Church has helped keep the Blue Jays together

From The Lancaster Newspaper Website:

Former Solanco standout leads E-town into playoffs

Intelligencer JournalLancaster New Era
Feb 22, 2010 00:01 EST
Elizabethtown

By GORDIE JONES, Correspondent

Mike Church is not big on reflecting. Not on his basketball career at Elizabethtown College, which has been a good one and could end as soon as Wednesday. Not on his individual achievements, which are considerable.

There will be time enough for that later, he believes.

But in another sense it is well past time to consider how this season has reflected on the senior center from Solanco. Which is to say, quite well. More than anyone else he has held things together for a Blue Jays team that has had its ups and downs -- and one that despite everything made the Commonwealth Conference playoffs as the fourth seed. The Jays (16-8) face No. 1 Lycoming (20-5) in a semifinal Wednesday night in Williamsport.

He has done so with his production. And he has done so because he is, in the words of teammate Bryan Harrity, "a natural born leader."

"He's one of those guys who takes you to another level personally," said Harrity, a junior center. "When he's into it, you're into it."

And as far as anyone can tell, there has never been a time this season when that has not been the case. Church has been fully engaged from the get-go, his focus never wavering.

It is not always so with seniors, E-town coach Bob Schlosser said. They have a lot on their minds at this point in their lives, between graduation, job searches and everything else.

"We've had a lot of seniors do it the right way," Schlosser said. "Unfortunately some guys when they're getting ready to graduate, their focus changes. Their priorities change. They don't play with the urgency you'd hope. Mike's the epitome of the opposite of that."

The 6-4 Church was a solid high school player, a guy who while playing for the Mules "just outjumped people," as Schlosser recalled. He added some polish early in his college career - not to mention 20 pounds - and has improved upon his most significant numbers every season; his averages this year are 15 points, 8.9 rebounds and just over two blocks a game.

And more than that, he has developed into a guy who wants to set the tone for everyone else.

"It feels good to be able to have these guys lean on me so much," he said after the Jays beat Arcadia 81-69 in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale. "I like taking a leadership role."

He had been held out of the game because of an ankle sprain - more as a precaution - but was honored beforehand with the other three seniors, including Hempfield's Josh Houseal. All of them were given framed jerseys, along with a hearty ovation.

No one deserved it more than Church - who, by the way, expects to play Wednesday.

"It feels good to get there and have a chance to do something special," he said. "It would have (stunk) not to make the playoffs senior year."

But it has been, he said, "a crazy ride." The Jays dropped their first conference game, won the next three, lost two, won two, lost one, won one, lost two, won two. Point guard Kyle McConnell missed time with a broken thumb. Houseal missed time because he suffered a pair of concussions. And after a last-second loss at Messiah on Feb. 3, Schlosser questioned his players' selflessness and maturity.

Church's play, in the meantime, never fluctuated. He has been credited with nine double-doubles to date, and at Widener on Feb. 13 he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career; he had been unaware he was nearing that milestone until someone told him a week or two earlier.

"He's always the consistent one, and we're trying to match what he does," Harrity said.

He has also tried to clean up whatever messes he can. Others had to work themselves out. The day after that loss to Messiah, for instance, the Jays were scheduled to go bowling. It was an uneasy time, considering the nature of the loss and Schlosser's postgame remarks, which Church said were "tough to swallow."

"For me personally, it really hurt," he added.

They got together anyway.

"That was a tough thing to do, for all of us," Schlosser said. "You almost have to force yourself to do it."

Nobody said much for a long, long time. Then, Schlosser recalled, "something funky happened" on one of the lanes, and everybody laughed. It was, the coach said, the first time in 24 hours anybody had so much as cracked a smile.

While the mood lightened, it's not like the Jays took off from there; they are just 3-2 since.

They have, however, hung together. And for that they can thank Mike Church, as much as anyone else.