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By Brian Weaver
DOYLESTOWN—In the spirit of Sunday’s Academy Awards, please consider these two nominees for Best Performance in a Leading Role Tuesday night:First up is Chris DiLullo. The Central Bucks West point guard slashed to the basket repeatedly on his way to 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists as West knocked off Neshaminy.
Now, take Joe DiLullo, owner of a double-double – 13 points, 10 rebounds – and key big man against Redskins’ front line in a tough defensive battle.
Any way you look at it, the award for top performer has to go to a DiLullo.
The senior twins led CB West (20-6) to a 55-45 victory over visiting Neshaminy (16-10) and left the Bucks just one win shy of the coveted ninth and final playoff berth from District One in the PIAA’s AAAA bracket.
Neither team asserted itself in the first eight minutes. West held a slight advantage at the end of the quarter, 8-6, but neither team found its offensive rhythm in an opening frame that saw minutes separating field goals. The game somehow saw no made three-pointers, so the Bucks looked inside to Joe DiLullo and Pat Furst, who finished with ten points. The pair had eight of West’s first 12 points against a strong Neshaminy front line.
In the second quarter, though, Chris DiLullo shifted into gear and got the backcourt rolling. A fearless attacker in the lane last year, DiLullo dictated the flow of the game, his leg brace perhaps the only sign Tuesday night that the Bucks’ captain was mortal.
“We’re only going on eight months removed from [torn] ACL surgery,” West coach Adam Sherman explained, marveling at his point guard’s continuing recovery. “Chris just keeps getting better and better. His court vision was really on display the last couple of press breaks, he was just finding guys.”
With the Bucks running screens all across the top and Neshaminy doing their best to quiet West outside threat Reills Reichwein, DiLullo hit the lane and baseline repeatedly, slashing and scoring or drawing and dishing. The quick southpaw had ten points in the paint in the second and third quarters, at one point scoring or assisting on seven of eight West baskets including a sublime baseline drive from the right that he capped with a reverse layup.
Reichwein, for his part, will definitely get some looks for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.
“They did a great job of trying to limit his touches and open looks, so we had to use him a lot of times as a screener, as a decoy,” Sherman said. “The secret to our success is that you can’t key on one player. We have great balance, four players averaging double-figures [in points]. Because they were focusing on Reills it freed Chris up a lot and allowed him to go to the basket.”
“[Other teams] have been seeing [Reichwein] score 22, 20, 22 in the playoffs, and can scout him and watch him shoot. Because of that, other people had to step up,” Chris DiLullo agreed. “The coaches just told me to be aggressive tonight, and I attacked the basket and was able to finish. We had great spacing, and a lot of times as I got into the lane, they pinched and I could find Joe or Billy [Carroll] for open looks.”
Maybe a Best Director nomination for DiLullo instead?
The visitors stayed close thanks to Ryan Arcidiacono’s stellar performance. The freshman upstaged nearly everyone, dropping nine points in the middle quarters to go blow-for-blow with Chris DiLullo. He finished with a game-high 19. Neither the game’s ramifications nor the big stage could faze one of the hottest players in the league over the second half of the season.
“There is no stage for him. Teams are better off playing him in an environment with no fans. He rises to it,” Neshaminy head coach Jerry Devine said. “It’s nothing new anymore. It’s something you expect from him. He’s such a competitor.”
“The first time we scouted him we were surprised he was only a freshman. He’s obviously a gifted player,” Joe DiLullo conceded. “He made some great shots.”
After an intentional foul call against Justin Deeter with 5:11 to go in the game, West led 39-31. But Neshaminy – a team that won only 11 games combined over its last three years – refused to let its impressive season drift feebly away.
Arcidiacono sank a pair of free throws and the visitors got a breakaway lay-in to cut it to 39-35. After the Bucks got tangled up in the press and turned the ball over, the freshman hit another pair. It was suddenly 39-37, the momentum all Neshaminy’s.
“I thought we finished in typical fashion, playing as hard as we could,” Devine said. “We gave everything we had and gave ourselves a chance to get back in it.”
But they could get no closer. Chris DiLullo, after missing three of his first five attempts from the charity strip in the fourth quarter, sank a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to four. West hit their last ten foul shots overall and held Neshaminy at bay the rest of the way.
The last few possessions saw the Bucks repeatedly break the Neshaminy press, an encouraging sign for a team that exhibited a bit of weakness under full-court pressure earlier in the year.
“It was a weakness a little bit earlier in the season, but now we’ve got Joe inbounding the ball and I’m able to get to it faster, and we can make them pay and beat them layups,” Chris DiLullo said.
Up next for the Bucks will be No. 12 Glen Mills and their six foot, 10 inch La Salle recruit Aaric Murray.
“It’ll be a neutral site, and Glen Mills has one of the best big men in the area,” Sherman points out. “We’re going to have a huge challenge and hopefully we’ll be able to stay focused and come away with a win.”
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 55, NESHAMINY 45
Neshaminy (45) – Deeter 7 0-0 14, Emig 1 0-0 2, Warhola 1 0-0 2, Katz 1 0-0 2, Carrezola 1 2-4 4, Arcidiacono 5 9-12 19, Williams 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 11-16 45.
Central Bucks West (55) – C.Dilullo 5 6-9 16, Tyksinski 1 0-0 2, Furst 4 2-2 10, Reichwein 2 0-2 4, J.Dilullo 4 5-6 13, Fiore 0 0-0 0, Blair 0 0-0 0, Weltz 0 0-0 0, Salvitti 0 0-0 0, Sweet 0 0-0 0, Carroll 3 2-2 8, Dyer 1 0-0 2, Scarpello 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-21 55.
Neshaminy 6 10 7 22-45
Central Bucks West 8 16 10 21-55
Three-point goals: None
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