Marple Newtown’s PJ Esposito fires a shot in a game earlier this season. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
The high school basketball season is so comparatively brief that sometimes the luck of the injury draw plays an outsized role.
So it is this season at Marple Newtown. The Tigers’ route to an 8-6 record tracks nicely with who has and has not been available to play.
A 1-4 start came without two key figures in guard PJ Esposito and forward Ryan Keating due to injury. Esposito and sophomore Matt Gardler are the only two varsity holdovers from the team that made the PIAA Class 5A tournament last year.
Once those guys returned and got back into the flow, Marple Newtown rattled off five straight wins, including Central League crossover victories over 6A teams Conestoga and Haverford.
“It’s huge,” Marple Newtown coach Sean Spratt said. “From Keating, it’s just the physicality standpoint. He gives us something that we don’t really have in terms of height and weight without him and length, covering space, but also the athleticism he brings.