AND THEN there was one . . .
One senior member, that is, of Lansdale Catholic High's basketball program.
Yes, Alex Talarico assures us, the school did have a freshman team in the 2008-09 school year. And that squad, if he remembers correctly, even claimed two or three wins.
But along the way, all of Talarico's then-teammates pulled a vanishing act because they wanted to concentrate on other sports, or because they saw they'd never be much of a factor, or because they flat-out lost interest.
Talarico, a 6-foot, 160-pound senior combo guard, stayed around.
Then yesterday, again, there was one . . .
Win No. 1 of the Catholic League season, that is.
In a battle of winless squads, Talarico shot 3-for-5 and 1-for-2 for seven points and dealt three assists as the visiting Crusaders (1-6 in CL) bested Monsignor Bonner (0-7), 44-38.
No cartwheels were turned. No nets were sliced down. There will be no parade today through Lansdale. But it's likely the smile won't leave Talarico's face for a while.
"This has been a rough season," he acknowledged, "so this feels really good. Every day you walk into practice with the idea, 'Keep working hard. The next game will be our first win.' And then you keep waiting . . .
"We knew Bonner was in the same situation [plus, also winless overall]. Just as hungry as we were. We wanted to come out and step it up real fast. Take control of the game. That's what happened and we stayed ahead."
Almost. Bonner did create a 34-34 tie with 6 minutes, 55 seconds remaining as Pat Vanderslice canned a layup on a pass from Paul Pfeffinger. LC charged right back into the lead - then stayed there - as Andrew Riviello hit a left-wing jumper.
In his family, Talarico is something of a maverick.
His older brothers, Tony, Michael and Dan, all favored soccer, as did members of the previous generation. Alex played through the eighth grade, at St. Rose of Lima, in North Wales, then ditched the sport because he wanted to give his total effort to hoops.
As his sidekicks kept departing, all he could do was shrug his shoulders.
"There were two juniors on last year's team, and now it's just me as the only senior," he said. "I always liked basketball. I wasn't going to let the fact that everybody else stopped playing make me stop playing. I guess it's pretty cool being the only senior, but it's also kind of tough."
Not enough to break him.
