Pennsbury advanced to Tuesday’s District One AAAA semifinal, and Wissahickon upset PW to remain alive in the search for a state berth. To view photos of the Pennsbury/Spring-Ford game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#5 PENNSBURY 69, #4 SPRING-FORD 52
With less than two minutes remaining in Friday night’s District One AAAA quarterfinal, the Pennsbury student section began the traditional farewell chant of ‘Nah nah nah nah, hey hey goodbye,’ but as the seconds ticked off the clock, those chants quickly turned to ‘We want ‘Stoga, we want ‘Stoga.’
The fans will get their wish.
The Falcons saw to that with their 17-point demolition of the fourth-seeded Rams, and on Tuesday night, Pennsbury will face top-seeded Conestoga in a District One AAAA semifinal game at Temple University.
It’s exactly where the players say they planned to be since day one of the season.
“This was always number one,” said junior Mekhi Bryant, who led the Falcons with 17 points. “There was no other option. It was mandatory for us to get here.”
Quite an ambitious goal for a Falcon squad that was sent packing in the opening round of districts last year after a 16-point loss to Souderton.
This year’s squad, however, has something special going. It hasn’t hurt that Derrick Woods, a transfer from Trenton High School, has become an integral part of the mix.
The 6-8 junior scored 16 points – 12 in the second half. He also had 13 rebounds and several huge blocks as he owned the paint in a dominant performance.
“Derrick has improved greatly since the beginning of the year,” coach Bill Coleman said. “I think that comes with more or less becoming more comfortable with the environment.
“We’re a very hands-on basketball staff, and when Derrick came (from Trenton High), I don’t think he realized how hands-on we are. As long as you believe in what we got going on and how much work we ask the guys to put in, you can see the improvement.”
For the critics who might have thought Pennsbury’s 15-point regular season win over Spring-Ford was a fluke, the Falcons put those thoughts to rest in a hurry, sprinting to a 21-5 lead.
Bryant got the ball rolling with a three-pointer, and after the Rams trimmed that lead to one by connecting on a pair of Nick Stanek foul shots, Bryant buried his second trey.
“I think we were all ready since the game we won against Oxford,” Bryant said of Tuesday’s second round win. “We were just ready to get back in the gym and get back on the floor and play.”
The Rams made it a 6-3 game after a Drew Kakareka three, but the Falcons answered with a dazzling 15-0 run. A Steve Ciotti basket was followed by a Bryant steal that resulted in a three-point play by Cameron Jones (13 points), and the Falcons were just getting started.
“We just love the ball,” Bryant said. “We’re ball hogs, so as soon as it goes through the net, we want it right back.”
Woods turned a Ciotti steal into a huge dunk at the other end, and when Walter Allen completed a three-point play late in the quarter, the Falcons led 16-5. Jones turned a steal into another three-point play for the Falcons.
“We told them to expect a quick start from Spring-Ford, but we have to be quick to the punch,” Coleman said. “We have to be the ones who do the punching first.
“When we make shots, our defense gets tuned up, and you could see it. It just gets turned up, turned up more and turned up more, and then we get it going. The key to our team has always been defense.”
The Falcons took a 21-7 lead into a second quarter that saw the Rams rally to make it a 23-20 game.
“You always have a little bit of concern, but it was turnovers,” Coleman said. “It wasn’t that they were scoring off sets. We were blowing up their sets.
“It was off turnovers, so once we were able to get that under control, we were fine.”
The Falcons regrouped, closing out the half with a 12-5 run to go into halftime with a 35-25 lead.
Was Bryant concerned when the Rams crept within three?
“Just a tad bit,” he said. “I had a little fear in my heart, but I’m always taught to win games, and that’s what we had to do. We had to leave it all on the floor. We didn’t want to see our season end.
“We just broke down a little defensively (in the second quarter) because we thought we had it all wrapped up, but we didn’t. It’s just determination. We just had to go for it. We want to win it all. We just have one goal on our mind.”
The Falcons – sparked by the inspired play of Woods – maintained control of the game in the second half, going on to earn a win that vaults them into the district semifinals.
Since the preseason, the Falcons have had a singular mindset – focusing on one game at a time or, as Coleman said, ‘It’s 1-0.’
“They’ve bought into it,” the Falcons’ coach said. “To come in here twice this year and beat a team that – you do the math – is ranked higher than you, it’s tough to do.
“The only way you can do it is if you focus on today. We talk all the time, and it’s the same story – they’re tired of it. Focus on today, and if you go 1-0, it’s going to work out.
“That’s the message since day one. When you have three juniors that are very highly thought of and you have a senior in Steve Ciotti and you have the bench that we have – you have to have some focus.”
The Falcons will face Conestoga on Tuesday at Temple at 7:30 p.m., the second game of a doubleheader. The first game will pit second-seeded Chester against 14th-seeded West Chester Rustin.
Pennsbury 21 14 16 18-69
Spring-Ford 7 18 14 13-52
#2 CHESTER 63, #7 ABINGTON 51
For the second year in a row, Abington’s bid at a district title was halted by none other than Chester, the Pennsylvania powerhouse team with eight state titles under its belt.
The Ghosts ran into size and athleticism in the paint and got completely overmatched by the Clippers under the basket, eventually losing by 12 points in a District One Class AAAA quarterfinal at Chester High School on Friday night.
Abington led 6-4 early on, but allowed second-seeded Chester (20-5) to come back and take a 16-10 lead into the second quarter. A 33-23 Chester lead at the half prevented the Ghosts from ever getting the game closer than within six points in the final two quarters.
“Size definitely hurt us,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “There were a lot of missed opportunities that we were trying to prevent, and Chester did a good job and worked hard. Our guys battled, but we just missed some rotations and opportunities, but we’ll learn from them.”
The seventh-seeded Ghosts, who are now 21-4 overall, will face Central Bucks West next Tuesday night at Abington High School at 7 p.m. in a playback game for seeding purposes.
“We just have to let it sting a little,” Abington junior Matt Penecale said of the loss. “But we have to get over it. We don’t want it to affect our next games and our seeding for states. We still want to make a deep run in that.
“Tonight, it was hard because we don’t have any players of that size. It’s hard to game plan on it, but we did put an emphasis on it.”
The Clippers were led by Tyrell Sturdivant’s 23 points.
Abington was led by senior Anthony Lee, who finished with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting (2-for-5 from beyond the arc). He also added three rebounds and two assists. Penecale finished with 17 points to go along with four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Amar Hinton added 10 points.
The Ghosts shot only 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) from the floor.
“I thought our guys stepped up and accepted the challenge, but we dug ourselves in a little bit of a hole there to battle back against a good team like Chester,” Grasty said.
Abington 12 11 16 12—51
Chester 18 15 14 16—63
#14 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 48, #22 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 40
The Bucks led 11-8 after one quarter and took a 20-19 lead into halftime only to watch Rustin go on a 17-6 third quarter tear to seize control of Friday’s District One AAAA quarterfinal game. Rustin led 36-26 after three quarters and never looked back.
Rustin was led by Ethan Ridgeway’s 20 points. CB West received 17 points from Evan Dunn and 15 from Jared Kelly in the loss.
Central Bucks West 11 9 6 14—40
West Chester Rustin 8 11 17 12—48
#30 WISSAHICKON 52, #6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 47
CHASE WILSON KEEPS WISSAHICKON’S SEASON ALIVE WITH STELLAR GAME
By Jesse Bernstein for SuburbanOneSports.com
Three days after a disappointing loss to Rustin, the upstart Wissahickon Trojans stunned the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials at the latter’s home court, walking away with a 52-47 victory to keep their season alive.
Wissahickon senior guard Chase Wilson led all scorers with 24 points, while Colonials senior guard Brett Paul led his team with 11. Senior guard Chris Carradorini chipped in 15 for the Trojans, and senior forward T.J. Minetola had 10 for Plymouth Whitemarsh.
From the start, it seemed as though the size and higher pedigree of Plymouth Whitemarsh would power them to victory, and a crowded, raucous gym jeered the Trojans into their first timeout, down 10-3 midway through the first.
Minetola had already scored six points and grabbed four offensive rebounds, and the Colonials press seemed unbreakable. Strong guard play from the Trojans kept the game from getting out of hand, but after one, Plymouth Whitemarsh – leading 16-10 - seemed poised to go on a run.
Chase Wilson just wasn’t having it.
“I told [my teammates] that this isn’t the way we want to end our season, losing by 30,” he said. “We need to come back this game, stronger.”
As chants of “Daddy’s boy” pounded down on Wilson (Chase is the son of Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson), the senior point guard buried three 3-pointer’s in the second quarter, including one as time expired from at least four feet behind the three-point line to give the Trojans a 25-24 lead heading into halftime.
“I sorta had to block that out,” said Wilson, in reference to the chants. “Play my game, come down, and make sure that my team got the win.”
After the break, Plymouth Whitemarsh made its run, opening up a six-point lead with 3:15 to go in the third on the strength of some much-needed scoring from junior guard Andre Mitchell and continued strong team defense.
However, the Trojans battled back, tying the game up at 36 with 1:48 to play in the quarter. The Colonials would end the quarter up 39-38. The chants of “Daddy’s boy”, silenced for much of the third, started up again.
“Chase, just, man,” said Coach Wilson. “He just…he said tonight, to the guys, he says, ‘Guys, I’m not ready for this to be done.’
Wilson responded whenever necessary, whether it was scoring right after PW senior forward Cameron Johnson’s breakaway dunk put the Colonials up two or securing a clutch steal with 1:40 to go and the Trojans down 47-46. It should be mentioned that Chris Carradorini hit two two 3’s in the final period as well, including the one that got Wissahickon to that 47-46 situation.
With 49 second to go, Wilson stepped up and knocked down his fifth and final trey of the game, putting Wissahickon on top 49-47. Plymouth Whitemarsh wouldn’t score again, and two free throws from Carradorini sealed the victory and helped keep Wissahickon’s season alive.
While losing in the previous round was not what Wissahickon wanted, the Trojans got one of the best consolation prizes they could ask for with their win over the Colonials on Friday.
“It’s a rewarding one on so many fronts,” coach Wilson said. “We played them fairly well the last time, but we threw the ball around and made too many turnovers.
“Tonight, we made sure we stopped the bleeding before it got bad and really made sure that we kept our focus on what we wanted to do. We settled ourselves and didn’t get ahead of ourselves.”
The Trojans had lost both previous meetings this season against a PW team that captured the American Conference crown.
“PW was the best team in our league this year and give them credit,” coach Wilson said. “We didn’t feel like the last game should’ve been a 30-plus point deficit. We knew we may not win this game before it started, but we knew we could play them better than we did the last time. My guys had that mentality to keep it close and make plays. Chase just made play after play after play. We got a chance to avenge that tough loss.”
The neighborhood rivalry for Friday’s must- win game attracted fans from both sides.
“That was a great game,” coach Wilson said. “I can’t remember the last time I saw a gym that packed.”
The Trojans (15-10, 9-5) will face 23rd-seeded Haverford on Tuesday in a battle for a state berth. The Colonials closed out their season with a 22-5 record overall (12-1 SOL).
Wissahickon 10 15 13 14-52
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16 8 15 8-47
Statistics
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH
5-Williams-2 points
11-Murray-6 points
15-Herezi-3 points, 1/2 FT
21-Minetola-10 points
24-Johnson-6 points, 2/4 FT
30-Paul-11 points, 2/2 FT
32-Mitchell-9 points, 1/4 FT
WISSAHICKON4-Aloia-0 points
5-Wilson-24 points, 5/8 FT
11-Carradorini-15 points, 4/5 FT
21-Vila-2 points
23-Driscoll-4 points, 2/2 FT
24-Reed-6 points
33-Pace-1 point, 1/2 FT
Haverford 59, Souderton 52
With a shot at states on the line, No. 18 seed Souderton hosted Haverford High on Friday night in a District One Class AAAA playback game.
Unfortunately, for the Indians, this would be the end of the season, as the Fords came out with a seven-point victory.
Haverford led by one at the half and increased its lead to seven after three quarters en route to the win that kept its season alive while sending the Indians home packing.
Souderton (14-11) was led by Evan Slone’s 15 points. Steve Shaffer added nine, while Tracy Simisck and Carter Knight each added eight.
Tom Liebig led Oxford with 21 points.
Haverford 10 11 17 21—59
Souderton 13 7 11 21—52
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