La Salle basketball looks for balance and another tourney run

Posted 12/1/15

La Salle College High School's Jarrod Stukes, guarded by Phil Held. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt) by Jonathan Vander Lugt For two years now, La Salle College High School’s varsity basketball team …

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La Salle basketball looks for balance and another tourney run

Posted
La Salle College High School's Jarrod Stukes, guarded by Phil Held. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt) La Salle College High School's Jarrod Stukes, guarded by Phil Held. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

For two years now, La Salle College High School’s varsity basketball team has made a deep run in the state AAAA dance. They've done it while playing in a talent-rich conference, without quite the same basketball history as some of the other schools in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

What's it going to take to turn two years of playoff success into three?

Balance.

“My best teams have always had three or four guys averaging between eight and 12 points per game,” Explorers head coach Joe Dempsey said. “That's pretty much the way we do it.

“We know what we're capable of as a program. We like to share the ball. That's the way we play. We try to share it and move the ball around. I think it's more fun, and it seems to have worked.”

It sure has. La Salle followed up an appearance in the title game after the 2013-14 season following a third-place finish out of District 12 (Philly public schools and the PCL, basically) with a run to the 2014-15 quarterfinals after another bronze finish in the district.

The only problem for the Explorers this year is that much of the talent that played heavy minutes last season has graduated. They lost a whopping nine seniors and will rely on a fairly inexperienced group of upperclassmen to lead this year's squad.

“The fun thing about high school basketball is that the roster turns over every year,” Dempsey said. “Every year is challenging—even years when you don't lose as many kids it's still challenging.”

So, they'll count on a couple of fresh faces for leadership this year. Among them, senior forward Ryan McTamney. He's tall — 6-feet, 4-inches — and big enough to play inside, but certainly isn't too shy to step back and pull up for jumpers.

“There's a lot to live up to obviously, with two state tournament runs,” he said. “We've learned from them. We don't feel like this is a rebuilding year for us at all. We know we can compete.”

“Guys that haven't played that much are starting to take a leadership role,” Dempsey said. “We had some pretty strong personalities last year, so guys here are starting to be vocal.”

One of the aspects of La Salle's program that helps them adapt to challenges like this is the fact that there aren't a lot (if any) transfer-type players on the team. That system is not entirely different from the way one-and-dones work in college, and though it's not exactly the same cycle of players moving through, it's not uncommon to see a player who played his first year or two at a public school, or even another private one, before transferring to a high-level program for his remaining years.

“Something I really believe in is our culture here. Guys know that we'll stick by them,” Dempsey said. “We're not going to get a ton of transfers in here, so if they work they'll get a chance come their senior year. The younger guys that haven't played that much, they know what's expected of them.”

What that doesn't make easier, though, is the gauntlet they have to run during their conference season. Roman Catholic won the city championship and the state AAAA title, while Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Carroll played each other for the AAA crown (a Neumann win). Not to be outdone, Conwell-Egan took the AA title over Alquippa.

So, to recap: that's the three biggest size classes in the PIAA, all won by an Explorer conference foe. There's no single-A team in the league, but if there was, they'd probably be up there as well.

“It's hard because everyone we go up against is coming out with their best,” McTamney said. “It's hard—but we live up to it.

“We're not training to play against ourselves. We're training to try to beat the Romans and the Neumanns of the world. And (Archbishop) Carroll, Conwell-Egan, (Father) Judge, St. Joe's Prep.”

The list goes on. Their first game comes on Saturday, Dec. 4 Skip Coleman tip-off tournament at State College High School. Their first conference tilt comes two-and-a-half weeks later against Archbishop Ryan on Dec. 22.

Again, Dempsey refers back to his seniors:

“The sooner they realize it's their team, the better off we are.”

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