All four SOL boys’ basketball teams in action in Wednesday’s District One AAAA second round were winners. To view photos of the Abington/Chester and Pennsbury/Downingtown West games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
East Rockhill – The secret is out!
Pennridge sophomore Ryan Cuthbert – who had not scored a single varsity point in his career – played the most pivotal part in the Rams historic 53-47 victory over visiting Coatesville in the second round of the PIAA Quad-A District One playoffs. Cuthbert was perfect from the field – 4-for-4 that included a three-pointer – and perfect from the free throw line – 4-for-4 that included the front and back end of two critical one-and-one situations in the fourth quarter.
The victory earned Pennridge (22-3) its first ever Quad-A state basketball invitation. The # 3 seeded Rams will host # 6 seeded Abington (23-3) in the District quarterfinal on Friday. The Ghosts captured a thrilling 55-47 overtime victory over # 11 Chester. The winner earns a ticket to the District One semifinals to be played at Temple University next Tuesday at 6 pm.
“I saved Ryan for the playoffs,” joked Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “It was great to see him step up and play the way he did. He has worked so hard all year to make himself a better player, and tonight we broke the seal on him.
“To have a sophomore like him – playing in the biggest game in the history of Pennridge basketball – make those shots was something,” added Behrens. “After he made that first bucket – he just looked so relaxed. Those foul shots he made were under a great deal of pressure.”
“Coach Beherns kept telling me all year to be ready just in case,” said Cuthbert who finished with 13 points. “Once I made that first shot – I felt confident about shooting the ball. To be a part of this team (playing in the state tournament) is a nice feeling.”
Early on in the game, the trip to the quarterfinal round was far from a certainty for the Rams. Coatesville (14-10) pounded the ball inside and took an early 10-2 lead, but Pennridge clamped down defensively and trailed by just 13-7 at the close of the period.
“We knew that they were a good team,” said Pennridge senior Joey Molettiere, who fought through an injury to finish with 10 points. “We knew what to expect from them – it was just a matter of playing better.”
Pennridge played much better in the second period and snatched a 21-20 halftime lead. The scoring catalyst for the Rams was fearless junior guard Danny Long, who scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the period.
Pennridge extended its lead to 36-30 in the third period with some balanced scoring. Molettiere, Long, Cuthbert, Zach Murreda (11 points) and Joe Unangst all scored for the Rams.
The fourth quarter, though, belonged to Cuthbert. With ice water seemingly flowing in his veins, Cuthbert hit both ends of a one-and-one to give PHS a 42-36 lead with 3:16 left in the game; Cuthbert drained a three-point bomb with 2:14 left to give the Rams a 45-38 lead; and Cuthbert once again was clutch hitting both ends of a one-and-one with 0:56 left to put the game on ice at 49-42.
“Playing with this team has been awesome,” said Molettiere, who is closing out his terrific career for Pennridge. “It is a great group of guys – and how about Ryan tonight? Coach sure had him ready for the playoffs.”
The secret is out!
Free Throws: The game was played before an extremely vocal Pennridge student section that continued to support the Rams when they were down 10-2 and wildly celebrated when the won 53-47… “We love playing here,” said Behrens. “Coatesville had a hard time finding the school – and a hard time finding the gym. Home games are a huge advantage in the playoffs.” … “We heard a lot about us being overrated,” added Behrens. “ We just play the games.”
Coatesville Red Raiders 13 7 10 17 – 47
Pennridge Rams 7 14 15 17 – 53
Coatesville: Kevin Crutchfield 17; Keenan Coleman 11; Dondre Pittman 8; Justus Martinez 6; Ricky Southcroft 3; Devon Young 2. Total 47.
Pennridge: Danny Long 15; Ryan Cuthbert 13; Zach Murreda 11; Joey Molettiere 10; and Joe Unangst 4. Total 53.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 49, Springfield-Delco 35
Although his team never trailed, started the game with a 10-0 run and won by double digits, Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio was not especially happy with what he saw from his team on Tuesday.
He was, however, happy that his team came out victorious, beating visiting Springfield-Delco to advance to Friday night's District 1 Class AAAA quarterfinal round, one game further than the Colonials made it last year after losing to Central Bucks West in the second round of districts.
"We got a heck of a start and with Springfield-Delco being a team we don't see a lot and also a top seed, you have to hope they come in and are a little cautious," Donofrio said. "And they were. We started off with a lot of high energy traps, but perfectly simple, we left 10-15 points off the scoreboard in the first half with missed layups and free throws. We went into an offensive freeze, and it continued into the third quarter."
The fourth-seeded Colonials, who are now 22-2 overall, led by 12 after one quarter before taking a 27-11 lead into the half. But the Cougars went on a run in the third, cutting their deficit in half and trailing 34-26 heading into the final frame. PW would take care of things in the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to the defensive play of Cameron Johnson.
"It's the old line of trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," Donofrio said of his team's win. "I'm not thrilled by our offensive performance by any stretch, but our defense won it for us. Thank god for Cameron Johnson, who was monstrous defensively. We did enough in the first quarter to hold them off, but it wasn't pretty. I don't know what was going on, but hopefully we got it out of our system- the one ugly game, we'll see."
Johnson finished with just five points but pulled down 13 rebounds – seven offensive – to go along with his three steals.
"Cameron was the glue whenever we needed," Donofrio said. "He was just securing everything and getting rebounds. We really got ourselves flustered in the second half, worrying about officials and calls, and I wasn't really happy with our mental state tonight. Maybe the kids blinked in this round after losing last year, and they had to get it out of their system, but without Cameron, it's a loss."
The Colonials were led by Andre Mitchell's 15 points. The senior hit 8-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter and added six steals. He also hit a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter with two minutes to play to give the Colonials a cushion. Jimmy Murray and Devon Monteiro-Gray each added 10 points, while Xzavier Malone contributed seven for PW.
After the game, Donofrio spoke with his team, discussing the changes that need to be made if the Colonials want to have any chance at sniffing the semifinal round of districts.
"It was a mixed message," the coach said. "Obviously you want to be happy for the kids now that they're in the state tournament, but if you want to accomplish anything, you can't play like that. You have to be realistic."
The Colonials, who fell one game short of states last year, are already in this year's PIAA playoffs after Tuesday's win. They will play 12th-seeded Lower Merion at home Friday night in the district quarterfinals.
Springfield –one of eight teams battling for two state berths – was led by Jordan Collins' 13 points,
Springfield: Jordan Collins 13, Kevin McCormick 8, Quideer Wimes 6, Ryan McCloskey 4, Kyle Long 2, Nick Fox 2.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Andre Mitchell 15, Jimmy Murray 10, Devon Monteiro-Gray 10, Xzavier Malone 7, Cameron Johnson 5, Oakley Spencer 2.
Springfield-Delco 7 4 15 9—35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 19 8 7 15—49
Abington 55, Chester 47 (OT)
It was certainly a night to celebrate at Abington High School.
With an estimated 3,000 people in attendance – several hundred in the standing room only sections – the Ghosts did something they hadn't done in 33 years: they beat Chester.
For the first time since that same year in which Abington won the district championship, the Ghosts beat a team they had lost to in districts in each of the previous two seasons.
And for the first time in 33 years, Abington fans were able to rush the court after a win over Chester.
It took overtime, but thanks to some excellent free throw shooting and a big three-pointer by Amir Hinton, the Ghosts came out victorious.
"The crowd rushed the court and it was a good feeling," Abington coach Charles Grasty said. "It was a good feeling for our guys when they knew we were in a tough one. Forget about the seeds and the numbers and that stuff – we knew we had to take care of business. We talked about a lot of things we had to do, and we didn't stress a lot about what Chester does. We just worried about the things we had to do and I kept telling them that and our guys responded. We took care of the things we had to do."
Abington took a 25-20 lead into the locker room, but Chester opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run. Grasty called timeout, his team regrouped, and the Ghosts finished the third quarter strong, rallying to knot the score 35-35.
In the fourth, with the game tied and 23 seconds remaining, Matt Penecale gained possession for the Ghosts, and Grasty elected to not call a timeout, allowing his senior standout to hold onto the ball and set up a play. Penecale eventually got to the hole, only to have his shot rattle in and out to force overtime.
In overtime, Hinton hit a clutch triple that put the Ghosts –who opened the game 1-for-14 from three-point range –on top for good. Heath nailed all four of his free throw attempts in the final minute, and as a team, Abington hit 6-of-7 free throws in the extra period to seal the Clippers’ fate. As a team, the Ghosts went 19-for-25 from the line, committing just seven turnovers.
"They made some shots and they attacked the glass, ”Grasty said of the Clippers. “They're big and they got after us, and we knew they were going to make a run, but even after we lost that (third) quarter and got our butts kicked, we told them to keep fighting and keep fighting and it was still a tie game. We wanted to keep getting after it. We made some shots."
Matt Penecale, who stepped up big time in the second half, finished with 17 points on 7-for-9 free throw shooting to go along with five rebounds, eight assists, three steals and only two turnovers as the main ball-handler. Hinton added 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, four steals and zero turnovers. Heath went 6-for-7 from the line for nine points.
Defensively, Brendan Gallagher got the job done for the Ghosts.
"Once again, Brendan crashed the boards," Grasty said. "He was undersized and outmanned, but he's a tough kid and he just went to battle for us and he did everything we asked him to do. He had his hands full with their bigger guys and he responded."
The Ghosts, who earned a spot in states, advance to the quarterfinals where they will travel Pennridge this Friday night (7 p.m.) for a meeting of SOL teams. The sixth-seeded Ghosts improved to 23-3, winning their whopping 16th game in a row.
The More You Know: Matt Penecale became the first player in Abington boys' basketball history to play for four 
different playoff teams. During the 1980's, when the Ghosts were a powerhouse, freshmen did not play on varsity. Penecale now sits at 1,158 points in his high school career, putting him in sixth place on the school's list. He is only 39 points shy of fifth place. Hinton now has 943 career points, and with a few more Abington games, he could join Penecale in the 1,000-point club. If he eclipses the mark, it will make the first time since 1975 that the boys’team had two 1,000-point scorers on the same team.
Chester: Marquis Collins 10, Jamar Sudan 9, Maurice Henry 8, Jahmi Bailey 7, Juanir Moore 6,Keyonte Watkins 3, Dymon Colbert 2, Stanley Davis 2.
Abington: Amir Hinton 19, Matt Penecale 17, Robbie Heath 9, Jack Steinman 4, Brendan Gallagher 2, Brian Close 2, Jake Porter 2.
Chester 10 10 15 8 4—47
Abington 16 9 10 8 12–55
Pennsbury 55, Downingtown West 41
One season ago, Pennsbury lost in the district finals to Chester by only three points. Thanks to Tuesday night’s win, the Falcons are still playing for a chance at returning to that championship game, and Chester will be nowhere near to get in the way.
About 30 minutes before Chester was defeated in overtime by Abington, Pennsbury was taking care of visiting Downingtown West by double digits, propelling the Falcons to a quarterfinal meeting with Methacton Saturday afternoon at 1:30.
Led by Mekhi Bryant's 20 points, the Falcons had no troubles with the Whippets, leading by 11 after one quarter in a game they never trailed.
"It was a very good win versus a talented team," Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman said. "Mekhi and Cameron (Jones) stepped up big time today in one half each, and Derrick (Woods) played pretty well throughout the entire game. We even got some contributions off the bench defensively from Isaiah Carpenter and Mark Flagg.
“It was a good defensive team effort. Their length bothered us a bit, but we were able to get to the basket and make some easy baskets."
In the first quarter, Pennsbury (21-5) went on top 18-7 and ended up holding a 22-13 halftime lead. After three quarters, a 41-25 lead was more than enough to keep things comfortable for the Falcons.
"That first quarter was huge, and we knew we were going to be able to come out and pressure them and hopefully jump out on them a bit," Coleman said. "We did that. We weren't making any shots in the second quarter, but we were up nine at that point and decided to hold the ball and get them out a little bit.
“We couldn't get anything going at that point, but the guys turned it up in the second half and continued to play well on the defensive side of the floor."
Bryant led Pennsbury with 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half. All 14 of Jones' points came in the second half, and Woods added 11 total. Nick Cereby chipped in with seven.
Josh Warren led Downingtown West with 21.
"We were able to scratch out and pry out that 'W'," Coleman said.
Downingtown West: Josh Warren 21, Ryan Detley 13, George Gordon 3, Don Guerrara 2, Jeff Halle 2.
Pensbury: Mekhi Bryant 20, Cameron Jones 14, Derrick Woods 11, Nick Cereby 7 Rob Daly 3.
Downingtown West 7 6 12 16—41
Pennsbury 18 4 19 14—55
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