Southern Lehigh has new coach, but tall expectations
So far, so good.
Those were the words of Ryan Wehr, the new Southern Lehigh boys basketball coach, as the Spartans began the first full week of practice for the 2021-22 season on Monday and became the latest stop on The Morning Call’s “Dandy Dozen” preseason tour.
Wehr replaced Ben Tannous, who went 125-65 in eight seasons before resigning to spend more time with his family, especially two young sons.
Southern Lehigh won back-to-back Colonial League championships in 2019 and 2020, but never could hit its stride in a pandemic-plagued season a year ago and suffered early exits from both the league and district tournaments.
Wehr, who is quite familiar in Lehigh Valley basketball circles having coached at both Parkland and Emmaus, spent the last eight seasons at Brandywine, which is also where Tannous coached before coming to Center Valley.
“It has been great to be back in the Valley and get to chitchat with some coaches at some different events,” he said. “I’ve been rekindling some relationships that had kind of gone by the wayside after spending the last eight years out in Berks County. It has been fun to get to know the kids and gain some familiarity with the Colonial League.”
Wehr inherits a program with a good amount of experience returning and a great amount of size. The Spartans figure to match up with many teams they will play.
“The kids have bought into what we’ve been talking about in terms of physicality and defensive-oriented stuff,” he said. “We’re off to a good start.”
Southern Lehigh won the smallschool title at the Cedar Beach Basketball Showcase in June and finished second in the Cedar Beach league a month later.
There’s a sense that the team is ready to challenge defending champ Bangor and runner-up Notre Dame-Green Pond, among others, in a balanced Colonial League.
“We’re excited for the season,” senior Michael Andrews said. “We have a great group of guys with plenty of seniors and juniors. We’re ready to roll. We have a lot to prove this year.”
Andrews said the key will be to get the ball inside.
“But guard play is really important because we have to take care of the ball and take good shots,” Andrews said.
Andrews’ brother, Chris, was a member of Southern Lehigh’s title teams in 2019 and 2020 and is now a sophomore at Monmouth.
Michael Andrews wants his own titles.
“I want this team to get up there to where my brother’s teams were,” he said. “I want us to be just as good as them. I want to be better than them, actually. I think we can do it. I think we can make a run at states.”
Southern Lehigh Spartans
Coach: Ryan Wehr (first season, 72-102 in 8 seasons at Brandywine Heights).
2020-21 season: 7-6, 6-4 in Colonial League. Lost to Northwestern Lehigh 52-49 in Colonial League quarterfinals; lost to Blue Mountain 60-52 in District 11 5A quarterfinals.
Season opener: Dec. 10, host Emmaus.
Colonial League opener: Dec. 14, host Palmerton.
Players to watch: Matt Tankred (6-4 Sr. F) 13.6 ppg; Max Pristas (6-4 Jr. F); 9.0 ppg; Dom Lisicky (5-9 Sr. G) 8.1 ppg; Noah Denton (6-5 Sr. F); 4.7 ppg; Michael Andrews (5-10 Sr. G); Liam Lorio (5-11 Sr. G)’ Jonah Shaw (6-1 Jr. G); Robbie Allen (6-1 Jr. G).
Take note: Wehr’s assistants include Bob Bogwist, a former girls assistant at Emmaus and Whitehall. Also, Brian Busolits, who spent six seasons at Allen on Doug Snyder’s staff, and Andrew Nicholas, who played college basketball at Monmouth, and Michael Ouly, a Southern Lehigh grad.
Why the Spartans could be dandy: Southern Lehigh has experience and size in the frontcourt with Denton, Pristas, and Tankred, who should lead the team in scoring. “Our strength is definitely going to be in the post,” Wehr said. Another strength is the players have the motivation to get back to Colonial League title contention. The Spartans were league champs in 2019 and 2020, but never could get on a run last season. That disappointment has fueled a determination to get back to elite status within the league.
Why the Spartans could be a dud: The Spartans need to sharpen their outside shooting touch and also do a better job with ballhandling. “In the summer league we didn’t handle pressure very well and we played Nazareth at DeSales in a warmup tournament three weeks ago and that didn’t go very well,” Wehr said. “So that’s an area of concern I would like us to work on the preseason.”
The final word: The Spartans were one of the area’s biggest disappointments last year because they didn’t live up to their potential after back-to-back league titles and a district gold in 2020. Wehr, who had success at the JV level at Parkland and Emmaus and as a varsity coach at Brandywine, is excited to be coaching again in the Lehigh Valley and renew acquaintances after eight seasons in Berks County. He’ll see one of his former teams immediately when Emmaus visits on opening night and the Spartans will play a challenging schedule that will include nonleague games against Gov. Mifflin, Freedom, Liberty, and Pleasant Valley.
“When we first met with the kids, one of the first things they talked about was being frustrated with how things ended last year,” Wehr said. “They thought they could have achieved a little bit more and they were really looking at this season as a redemption season. They want to get back to near the top of the league where they thought they should be.”