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Matt Powers has plenty of unsought experience with single-digit numbers and admirable familiarity with a four-digit figure. If he could have his druthers, the senior at The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, 901 S. Broad St., would likely alter his fate.
Despite reaching 1,000 points for his career Jan. 24, the four-year starter has just four wins against 60 losses as he and his Pegasus teammates head into today’s final home game.
Being short on victories, however, has not kept the Fairmount resident from amassing belief in his skills and from exorcising the doubt that plagued his early adolescence.
“I didn’t really have much confidence that I could make the team and play at the varsity level,” the 17-year-old said of shunning Center City’s Roman Catholic High School, a basketball powerhouse that would have made a perfect geographic choice.
The holder of 28 Catholic League Basketball championships, Roman could not lure Powers, whose Hawthorne-based selection lets him fully explore a passion that rivals hoops for his attention — visual arts.
“At CAPA, I figured I could do my art thing and play basketball,” the 6-foot-2 guard said of choosing the magnet school to strengthen his chances of a career in graphic design and to nurture the b-ball talent he began displaying in Catholic Youth Organization action with Fairmount’s St. Francis Xavier School.
Modest about his artistic faculties and athletic gifts, Powers has cause to boast of both. His roster includes three art classes, two graphic design courses and a pottery and sculpting section. Through them, he is increasing skills he would like to use to design any number of items, including movie posters and T-shirts.
On the court, he has been the primary weapon for CAPA, which began Public League play in 2004. The school’s history has included just eight victories, with Powers celebrating once in his freshman year and three times last season, during which he earned Third Team All-Public honors.
Winless at 0-12, he and his floormates will court a confidence boost from today’s 3:15 p.m. matchup with Charles Carroll High School at Palumbo Recreation Center, 10th and Fitzwater streets.
His dual deftness with his hands has drawn the attention of Chestnut Hill College and Arcadia, Philadelphia, Temple and West Chester universities. If he wishes to play basketball, Powers will choose between Glenside-based Arcadia and East Falls’ Philly U and from among the others if he again places arts above jumpers.
“Matt is an anomaly,” coach John Dunphy said of his star’s distancing academics so far above athletics.
Dunphy, who has helmed the team since its inception, serves as dean of students and teaches English and creative writing. Along with giving Powers guidance on the court, he hones the sniper’s appreciation of literature in his Honors English 4 class.
“Interacting with Matt has been fantastic. Teaching him is a privilege, as is being able to watch as he makes an art out of playing basketball,” Dunphy said.
The school’s all-time leading scorer, Powers has increased his average each season. He managed 7.6 points per game as a frosh, more than doubling that total with 17.5 two years ago and nearly hitting 20 with last year’s 19.9 tally. Through yesterday’s games, his 23-point average puts him third in the city.
Featuring four seniors, CAPA has struggled to remain competitive, with its closest margin of defeat being nine points in a 57-48 loss Jan. 6 to Science Leadership Academy.
Powers set the standard as the team’s “go-to guy” Jan. 24. Needing 13 points to reach 1,000, he deposited 40 in a 81-52 road loss to Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter High School, one off his ’09 school-record effort against Randolph Technical High School. In his next two games, he added 36 points, bringing his mark to 1,063.
“The last two years, I have developed more of an inside game,” Powers said of the rate at which he has been able to fill up the score sheet.
“He’s also bigger and stronger this year,” Dunphy said of the taciturn youngster, who is one of six city ballers to have surpassed the four-digit mark this year.
The team’s lack of triumphs has not daunted Powers, who also played baseball as a boy.
“I am just interested in playing my game,” he said of looking for shots and involving his teammates in Dunphy’s motion offense.
Because the team’s talent is burgeoning, the other players often defer to Powers, Dunphy said, feeling as if the “best chance to score comes when the ball is in Matt’s hands.”
“One of the perks of being on a team whose skills are still maturing is that you get the ball often,” Dunphy said of Powers’ prolific progress.
He has often found being the center of attention somewhat stifling, as he knows his teammates can and want to score.
“It’s difficult to describe,” he said of the team’s limited arsenal.
Not difficult to relate is that plenty of people consider Powers a real talent. The prestigious Markward Memorial Basketball Club, its name an homage to former Roman coach William Markward, honored him and 10 other players at a Jan. 19 Roxborough luncheon. The recognition will be the precursor to CAPA’s retiring his No. 22 jersey at either a special assembly or the senior awards banquet.
“Matt’s a realist,” Dunphy said. “He knows he could have gone to another school and piled up the wins. Watching him, it is evident he clearly just loves playing, loves being a competitor.”
“When I chose CAPA, I figured I would become one of the program’s stars and make a name for myself,” Powers added on lending his talents to a school with a far greater academic pedigree than an athletic lineage.
Aware that he has made a name for himself despite his team’s struggles, Powers has maintained his work ethic, never losing his fervor for firing attempts to give his school that elusive first win. Including today’s game, it has only two chances left.
“One thing I can say is that we really know how to appreciate a win,” Dunphy said.
Powers responded with a shrug.
“My CAPA career has made me realize how much I love playing,” he said. “I am happy to have scored my 1,000, but I really want to get a win.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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