Coaches Time Out

What a week so far in sports! We saw the boys basketball team beat in an intense battle on Tuesday night, and wrestling picked up another PAC-10 victory. They're still undefeated in the conference. The girls basketball team is still on a role, as well, with only two losses all season long. Winter track continues to state qualify kids and make improvements on times and distances.

The coaches of the winter teams took a midweek break to chat with Patch about their teams' progress.

Boys Basketball Gets Revenge on PJPII

After last year's loss in the PAC-10 Championship to Pope John Paul II, the boys basketball team was seeking revenge on Tuesday night, and they got just that. Here is a video recap of the .

The boys will play Pottstown on Friday night on the road.

"That's going to be tough," said Mike Young, head coach for Spring-Ford. "They're looking to get into the playoff spot in the other division. They have a great player in Elijah Jackson. He's probably the most electrifying player in the PAC-10. It's going to be challenge playing in their place and facing off against him. So, we'll enjoy the PJP victory and regroup for the rest of the week."

The PJP win put the Rams two games above .500 at 9-7. They now finally have some breathing room.

"First time in a while," Young said. "These are good wins to get over teams that have a lot of wins for districts, because that's how they count the points. That's important."

Girls Basketball Picks Up Two Non-League Victories

The girls basketball team still only has two losses on the season, even after two difficult non-league matchups on Saturday and Tuesday. On Saturday, the girls topped Mount St. Joseph's Academy, 46-38.

"The Mount team plays very good defense and team ball," said head coach Jeff Rinehimer. "But, we kept our composure at the end. That's a very well-coached team with good players."

And on Tuesday, the Lady Rams won 56-46 over Upper Dublin.

"They're in the top of the district ratings," Rinehimer said. "We had some leads, but we kind of had to hold on there at the end."

The rest of the week holds two PAC-10 games, with Pope John Paul II on Thursday night and Pottstown on Friday. The girls are not overlooking these games.

"You've got to go right out there," Rinehimer said. "PJP's at the top of their division and Pottstown plays very good ball. We can't overlook anybody."

On Sunday, Spring-Ford will be taking on Cardinal O'Hara at Lower Merion High School in the Make-A-Wish Tournament. It goes on from 10 a.m. until later in the evening. The girls' game will be played at 2:30 p.m. and the game counts as a regular season game.

Despite the dominance the girls have displayed so far, midway through the season, Rinehimer could not identify one top performer from the team.

"There's a great team balance right now," he concluded. "We've had a long week here. We've got to keep our legs sharp."

Wrestling Still Undefeated in PAC-10

The wrestling team is still on a role in the PAC-10. Over the past week, it has seen victories over Pottsgrove, Pottstown and Perkiomen Valley.

Last week, the Rams faced both Pottsgrove and Pottstown, and although those teams had weak records, Spring-Ford did not want to look past them.

"They have some good individuals and the kids wrestled hard," said head coach Tim Seislove. "We actually lost a couple of close ones against Pottsgrove and Pottstown in individual matches. But, as a team, the kids took care of business and did what they needed to do."

Wednesday night, the Rams faced Perkiomen Valley - a team they've had trouble with in the past.

"P.V. is always a big match for us," Seislove said. "They beat us two years in a row and the last two times we wrestled, we’ve been able to beat them. Every year, it’s a hard-fought match and they have some excellent kids. They’re a good, well-coached wrestling team."

Despite all of that, they still came out on top, only losing three matches in the bout. The final score was 53-15, Rams. There's no more action this week for the wrestling team, but they're about to hit a big part of their season.

"This is the meat of our schedule coming up right now," Seislove concluded. "With Upper Perk next week and Owen J. next week, we also have district duals sandwiched in between that, too, much of our season is going to depend on all of that."

Winter Track Heads to New York

Jesse Magolon and just recently state-qualified for the mile at the Armory on last Wednesday night in trying to qualify for the Millrose Games.

Spring-Ford as a team then went on to join more than 100 teams at the High School Invitational at Kutztown on Saturday. Performances of note included:

• Ryan Pierson's fourth place in the pole vault at 12-feet-6, which tied his personal record set at the Christmas City Relays this year
• Kaila Nogar's fourth place in the shot put at 31-feet-9
• Boys 4x400 relay placing third

"It was a crazy weekend," said head coach Danielle Stauffer. "And it took forever. The last event was scheduled to go at 5:30 and we finished at 8:00. So, it started at 9 [a.m.] and finished at 8 [p.m]. We didn't get back to the school until 9:15. It was a long weekend."

This Saturday's meet is the New Balance Games at the Armory. Twenty-two athletes will compete in 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 boys and girls varsity relays, along with a 4x400 sophomore team, who could compete for the state 4x400 relay spot.

Kaila Nogar and Jen Yeakle will throw the shot put and Xavier Ingram and will triple jump. Joe O'Such will compete in the mile. He's the 13th accepted kid out of 13, and the only competitor from Pennsylvania.

Mikaila White is the fourth alternate for the 55-meter hurdles. If three competitors cannot go, she will race. They're only take eight competitors for the hurdles.

"It's a pretty cool opportunity," said Stauffer. "We're trying to now figure out the logistics of it, because we spend the night. It's just too long of a day, really. If we need to leave at 6:15 in the morning and we don't leave until 7 at night, and it takes two hours up and back, that puts us home at 9:15-9:30. I just don't think it's safe for three adults to be driving kids like that all day in the dark both ways practically. The kids enjoy it, too."

Stauffer explained the competitors all go to dinner in Manhattan near Central Park, and they get to walk through Times Square and see the Rockafeller Center. That all happens after the meet.

"It's a really nice reward weekend for the kids who have been working hard all season," Stauffer concluded.

On Tuesday, there is a throwers meet at Pottsgrove. It is an outdoor event, where about 13 Spring-Ford throwers will compete, and get to perform the javelin and discus, which are not winter events. There is a step-limitation on those events, though.

"That's another cool opportunity," Stauffer said. "They charge you a very minimal fee to enter. They're all going to get a chance to go and compete and they only do it until the sun goes down. The meet ends when it gets dark, no matter when it gets dark."

The event starts at 3 p.m. on Jan. 24. Stauffer also indicated there will be a change to the schedule. On Feb. 18, there was supposed to be a meet at Lehigh, but it will now be on Feb. 11, which is the same weekend as the Kutztown meet and the Millrose Games.

"We've decided to send kids to both [Lehigh and Kutztown] meets," Stauffer said. "It's a positive that the younger kids can get more experience, but a negative because our best kids won't get to compete in both. And if Joe by chance is invited to run the mile [at the Millrose Games], that would be the same weekend. That would be a huge dilemma, because the original plan was if anyone qualified for Millrose, then we would split the team and two coaches would go to the Kutztown meet and one would go to New York. We have three coaches. I'm sure we'll find a way of making it work."