Stukes helps La Salle High run past McDevitt

AMAR STUKES was smart enough to know his father was trying to guide him to some variety of athletic greatness.

But sometimes he had to wonder: basketball or cross country?

"I used to hate him for all the running he made me do," Stukes said, laughing. "He still tries to do it, but it's not as easy with all my practices and games. But if I have some free time on a Saturday or Sunday, he's got me out there again."

There is Valley Green, that beautiful area of Fairmount Park wedged between Chestnut Hill and Roxborough. When Stukes is not somewhere else, working on dribbling and shooting, he's rubbing elbows with hills and dales.

The 6-2, 165-pound Stukes, a junior, is the point guard for La Salle High and among the folks watching him play Sunday in a 71-58 Catholic League win over visiting Bishop McDevitt was John Giannini, La Salle University's coach.

Within the last week, Giannini offered Stukes a scholarship. Albany did so last summer. Also, many Ivy League schools are poking around because Stukes achieved a 3.4 GPA on his most recent report card and his overall number (3.1) is likewise lofty.

"I'm not really thinking about the college stuff too much," Stukes said. "I'm concentrating on my high school season and trying to make sure we have as much success as we can.

"My coaches really want me to go Ivy League because they feel it would be the best situation for me . . . I'm just not sure yet. I do know I want to stay local."

Stukes finished with 17 points, four assists and two steals in a game that was mostly a frolic.

We say "mostly" because La Salle, with a 59-41 lead, began spreading the floor as the fourth quarter opened and McDevitt, now forced to do so if it wanted to see the ball again, finally began to play full-blown defense. The momentum swung, big time, and the Lancers stormed within 61-53 with 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining. Ryan Winslow's three-point play off a follow created space and the Explorers eased home from there.

"My coach [Joe Dempsey] always says, 'Don't be passive,' " Stukes said. "It's OK to swing the ball around, but . . . We stopped taking good [available] shots."

Amar is No. 2 in the Stukes Brothers' line. Nadir, who starred last year for Engineering and Science, now plays for Rosemont College. Jarrod, age 13, plays for St. Athanasius, in West Oak Lane, not far from the Stukes' home in Germantown (McCallum, near Washington Lane).

"When I was younger, my dad [Dhaamin] used to have us running tons and tons and tons of miles at Valley Green," Amar said. "He has fallen back a little on it, but when we have those sessions now they can still last from 1 to 2 hours. He used to run with us, but now he mostly just blows a whistle.

"It does help me with stamina, though. I do know that. In the fourth quarter, when other guys might be huffing and puffing, I'm able to play at the same speed I had in the first quarter."

Of the brothers' bond, Amar said, "Nadir was always one of the better players on his teams. When I saw him do good things, I wanted to go right to my games and do the same things. He would always beat me in one-and-one and that stuff and that pushed me to want to be better. Now, Jarrod's following me."

Amar figures Jarrod, like Nadir, will wind up in the 5-10 range.

"I'm not sure where I get my height," he said. "From my mom [Leslie], I guess. She's pretty tall for a woman."

Matt Rodden (two treys) added 16 points for La Salle while Winslow, the star kicker/punter, had 12 points and seven rebounds. Steve Smith claimed 12 boards and scrappy sub P.J. Acierno was important to the first-half dominance (44-26) with two treys and a three-point play for nine points.

Markeise Chandler topped McDevitt with 15 points while Brahieme Jackson (13) and subs Tyrell Long and Tymere Wilder (12 apiece) followed closely behind. Kenyatta Long added five assists and four steals.

Amar Stukes said his dad, amazingly, favored football as a youth. But it's nothin' but ballin' now . . . Oh, and runnin.'

"He's still in pretty good shape," Amar said. "He could probably beat me in a sprint."

King forfeits

Martin Luther King is no longer perfect in Public C. Ben Dubin, the league's basketball chairman, said the Cougars have forfeited a recent win over Olney because they used a player, Gerald Scott, who'd been ejected from the previous game due to a double-technical. King and Esperanza are now tied at 11-1. They meet tomorrow at Rivera Rec Center, 5th and Allegheny, to decide the division title.

Online high school coverage at philly.com/rally.