CONWELL-EGAN BASKETBALL: Eagles - in the playoffs!

The Conwell-Egan Catholic troops on their way to Ryan to battle the Vikings.

Eagles end 15-year postseason drought

By Steve Sherman; Sports Editor


Conwell-Egan Catholic (CEC) came up short in its first playoff appearance in 15 years last night (Feb. 11) at Archbishop Ryan.

Fourth-seeded Archbishop Wood (16-6, overall, 11-6 PCL Blue) outpaced the Eagles, 49-37. Fran Dougherty led the way with 13 points and four of the Vikings reached double digits including Brian O'Grady (11), Joe Getz (11) and Tim Fahy (10).

Isaac Robinson led the effort for Egan with 14 points. Jonas Skovdal and Dave Delattre added 7 points apiece. The Eagles finish their season at 11-12 overall, 8-9 in the Catholic League-Blue.
Oh but what a year it was for Egan, which made a name for itself in the annals of Eagles hooplore.

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CEC senior Jonas Skovdal is to his team as Donovan McNabb is to his Eagles. If Donny is having a bad day (and he's had them), you know the birds are going to struggle.

It's the same way with Egan's Eagles. Skovdal struggled to score points early on in the season. And the CEC Eagles had a hard time winning games in the Catholic League, dropping their first five league contests.

"Jonas has struggled; I don't think he had the season he anticipated early on," stated CEC head coach Rick Sabol. He's really come on strong of late.

"As a team, as Jonas goes, we go."

Conversely, Skovdal has been hitting double-digit scoring of late and Egan won four of its last seven in the Catholic League skirmishes, earning a No. 5 seed in the PCL tournament, which began Feb. 11 against Archbishop Wood.

The Eagles got smoked by the Vikings the first time these two teams faced off with Wood winning, 70-39, Dec. 15 in Warminster. But on Jan. 19 back home in Fairless Hills, the Eagles reversed their fortunes in a 50-47 victory.

The Eagles went on and took wins over Catholic League rivals McDevitt (in OT), Kennedy-Kenrick and Cardinal Dougherty and Egan earned its first berth in the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) playoffs in 15 years.

Among others, Skovdal and junior Ike Robinson deserve thanks for ending the rather lengthy playoff drought. According to Sabol, Skovdal played tremendous all-around games, totaling 27 points and 22 rebounds in the two pairings against K-K and Cardinal Dougherty.
"Jonas does all the little things--[he's] a great defensive player, brings the ball up the court, takes care of the basketball,” said Sabol.

"But offensively, he just wasn't playing as well as he thought he could be early in the year.
“He's really stepped his level up and that's why we've been so successful."

Robinson led the team in scoring both nights with 17 and 21 points, respectively.

"Ike has been bringing it night in and night out--he's had a tremendous season," stated Sabol.
Against the Wolverines, Robinson led the way with 17 points. Skovdal was next with 12. Ryan Golin pitched in with 9 points. Andrew Schaefer and Dave Delattre contributed with 5 points, apiece.

Matt Petrizzi (4), Kyle Bonner (3) and Shayne Bonner (2) also contributed to the playoff-clinching win.

Entering their Feb. 6 contest with Kennedy-Kenrick (7-15, overall, 2-14, PCL Blue), the Eagles--at 6-8 in the PCL Blue Division--needed to finish strong in order to latch onto a playoff berth. Keep in mind that Egan hadn’t made a trip to the postseason in 15 years.

With two league games left on their schedule, there was no reason to believe the Eagles would get there this year either. Friday night’s contest was at home against the Wolverines, a team Egan barely got past (41-39) in the first battle between the schools that took place Jan. 9 in enemy territory.

The Feb. 8 battle was also at home but against Dougherty (7-14, overall, 6-10, PCL Blue) a squad the Eagles hadn’t beaten in 28 tries.

According to CEC head coach Rick Sabol, Egan needed to split its weekend matchups in order to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. The Eagles did better than that, defeating Kennedy-Kendrick, 57-39, to secure only their third playoff berth in school history.

"The best part of what's going on is that we're playing our best basketball right now,” said the coach before his team set out for its playoff opener.

"We went through some ups and downs earlier in the season. But right now they have really jelled together and are playing with a great amount of confidence."

On Feb. 8, Egan cemented its No. 5 playoff seeding by soundly defeating Dougherty, 73-55. Up, 36-25, at the half, the Eagles went on a 22-11 third-quarter run to lead the Cardinals, 58-36, heading into the final frame.

Again, Robinson led the scoring effort for Egan, this time pouring 21 points into the bucket. Three CEC seniors pitched in with Skovdal (15), Shayne Bonner (14), and Billy Petraitis (10) each reaching double figures in the scoring column.

Ryan Golin (5), Dave Delattre (4) Kyle Bonner (2) and Matt Petrizzi (2) also contributed to the CEC cause.