PW defeated Souderton in a District 1 6A semifinal contest in front of a sold-out crowd at Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday. Photos provided courtesy of Greg Lindsay, Michael Rice Photography & Larry Small; photos of Abington/Spring-Ford provided by John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
District 1 6A Semifinal
#1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 73, #5 SOUDERTON 61
This was playoff basketball at its very best.
A sold-out house filled with rabid fans, two teams exchanging best shots in an electric atmosphere.
“It was amazing,” PW junior Luca Taormina said. “There was a lot of buildup to the game – a little trash talk on Instagram, but it was good. That’s what we needed, and it motivated us”. And the crowd – it’s chills when you do something good.”
And Taormina certainly did his share of good things, giving his team a tremendous lift off the bench. In a preview of things to come, he contributed five points in an opening quarter that saw the two teams exchange leads. They eventually battled to a 17-17 tie after a putback in the closing seconds by senior Michael Pereira, who had six points in the frame.
“I just try and get open for my guys,” Taormina said. “They’re finding me, and I’m just staying confident, and my shots are falling. That’s all it is.
“Just staying locked in and trusting each other, trusting yourself with every shot you take, every decision you make.”
For the Indians, three players buried 3-pointers in the quarter, and all three – Chanse Salone, Nate Rusike and Marques Brown – had five points in the opening frame.
The second quarter was more of the same. The Indians led 26-22 after Salone scored on a drive midway through the quarter. Terron Davis – who had seven points in the frame – buried a three, and then it was Jack Hayes scoring on a putback to put the Colonials on top 27-26.
The two teams spent the remainder of the quarter exchanging baskets. Neither team led by more than one, and a Davis putback at the buzzer sent the Colonials into halftime with a 35-34 advantage after a riveting 16 minutes.
“They were hitting shots – they were on fire to start the game,” Hayes said. “So it kind of lit a spark under us to know we’ve got to start playing defense, and that was the difference. It changed the second half.”
The tone for the second half might well have been set on PW’s opening possession that resulted in a dunk by the 6-10 Pereira. He went on to have eight points in the Colonials’ 20-point quarter.
“Mike is huge for us,” Hayes said. “And sometimes as a guard, I don’t hit him, but I feel like down the stretch he started to get going.”
The Colonials opened up a 49-42 lead after a Pereira basket, but Dylan Quinn buried a three to pull the Indians to within four. Buddy Denard answered with a 3 for the Colonials, and after a Souderton miss, Taormina buried his second corner 3 of the game in the closing seconds to give PW its largest lead, 55-45.
“I definitely practice that shot – just keeping it high, which helps me get it off quicker,” Taormina said. “I’m an off-the-bench kind of guy, so they’re not focused on me, so I’m able to be open. I’m not on everyone’s scouting report.”
The first of three long-range 3s in the quarter by Salone made it a 55-48 game, but the Indians would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
“Chanse is a great player,” Hayes said. “He was hitting 3s from 30, 35-feet out. There is really nothing you can do about that, but our one assistant coach, Kareem (Breeden) actually told me right before we were coming out of the locker room before the second half started – ‘You’ve got zero fouls, so get up – try and pressure them and just cause chaos.”
And sparked by their inspired defensive effort, the Colonials earned a win that propelled them back to the District 1 6A title game. Last year, the Colonials fell to Conestoga 54-50 in the title game.
“That’s been our goal this year – get to the district championship,” Hayes said. “Now we’re going, so we have to take care of business.
“Coatesville is a great team, they’ve got great players, but we got to just come to play and let our game do the talking.”
Key players: Michael Pereira’s 18 points led the Colonials. Luca Taormina added 15 points off the bench. Buddy Denard finished with 12 points, and Jack Hayes was the fourth Colonial in double figures with 11.
Souderton’s Marques Brown scored a game-high 21 points and was a catalyst in the first half with 15 points. Chanse Salone connected on four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. Nate Rusike scored 10 of his 17 points in the opening half.
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio:
–The game: “You could tell the Souderton kids were coming off of a really big win – a double-digit win over Cheltenham and six 3s from (Marques) Brown, and you are going to be confident and you’ve got nothing
to lose, so you walk in and Mani (Sajid’s) really 80 percent, 75 percent. All year long he’s just been a superstar, and you ride that insurance policy. If he’s healthy at halftime – that’s 15 points.
“So I am just impressed that for everything Souderton did right and everything we did wrong in some ways – we have the lead at halftime.”
–Getting defensive: “I just thought the grittiness in the second half. We’re usually a man team. That defense (we played) is a very unique match-up kind of defense. I rarely stay in it that long, but they played it really well. And had the deep 3s not gone in – it works to perfection, but it’s tricky.”
–A businesslike finish: “This game was good for us to understand how we were more serious at the end of the game. Sometimes kids get so emotional in a game like this. Three minutes to go and you’re celebrating. There’s three minutes, not three seconds. So you have to be a little more businesslike, and they were. It’s hard winning these games.”
–Taormina provides spark: “You want him to morph into a star player. His 3 at the end of (third) quarter – he’s still a little young, but the foul shots, the concentration, the rebounds, the confidence being out there. We thought (he’d be in the rotation) a little bit earlier, but that first five was just so solid.”
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will face #3 Coatesville in Sunday’s District 1 6A championship game at St. Joseph’s University (3 pm).
“That’s an interesting game,” Donofrio said. “The first time was a highly emotional game – sold out. It’s a game I know everybody’s wanted, expected it to be that game. It’s going to require another level of thinking.
“But at this point, it’s a player’s game. Number one thing is to get Mani (Sajid) 10 more percent up. We took that risk and he survived 32 minutes of rehab. That wasn’t the real Mani. His 3 was huge, but he usually has seven of those.”
Souderton will travel to #2 Methacton for the third place game Saturday (1 pm).
Souderton 17-17-11-16 61
Plymouth Whitemarsh 17-18-20-18 73
Souderton (61) – Chanse Salone 7 0-0 18; Levi Epps 1 0-2 2; Dylan Quinn 1 0-0 3; Nate Rusike 7 0-0 17; Marques Brown 6 8-10 21; TOTALS 22 8-12 61.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (73) – Jack Hayes 4 3-5 11; Luca Taormina 5 2-4 15; Terron Davis 3 0-0 7; Mani Sajid 1 0-0 3; Michael Pereira 8 2-9 18; Zhaiden Gray 3 4-4 12; Micah Thompson 2 3-4 7; TOTALS 26 14-28 73.
3-point goals: S – Chanse Salone 4, Nate Rusike 3, Dylan Quinn, Marques Brown; PW – Luca Taormina 3, Zhaiden Gray 2, Terron Davis, Mani Sajid.
District 1 6A Playback
#7 SPRING-FORD 51, #6 ABINGTON 49
The Ghosts, who led by five halftime, took a 36-32 lead into the fourth quarter when they were outscored 19-13 and ended up falling by two to the visiting Rams.
“When we don’t play with energy and play the right way, we go from a very good team to a very average team,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said.
The Ghosts were led by the 18-point effort of Xander Grasty, who scored 12 of those points in the first half. Faison Garland added nine points – seven in the second half. Amare Stone had seven.
Up next: Abington will face the loser of the #8 Garnet Valley/#13 Cheltenham contest in the seventh place game Friday (7 pm).
Spring-Ford 13-7-12-19 51
Abington 10-15-11-13 49
Spring-Ford (51) – Matteo Magazollo 2 1-2 7; Blake Turner 2 0-0 4; Bryce Robinson 1 1-2 3; Jack Kennedy 5 4-6 16; Syaire Barnes 4 3-3 12; Ethan Ojakovo 1 0-0 2; Declan Plate 1 2-2 4; Jackson Wickersham 1 1-1 3; TOTALS 17 12-16 51.
Abington (49) – Kyler Pickron 2 0-0 4; Amare Stone 2 3-3 7; Malcom Lucas 1 2-3 4; Xander Grasty 7 1-1 18; Faison Garland 4 0-0 9; Michael O’Rourke 1 0-0 3; Elijah Cruickshank 1 2-2 4; TOTALS 18 8-9 49.
3-point goals: SF – Matteo Magazollo 2, Jack Kennedy 2, Syaire Barnes; A – Xander Grasty 3, Faison Garland, Michael O’Rourke.
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