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By Scott Huff
VILLANOVA – The cast of the 1985 film Back to the Future featured Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.The cast for the 2010 scholastic basketball version stars Plymouth Whitemarsh seniors C.J. Aiken and Whis Grant.
“Our theme this week was a Back to the Future theme,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio after his Colonials defeated Roman Catholic – 54-46 - at the Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University in a PIAA Quad-A state quarterfinal game. “Last year we got to the final four in the state, and we blinked and lost to York at Reading.
“Now we are back, and we have that second chance,” added Donofrio as PW will play North Allegheny in the Western Final on Wednesday at a site yet to be determined. “And for C.J. and Whis there will not be another chance.”
Aiken was once again terrific with a 22-point scoring performance that was punctuated with four thundering dunks. The 6-foot, 10-inch St. Joseph University-bound center collected eight rebounds and had four blocked shots.
“I think we convinced C.J. that he can dominate a basketball game,” said Donofrio. “He is only 190 pounds, but he has to realize that he can take control of a game.
“Against Penn Wood (a 54-49 overtime loss in the District One Final), he did not play his game in the second half,” added Donofrio. “But ever since that game, he has been terrific.”“We want a chance to redeem ourselves for what happened against (Penn Wood),” said Aiken. “And we won’t be able to do that if we don’t continue winning.”
“To get to this point is quite an accomplishment,” said Grant who scored 13 key points that included a trio of 3-pointers. “Our goal was to get back to where we are now, and to win that next game, and then a state championship.”
The DVD sales of this win will not be a best seller as both teams struggled to find its offensive identity.
Plymouth Whitemarsh opened up a 10-4 first period lead that showcased a pair of bombs from beyond the arc by Grant and a pair of baskets by Aiken.
The Colonials led at the half by a 20-15 margin as neither team could find a comfort level offensively.Except for Roman Catholic’s Rakeem Brookins who scored 12 points that included a pair of 3-point field goals.
Brookins – who is committed to Temple next season – scored a game-high 22 points.
“Brookins is a great individual player,” said Donofrio. “They ran some nice sets for him, and we knew going in that he was going to score his share of points.”
PW bumped the lead up to 34-23 by the close of the third period. Aiken led all scorers in the quarter with six points.
The Colonial lead swelled to its biggest margin – 41-27 with 4:03 left in the game. Roman got as close as 43-38 with 2:06 remaining, but PW scored nine points from the free throw line to ice the win.
“I told the players after the game to enjoy the journey,” said Donofrio. “And to make the most of this second chance.”
To go Back to the Future.
Free Throws – Jaylen Bond entered the game for the Colonials needing one point to reach a career total of 1,000 and scored seven to up his career total to 1006. Bond also led the Colonials with nine rebounds. . .The Eastern Final will feature Penn Wood – a 66-55 winner over Scranton – and Liberty – a 46-38 winner over Hempfield… The PIAA Quad-A state championship final will be played next Saturday at Penn State University.
Roman Catholic 4 11 8 23 - 46
Plymouth Whitemarsh 10 10 14 20 - 54
Roman Catholic: Rakeem Brookins 5 10-10 22; Daiquan Walker 4 2-4 11; Junior Fortunat 1 0-2 2; Anthony Mayo 1 0-0 2; Britton Lee 2 0-0 4; Kevin Ragan 2 0-0 5. Totals 15 12-16 46.
3-point field goals: Brookins (2); Walker, Ragan
Plymouth Whitemarsh: C.J. Aiken 7 7-10 22; Whis Grant 5 0-0 13; Jaylen Bond 3 1-8 7; Sam Pygatt 4 2-2 10; Brandon Dixon 0 0-2 0; Marcus Badger 0 2-2 2. Totals 19 12-24 56.
3-point field goals: Grant (3); Aiken.
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