Wissahickon earned a state berth in Class 5A. PW and North Penn were winners in Class 6A playback games.
CLASS 5A
#11 WISSAHICKON 54, #5 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 50 (Seventh place game)
The Trojans were down to their last chance if they wanted to extend their season, and with their backs pressed firmly against the wall, they rose to the occasion, outscoring Rustin 24-17 in the final quarter to earn a win that guaranteed them a spot in the PIAA 5A tournament. It is their first trip to the state tournament since 2012. They are the seventh and final seed.
“For this group of guys, I couldn’t be more excited,” Wilson said. “We have a good bit of youth, and we also have seniors who have worked extremely hard.
“The thing that was most frustrating was we played two games – the Penncrest game and the Springfield game – and in both of those games we had multiple opportunities to win, and we didn’t close out those games. I know as a coach you don’t get these opportunities every year, and you have to take advantage of opportunities when they’re there.
“We were up 14 late in the Springfield game two days ago, and we just sort of collapsed as a team. We threw the ball away, we missed free throws. It was nice to see these guys play – it wasn’t as pretty as some of our wins, it wasn’t as pretty as we’ve played at times throughout the year, but we found a way, and it says a lot about this team.”
The Trojans found a way because Chaz Owens turned in a career performance, connecting on 12-of-15 shots from the floor en route to a game-high 30 points. He also had six rebounds and two steals.
“We talked to him at halftime because he had knocked down a three, and he had taken some mid-range pull-ups,” Wilson said. “I said, ‘Chaz, that mid-range pull-up isn’t really your strong shot. You’re getting to the basket. Shoot the three or take it all the way to the rack.’ In the second half, the guys were looking for him, he was stealing it, he knocked down another three. He just was playing phenomenal basketball.”
No other Trojan player scored more than eight.
“Shane Ford was struggling, and he’s been the backbone of our team,” said Wilson. “Max Rapoport had a couple of games where he’s struggled, but Chaz went for 30.
“It was just like – man, how appropriate because we’ve always told these kids that on any given night, one of our guys can explode. Whether it’s (Zach) Reiner, whether it’s Ford, whether it’s Rapoport. When we played Springfield two nights ago, Donovan Oliphant had 14 in the first half, so we know we can score points, but it was nice to see us lock in defensively, play great defense and make plays on offense.”
The Trojans, who trailed 24-19 at halftime were ignited by an Owens dunk in the third quarter, and this wasn’t just any dunk.
“Chaz dunked on one of their players left handed, and he’s not a left-handed player,” Wilson said. “It energized our team, and it was like, ‘Wow, we can’t lose this game.’ It was really impressive.”
Wilson also pointed to Zach Gelman’s 8-for-8 effort at the foul line down the stretch as key.
“In the second half, we didn’t turn the ball over, which was huge,” Wilson said.
Marlyn Johnson added seven points while Zach Reiner had six rebounds to share team honors with Owens under the boards.
The win came on the heels of back-to-back losses after the Trojans rolled to a win over Phoenixville in their opening round game.
Wissahickon (15-11, 10-4 SOL) will face District 3 champion Northeastern in an opening round state tournament game Friday.
Wissahickon 12-7-11-24 54
West Chester Rustin 13-11-9-17 50
Wissahickon (54) – Chaz Owens 12 4-8 30; Zach Gelman 0 8-8 8; Marlyn Johnson 3 1-2 7; Zach Reiner 2 1-2 5; Shane Ford 1 1-4 4; Donovan Oliphont 0 0-1 0; Totals 18 15-25 54.
West Chester Rustin (50) – Chris McMahon 7 0-0 16; Taj Asparagus 3 1-2 7; Bruce Barrouk 2 0-0 6; Brandon Frazier 4 0-1 9; Tim Durant 1 0-0 3; Miles Thomas 1 1-2 4; Jake Nelson 1 3-7 5; Totals 18 5-12 50.
CLASS 6A
#2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 68, #8 CHELTENHAM 60 (Third place game)
Coach Jim Donofrio wasn’t quite sure how his team would respond after Tuesday night’s disappointing loss to Abington in a district semifinal game at Temple.
“Cheltenham is a league rival in a game you’re not sure what the meaning of it is yet,” the Colonials’ coach said. “Obviously, whether you’re Cheltenham or PW, your goal was to be at Villanova on Saturday night.
“I was rather critical of the guys for two days – I wasn’t exactly Up With People. It was a very quiet pregame locker room, so you don’t know how they’re going to come out. The season gets long this time as year, and you want to make sure that you’re not just killing the joy of it.
“Being the defending District One champs and then playing Tuesday night and not performing at all in a number of areas – I thought the kids were impressive tonight in that they showed that they were worthy of all the respect they received during the season, and that was important.”
The Colonials, who led 17-16 after one quarter, took a 29-26 lead into halftime.
“It’s an emotionless game to start for both teams,” Donofrio said. “We did a lot of good things most of the game, but we did our typical brain cramp at some point up 10 or 12 points. We just aren’t a team this year that knows how to take a 10 or 12-point lead and hold it, so it becomes a good film game for next week, and it also becomes a good get-it-out-of-your-system game.”
The Colonials – sparked by three three-pointers from Matt Walker – outscored the Panthers 20-10 in the third quarter, but behind 10 points from Rodney Carson, the Panthers outscored PW 24-19 in the final quarter. Ahmad Williams scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, which included a perfect 6-for-6 effort at the foul line. Cheo Houston also had a pair of baskets in the frame.
“They competed hard, they made a run at the end, and we punched back brilliantly with Cheo Houston and Ahmad (Williams),” said Donofrio. “Matt Walker woke up with four threes, and he’s been struggling, and it makes it that much harder.”
Walker finished with 16 points, which included four three-pointers. Ish Horn and Naheem McLeod each added eight.
“We’re a precise team,” Donofrio said. “Naheem McLeod has to play older than he is. Ahmad Williams has to be a point guard completely even though he’s a combo, but he has no choice. Walker has to shoot the ball well, and he hasn’t lately. If all those things go out the door a little bit, we’re normal.
“You lose to a team twice in a row like we did with Abington, and you start to think you’re not worthy of the rankings. That was my message before the game – ‘You’ve got 22 wins, you’re a darn good basketball team. Make sure you don’t let this hang over your head,’ and they didn’t, so I was very, very happy for them. They got an emotional reset, so it was good.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (23-5, 14-0 SOL) will face District 3’s third place team, Lebanon, in an opening round state tournament game next Saturday. Cheltenham (19-7, 11-3) will face District 11’s fourth place team.
Cheltenham 16-10-10-24 60
Plymouth Whitemarsh 17-12-20-19 68
Cheltenham (60) – Trevonn Pitts 7 2-2 16; Ahmad Bickley 4 2-3 10; Jack Clark 6 2-2 14; Tim Myarick 1 0-0 3; Rodney Carson 7 2-3 16; Lonce Scott 0 1-2 1; Totals 25 9-12 60.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (68) – Ish Horn 4 0-2 8; Kareem Breeden 1 0-0 2; Naheem McLeod 3 2-7 8; Danny Cooper 1 0-0 3; Matt Walker 6 0-0 16; Cheo Houston 3 0-0 6; Ahmad Williams 7 8-10 22; Jason Paul 0 1-2 1; Alan Glover 1 0-0 2; Totals 23 11-19 68.
#NORTH PENN 64, #7 CONESTOGA 53 (Fifth place game)
David Giuliani didn’t score in the opening quarter that saw the Knights battle the visiting Pioneers to a 12-12 tie. The Knights’ senior center took over the game in the second quarter, exploding for 11 of his game-high 20 points in the frame to send his team into halftime with a 30-26 lead.
It was still a six-point game heading into the final quarter when the Knights – behind eight points from Chris Coleman – outscored their visitors 18-11 en route to the win.
Coleman finished with 17 points, and Ricky Johns added eight.
North Penn (21-6, 11-1 SOL) will face Reading, the third place team out of District 3, in next Saturday’s state opener.
Conestoga 12-14-16-11 53
North Penn 12-18-16-18 64
Conestoga (53) – MJ Lezanic 2 1-2 16; Scott Shapiro 6 0-1 17; Charlie Martin 4 0-0 11; Angus Mayock 3 7-8 13; Milton Robinson 1 2-2 4; Charlie Shappell 1 0-0 2; Totals 17 9-13 53.
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