But when the small, private school was set to play the No. 1 high school team in the nation, one phone call from a church member exemplified the benefits of having a top basketball program.

"There was a guy who called and said, 'If you guys win this game, I'm going to give you a big contribution,' " Dawm recounted yesterday. "It was a joke, but a very wealthy man said, 'I've seen these guys. You can't beat them.' "

It would be cute, perhaps, to relate ANC's meeting with St. Benedict's Prep, N.J. - the top-ranked hoops squad in USA Today national rankings - to an often-recited Old Testament story. ANC, ranked No. 2 in The Inquirer's Southeastern Pennsylvania Top Ten, is hardly David to St. Benedict's Goliath, even if the Lions are from tiny Bryn Athyn in Montgomery County, and the Gray Bees are from Newark.

But when Academy of the New Church's basketball team slew St. Benedict's, 53-50, Tuesday night, it sent shock waves throughout big-time scholastic hoops and instantly put the Lions on the map, even if some of the church flock remains uncomfortable with the idea of admitting students who are not devout members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

"It's an adjustment for them, and it still is, and that's OK," Dawm said. "There are people in the community who feel like we're just trying to grow a basketball team."

New Church teachings are based on the Bible and the writings of 18th-century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Founded in 1876 in Philadelphia, the academy was created to prepare men for the New Church priesthood. It soon morphed into boys' and girls' schools, and moved to its current location around 1900.

Needless to say, basketball was hardly a priority. But in 1980, a high school senior from West Philadelphia transferred into ANC as the school's first black male student and, for the time being, the hoops team wasn't so bad.

"It got me off the streets of West Philly," Kevin Givens said.

For Givens, attending Academy of the New Church just for one year was his path to college. After he graduated from West Chester, though, he remained a part of the New Church, at least in spirit. And when Dawm, then the boys' basketball coach, was looking for his replacement, Givens was his man.

Early on, the Lions weren't much of a hardwood powerhouse, but Givens sowed the seeds for future glory. He enrolled his sons - Sam and Shannon - in ANC's kindergarten program. And by the time the Givens brothers reached high school, the program was scaling new heights. The biggest reason for the newfound success was a change in the school's admissions policy - the church became more liberal in accepting applicants who were non-members.

"Twenty years ago, no one at this institution would have even talked to their parents, because the school was founded to educate the church members' children," Dawm said. "We decided we don't want to exist because there are church members who have kids. We want to have a school because we are this church, and we want to share it."

At first, there were a few casualties.

The Lions won a Friends School League basketball championship three seasons ago, but three of the starters from that unit failed to graduate from ANC. Still, three recent transfers made up the starting lineup of the team that knocked off St. Benedict's.

Kenny Ross, a 6-foot-1 guard from Doylestown, came from the Hun School in New Jersey a year ago. Larry Loughery, a 6-7 forward from Blue Bell, and Clay Penecale, a 6-5 wing from Abington, left Catholic League mainstays to join Ross and the Givens boys.

Sam Givens, a 6-5 forward who is headed to Drexel, and his brother had played with Ross, Loughery and Penecale for two summers in AAU basketball, against top competition, but it wasn't until the summer that Loughery and Penecale decided to leave St. Joseph's Prep and La Salle and head to ANC as roommates.

"It's made it easier because we've had to go through it together," Loughery said.

First, though, they had to pass Dawm.

"[They] all heard me say, 'If you're coming to this school to play basketball, you're making a mistake, because that's not what we do,' " Dawm said. " 'But if you come here, we want you to play.' "

Besides playing basketball, there were other obligations. They had to adhere to church teachings while at the school and, most important, they had to come without preconceived notions.

"I'm open-minded about it," said Loughery, a lifelong Catholic. "That was part of the conditions and I'm really liking it."

No Lions starters are members of the church. Kevin Givens isn't, either.

Approximately 90 percent of the school's student body is made up of children of church members, Dawn said, adding individuals cannot become members until the age of 20.

"That's how we've set it up," said Dawm, who is a church member. "Otherwise, you kind of become a cult with brainwashing. That's not what we're about."

And for many years, the church was not about high-profile hoops. Times have changed.

Dawm still hopes to track down that anonymous, would-be benefactor.

"I need to find out what happened," Dawm said. "He owes us."

Academy of the New Church

Founded in 1876, the academy was established to prepare men for the priesthood of the New Church. The boys' school began in Philadelphia in 1881; the girls' school started in 1884.

The present-day Academy of the New Church is made up of four accredited, private religious schools in Bryn Athyn, about two miles outside Northeast Philadelphia. The college prep curriculum blends moral and spiritual values with academic principles. Enrollment is about 250 students.

Source: www.ancss.org

at 215-854-4745

or jmclane@phillynews.com.