Penn Wood senior Tyree Bynum has had a heck of a summer ... and it resulted in a verbal commitment to Texas Southern University.

According to his coach, Clyde Jones, Bynum picked up seven scholarship offers after sterling AAU play at a tournament in Las Vegas. The offers are from: Alabama A&M, Florida Atlantic, Portland State, Grambling State, Texas Southern, Long Beach State and Utah State.

Late Friday night, Jones confirmed via text message that Bynum "has just committed to Texas Southern and  coach Mike Davis," he said. Jones said Bynum, a 5-10 guard, is at Texas Southern this week on a four-day visit to the Houston-based school.

Bynum had a breakout year for Penn Wood. He's expected to carry the torch this season for the Patriots, after All-Delco Malcolm Richardson's graduation. Bynum posted averages of 10.9 points, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game in his first full season as regular for Jones.

One down, two to go.

That's the task facing senior Malcolm Richardson (pictured) and Penn Wood, which has taken the circuitous route to a fifth-straight bid for the state tournament.

The Patriots, who topped Great Valley Friday, need two more victories in the playback stages of the District One Class AAAA bracket in order to lock up the district's ninth and final berth in next month's PIAA tournament. Next up is Tuesday's date at Council Rock South.

It's only natural to wonder if Penn Wood, which earned the ninth seed last season, is capable of doing it again. Here's how they pulled it off last season compared to this season:

2010-11 District One Playbacks
Round 1: vs. Pennridge (18-7)
Round 2: vs. Wissahickon (15-10)
Round 3: vs. North Penn (21-6) at neutral site

2011-12 District One Playbacks
Round 1: at Great Valley (19-6)
Round 2: at Council Rock North (19-6)
Round 3: vs. Pennsbury (18-7) or Cheltenham (16-9) at neutral site

If we learn anything from the year-to-year breakdown, it's this: Penn Wood will have had a more difficult road to take in order to win the ninth seed should this year's team pull it off. Why? Because their first two playbacks are on the road, as a result of being the No. 14 seed, and because their opponents have a better combined overall record than those of the 2010-11 team.

Said Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones (pictured): “I knew that group last year was anxious to play. This group, I tell them to bring with them all their gear they'll have to turn in. That way, they get the message that their next loss is their last. They respond, man."

The 2010-11 team featured Division I football recruit Shawn Oakman (Penn State), two-time All-Delco and Division I basketball commit Aaron Brown (West Virginia), and junior-college standout Darian Barnes (Harcum). This year's team has Richardson, a do-it-all senior headed to East Stroudsburg.

“We're just mixing-and-matching," Jones said. "I’m doing it with mirrors. Man, I played a 5-9 guy at the 4 (against Great Valley)."

Which would make Penn Wood's journey to states that much more satisfying, should the Patriots pull it off.

For a team accustomed to making the state semifinals (or better), Penn Wood's record might be viewed as a letdown.

But the Patriots, their youthful lineup and all, could stand to make some noise in the upcoming District One Class AAAA tournament ... and beyond.

Penn Wood (12-7), which will finish runner-up to Chester in the always competitive Del Val League, won the PIAA crown in 2009, lost the title game in 2010 and suffered an overtime defeat in the state semis in 2011. But these Patriots look far different than their counterparts from recent years. They don't have twin towers like Shawn Oakman and
Darian Barnes. They don't have an All-Delco point guard like Tyree Johnson, or an All-Delco power forward like Aaron Brown.

Instead, Penn Wood has Malcolm Richardson, pictured — one of the county's top scorers — and junior guards Jerry Price and Tyree Bynum. The Patriots' tallest player? Quardiar Sewell and Ali Sesay, who measure up to 6-2.

“District One basketball is unique because teams do their work. Coaches do their work," said Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones. "When you get to the playoffs, you know the other team has seen you at least a couple times. I’m expecting — I mean, we’re still making lineup changes — that we will be ready for districts.

"We’re not sure how far we can go. If we shoot well and defend, we can beat anybody. If we don’t, we’ll lose in the first round."

We'll know beginning Sunday, when the brackets are unveiled.

(Times staff photo / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

Part II had a familiar feel to Part I.

Chester beat Penn Wood handily Thursday night, using an 80-57 victory at the Clip Joint to all-but-officially clinch the Del Val League championship. It would take Penn Wood (11-7, 6-2) winning out and Chester (19-0, 8-0) losing out to force a tie, but that's unlikely to happen.

Here's another glance at what happened Thursday:

OBSERVATIONS
****Penn Wood opened up a number of six-point leads in the first half. The reason? The Patriots shot 9-for-16 in the opening half. In the second half, they shot 11-for-27 -- not nearly as scorching.
****No one seems to pay attention to Tymier Butler (pictured). The Chester senior had nine points, six boards and four steals, on 3-for-8 shooting. "No one was bothering with us, really," Butler said. Fellow second-stringers also had big games Thursday.
****In the first half, Chester used three different players to defend against Malcolm Richardson, who shot 7-for-16 from the field, 7-for-10 from the foul line and finished with 21 points. "He's a matchup problem, isn't he?" Pats coach Clyde Jones said.
****Chester junior Rondae Jefferson didn't knock down a shot until the third quarter.
****Chester senior Erikk Wright got hit in an, umm, unforgiving location in the third quarter, forcing him to exit. He got back into the game in the fourth quarter feeling "a lot better than I did earlier," Wright said.

QUOTABLE
"This was my career-high tonight. Well, at least my career-high since I've been here. I had a lot of fun tonight. A lot of fun."
---Chester senior Shanier Cottman (pictured), who scored 16 points. Cottman, who at times looked unguardable while knocking down teardrop shots in the lane and uncontested layups, said he scored a career-best 22 points last year at New Beginnings Academy.

NEWS + NOTES
Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones told me two Patriots alums playing at Harcum could find their way onto Division I rosters in the near future. Tyree Johnson, the 2009 Daily Times Player of the Year, and Darian Barnes have garnered interest from Cincinnati and Temple, respectively. Johnson, a point guard, is sitting out the year due to transfer rules while Barnes, a big man, is in his freshman year.

FACES IN THE CROWD
The usual Chester alums were there, with Mo Nelson, Laquan Robinson and Rahlir Jefferson all sitting together across the court from the benches. Villanova assistant coach Doug West took in the game from the West corner of the bleachers. And Kareem Robinson watched the game from the bench. The senior point guard missed his second straight game due to a weak back.

(Times staff photos / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

The first one is in the books.

While we have to wait until Feb. 2 for the rematch, Chester's 69-43 dismantling of Penn Wood had a few wrinkles. Firstly, it wasn't nearly as bad as the final score would indicate. But there's much more to the game than just the final score. Have a look:

OBSERVATIONS
****Chester officials gave me a reason for why junior Rondae Jefferson (pictured, above) missed last Thursday night's game against Interboro. "He was dehydrated. He went to the hospital," I was told. Well, Jefferson didn't waste any more time. He's averaging 11 points in the three games since his return.
****Jefferson brought the crowd to its feet on three straight trips up the floor, with electric dunks. None was better than the one served up by Darius Robinson (pictured, left).
****Penn Wood's gym, always cramped, was especially tight with The Comcast Network's camera scaffolding - at midcourt and in the Southeast corner.
****Villanova coach Jay Wright, after noticing his likeness was on live television, winked into the camera. A rare night in which Jay was not livid.
****In case you didn't notice, Chester had new uniforms. I heard UnderArmour sent a shipment of the new gear - which included socks, shoes and everything they could slap their logo on - arrived just in time for Tuesday's game.
****After Tymier Butler swatted Penn Wood shots on successive possessions, a Chester fan exclaimed, "Not in our house. Wait, and not in your house either."
****How deep is Chester's varsity roster? At one point in the JV game that preceded the varsity tilt, a fan asked former Chester coach Fred Pickett why sophomore forward Diamonte Reason, who scored all 14 points in the JV Clips' 14-0 third-quarter swing, wasn't on varsity. Pickett's reply? "There's no room," he said.


QUOTABLES
"We know, to beat them, we have to take care of all our details. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds. … There’s no way for us to (win). We don’t score enough to counter that. We had 17 rebounds for the game. I saw my stats. You don’t rebound, you’re not going to beat them."
---Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones

“We’ve been coming out (slowly) the last couple games. That means we’ve got to get better. We’ve got some work."
---Chester senior Erikk Wright of his 14-0 team

“It feels real good to blow them out like that. They’re the only team people come to see when we play and all that."
---Chester senior Richard Granberry, pictured

“In our league you’ve got to beat Penn Wood and Glen Mills. … Any team can beat any team, but we don’t want to be that team."
---Chester coach Larry Yarbray

FACES IN THE CROWD
For a game that permitted only 400 into the building, the usual suspects were there. Chester All-Delcos Maurice Nelson and Lamon Church from the 2010-11 PIAA Class AAAA championship team, were in the building. Penn Wood's Dequan Pelzer, from the 2008-09 PIAA title team, was there, as well. Villanova's Jay Wright, and Seton Hall assistant coach Shaheen Holloway also made a showing.

(Times staff photos / ROBERT J. GURECKI)

Well, it's official.

What we at Delco Hoops reported late last week has been verified: The Comcast Network will televise Chester at Penn Wood Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

The game kicks off a nine-game television contract by The Comcast Network.

Chester at Penn Wood is by far the best game of the season to this point. Of course, that could change when Penn Wood visits Chester, but that's a topic for later.

"My concern about this game being on television is that my only concern is we play well against Chester," Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones said by phone Thursday night. "I think (the cameras being) there will make my kids pay a lot more attention to what the coaches are saying because they'll realize their mistakes are going out to a TV audience, too."

If you're planning on attending the game, well, good luck. I'm told fewer than 300 tickets will be available for the game and, as Jones put it, "you better get there by 5:15 if you want a seat."

There you have it.

At one point this month, Penn Wood owned a 2-5 record. The Patriots, District One's Class AAAA defending champion, were down in the dumps following a loss at the hands of league rival Chester.

Maybe all the Patriots needed was a trip nearly 900 miles from home.

Penn Wood thrashed Crenshaw (Calif.), 84-62, in a game that was never all that close at the Brandon Jennings Invitational, in Milwaukee, Wis. That makes five wins in a row for the Patriots (7-5), who appear to have righted the ship.

So is the Patriots' switch flipped?

Aaron Brown, the reigning Daily Times Player of the Year, earned MVP honors Saturday with a 21-point, 13-rebound effort. Shawn Oakman, who had missed a couple with a sprained ankle, scored five points in his return. And Darian Barnes, who had been invisible in the scoring column of late, went off for 19 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Something else to consider: junior point guard Malcolm Richardson, who had strung together consecutive 25-point games, only put down eight against Crenshaw. The fact is, with everyone else scoring, his role wasn't as essential. That's what happens when everything is clicking on all cylinders.

Things were going so well for Penn Wood, even reserve point guard Jerry Price tossed in 14 points.

Lost in the shuffle of it all was the tournament - the Brandon Jennings Invitational. The Milwaukee Bucks star spent time with all of the teams, stayed for all of the games and allowed the players to attend Saturday's Bucks-Grizzlies game.

"It was an awesome event," said Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones.

Yeah, especially when your team has gotten its groove back.

Penn Wood hadn't played a game in its home gym since Dec. 15, so it was peculiar that fewer than 200 were on hand for the Patriots' 71-60 win Tuesday over Glen Mills.

But one spectator in particular drew a stir: Tyree Johnson.

The Patriots' point guard for three seasons, Johnson was back in Lansdowne Tuesday night. He left the San Jacinto (Calif.) Junior College team, for which he became a starter as a freshman.

Johnson said it wasn't because he was homesick, but declined to comment any further.

The move is peculiar, much like his decision to de-commit from the University of Hartford last year. Basically, when Hartford's coach, Dan Leibovitz, jumped ship to become an assistant at his alma mater, Penn, Johnson was in limbo. Ultimately, he left a Division I offer for a junior college.

But not just any junior college - San Jacinto, which this week ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA Division I poll ... and for which Johnson was sixth in the nation in steals per game.

So why leave? Nobody had an answer Tuesday. Not Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones. Not Johnson himself, who departed before he could be pressed any further on the decision.

Johnson went from being a highly recruited point guard, who won a pair of Del Val League titles, a PIAA Class AAAA championship in '08, a District One Class AAAA crown in '09 and finished state runnerup in '09 ... to becoming an athlete who walked away from his junior college team in midseason.

Until Johnson offers up an answer, the move will remain a bewildering one.

Now, it's official.

A couple days after a premature report hit the Web, announcing his college destination, Penn Wood's Aaron Brown has his mind made up: He's headed to West Virginia University.

Brown had kicked around a number of notable Division I offers, before the Daily Times' reigning Player of the Year decided upon the Mountaineers. His second choice: Temple. The other schools that had a shot to land the rising senior: Saint Joseph's, Florida and Rutgers.

When asked about West Virginia's recent pedigree of landing the nation's best players, Brown said it meant "a lot to me."

"It means that if they're the best, you're going to have to be the best to play with them," said Brown, a 6-5, 205-pound guard-forward (who plays like he's at least three inches taller.) "It means that I'm going to have to be at my best to play there."

Brown said he thinks he's one of "Coach Huggy's type of players," referring to West Virginia coach Bobby Huggins.

The decision wasn't without strife, however. Brown said he really considered Temple before choosing WVU. Temple coach Fran Dunphy was a fixture at Penn Wood's games throughout the District One and PIAA Class AAAA playoffs. Huggins - by this reporter's count - was seen at only one.

"It was a toss-up," said Clyde Jones, Brown's coach at Penn Wood. "I think the challenge of being away from home and playing in the Big East Conference did it for him. He wanted to be close to home because of the support of his family and playing for one of the best coaches (Dunphy) in the area, but I think the personal challenge Coach Huggins' extended to Aaron outweighed all of that."

For more on Brown's college choice, pick up Tuesday's edition of the Daily Times.

Penn Wood's Aaron Brown, a rising senior, is not headed to West Virginia University. At least not yet.

The reigning Daily Times' boys basketball Player of the Year still considers the school among his top college destinations. But, according to his high school coach, Brown has not given any college a commitment.

A report published Saturday spread across the Web quicker than wild-fire, declaring that Brown had given West Virginia a verbal commitment. Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones confirmed to the Daily Times moments ago that the report is "a rumor" and that it "is untrue. Aaron has not committed to West Virginia."

Jones said he got the word directly from Brown's family, so you know it's coming from a qualified source.

A 6-5, 205-pound combo guard, Brown has offers from West Virginia, Temple, Saint Joseph's, Maryland, Drexel, La Salle, Rice and Richmond. It's believed Brown has narrowed the field to two suitors and that a decision could be coming soon. But, as was written above, he hasn't done so just yet.

An all-everything (all-state, all-league, all-county) during his junior year, Brown ranked second in Delco with 18.7 points per game, while also averaging 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals and shooting 55 percent from the floor. He helped Penn Wood crack the USA Today top 25 poll twice while advancing it to the PIAA Class AAAA championship game in back-to-back seasons. (The Patriots won it all in 2008, but fell to Plymouth Whitemarsh in 2009.)

As you can see, the posts onGettin' Schooled have been few and far between since Brown's Patriots lost at State College back in the spring. But stay close to the blog for the latest on high school news and notes over the summer. The posts will be more frequent, I can assure you.

Penn Wood's magical run ended Saturday night in a 58-51 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh.

The Patriots, who hadn't lost to a team from Pennsylvania all season, hadn't lost a game in general since Dec. 23. Here's what some of them - and two P-W players had to say about the game:

PENN WOOD GUARD DEQUAN PELZER
On his final game at Penn Wood: “Playing with Aaron Brown, Shawn Oakman, Tyree, Will (Brown) – this is my second family. They're like my family. They all know that. We all know that. We all were working for each other.”
On the offense: “What were we – 7-for-37? We just couldn't shoot. Our offense just wasn't there. It happens.”
On going 93 days without a loss: “I don't even know what to make of that. I can't say what that means to me. Maybe down the road, I can talk about that.”

PENN WOOD POINT GUARD TYREE JOHNSON
On the offense: “Tonight, our offense wasn't there and they pulled out the victory because of it.”
On returning to the state final: “Just making it here was great. If we had won, it would've been better. But we didn't win. And I'm not mad at the loss.”

PENN WOOD CENTER SHAWN OAKMAN
On the game: “We lost, but it doesn't erase the history we made.”
On the offense: “We didn't get into another rhythm. We didn't have any rhythm the whole game.”
On Plymouth Whitemarsh: “They kept their heads when they were up. They didn't yell at each other or nothing. They knew – they believed – they were going to win. They knew they were the better team.”
“I'm ready for next season.

PENN WOOD COACH CLYDE JONES
On the silver lining: “We worked to put this program on the map … so there are a whole lot of positives.”
On P-W's defense: “This one was a blast from the past, if you want to say that. We got back to doing some things that we hadn't done in awhile and I'd like to say Plymouth Whitemarsh had a lot to do with that. They played a great defensive game. Most of our shots were challenged. We didn't get many clean looks at all. We didn't do a good job of running our sets to get those clean looks, either. They worked and challenged us on every shot. They challenged us on passes. They challenged us on catches. And we didn't execute. We were out of character.”

PENN WOOD FORWARD AARON BROWN
On his coach's message: “He told us we had a great year and that not many teams get to the championship two times in a row. That in itself is an accomplishment. We had many accomplishments in these two years. I think we're just thankful for all of these accomplishments. I wouldn't want to play with anybody else.”

P-W GUARD WHIS GRANT
On winning Round 2: “States is so much bigger than districts so I can't imagine how they are feeling. I would be devastated to lose. States is definitely a bigger stage.”
On getting revenge: “It gave us more momentum, more fuel to keep going at them. They took something from us last time.”

P-W CENTER C.J. AIKEN
On getting revenge: “We felt we were the better team. At Villanova, we felt we gave them a gift and we didn't want that feeling again.”

(Photos by Daily Times photographer Eric Hartline. Norristown Times-Herald staff writers Tom Kerrane and Dennis Way contributed to this post.)

Penn Wood made it all the way back to the District One Class AAAA championship game.

A year after winning the PIAA title, the Patriots get a shot at winning the one crown that eluded them during a magical 2008-09 season. The Patriots solidified their return trip to the district title game Tuesday with a 71-49 win over Souderton.

Shawn Oakman (pictured), a junior center for coach Clyde Jones' team, had a breakout game. The 6-9, 245-pound Oakman scored a career-best 22 points, pulled in 10 rebounds, dished three assists and blocked three shots in the rout of the Indians. He was one of four players to score in double figures.

And about that championship game...

Everyone with any knowledge of District One has been saying since November that it's going to be an all PW title game. Now, that's official. Top-seeded Plymouth-Whitemarsh knocked off West Chester Rustin to move on to play Penn Wood for the crown.

And we're not just talking about the best two teams in the district --- they're the best two in the state. More incentive to get your tickets ASAP for Friday's final.

Tyree Johnson finally knows where he'll play his college basketball.

Penn Wood's senior point guard gave Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz a verbal commitment by telephone late Wednesday night. How late? Try 10 p.m.

"I wouldn't call it late. I wanted to weigh my options," said Johnson, the 2008-09 Daily Times Player of the Year. "I had to make the right decision and the right decision was to play for him. I had talked to my coach (Clyde Jones) earlier and I told him I was thinking about it. I told him that, most likely, I was going to do it (Wednesday) night."

Johnson had interest from a bevy of Atlantic 10 schools and had offers from Siena and Northeastern before committing to Leibovitz and the Hawks. Johnson plans on being academically eligible next fall. He said he's taking the SAT again just to make sure.

As for his first game after giving his verbal, well, Johnson was just trying to have fun. He did just that in Penn Wood's 57-40, Del Val League-clinching win over Chester. He couldn't help but smile after the Clippers' Maurice Nelson picked Johnson clean on one possession and then Johnson returned the favor on Chester's next trip up the court.

"It's basketball. I love it," Johnson said. "You've got to have fun with it."

Next season, Johnson will be having fun at Hartford.

Sunday, Penn Wood point guard Tyree Johnson became the eighth player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career. He did so nonchalantly, too, hitting a fourth-quarter free throw late in Penn Wood's 66-48 rout of Chester.

Johnson, the reigning Daily Times Player of the Year, finished with 10 points in the game. He joins Lamont Ferrell*, Rap Curry, Mike Holmes, Shawn Day, Ed Millard, Duane Johnson and Micah Covert# in Penn Wood's 1,000-point club. (Ferrell started at Yeadon and finished his career at Penn Wood; Covert started with the Pats and capped his career off with Chester).

Johnson's per-game average is down from a year ago. It doesn't have either him or Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones worried.

"Listen, it doesn’t really matter. I’m a point guard," Johnson said. "My job is to get everybody involved anyway. My points are going to come during the flow. I get them the ball, they get it to me. It’s as simple as that."

Added Jones: "The greatest compliment I can give Tyree this year is how, for the most part, he has really decided that he has other people to get the ball to. He sees himself as a distributor. And in this day and age, when it’s tough to get kids to not think I have to shoot, to see him do that is special. The sad part about that is it doesn’t put him in anybody’s rankings for scoring, but it makes him perfect for us and what we do. The other night, I actually had to tell him to shoot the ball."

Johnson is getting interest from Monmouth, Rider, Hartford and Siena.

###################

Also, here's some more from the boys basketball scene:
---Daily Times photographer Bob Gurecki grabbed some video and assembled highlights from Sunday's Penn Wood-Chester game.
---This week marks the first installment of the boys basketball notebook - the feature focuses on The Haverford School's Andrew Acker, probably the county's most improved player thus far. The notes include Glen Mills' Raheem Harvey, who sustained a car accident during the holidays and remains hospitalized, and Chichester's Brian Parker, who has an outside chance at 1,000 points.

Here's an up-close look at the Chester/Penn Wood game:
Early in the second quarter and with the game's outcome still in doubt, Penn Wood junior forward Aaron Brown (pictured) was whistled for a technical foul. The call was questionable, causing spectators and reporters, alike, to scratch their heads.

Brown is not an overly aggressive player. And players from both sides were jawing. Turns out he was whistled for running into his teammate, Shawn Oakman, which had to have been perceived as a sign of boasting, because there was no blatant contact between players from opposing teams.

"They all talk (trash) and any kind of bump would be seen as a form of aggression," Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones said. "Aaron is always emotional. But I know his emotions are going to lead to production."

#################


BY THE NUMBERS
10-11: Chester's proficiency at the free-throw line, a 91-percent clip.
19-34: Penn Wood's proficiency at the free-throw line, a 55-percent clip.
37-21: Penn Wood's rebounding advantage.
1: Technical foul, against Penn Wood's Aaron Brown.
3:28: Time it took Chester to get on the board.
4: Points scored by Will Brown during a dynamic second-quarter play. He hit a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc and, after sustaining a foul by Chester's Laquan Robinson, made the subsequent free throw.

#################


The arrangement to bring the first meeting of the season between these two Pennsylvania titans to Saint Joseph's University was the product of internal connections. Penn Wood alumnus Rap Curry, also the Patriots' athletic director, played a fruitful college career on Hawk Hill. So did Jameer Nelson, whose younger brother, Maurice Nelson, plays for Chester.

The younger Nelson, who had 17 points, was playing on the floor of Hagan Arena - formerly the Fieldhouse - for the first time in his life. And hanging about the court, in the rafters, is a banner bearing his brother's No. 14 and his likeness.

"I didn't even look up there today," Mo Nelson said. "I have in the past. Not today."

PHOTO BY DAILY TIMES' PHOTOGRAPHER BOB GURECKI

No one told Penn Wood that defending its PIAA Class AAAA championship was going to be easy. They're not even into the Del Val League portion of their schedule but the Patriots are fighting an uphill battle.

Coach Clyde Jones (pictured) and the Patriots went 1-3 this week at the City of Palms Classic, an exclusive, invite-only basketball tournament held in Fort Myers, Fla. Only the best of the best make it there. That's why the Pats got the call this offseason.

Among their losses were defeats at the hands of Paterson Catholic (N.J.) and Westchester (Calif.), both ranked within the top 50 in the nation by ESPN/Rise Magazine. The Patriots also lost to St. Frances (Md.) Wednesday.

Here's how Jones sizes up Penn Wood's performance down south:
On his level of frustration after these games were:
“Well, (Wednesday) we lost on a last-second shot to St. Frances. Against Paterson Catholic, we were up 20 and we turned over the ball late. Shawn (Oakman), Darian (Barnes) and Dequan (Pelzer) all fouled out. And (Tuesday), against Westchester, we tied it late and had another turnover. It's really been turnovers in late minutes that have hurt us.”

On accepting these losses because of who they were against:
“No losses are acceptable for me. But it's something the kids needed to experience. It's a measuring stick for us. It'll help us when we play teams back home. We were a turnover away from beating Westchester, the No. 6 team in the country (according to ESPN/Rise Magazine). And we were taking apart Paterson Catholic, another nationally ranked team, for three quarters. It's probably the best three quarters I've seen us play since I've been at Penn Wood. I feel for the kids because they deserved to win one of these games. They deserve them.”


On the play of junior forward Aaron Brown (pictured), who averaged 20.3 points and 7 rebounds in four games:
“He hit a wall (Wednesday), but he's really made it known that he's become a big-time recruit and a big-time player. The last two games, teams have seen what he can do. And it's not just Aaron. With Shawn, we've had coaches ask us why he isn't a top-10 Division I recruit. In Will Brown, you're starting to see what he can do when he comes out of his shell.”

On what he heard from college coaches while there:
“Tom Crean from Indiana told me he hasn't see a team play this well together in a long time. He also said it was encouraging to see kids interacting with each other and pushing each other the way our guys do. I also heard from coaches at Auburn, who saw our game against Paterson Catholic, that we were one of the best functioning high school teams in the country. The people running the tournament told us our kids were the most well-mannered, well-behaved team that's ever come through. That all means a lot to me, because when you're a coach, you're a lifelong learner. And it shows that our kids can learn, too.”

Penn Wood (3-3) returns to action Monday against Academy of the New Church at Widener.