For the Harriton Rams varsity basketball team, the 2010-2011 season has been one that has made the student body very proud to be Harriton High School Students. The team, which currently sits at a record of 9-8, already has as many wins as it did the entire season last year. The Rams have four games remaining: the next two games are away at Marple Newtown and Conestoga, and then the regular season wraps up with a pair of home games against Ridley and Strath Haven. The Rams are expected to win at least half of these remaining games. However, any victories here on out would mean an improvement from last season to this one for Head Coach Jesse Rappaport and the varsity squad.

The team knew entering this season that it was a more talented crop of players than what the team has had to work with in the past. Sophomore point guard Matt Sherman is leading the way in scoring over 12 points a game. Senior forward Marquis Baker, who’s also scoring in double digits per game on the season, has improved his game on both sides of the ball. He leads the team in blocks as well as points scored by forwards. Mike Allen, another senior forward, is currently leading the team in rebounding with over 10 boards a game. This number is basically unheard of at the high school level, and Allen’s ability to “get up” and grab rebounds has been a huge part of the teams season long success. Junior forward Ryan Kelly has also been a dominant force in the paint all year, and has stopped the league’s best big men from having their way as usual down low. Guards Samir Muhammad, Lorenzo Useche, and Adam Heller have all started a lot of games this year, and provide solid energy whether they’re in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. Muhammad is a legitimate scoring threat, Useche contributes evenly on both ends, and Heller is more of a defensive presence. Andre Dixon, Evan Soloff, and Stephan Clayton are three other seniors that come off the bench to give the needed energy at the end of the game. Itay Levy is a junior big man, and has shown some great promise that will carry over to his senior season. Ben Bernstein, a junior point
guard, happens to play a very deep position on Harriton’s roster and has worked hard; expect him to play a huge role on the team next season as well. And of course, the fantastic four freshman: Spencer Dickler, Tas Dixon, Jake Rosenberg, and Alex Shippen have all played incredibly on the junior varsity level and are the future of
this team for the next couple years with Sherman.

The Rams have had an up and down season, but has had overall success in the Central League. They began the season with a four game win streak, followed by an extremely tough loss at Springfield. Over winter break, a loss against Lower Moreland was followed up by an easy win against Bristol the next day. Two exciting home wins against Marple Newtown and Penncrest followed, and it looked like the team was about to really hit its stride. Unfortunately, the next five games proved to be extremely difficult for the Rams, as they were unable to win a game over this span. Losses came against Strath Haven, Springfield, Radnor, Academy Park (by 1
point), and probably the toughest to swallow: Lower Merion. The LM game was the an incredibly competitive and exciting basketball game, and a huge turnout from both schools student body made the game even more exciting. The Rams led by 1 point at halftime, and were tied after the third quarter. A couple unlucky calls by the referee and some bad breaks led to a 40-33 loss to the Aces, but the team bounced back, with a blowout victory at Penncrest. Victory was almost theirs against undefeated Upper Darby, but the game got away from them in the fourth quarter. Still, the team sits at a game above .500.

This is the kind of team that could do some damage in the playoffs. All Harriton students should join the “Herd” and support the team in last games of the regular season. The playoffs are soon after, so if you haven’t been to any games yet, it’s not too late to start. Get hype Harriton, the basketball team is ready to make a run and you won’t want to miss out.