At the halfway point of Dock Mennonite’s summer boys basketball six-week league, there is a prevailing feeling that the outlet has been quite effective.
Dock head coach Mike Fergus should know. His team has won 44 straight games, and they have made it to the state’s group of elite eight the past two years.
Dock’s league has proven to be a good primer for the upcoming season.
“There is a high level of play,” said Fergus, who has directed the camp over the years. “We again have good teams, good refs from high school and college, and the competition has been on a high level.”
The 12-team league, in its seventh overall season, is comprised of teams from Central Bucks East, Central Bucks West, Central Bucks South, Dock Mennonite, Lansdale Catholic, Methacton, Pennridge, Phoenixville, Springfield, Spring-Ford, Upper Moreland and Wissahickon, and each team plays 12 games.
“Many of these programs are traditionally strong,” Fergus added. “It helps all the teams, especially us.”
Fergus has watched his seasoned team play well this summer, led by rising seniors Rob Sukaly, Justin Panaia, and Tony Martin, who all helped produce a 25-5 record last season.
“We have had great leadership from those guys,” said Fergus about his senior trio. “We also have lots of athletic, long kids either returning as varsity swing guys or kids up from last year’s 18-3 JV team.”
CB West head coach Adam Sherman echoed his colleague’s sentiments and sees the league as an early litmus test.
“The Dock summer league has been good for us,” said Sherman, whose team finished 19-9 overall and advanced to a District One Class 6A playback game. “It is showing us what we need for the upcoming season.
“This year’s team is very young and inexperienced. We graduated seven seniors from last year’s team.”
Sherman has liked what he has seen from rising senior forward Roman Kulesa, rising junior point guard Max Milillo and rising sophomore guard Dan Pellegrini.
“(Kulesa) is playing extremely well, and we will have to lean on him quite a bit this upcoming season,” Sherman noted. “We have seen great things from Milillo and Pellegrini.
“We will round out our varsity with several rising juniors and sophomores. We even have two rising freshmen in the mix this summer.”
Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens also has been a supporter of the program. He has reason to be optimistic after the Rams went 4-18 last season.
“We’re 3-3 right now in the league,” Behrens said. “We have given many of the boys opportunities to play varsity during the spring and summer, which has been a positive for us.
“We have a good team chemistry and are getting better at playing as a team. That will hopefully translate into more wins this winter.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
