off the bench for reserve duty.
Thomas came off an injury-plagued football season as a running back, defensive back and kick returner. He will be playing Division II college football on a partial scholarship at Kutztown University. Daywalt will be playing Division III college baseball at Chestnut Hill College. He is a solid left-handed hitter and infielder for the Phantoms.
Phoenixville’s main problems this year were outside shooting and turnovers. Opponents played zone defenses against the Phantoms to concentrate on Wise and Peters inside, and the perimeter players were not able to make enough outside shots to force teams to play more honest defense. Turnovers also cost the squad many valuable possessions throughout the season.
Detweiler hopes the Phantoms’ younger player work on improving their game during the offseason to prepare for next year.
They graduate six seniors in Wise, Daywalt, Thomas, Sands, Steve Fray and twin brother Mike Fray.
Daywalt summed up the season.
“Everyone had us for dead after the first couple weeks,” Daywalt said. “But we came back and had a respectable season. But it wasn’t even close to what we wanted.”
Posted by
Barry Sankey
The Phantom boys fell to Radnor, 50-39, in overtime on the Phoenixville floor to complete an 11-14 season overall, including 6-7 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference for second place in Division II and a berth in the Final Four playoffs. Phoenixville was the seventh seed in the tournament while Radnor from the Central League was the 10th seed.
Phoenixville completed its sixth season under head coach Bill Detweiler, who was assisted by Jim Stinger and Lou Brignola.
Phoenixville had a basically new lineup this year since most of its players graduated from a team that finished a perfect 15-0 in the PAC-10 in winning the league title last winter. The Phantoms also finished third in districts and reached the second round of the state tournament a year ago.
However, Jon Hogga, Jon Crabtree, Tom Beasley and Kyle MacLelland were all impact players from that squad who graduated. Hogga, the school’s second all-time leading scorer, and Crabtree was the league’s Most Valuable Player as a senior, and he and Crabtree were both chosen as first team all-league players.
Hogga is playing Division I college basketball at St. Peter’s, Crabtree is at Division III Gwynedd-Mercy, Beasley is playing football at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and, and MacLelland is playing Division I men’s tennis at Lafayette.
Zach Wise and Jesse Daywalt were returning starters as seniors this year for the Phantoms. Wise led the PAC-10 in scoring at 18.3 points per game. A four-year varsity player, he played on two PAC-10 championship teams. Daywalt was a three-year starter at point guard. Primarily known as a defensive specialist, Daywalt had to adjust to all the ballhandling and tried to become more of a scoring threat this year.
Junior center Greg Peters, junior guard Yusuf Brown and senior guard Jordan Thomas were the other starters against Radnor with senior forward Jim Sands and sophomore guard Corey Gordon coming off the bench for reserve duty.
Thomas came off an injury-plagued football season as a running back, defensive back and kick returner. He will be playing Division II college football on a partial scholarship at Kutztown University. Daywalt will be playing Division III college baseball at Chestnut Hill College. He is a solid left-handed hitter and infielder for the Phantoms.
Phoenixville’s main problems this year were outside shooting and turnovers. Opponents played zone defenses against the Phantoms to concentrate on Wise and Peters inside, and the perimeter players were not able to make enough outside shots to force teams to play more honest defense. Turnovers also cost the squad many valuable possessions throughout the season.
Detweiler hopes the Phantoms’ younger player work on improving their game during the offseason to prepare for next year.
They graduate six seniors in Wise, Daywalt, Thomas, Sands, Steve Fray and twin brother Mike Fray.
Daywalt summed up the season.
“Everyone had us for dead after the first couple weeks,” Daywalt said. “But we came back and had a respectable season. But it wasn’t even close to what we wanted.”
Posted by
Barry Sankey
posted by The Phoenix Files at
10:29 AM
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