Two SOL teams are alive in the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament. Scott Huff previews Wednesday’s second round games for Central Bucks West and Norristown.
By Scott Huff
The Suburban One League has two survivors left from the field of 32 teams that opened PIAA Quad-A state playoffs as both Central Bucks West (23-5) and Norristown (20-8) advanced to the ‘Sweet 16’ with opening round victories. The Bucks – the #8 seed from District One - surprised many (me included) with a 48-44 victory over District Twelve champion St. Joe’s Prep (22-6), while the Eagles – the #5 seed from District One – surprised many (me included) by scoring 87 points in an 87-78 victory over District Three rival William Penn (24-6).
“It seemed like everywhere we looked (in the media), people didn’t think we had much of a chance to beat St. Joe’s Prep,” said Central Bucks West head coach Adam Sherman as the scholastic hoop pundits (me included) chose the Hawks to win that first CB West playoff game. “We had a couple of tough, emotional losses in districts. But we had a week to prepare for the first state playoff game, and neither the players or the coaching staff lost faith in the team.”
Central Bucks West – which entered district play at 21-2 - entered state tournament play with a three-game district losing streak. The Bucks lost a heartbreaker to Wissahickon (60-56) in double overtime; lost to Norristown (50-42); and dropped a third straight to Coatesville (50-44). However, lost in the losing streak was the fact that CB West played competitive basketball in all three games – and dictated tempo in each of those games.
In the St. Joe’s Prep game, the Bucks once again were competitive and dictated the tempo – only this time collected an enormous victory over the favored Hawks.
“We received contributions from every player on the team,” said Sherman as Tyler Schechter, Derek Dyer, Jack Rogers, Jared Kelly, Shane Kellar, Sherrod Higginbotham, Sam Lis, and Andrew Schechter all played key roles in the win. “This was a true team effort.”
Norristown has also been a team that has received team efforts from up and down its roster this season. There is no star on this Eagle roster, only a galaxy of reliable basketball players.
“All during the season we have had different players step up and make big plays for us,” said Norristown head coach Michael Evans. “This makes us a very difficult team to scout, and a difficult team to play. We give great effort the entire game, and you never can tell which player is going to step up and play a great game on any given night.”
Luke Kelley, Samir Bey, Jahbri Hargrove, Marquis Bryant, and BJ Gordon have all had moments in the spotlight. And the Eagles have also received strong outings over the course of the season from Curt Lever, Richard Bouknight, Jahad York and Chris Evans.
These aren’t your grandfather’s Eagles. Norristown has a tradition of lighting up the scoreboard – but certainly not this year. The season breakdown is startling – the Eagles have scored in the 60’s seven times; the 50’s eleven times; the 40’s six times; and the 30’s three times. The season high came in a 68-59 win over Penn Wood back in January.
That is what made Norristown’s 87-78 victory in the first round of the state playoff an eye popper.
“William Penn was a team that likes to run, and we haven’t played too many of those teams this year,” said Evans. “Our players really liked to play at that tempo, but we still managed to play good defense. Our defense got our offense started.”
And now there are just two SOL teams left – those surprising Central Bucks West Bucks and those equally surprising Norristown Eagles.
PIAA Quad-A Second Round Snapshots
Chester Clippers (28-0) vs. Norristown Eagles (20-8)
Norristown played Chester in the second roundof the PIAA Quad-A District One tournament, and well, it didn’t play out too well for the visiting Eagles. The Clippers scored often in their 81-31 demolition of Norristown – and scored early with a blistering 27-4 lead at the close of the first period.
There is one slight shimmer of silver lining in that both teams played competitive games with Wissahickon. Chester claimed a 67-52 win over the Trojans in the district semifinals, while Norristown (which shared the SOL American Conference title with Wissahickon) defeated the Trojans 58-56 in the regular season.
Key Players? Chester has an ocean full of depth on its roster with the leading scorer often scoring just between 10-15 points per game. Rondae Jefferson, Erikk Wright, Darius Robinson, Kareem Robinson, and Richard Granberry are all fine players. Norristown has a solid core of players (see above) and has the huge task of matching up with the high-powered Clippers.
Last Game – Chester blew the doors off Lancaster McCaskey 86-43 in its opening round PIAA Quad-A state contest. The Clippers had no less than 13 players score points in the rout and led the Tornado by a staggering 46-19 by the close of the first half. Norristown scored a season-high 87 points in its win over William Penn. The Eagles had five players score in double figures with Jahbri Hargrove scoring a career-high 23 points.
Central Dauphin Rams (27-2) vs. Central Bucks West Bucks (23-5)
Central Bucks West head coach Adam Sherman might want to give his fellow SOL Continental Conference coach Dennis Stanton of the Souderton Indians a call for a game film. Souderton played Central Dauphin tough in a 59-52 loss in the Triangle Club Tournament held at Norristown Area High School over the winter holiday. CB West split its games this season with Souderton but still won the conference title outright.
West was able to contain St. Joe’s Prep division one player Stephen Vasturia (Notre Dame) and must duplicate that effort against Central Dauphin who has a D-1 player in Devin Thomas (Wake Forest). Central Dauphin has lost only twice this season – both setbacks came against Harrisburg.
Key Players? The Rams of Central Dauphin build their team around the talents of the 6-foot, 9-inch Thomas. In the win over Abington, CD ran its entire offense through Thomas in the high post. To be honest, Thomas looked a little stiff but had impressive numbers against the Ghosts. Brian Laird also scored in twin digits for the Rams and showed ability to hit the open shot. CB West has one of the most underrated players in the area in Tyler Schechter, and Schechter along with teammate Derek Dyer must have quality games in checking Thomas if the Bucks are going to continue their magical season.
Last Game – Central Dauphin got big-time numbers from senior Devin Thomas who scored a game-high 25 points and collected a game-high 18 rebounds in the Rams 52-45 victory over Abington. The Ghosts had rallied to take the lead in the third period, but CD saw Thomas score 11 fourth period points with seven rebounds to seal the deal for the Rams. CB West got off to a quick lead against St. Joe’s Prep and held off the Hawks to capture its 48-44 win. Tyler Schechter led the Bucks with 14 points to fuel the offense, and a huge defensive effort was turned in by the West entire roster.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Wissahickon saw its super season come to a sudden close as the Trojans suffered a gutwrenching 49-43 double overtime loss to Easton. The two biggest impact players for Wissahickon – Jordan Reed and Tanoh Kpassagnon - will graduate. It was sad to see both sit out major minutes in the state playoff loss due to foul issues – when will officials figure out that fans don’t come to see them officiate? Kyle Garrett is also a senior starter for the Trojans and was a threat from beyond the arc. Sophomore Chase Wilson – son of head coach Kyle Wilson – developed into one of the finer point guards in the area and will return next season, as will junior starter Gordon Bentley. The cupboard isn’t completely bare.
The same can not be said of Souderton that will graduate seven seniors from this season’s fine state playoff team. The Indians were ousted from the state tournament by District Four champion Williamsport – 65-51. Head coach Dennis Stanton must replace talented senior leaders that include Luke Moyer, Ryan Connolly, and Mark Wonderling. Sophomore Brendan Wagner is a 6-foot, 8-inch player that returns with potential.
Abington has the fullest cupboard of all, as the Ghosts will return four of the five starters from the squad that lost in the opening round of the state playoffs to Central Dauphin – 52-45. The lone starter to graduate will be Chris Ruhl, but the offensive firepower of the Ghosts will return next season. That talented group includes juniors Anthony Durham, Jordan Simmons, and Jiere Morrisey – sophomore Anthony Lee – and freshman Matt Penecale. The experience that the Ghosts own in the postseason should pay huge dividends next season.
The Rest of the Story in the PIAA Quad-A Playoffs
The first round of the PIAA Quad-A playoffsthat included ‘play-in’ games finished with the following won-lost records: District One (5-4), District Two/Four (3-0), District Three (2-6), District Six (0-2), District Seven (5-1), District Eight (1-2), District Ten (1-1), District Eleven (1-2), and District Twelve (2-2).
The results of the first round games that did not include Suburban One League teams: [1-7] Coatesville (24-6) defeated [11-1] Pocono Mountain West (22-5) – 62-57 OT; [12-2] John Bartrum (12-15) defeated [3-4] Central Dauphin East (15-13) – 48-47; [3-2] Harrisburg (20-6) defeated [12-4] Fels (18-9) – 68-59; [2-2] Delaware Valley defeated [3-1] Chambersburg (18-10) – 56-45; [1-2] Lower Merion (26-3) defeated [3-6] Dover (19-9) – 65-41; [12-3] Roman Catholic (17-9) defeated [11-2] Parkland (21-7) – 64-48; [7-1] Gateway (21-6] defeated [7-5] Seneca Valley (15-11) – 68-44; [7-4] Shaler (24-3) defeated [8-1] Taylor Allderdice (18-7) – 57-51; [7-2] Pittsburgh Central Catholic (16-11) defeated [6-1] State College (17-5) – 67-43; and [10-1] Cathedral Prep (19-5) defeated [8-2] Obama Academy (17-7) – 79-57.
Suburban One Sports.com
Top Ten
1. Norristown Eagles
2. Central Bucks West Bucks
3. Abington Ghosts
4. Wissahickon Trojans
5. Souderton Indians
6. Council Rock North Indians
7. Cheltenham Panthers
8. Pennsbury Falcons
9. Bensalem Owls
10. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials
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