Gwynedd-Mercy College Men’s Basketball Team

The Gwynedd-Mercy College men’s basketball team has a distinct local touch for the 2008-09 season. The head coach is John Baron, a Limerick resident who is a former coach at Owen J. Roberts High School and Ursinus College. Two of his primary players are two Phoenixville Area High School products in guard Jon Crabtree and forward Jon Hogga. Crabtree is in his second year at the Division III school but has upgraded his play and is one of the main players off the bench now. Hogga is a transfer from Division I Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J.,, who played his freshman year there before switching to closer to home. Hogga is being used as a valuable sixth man to spark the club with energy and offense off the bench for the Griffins, who won their first two games at the season-opening Alvernia College Tournament. Hogga and Crabtree were both named first team All-Pioneer Athletic Conference players two years ago when the Phantoms captured the league championship and advanced into the PIAA Class AAA state tournament.