The sweet taste
of victory

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Lenny Young knew he had a great shot.
He also knew he had a lot of work to do.
Young, a 6-foot-2 senior on the North Catholic High School basketball team, has always had the ability to sink shots from long distances. We’re talking about draining NBA 3s with no problem.
But Young did have a weighty problem. As recently as last summer, he tipped the scales at 242 pounds.
"I love seafood, and that wasn’t good for me," Young said. "Steak, shrimp, I loved all of that, but I had to give it up because I wanted to become a better basketball player."
Young’s dietary changes were supplemented by daily exercise and countless hours on the basketball court, and it has worked wonders.
Meet the new and improved Lenny Young — the shot is still deadly, but the body’s a much trimmer 207 pounds. He also comes equipped with a scholarship to Compton State University, a Division 1 school in Maryland.
"It hit me last year," Young said. "You always watch college basketball on television and you see these guys playing Division 1 basketball. They don’t show you how they got there, they just show them doing it.
"Last year, I realized that if I didn’t start working hard, I wasn’t going to be playing Division 1 ball. So my dad (Leonard Young) and coach Mike (McCarron, North basketball coach) helped me lose the weight."
In helping Young shed the pounds, they also helped the Falcons.
North, which finished first in the Catholic League Northern Division, defeated La Salle, 56-42, in the quarterfinals of the Catholic League playoffs in the second half of a doubleheader at Archbishop Ryan.
North was getting ready to meet St. Joseph’s Prep — an upset winner over Roman Catholic in the Southern Division quarterfinals — in a semifinal game at the Palestra on Wednesday night (Feb. 20). Tip-off was scheduled for roughly 8:45, preceded by a 7 p.m. game between Archbishop Ryan and Monsignor Bonner.
It was the third time this year that the Falcons, who finished 12-2 in Northern Division play, defeated the La Salle Explorers; it’s also the second straight year that North is headed to Penn’s hallowed gymnasium.
"I was a little scared because I know they are a good team with great big men and great role players," said Young, who led the Falcons in scoring this year and was named a first-team All-Catholic selection.
"But we were good too. We don’t have any juniors on this team, all we have are a lot of great freshmen and sophomores. Us seniors, we just try to lead the younger guys, but they’d be good without us."
Luckily, North didn’t have to find out, as Young and point guard Velton Jones, bound for Robert Morris, provided the team with plenty of leadership.
"I have to say that it’s nice to be a part of this," Young said. "If you come and look at our team, you can tell that North Catholic basketball is on the upswing. They’re going to be so good for so long now. We have a great mix of players, young players, who are going to be good for a long time.
"That’s why it’s kind of nice that I was here last year when we made the semifinals, and now this year we’re going back with a chance to go further. I can always tell people when they’re winning championships that I was one of those guys who started that roll. I was there at the start of all this."
If Young’s prediction comes true and the Falcons claim a Catholic League championship/state championship in the next few years, he promises to be as supportive as his former teammates have been.
"Chris Edwards was here last year, but he graduated, he comes back all the time to support us," Young said. "I’ll do that too. The coaches here have done so much for me, I’ll be back."
Young looks forward to attending college in Maryland. Since it’s known for its seafood, he might even have some shrimp.
"If I’m working real hard, I’ll have some," he said. "My goal weight is 190, so I’m still trying to be a loser. But if I’m working hard and the weight is still coming off, I’ll have some shrimp.
"Just no butter." ••
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com