Friends' Central boys tennis team looking for another win

The Friends' Central boys' tennis team will have a chance to pick up more honors Saturday and Tuesday when the Friends Schools League holds its players' championships at Westtown and Shipley.

In the tournament, all No. 1 players will play together, all No. 2s will play together, and so on through second doubles.

The Phoenix wrapped up the league team championship Thursday by beating George School, 4-1. It was the second straight year that Friends' Central (15-2-1 overall) went unbeaten to win the crown.

"I never tire talking about this team," coach Bill Sember said. "They are a great bunch of guys, and they're all home-grown. They all came up through the Friends School program. Nobody came here as a junior or senior to play tennis."

In Saturday's opening rounds at Westtown, the Phoenix will have the top seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.

Sophomore Declan Hahn, fresh off a 6-2, 6-3 win over the George School's Jake Friedman, is the top seed at No. 2 singles. Freshman Sam Silver is the top seed at No. 3.

At No. 1 doubles, Wes Kaminsky and Ilian Dreyfus are the top seeds. The Phoenix's Andrew Shoemaker and Rajj Singh are seeded second at No. 2 doubles.

Friends' Central's No. 1 singles player, Alex Margolies, is the lone senior on the team. He is seeded third.

"We've got a couple of very promising eighth graders coming up," Sember said.

Headed to Florida. The PA Playaz, an AAU team from Bucks County, will compete in the Division 1 AAU national basketball championships for 16-year-olds from July 25 to 30 at the Disney Sports Complex in Orlando.

It will mark the second time the team has competed in the national championships. The Playaz recently took the Mid-Atlantic title, winning six straight games. They beat Team Nelson from Chester, 79-62, in the semifinals and downed Second 2 None, 79-73, in the title game. The region includes teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Playaz members are Ryan Arcidiacono, Dwight Williams and Tyler Katz, all from Neshaminy; Arron Goodman, Owen Rice, Aaron Morgan and Billy McAlister from Council Rock North; Dan Brown of Central Bucks South; Brandan Kilpatrick from Malvern Prep; and Gene Williams from St. Joseph's Prep.