By: James Nelson “Suburban Guru” Stewart

As we get to the end of the Regular Season and the Conference playoffs, this year has been an excellent year where parity has been the key word and the “Blue Bloods” of District 1 (Chester, Abington, Lower Merion, Plymouth Whitemarsh & Coatesville) have expectedly and somewhat unexpectedly maintained their positions among the top of the standings while teams such as Henderson, Central Bucks East, Bensalem, Spring-Ford, Unionville & Upper Dublin (last District title 1985) are on missions to bring home the elusive District title in their respective classes.  This season has been as competitive as any in the recent memory of District 1.  In past years, District 1 has been dominated by names such as Kobe Bryant, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Eric Dixon, John Allen, John Salmons and Jameer Nelson.  This year, District 1 has had a plethora of very good players, but no one has separated themselves to that extent.  A lot of the players this year have crossed that 1,000-point threshold, which shows the quality and the type of high school careers of these young men.  The playoffs should be as exciting as almost every lower seed team will have a chance of winning.  As the title states, “Coaching Matters” and players will look to create their own legacy in this postseason. 

I have chosen a few players and coaches that have stood out in the area.  District 1 covers the largest area in SEPA basketball.  With that understanding, I have 3 All area teams that covers every league that makes up District 1.  Also, I wanted to give some recognition to some of the Freshman and Sophomores that have been contributing heavily on the Varsity level. 

Coach of the Year-Keith Taylor (Chester) 
This was a year when a lot of coaches could have won this award.  You have coaches like Chris Cowles (Unionville), Derek Brooks (Upper Dublin) and Ron Morris (Bensalem), who have led their programs to new heights.  Eric Burnett (Phoenixville), Ken Ivory (Pottstown), Joe Dempsey (Spring Ford), Jason Ritter (Henderson), Eric Henrysen (CB East) and Pat Lockard (Methacton) battle through their tough leagues every year and seem to get stronger in the postseason.   You have coaches such as John Allen (Coatesville) and Pat Fleury (Cheltenham) who year in and year out do an incredible job despite all the barriers that other coaches in this district don’t have to deal with.  But it came down to 3 wonderful coaches that led their teams to incredible and unexpected seasons.  Those 3 coaches are Timothy Smallwood (Radnor), Gregg Downer (Lower Merion) and this year’s winner Keith Taylor (Chester).  Each of these coaches had tremendous arguments to win the award.  Smallwood is a new coach and lost much of the team that won the 5A District title last year and he led this unheralded group to the #3 seed (5A) and a 19-3 record.  Last year’s team was a hard act to follow but the encore turned out to be much better than people expected.  Downer, what else can be said about the job he does yearly except Remarkably Consistent.  This year was supposed to be the year that Lower Merion was going to come back to the pack.  This year’s Sr class has seen 2 District Titles (back-to-back) and a Final Four appearance last year.  He led this year’s squad to a 21-1 record and the #1 seed in District 1 6A. 

But nobody led a turnaround like Coach Taylor of Chester.  2 years ago, Chester had the look of a team that might 3-peat in District 1.  Winning the 5A title with 3 Sophomore starters, it had the look of a dynasty in the making.  Chester, historically the best District 1 team in the history of HS basketball in PA.  This was not a new phenomenon that Chester would have a dynasty.  But along the way, changes started happening.  1st Chester lost 2 of those Sophomore starters to Catholic League teams and fell out of the playoffs all together last year and coming into this year, the 3rd Sophomore starter from the 2022 champs, went to the Catholic League too.  Expectations around the area for Chester were the lowest in recent memory.  No one was picking Chester to win anything, no one even knew if they were going to make or miss the playoffs again.  Taylor and his staff knew something that the rest of the region did not know “Chester is still Chester”.  This is not like the Chester juggernauts of the yesteryear; this is a Chester team led by a football star Connecticut (Football) Signee Dominick Toy and by Sr G Dante Atkinson.  This group has 8 players averaging between 10.5 and 5.3 ppg.  This group may not be led by a Zain Shaw, Jameer Nelson or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, but by group of tough-minded players ready for battle.  This group ended the regular season at 20-2 and are poised to make a run at the District and State crowns.  In a year where there are no dominant teams throughout the district, Taylor and the Clippers of Chester have an excellent chance to add to the school’s impressive hardware total.    
 

Co Player of the Year-Jaden Colzie (Plymouth Whitemarsh) & Nyle Ralph-Beyer (Henderson) 
Both players have proven that their reputations coming into the season were warranted.  Sacred Heart signee Ralph-Beyer has led Henderson to a 19-3 record while averaging over 23 ppg.  The silky-smooth Guard scores in a variety of different ways while playing unselfish basketball.  He also accepts the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s top perimeter player while scoring at this clip.  He is trying to lead Henderson to their 1st District Title in school history.  Him and backcourt mate Connor Fleet, have both eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier this season, giving them that rare distinction in High School.  For these reasons Nyle has been named Co Player of the Year in District 1. 
The season for Jaden Colzie culminates a superb career that he has had at Plymouth Whitemarsh.  A 4-year starter, Colzie always seems to play his best in the big games.  Last year in Kobe Bryant Gymnasium, Colzie led the 4th quarter charge that knocked off 2-time defending 6A District Champions, Lower Merion.  Then went on a delivered the knockout blow to Spring Ford to win the 6A District 1 title.  This year for an encore, Colzie in the 1st SOL game of the season, he went to Abington and scored 27 points on 10/11 shooting in the FIRST HALF.  Then in a matchup with Henderson, he went for 31 points in a heartbreaking loss.  Because of such outbursts, Colzie faced a variety of junk defenses and still averaged 20.3 ppg and went over 1,000 points.  He is on pace to be in the Top 10 scorers in Plymouth Whitemarsh history which is impressive considering his freshman season was the “COVID” year.  Colzie has been named Co Player of the Year for always stepping up in the big games. 
 
1st Team 
Nyle Ralph-Beyer-Sr. (Henderson) 21.7 pts Co-MVP 
Jaden Colzie-Sr. (Plymouth Whitemarsh) 20.3 pts Co-MVP 
Julian Sadler-Sr. (Perkiomen Valley) 22.8 pts  
Dior Kennedy-Sr. (Coatesville) 17.0 pts 
Ryan Mulroy-Jr. (Upper Dublin) 16.2 pts 
Jacob Cumminsky-Sr. (Central Bucks East) 16.4 pts 
Kirby Mooney-Sr. (William Tennent) 23.8 pts 
Owen McCabe-Sr. (Lower Merion) 16.7 pts 
Dominic Toy-Sr. (Chester) 9.7 pts 
Max Lebinsky-Sr (Phoenixville) 17.8 ppg 
 
2nd Team 
Donovan Fromhartz-Jr. (Downingtown West) 21.3 ppg 
J.T. Anderson-Sr (Unionville) 13.2 ppg 
Jacob Nyugen-Jr. (Spring-Ford) 14.3 pts 
E.J. Campbell-Sr. (Spring-Ford) 14.9 pts 
Jake Sniras-Jr. (Garnet Valley) 18.7 pts 
Dante Atkinson-Sr. (Chester) 10.5 pts 
J.J. Lee-Sr. (Abington) 17.4 pts 
Connor Fleet-Sr. (Henderson) 15.8 pts  
Nelson Lamizana-Sr. (Henderson) 15.0 pts 
Antonio Morris-Sr. (Bensalem) 14.3 pts 
Matt Gardler-Jr. (Marple Newtown) 21.3 pts 
 
3rd Team  
Josiah Hutson-Jr. (Cheltenham) 15.7 pts 
Nate Townsend-Sr. (Neshaminy) 16.5 pts 
Robbie Sukaly-Jr. (Christopher Dock) 13.2 pts 
Ryan Brown-Sr. (Unionville) 11.7 pts 
Zuri Harris-Sr. (Coatesville) 10.3 pts 
Kendall Bratton-Jr. (Phil Mont Christian) 19.5 pts 
Adam Herrenkohl-Sr. (Lower Merion) 16.6 pts 
Jaiden Moffitt-Jr. (Bensalem) 18.2 pts 
Abdul Jackson-Sr. (Pottstown) 18.3 pts 
Marquis Kubish-Sr. (Harriton) 17.5 pts 
John Mobley-Sr. (Lower Merion) 15.7 pts 
Super Sophomores and Fab Freshman 
Mani Sajid-So. (Plymouth Whitemarsh)  
Christian Matos-So. (Methacton)  
Larry Brown-So (Coatesville)  
Dawson Brown-So (Phoenixville)  
James Brenner-So (Unionville)  
Kobe Bazemore-So. (Upper Dublin) 
Chanse Salone-So. (Souderton) 
Mike Mita-So (Penncrest) 
Rowan Miller-So (Conestoga) 
Jagger Verbit-Fr (Faith Christian) 
Karon Booth-Fr (Phoenixville) 
Peyton McClendon-So (Cheltenham) 
 
HONORABLE MENTION 
Luke Fryer (Owen J. Roberts), Dom Vacchiano (Wissahickon), Emeer Coombs (Neshaminy), Sadeeq Jackson (Pottstown), AJ Washington (Dock), Norman Gee (North Penn), Shawn Murphy (Upper Moreland), Zeke Staz (Downingtown West), Khamai Orange (Delco Christian), Tommy Walsh (Jenkintown), Myon Kirlew (Norristown), Deacon Baretta (Phoenixville), Idris Rines (Upper Dublin), Miles Longacre (Quakertown), Ahmaar Godhania (North Penn), Aaron Jones (Abington), Timmy Rahill (Council Rock South), Noah Morris (Bensalem), Matt Engle (CB West), Ben Robinson (Conestoga), Brady Fogle (Upper Dublin), Amir Drummond (Bensalem), Alex Hermann (Methacton), Colson Campbell (Upper Moreland), Marquis Peoples (Coatesville), Kyle Shawaluk (Perkiomen Valley), Jayden Byrd (Norristown), Jah Sayles-Pendergrass (Plymouth Whitemarsh), Jayden Robinson (Lower Merion), Bill Sackor (Souderton), Connor Taddei (Pennsbury), Christian Cervino (Phoenixville), Xavier Peters (Pennridge), Kessy Cox (Radnor), Carlton Gordy (Chichester),  Teddy Mangan (Pennsbury), Tre Simpson (North Penn), Brayden Ryan (Wissahickon), Tommy Kelly (Spring Ford), Nile Tinsley (Cheltenham), Elijah Sellers (Radnor), Allen Cole (Upper Merion), Jurell Young (Pottstown), Dom DeMito (Pope John Paul), Salvatore Iemmello (Methacton), Chris D’Ambra (William Tennent), Bob Hartman (Springfield Montco.), Sam Jankowski (CB West), Tyler Dandrea (CB East), Imad Abunima (William Tennent), Nick Diehl (Unionville), Amon Foulkes (Coatesville)