by Jonathan Vander Lugt

A brief recap of the lineup struggles that the Germantown Friends basketball Tigers have had this season:

In mid-January, Mike Buckmire needed to sit a few games with a sprained foot. Isaac Myran dealt with concussion problems and a bad thumb (which he still has taped), bouncing him in and out of the lineup. Reserve Preston Choe worked through a balky ankle.

In late January, after finally recovering from a broken finger, Charlie Dolgenos came down with what the Tigs hope was just a case of food poisoning. Sam Istvan's been out for a while with a case of appendicitis, and though he's been running through practices at about 75 percent, his timetable is uncertain.

It's a minor miracle that the Tigers are 9-10, and have a chance to finish the regular season above .500.

“It's been a wild month,” GFS coach Shawn Werdt said.

“The only guy that hasn't been plagued has been Pietro (Berghalla),” he went on, while knocking on his (wooden) desk. “We have not had our starting five since December 30 against Springside Chestnut Hill.”

Werdt had planned on giving a large majority of the team's minutes to the five mentioned above, but various maladies threw that plan away quickly. As a result, he's had to play kids that he didn't anticipate when he was drawing his season's strategy up.

“We've really had to incorporate all eight or nine guys in the rotation,” said Buckmire, the team's do-it-all leader. “We've had to make sure everybody knows what they're doing, and what they could be doing.”

“We've had some scores in our league that aren't a great reflection of the team that we are because we're rolling out some players that would normally be playing JV,” Werdt said. “It's really hard when you've got to play ANC, Friends Central, Westtown, or Shipley without a full roster.”

They lost to those teams by more than 150 points combined, while giving playing time to some players initially thought of as reserves, namely sophomore Peter Gard, and junior Quentin McKnight.

“With a guy like Peter Gard, who we didn't expect a whole lot out of, he's starting and not coming out of the game as a sophomore,” Werdt said. “There's been a big learning curve for him, but he's getting more comfortable every game...I think we're going to see dividends from him down the line.”

“Quentin has done a good job,” Werdt said. “Last year, he was strictly JV. Didn't even sit on the end of the varsity bench. This year, he's getting meaningful minutes, whether we're injured or not.”

The pair knocked down five points each in the Tigers' 51-37 win over Franklin Learning Center. Not a huge amount, sure, but the minutes they're getting will surely be valuable come late in the season and certainly into the next.

“I hope that when we get our main guys, we'll be a lot more comfortable putting subs in than I have been in the past,” Werdt said.

It's not all bad; after all, if a high school basketball team is going to have the worst luck it could have, January, rather than in the February postseason, is the time for it.