PW and Pennsbury will play in a PIAA Quad-A doubleheader on Saturday at Norristown. Check back for a recap of both games.
By Scott Huff
And the beat goes on…
PIAA Quad-A Quarterfinals
Saturday – March 14, 2015
[1-2] Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (26-3) vs. [12-2] Martin Luther King Cougars (23-8)
@ Norristown High School – 5:30 pm
Season Resume:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: The Colonials finished the regular season as the champion of the Suburban One League American Conference.
Martin Luther King: The Cougars finished the regular season as the second place finisher in the Philadelphia Public League ‘A’ Division.
District Playoff Resume:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: The Colonials concluded the District One playoffs as the # 2 seed. PW advanced to the title game with wins over Cheltenham (73-33), Springfield-Delco (49-35), Lower Merion (47-36) and Ridley (44-41). The Colonials lost to Abington in the district championship game by a 53-35 margin.
Martin Luther King: The Cougars concluded the District 12 playoffs as the # 2 seed. MLK advanced to the City title game with wins over Northeast (88-55), Bartram (66-41), Washington (59-46), and Imhotep Charter (61-56). The Cougars lost to Roman Catholic in the district championship game by a 58-57 score.
State Playoff Resume/Last Game:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: The Colonials opened the state playoffs with a 71-46 victory over Northeastern. PW advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 73-70 victory over Pennridge. In the win over the Rams, Xzavier Malone scored a game-high 27 points. Devon Monteiro-Gray added 18 points for the winners, while Jimmy Murray tallied 17 points. Andre Mitchell scored in twin digits with 11 points.
Martin Luther King: The Cougars opened the state playoffs with a 69-37 victory over William Allen. MLK advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 70-56 victory over District 3 champion York. In the win over York, Sammy Foreman scored a game-high 25 points. Jabri McCall added 14 points for the winners, while Ladji Fofana scored in double digits with 11 points.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: [# 32 Andre Mitchell – Sr. – 6-1 – Guard]; [# 11 Jimmy Murray – Sr. – 6-0 – Guard]; [# 5 Xzavier Malone – Jr. – 6-4 – Guard]; [# 21 Devon Monteiro-Gray – Sr. – 6-4 – Forward]; and [# 24 Cameron Johnson – Sr. – 6-2 – Forward].
Martin Luther King: [# 24 Sammy Foreman – Sr. – 6-1 – Guard]; [# 22 Jabri McCall – Jr. – 6-0 – Guard]; [# 3 – Tyheem Harmon – Sr. – 5-10 – Guard]; [#21 Tyere Marshall – Sr. – 6-8 – Center]; and [# 20 Nasir Bell – Jr. – 6-2 – Forward].
Plymouth Whitemarsh Head Coach Jim Donofrio says: “Martin Luther King will present a huge concern with their pure team speed. They play the game in another gear. We can’t get lazy with the ball – and we have to be opportunistic on defense. Pennridge was a team that we could prepare for – they are very patterned with what they do, and they are extremely aggressive. MLK is exactly the opposite – you don’t really know what they are going to do on offense. They are extremely talented with great guards and good size. Pennridge taught us a great lesson in that you have to value all 32 minutes in the game. Teams at this point of the playoffs play very hard – you don’t want to lose and go home. The energy created by the players and the fans at this time of year is tremendous – it is the best $ 6 that any fan could spend. Playing at Norristown with Pennsbury is great for local basketball. Two Suburban One teams (PW and Pennsbury) against two City teams (MLK and Roman Catholic) – it doesn’t get much better than that.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the [3-5] Harrisburg (22-8) vs. [8-1] Allderdice (25-2) game on Tuesday (3/17/15) in a PIAA Quad-A semifinal game at a site to be determined.
[1-3] Pennsbury Falcons (25-6) vs. [12-1] Roman Catholic Cahillites (26-2)
@ Norristown High School – 3:00 pm
Season Resume:
Pennsbury: The Falcons finished the regular season as the second place finisher in the Suburban One League National Conference.
Roman Catholic: The Cahillites finished the regular season as the champion of the Philadelphia Catholic League.
District Playoff Resume:
Pennsbury: The Falcons concluded the District One playoffs as the # 3 seed. Pennsbury captured district wins over Central Bucks South (70-53), Downingtown West (55-41), and Methacton (68-58). The Falcons lost to Abington 49-40 in the D-1 semifinals. Pennsbury closed out district play with a victory over Ridley (65-51) to earn the # 3 seed.
Roman Catholic: The Cahillites captured the District 12 championship with a 58-57 victory over Martin Luther King in the City final. Roman Catholic opened District 12 play with wins over Archbishop Wood (64-50), Archbishop Carroll (61-58), and Neumann-Goretti (64-59).
State Playoff Resume/Last Game:
Pennsbury: The Falcons opened the state playoffs with a 73-53 victory over Cedar Cliff. Pennsbury advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 57-41 victory over District 11 champion Parkland. Cameron Jones scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Falcons, while Derrick Woods (13) and Mekhi Bryant (11) also scored in double figures.
Roman Catholic: The Cahillites opened the state playoffs with a 68-52 victory over Downingtown West. Roman Catholic advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 53-35 victory over Cedar Crest. The Cahillites were led in scoring by Manny Taylor with 11 points, while Nazeer Bostick (10) and Gemil Holbrook (10) also scored in twin digits.
Projected Starting Lineup:
Pennsbury: [# 11 Mekhi Bryant – Sr. – 5-11 – Guard]; [# 20 Derrick Woods – Sr. – 6-8 – Center]; [#24 – Nick Cereby – Sr. – 6-4 – Forward]; [# 25 Cameron Jones – Sr. – 6-3 – Guard]; and [# 35 Rob Daly – Sr. – 5-11 – Guard].
Roman Catholic: [# 1 Manny Taylor – Sr. – 6-6 – Forward]; [# 4 Nazeer Bostick – Jr. – 6-3 – Guard]; [#10 – Tony Carr – Jr. – 6-3 – Guard]; [# 20 Gemil Holbrook – Sr. – 6-4 – Guard]; and [# 35 Paul Newman – Jr. – 6-7 – Center].
Pennsbury Head Coach Bill Coleman says: “We get a rare chance to play a nationally ranked basketball team, and the kids are very excited about the opportunity. It is one of the most storied basketball programs in the state with a great tradition. Roman has a tremendous player in Tony Carr and some good size and length – they will be a tremendous challenge. We are coming off a game where we played very well defensively, and that is going to be a key to playing Roman. We have to play hard, and we have to play together. We want to try to do to them what we have done to other teams – pressure them and make them uncomfortable. We did that against Parkland, and we were able to beat an excellent basketball team. If we step up and play the way we can, we can play with anyone. To be able to play at Norristown in a District One/District 12 doubleheader is going to be exciting. Everyone will be ready to go.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the [3-8] Lancaster McCaskey (22-10) vs. [12-3] La Salle (21-6) game on Tuesday (3/17/15) in a PIAA Quad-A semifinal game at a site to be determined.
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