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By Scott Huff
STATE COLLEGE – The roar from the Plymouth Whitemarsh faithful in the stands at the Bryce Jordan Center thundered down to the floor time and time again.C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken!!!
Aiken – the 6-foot, 10-inch senior – was spectacular in the fourth period and propelled the Colonials to a PIAA state Quad-A championship with a 58-51 victory over District One champion Penn Wood.
“I finally think that C.J. finally bought into the idea that he should never be physically taken out of a game,” said an exuberant Jim Donofrio – head coach of the Colonials. “It was a great way for him to finish out his career here.”
Aiken – who finished with a game-high 19 points that featured five thunderous dunks – put his personal stamp on the game with his marvelous defensive effort.
Aiken – who took some ‘heat’ for his fourth quarter performance (or lack of) in Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 54-49 overtime loss to Penn Wood in the district final at Villanova – was instrumental in securing the state title for the Colonials with a pair of memorable blocks on Penn Wood’s dynamic junior Aaron Brown in the final period.“I just made up my mind – not this time,” said Aiken. “This game was a huge weight off my shoulders. We respect them, but we knew that we could beat them.”
That knowledge may have been in the heads of the Colonials from the opening tap, but PW trailed Penn Wood 15-9 after the first period.
Tyree Johnson – who tied Aaron Brown with a team-high 15 points – banged home a couple of 3-pointers to give the Patriots the lead.
The tempo of the game was too much like the tempo of the district final in the second period, as well as the first quarter.
Penn Wood left the court with a 30-26 intermission lead.
“We were a little too slow in the first half,” said Donofrio. “We needed to speed things up – play at a faster tempo.“We are kind of like a quiet tsunami,” added Donofrio. “Once we get on a roll, we are tough to hold back.”
The game didn’t begin to swing the Colonials way until the middle of the third period. Aiken scored on a bucket off the offensive glass to tie the score for the first time – 34-34.
Aiken jammed home a dunk at the 1:18 mark to give the Colonials their first lead – 36-34. The score was deadlocked at 36-36 to begin the fourth period.
C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken!!!
Plymouth Whitemarsh senior guard Whis Grant – who scored 17 points on the night – scored four points at the outset of the final period to fuel an 8-2 Colonial run. PW would not trail for the remainder of the game.
“We knew we were the better team, but we had to go out and show it,” said Grant. “We knew that if we played well it could be our time.”
And it was Aiken’s time in the final three minutes and 11 seconds as he made magnificent play after magnificent play.At 3:11 – Aiken threw down a ferocious dunk to give the Colonials a 50-42 lead.
At 2:50 made a marvelous block on an Aaron Brown jam attempt.
At 1:54 connected on one-of-two from the free throw line to make the score 51-44.
At 1:44 made a second terrific block of a Brown throw-down attempt.
At 1:36 makes another crashing dunk to give PW a 53-44 lead – a lead that would not be threatened.
C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken!!!
Aiken may have saved his very best for his last scholastic game, but he had a lot of help from his friends.Grant – the ‘other’ senior in the Colonial lineup – was fearless on his drives to the basket. The cool, calm, and collected Grant was 6-for-8 on the foul line and gathered a team-high 11 rebounds.
Jaylen Bond –the gifted 6-7 junior - added five points and collected seven rebounds while playing limited minutes with foul trouble.
Sam Pygatt had a pair of gorgeous drives to the basket and scored six points. Pygatt also helped off the boards against the taller Patriots and snared six rebounds.
Brandon Dixon ran the offense with his usual flair and added four points and a surprising six rebounds, while both Marcus Badger and Julien Bond gave valuable minutes off the bench.But in the end, it was Aiken – the gentle giant – who stole the spotlight on the biggest stage of his scholastic career.
And everyone knew it.
C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken; C.J. Aiken!!!
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9 17 10 22 - 58
Penn Wood 15 15 6 15 - 51
Plymouth Whitemarsh: C.J. Aiken 7 4-8 19; Jaylen Bond 2 1-6 5; Sam Pygatt 2 2-2 6; Brandon Dixon 1 2-3 4; Whis Grant 5 6-8 17; Marcus Badger 1 3-4 5; Julien Bond 0 2-2 2. Totals 18-36 20-33 58.
3-point field goals: Aiken; Grant.
Penn Wood: Aaron Brown 4 7-8 15; Darin Barnes 0 0-0 0; Shawn Oakman 2 0-0 4; Tyree Johnson 4 4-5 15; Will Brown 5 2-2 14; Dequan Pelzer 1 0-0 3. Totals 16-57 13-15 51.
3-point field goals: Johnson (3); W Brown (2); Pelzer.
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