To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Scott Huff
PLYMOUTH MEETING – There are your pregame speeches, and your post-game speeches. And then there are your halftime speeches.
“When I get in a certain mood, the time is all mine,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio about his halftime remarks with the Colonials (# 7 seed) down 28-25 to visiting Methacton (#26 seed) at intermission. “It’s human nature to think that if you are the higher seed you should be able to just go out and win the game, and too many players thought that way.“Methacton is a smart team that both executes and hustles,” continued Donofrio as the Colonials rallied for a 69-55 victory in a first round PIAA District One playoff game. “And for the first half, and most of the third quarter, we just weren’t that team.”
And then there was the final two-minute stretch of the third period.
PW senior Joe Hughes hit a pair of free throws to forge a 35-35 tie, and the Colonials went on a 12-0 tear to end the period. Whis Grant shot over a packed Warrior zone to hit a pair of critical treys during the run as PW opened up a 45-35 lead.
“The coach tells us to take advantage of every opportunity,” said Grant. “If we have the open shot – take it.
“We may have come into this game a little over confident,” added Grant. “If nothing else, this game taught us that we have to be prepared.”
“I think that the seniors thought that this could be their last game of high school basketball, - last year’s seniors lost in the first round to Glen Mills,” said Hughes who finished with 10 points. “The coach did a great job of firing us up at halftime.”
Donofrio kept the Colonials in the locker room seconds before the second half began. There were no layup lines, no easy jumpers or practiced free throws. It was lecture time.
“I simply told them that if they lose this game – you die,” said Donofrio. “We were outhustled and all we did in the first half was play with too much comfort – and showed too much junk.
“The game is long, and we have too much talented not to have good things happen,” added Donofrio. “We have the nice ability to play a lot of people, and we can play big with both C.J. (Aiken) and Jaylen (Bond), or we can go with four very fast guards.”
The interesting thing about the 12-0 run at the end of the third period was that Bond – who led the Colonials with 18 points – watched from the PW bench.
“It was great to watch my teammates make that run,” said Bond. “The first half we didn’t really do too much, but we were able to buckle down in the second half and win the game.”
Methacton was able to stay with PW into the late stages of the third period behind the play of junior Jordan Carter and junior Tim Smith. Both Smith and Carter shared the team scoring honors with 14 points each.
“Jordan is a tremendous rebounder with a special knack of getting to the basketball,” said Methacton coach Adam Slavin. “And Tim played a great game as well.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we played the game tonight,” added Slavin. “We tried to take some of their big guys out of the game by crunching a 2-3 zone around them, but their guards stepped up and got the job done.”
Carter – at 6-foot, 3-inches, more than held his own against the taller 6-9 Aiken. Carter scored all of his 14 points on offensive rebounds and put backs – and also collared a game-high 14 rebounds.
“He was tall, but he really wasn’t all that big,” said Carter. “Coach just told us that if we box him out on every play, good things will happen.”
The last Warrior lead was a 35-33 lead with 3:35 left in the third period. Methacton was outscored 36-20 the rest of the way.
“When the kids look back on the season, they are going to remember the good things,” said Slavin. “We had an eight-game winning streak that got us into the playoffs, and we played well for most of this game.”
The season is over for the Warriors – but the Colonials have survived to host a second round game against Neshaminy. The Redskins – a #23 seed - were a 58-50 winner over Penncrest – a #10 seed - in a first round PIAA District One playoff game.
“Higher seeds get beat – every week,” said Donofrio. “I think that maybe this team understands that now.”
Donofrio will certainly have that in his pre game notes for the Neshaminy game.
Methacton 14 14 7 20 - 55
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15 10 20 27 - 69
Methacton: Steve Capizzi 1 4-6 7; Tim Smith 5 4-5 14; TJ Klinger 3 2-3 9; Evan Galloway 4 2-3 11; Jordan Carter 7 0-0 14. Totals 20 13-18 55.
3-point field goals – Capizzi, Klinger, Galloway.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: C.J. Aiken 3 2-4 8; Jaylen Bond 7 4-8 18; Whis Grant 5 0-0 12; Brandon Dixon 3 0-0 7; Damien Williams 1 0-0 2; Will Mascio 1 2-2 5; Joe Hughes 3 2-2 10; Sam Pygatt 4 0-0 7. Totals 27 10-12 69.
3-point field goals – Grant (2), Hughes (2), Dixon, Mascio.
- Log in to post comments
0
