Both Pennsbury and PW saw their seasons come to an end the PIAA Quad-A quarterfinal round Saturday.
By Scott Huff
West Norriton – The last stop on the PIAA Quad-A championship journey for both Pennsbury and Plymouth Whitemarsh was Norristown Area High School. Both the Falcons and the Colonials saw their successful seasons come to an abrupt halt in the state quarterfinals as Pennsbury (25-7) fell to District 12 champion Roman Catholic (27-2) in a thriller – 58-57 – while PW (26-4) fell to District 12 runner-up Martin Luther King (24-8) – 59-43.
Pennsbury drops Heartbreaker to Nationally Ranked Roman Catholic
Pennsbury senior Cameron Jones unleashed a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer that caught the rim but failed to drop through the net as the Falcons were jettisoned from the PIAA Quad-A playoffs with the 58-57 loss to Roman Catholic. The Falcons were that close to beating a team that was ranked 24th in the nation by USA Today.
“When I let it go – it felt like it was on line and had a chance,” said Jones who led the Black & Orange with 18 points. “I think that we proved today that we could play with one of the best teams in the state – and one of the best teams in the country.”
“When we began the year we knew we were going to be good,” said Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “It is hard to get to where we got this year – it takes a special team to get this far. This is a team that deserved to go on to the next round – we knew that we could play with them – and we did.
“Cam has done so much for this team – and he hasn’t really gotten the respect that he deserves,” added Coleman of his point guard who also dished out nine assists to go along with his 18 points. “He is the most underrated player in the area.”
Jones did his thing at the beginning of the game scoring the first eight Falcon points that included a pair of 3-point bombs as Pennsbury jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. Roman – though – would score seven of the final nine points in the period to take a 16-13 lead.
The Falcons took a 23-22 lead with 1:08 left in the first half on a 3-point field goal by senior Mekhi Bryant. Bryant would finish the game with 14 points.
Roman Catholic – though – scored the final three points of the half to take a 25-23 lead into the intermission.
Pennsbury played its best basketball in the third period, outscoring the Cahillites 23-15 to take a 46-40 lead into the fourth period. Jones opened the period with a long 3-point field goal – and closed the period with a 3-point missile at the buzzer. Senior Derrick Woods scored six of his 17 points with some silky-smooth moves around the basket.
“We went out of the season strong – playing well against a nationally ranked team,” said Woods – the 6-8 St. Bonaventure recruit. “It is hard to end the season this way, but we still had a good season. Cam, Mekhi and I are still brothers. We might go to different colleges next year – but we will always be brothers.”
The two teams battled back and forth in the final frame. The last Pennsbury lead came with 2:40 left in the game when Bryant drained a 3-pointer to give the Falcons a 53-52 lead.
The most highly touted player on the Roman roster – junior Tony Carr – came up with key points in the final moments. A conventional three-point play by Carr regained the lead for the Cahillites at 55-53. Carr – who scored a game-high 19 points – would convert the game-winning free throw with three seconds left to seal the victory.
“The further you get in the playoffs, the harder it is to lose,” said Coleman. “And this one hurts a whole lot.”
Pennsbury Falcons 13 10 23 11 – 57
Roman Catholic 16 9 15 18 – 58
Pennsbury: Cameron Jones 18; Derrick Woods 17; Mekhi Bryant 14; Rob Daly 5; and Nick Cereby 3. Total – 57.
Roman Catholic: Tony Carr 19; Nazeer Bostick 11; D’Andre Vilmar 10; Manny Taylor 9; and Gemil Holbrook 9.
Bad News for Plymouth Whitemarsh – Good News for Andre Mitchell
The bad news for Plymouth Whitemarsh was that the Colonials season came to an inglorious end with their 59-43 loss to Martin Luther King in the PIAA Quad-A state quarterfinals.
The good news for PW senior Andre Mitchell was that the affable guard scored a game-high 20 points – and in doing so would finish his wonderful career for the Colonials with 1001 points.
First the bad news…
“All teams at this stage of the tournament do something great, “ said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “Martin Luther King was a touch faster – a touch quicker – and a touch more aggressive than any team that we have faced this year.
“You can talk all you want about strategy – all you want about the X’s and O’s, but these players are all playing at a very high level and will perform on the court,” added Donofrio. “I was impressed with the way that MLK played defense.”
And so was everyone else.
The talented Colonial backcourt of senior Jimmy Murray and junior Xzavier Malone were a combined 4-for-30 from the field playing against the in-your-face Cougar defense.
The best that things got for PW came in the first half of the game. The Colonials trailed 17-4 with 1:36 left in the first period, but the score was even at 20-20 with 1:49 left in the first half.
“I was very impressed with the way that we played in the second quarter,” said Donofrio. “And then we turned around in the third period and forgot all about how we got back in the game in the second period.”
Now the good news…
It became apparent in the fourth period that the game was ‘over’ as far as PW winning the game. But now the interest became whether or not Mitchell would be able to score the 19 points he needed to get to the 1000-point milestone.
“It was a weird way to end the game, but we wanted to come away with something positive,” said Donofrio. “How can you help but not be happy for Andre? He’s such a great kid and great leader.”
Mitchell scored 12 points in the final period, and when he scored with three seconds left in the game on a lay-up, the 1001st point of his career was in the history books.
“Every kid has a dream of scoring 1000 points in a career,” said a subdued Mitchell. “If someone had told me at the beginning of the season that we would get to the state quarterfinals and I would score 1000 points – they would have to be crazy.”
Then the bottom line is that we’re all a little bit crazy.
Plymouth Whitemarh 8 12 7 16 – 43
Martin Luther King 17 6 17 17 – 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Andre Mitchell 20; Xzavier Malone 11; Devon Monteiro-Gray 6; and Jimmy Murray 6. Total – 43.
Martin Luther King: Ladji Fofana 12; Jabri McCall 11; Sammy Foreman 10; Tyere Marshall 8; Nasir Bell 6; Tyheen Harmon 6; Rasool Samir 4; Aron Walker 1; and Tymir Cooper 1. Total – 59.
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