Bensalem boys’ basketball is a family affair for the Morrises

Bensalem coach Ron Morris remembers putting a basketball in the hands of his sons Antonio and Noah as soon as they could walk.

Antonio, 18, and Noah, 17, grew up ingrained in Bensalem basketball. Ron has been associated with the program for 19 years, and is about to enter his fifth season as the Owls’ head coach. When they were ages 5 and 6, respectively, Noah and Antonio would pretend they were Bensalem players coming through the high-five line in the family basement, while Ron announced the player’s names.

And at Bensalem this season, every night will be Senior Night for the Morris family.

Antonio and Noah are both seniors, separated by 11 months. This will be the last year that they’ll play for Dad.

It’s only October, and Ron is bracing himself. Who could blame him? He’s a father first, a coach second.

“I’m a passionate, emotional person, so this will be a roller coaster for me all year,” Ron said. “They’re my boys. I waited for these special moments since they were little. Antonio and Noah played all sports growing up, and the sacrifice of a coach is you miss stuff. Now this season is finally here. I get to share it with them for the last time.

“I look at every year the same, where every game is important. I push that basketball is a tool to prepare you for life. That won’t change. But with Antonio and Noah, as a parent, this is the last ride. Seeing all the work my players put in and how that comes to fruition is awesome to watch. From a dad perspective, it makes me very proud to see how much time my sons put in.”

The Owls finished 12-10 overall last season and were out of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoffs. In a short time, Ron, a 1997 Bensalem grad, has done wonders with the program. He led the Owls to the District 1 semifinals in 2019-20 after winning the Suburban One League National Conference title for the first time outright since the 1990-91 season.

This season, the Owls could be the smallest team in District 1 Class 6A.

The returning core includes, Antonio, a 5-foot-11 senior guard who has received interest from Wilkes, Arcadia, and DeSales University; 6-2, 270-pound junior Jaidyn Moffitt, a starting defensive lineman for the Owls football team; and 6-1 senior forward Micah White.

The other starters will come from Noah, a 5-8 senior guard, 5-8 junior guard Amir Drummond, 6-1 senior guard Nathan Cooper, 5-9 senior guard Angelo Semon, 5-10 junior guard Christian Lee, and 6-2 senior forward Idris Savadogo.

“We are small, and it forces us to play with a chip on our shoulders,” said Ron, who returned to coaching after suffering a stroke in August 2020. “We know that we’re going to have to work extremely hard and make opposing teams work for every bucket they get.”

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Antonio admitted how frustrating last season was. He felt the team underachieved.

“This year, we need to be more together on the court. If someone messes up, we have to be there for each other and let it go,” he said. “Every game mattered, and we did not look at it that way. ... I need to take more of a leadership role this year. We are very small, but we play bigger than who we are. We will play to the end.”

Noah would like to wrap a family bow on the season with the goals of winning the league title the last time playing under his father, and then make the state playoffs.

“We are going to be in better shape this year and I’m 100 percent ready for the next step,” said Noah, who may attend Bucks County Community College to continue playing basketball. “Antonio and I have been waiting for this moment all our lives. We grew up watching Bensalem games. We have to end on a good note for our dad.”

The Morris family has one more coming up who could be even better than Antonio and Noah, 11-year-old Ella Morris, who is already 5-2 and has no problem standing up to her older brothers.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if [Ella’s] the best of them, because of her brothers,” Ron said. “I raised my children to be positive, to be nice to people, and work their butts off. The game is definitely a part of them. We are a basketball family and Bensalem basketball is a part of their lives.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.