Living out a dream.
That’s what four SOL schools will be doing on Friday night when they take the court in the District One AAAA quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh will face #8 Penncrest at Norristown High School at 7:30 p.m. Earlier on that same court, third-seeded Souderton will take on #11 Chester at 6 p.m. Neshaminy, the tournament’s number seven seed, will travel to West Chester East High School for a 7:30 p.m. game against #2 Penn Wood. Pennsbury, the 13th seed and the tournament’s Cinderella story, will take on #5 West Chester Rustin at Great Valley High School at 7:30 p.m.In playback action for the ninth and final state berth, #24 Downingtown West will travel to #17 Upper Dublin for a 7 p.m. game on Friday. Norristown, the #12 seed, will hit the road to face #4 Coatesville at 7 p.m. Bensalem, seeded 15h, will face #10 Wissahickon on the Trojans’ home court at 7 p.m. On Saturday, #14 Central Bucks South will travel to Council Rock North for a 1 p.m. game.
This is the time of year when seniors are asked to step up and lead their respective teams. Four seniors on quarterfinal squads – Souderton’s Kyle Connolly, Pennsbury’s Zak Kumor, Neshaminy’s Steve Warhola and PW’s Whis Grant – are featured below
#1 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. #8 Penncrest
By Scott Huff
Plymouth Whitemarsh senior Whis Grant has played – literally – in the shadow of 6-foot, 10-inch senior C.J. Aiken and 6-foot, 7-inch junior Jaylen Bond. The flashy 6-foot guard is perhaps one of the most under-appreciated players on an excellent 23-1 Colonial basketball team.
Last season, Grant was the ‘sixth man’ on a PW team that finished 25-6 and lost in the PIAA Quad-A semi-finals to York. He may not have started for the Colonials, but when the game was one the line Grant was on the floor. “Whis is a cool customer with a quiet killer instinct,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “Last year he had an argument to be a starter, but he always put the team first.
“On most high school teams, Whis would have to be considered as a ‘player of the year’ kid. He just happens to play on a team that has two Division One players in C.J. and Jaylen.
“But his focus has always been on the success of the team, not individual success. He loses between five and eight scoring chances a game playing with C.J. and Jaylen – he could easily be a 20-plus scorer.”
“Sometimes I do wonder what it would have been like to play on a team without C.J. and Jaylen,” said Grant. “But I am so glad that I get a chance to play with them. Without those guys, this team wouldn’t be where we are today.
“I had a chance to be the #1 guy on some of the AAU teams that I played on,” added Grant. “I played with (Upper Dublin senior) Jamil Brown, and we were part of a team that went pretty far on that level.
“Right now I am confident in my ability to help this team. I will take the open shot if it’s there, and I can take it to the rack if I have to.”
Grant played a huge role in PW’s 58-51 victory over Upper Dublin last Friday in the Colonials second round PIAA District One Quad-A playoff game. Grant buried a trio of 3-pointers in the first half, and attacked the rim in the second half to score a game-high 19 points.
“Whis turned that game around for us,” said Donofrio of his co-captain. “Upper Dublin tried to take some things away from us, and Whis stepped up and made some huge plays.
“He has gone on some great shooting runs where he can’t miss. But he isn’t just an outside shooter – he can attack the rim.”
Grant may not be the Division One player that Aiken and Bond are projected to be, but the talented guard has gotten his share of looks on that next level.
“Whis could play at almost any level,” said Donofrio. “He could play at a lower level D-1 school, would be a great fit at the D-2 level, and could play right away at the D-3 level.
“Once the season is over, we will keep our eyes and ears open,” added Donofrio. “Right now he wants to focus on being the best high school player he can be.”“I haven’t really visited any schools yet,” said Grant. “But I do know that I want to play basketball at the college level.
“But I am really not thinking too much about that,” added Grant. “I’m just thinking about playing Penncrest in our next playoff game.”
And back into the shadow.
(#1) Plymouth Whitemarsh (23-1) vs. (#8) Penncrest (23-3)
Friday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., at Norristown High School
Common Opponent: None
Penncrest won the Central League title this season. The only losses for the Lions came against Lower Merion (54-32), Ridley (41-38), and Springfield-Delco (57-48).
The only loss of the season for PW came against St. Benedict’s of Newark – 52-50.
Last game: Penncrest 49, Downingtown West 37 (The Lions were led in scoring by Andrew Randomicki with 15 points, while Rodney Duncan scored 14 points.)
Plymouth Whitemarsh 58, Upper Dublin 51 (The Colonials were led in scoring by Whis Grant with 19 points, while C.J. Aiken scored 17 points.)
Coach Jim Donofrio says: “Penncrest is a team that likes to play classic, old school, basketball. They look to take the 3-pointer on offense, and they play a combination of man and zone of defense.
“They are riding an emotional high right now, and feel they can accomplish anything. We surely can’t take them lightly, and we have to make sure that we do our homework.”
Whis Grant says: “We want to be able to pressure them – make them play at a faster pace than they want to play,” said Grant. “Coach (Donofrio) says that they are playing with a lot of confidence, and we have to match that confidence.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh
Projected starters:
#1 – C.J. Aiken (6-10, Sr., F)
#10 – Brandon Dixon (5-10, Jr., G)
#11 – Whis Grant (6-0, Sr., G)
#15 – Jaylen Bond (6-7, Jr., F)
#24 – Sam Pygatt (6-1, Jr., F)
The rest of the Colonials:
#3 – Marcus Badger (6-1, Jr., G)
#4 – TJ Clancy (6-4, Sr., G)
#13 – Julian Bond (6-0, Sr., G)
#22 – Brandon Johnson (6-3, Soph., F)
#25 – Stephon Baker (6-1, Jr., G)
#34 – Brandon Brown (6-2, Sr., F)
#44 – Jake Silvers (6-6, Soph., F)
#3 Souderton vs. #11 Chester
Kyle Connolly is your consummate blue collar athlete, and while the Souderton senior doesn’t have the high profile of his two older siblings – Jim and Michael, he’s made quite a name for himself on the basketball court as well as on the football field.
And he’s done it without fanfare.
“All the Connollys are athletic, all the Connollys are smart, and they’re all fundamentally sound,” coach Perry Engard said. “Kyle is no different.
“Kyle seems to specialize in doing the little things. He’s a team guy. You never hear from Kyle. He just keeps plugging. Some days it’s points, some days it’s rebounds. He does a lot of things you never see in the stat sheet - getting loose balls, taking offensive fouls, shadowing the other team’s best player.”In other words, Connolly is doing all the little things someone has to do if their team hopes to be successful, and this year’s Souderton squad – which won a Continental Conference title - has certainly been successful.
“On any given day, he could – if needed – drop 18 (points),” Engard said. “He’s found himself guarding the other team’s best post player or the other team’s best perimeter player. We needed him to guard (Mike) Pincus the first four minutes of our game against CB South, and he did a yeoman’s job and really set the tone for us on the defensive end of the floor.”
Connolly’s leadership has been key to the success of this year’s squad.
“He is probably more of a natural leader than Michael and Jim in terms of his personality,” Engard said. “He has gotten himself to a place and stature where he commands the respect of everyone in the locker room.”
“I think kids look up to me for my experience,” Connolly said. “They know that I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been in situations they really haven’t been in yet.”
Unlike his older siblings, who dropped football after their freshman year, Connolly – after giving it up for a year as a sophomore – came back his junior year, and he has excelled.
“I just enjoy the contact,” he said. “I like to be the hard-working player, and for football, that’s a great trait to have. It kind of worked for me.
“Basketball is the passion for my family, but I always kind of had a mean streak in me, so football was always kind of a good thing for me.”
Connolly has turned that toughness into a positive. “We talk about character kids – Kyle is right there,” Engard said. “The players respect the way he goes about his business and plays the game.”
“I do the dirty work,” Connolly said. “I do the rebounding, I do the passing. I just help out wherever I can.”
Five minutes into Tuesday night’s game against CB South, Engard took Connolly out of the game to catch his breath.
“He’s bleeding, his shirt is soaked already,” the Indians’ coach said. “Some people look out of breath, and it’s because they’re out of shape. In Kyle’s case, it’s because he doesn’t take any plays off.
“The thing about Kyle is he leads by example.”
Connolly has not decided whether he will pursue basketball or football at the collegiate level. His coach believes he would excel at both.
“How many kids could you say that about who would have the ability to do both?” Engard said. “He certainly is our toughest player. He’s the kind of guy when he says something in the locker room – everybody is going to listen, everybody is going to do what he says, which is nice to have.”
(#2) Souderton (22-2) vs. (#11) Chester (16-7)
Friday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m., at Norristown High School
Common Opponent: Glen Mills (Souderton defeated Glen Mills 60-38 in the opening round of the district tournament. Chester downed Glenn Mills twice during the regular season – 60-45 and 59-45.)
Last game: Souderton 64, Central Bucks South 54 (A.J. Picard led the Indians with 28 points while teammates Kyle Connolly and Nate Lewis each added 11 points.)
Chester 50, Council Rock North 42 (Maurice Nelson led Chester with 17 points. Erikk Wright added 12 points.)
Coach Perry Engard says: “Poise will be the number one thing for us. Chester is a very proud program, a very storied program, but there’s no reason for anybody from Souderton to feel they have to take a backseat to anybody. Right now, we have to play with that kind of confidence.
“I have always thought teams that pressure all the time are hiding something. If they have to come out with that kind of pressure against (Council) Rock North, there’s a reason they do that. Even Chester runs out of steam. In the playoffs, you can’t be a one-trick pony. We have to be able to take away that one trick.”
Souderton
Projected starters and season averages:
#10 – Jeff Bishop (Sr., F/C) 6.1 PPG, 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocked shots
#11 – Nate Moyer (Sr., G) 9.2 PPG, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals
#24 – Nate Lewis (Sr., F) 6.2 PPG, 5.1 rebounds
#25 – A.J. Picard (Sr., G) 19.0 PPG, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 5.0 assists
#32 – Kyle Connolly (Sr., G/F) 8.1 PPG, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists
The rest of the Indians:
#1 – Greg Mendrzycki (Soph., G)
#3 – Derek Brown (Sr., G/F)
#5 – Joseph Plank (Sr., G)
#12 – Daniel Falencki (Soph., G/F)
#15 – Anthony Sergio (Jr., G) 7.5 PPG (46 percent 3-point field goals)
#20 – Ryan Connolly (Soph., C)
#21 – Mark Wonderling (Soph., G/F) 7.0 PPG, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists
#22 – Sam Wonderling (Sr., F)
#23 – Ryan O’Connor (Sr., G)
#30 – Korrey Council (Sr., F/C)
#7 Neshaminy vs. #2 Penn Wood
Steve Warhola might want to pinch himself to make sure he’s not dreaming.
On Tuesday night, Neshaminy clinched a berth in the state tournament as a result of its dramatic 45-44 win over Wissahickon, and perhaps no one appreciated it more than the Redskins’ senior captain – the lone player who was part of the Redskins’ 3-21 season just two short years ago.
“I can’t even describe it,” Warhola said. “It’s the first time we have been in states in about 10 years. When that final horn went off, I have never been so overcome with emotion. I looked like a madman out there. I was jumping around screaming. Two years ago there’s no way I would never have thought we’d reach this level.
“Even at the beginning of the season, I knew how many expectations and how much potential we had, but it still didn’t seem like a real possibility just because I’ve had that mindset for the past two years that Neshaminy basketball isn’t that good. Then this year we came out, we worked hard and made it to states.
“It’s incredible. It’s completely 180. From just going through the motions my sophomore year to now every practice is hard and we’re actually playing for something – we’re going to play well into March which blows my mind.”
Warhola is the lone senior on this year’s roster. What happened to his classmates?“They just dropped the sport,” Warhola said. “They all come out and support us at the home games, and they always tell me how upset they are that they didn’t stick around for it even if they wouldn’t get to play because it’s such a great experience.”
Warhola caught the eye of Neshaminy coach Jerry Devine when he was in middle school.
“Anything that’s happened positive for our program – he’s a large part of that,” the Redskins’ coach said. “Ryan (Arcidiacono) and those guys will be around a couple of years to shine, but it’s nice that Steve has the opportunity to be showcased.”
The Redskins’ senior point guard brings many valuable traits to the court.
“He’s super quick, and he has great footwork,” Devine said. “Defensively, he’s really good.
“He’s the consummate point guard. He handles the ball against pressure, he keeps his calm. He has that steadying presence that every team needs. You know at the end of the game when he has the ball, he’s going to make good decisions. He’s not going to turn it over. He’s going to keep the other guys together.”
Warhola relishes his role as leader of a young Redskin squad.
“We all know Ryan is going to go out and score his 15-20-25 points a game, but it’s great that when times get tough – even though they might not put the ball in my hands – they look to me to know what to do,” he said. “They look to me for leadership, they look to me to lead them through tough spots, and I’m perfectly fine doing that.
“My sophomore year when we were awful – we all might have given up on the season, but my coach, Devine, never gave up on developing me, and I really want to thank him because he stuck with me, and he knew that eventually, I was going to need to carry the torch.”
The Redskins face a daunting task on Friday night when they face second-seeded Penn Wood.
“By no means do we look at Penn Wood and think it’s an automatic loss,” Warhola said. “Bensalem played them tough, and we think we can do many of the same things and hopefully hold it together for a little bit longer than they did.”
(#7) Neshaminy (18-6) vs. (#2) Penn Wood (20-3)
Friday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. @ West Chester East
Common opponent: Holy Ghost Prep (Penn Wood defeated Holy Ghost Prep 44-42. Neshaminy lost to Holy Ghost Prep 67-58)
Last game: Neshaminy 45, Wissahickon 44 (Mike McGarry and Tyler Katz led the Redskins with 12 points each. Ryan Arcidiacono had 10 points.)
Penn Wood 56, Bensalem 55 (Aaron Brown led Penn Wood with 20 points.)
Coach Jerry Devine says: “We spent a ton of time in practice working on rebounding, trying to get bodies on people. Their pure size is tough for us. We’re preaching getting bodies on people.
“If we can force them into long three’s and contested shots – and do our best to not give them second and third chance opportunities on the offensive end. On the offensive end, you’re probably not going to get many second chances, so our first shot has to be a good shot. We need to do a better job of shot selection. We’re going to have to make a couple of extra passes to try and shorten the game a little bit and make sure we have the right people in the right spots.
“I’m hoping we don’t give them 14 extra possessions on turnovers. We need to be smart with the ball. We know they’re strong, and we have to play pretty near to perfect. Our kids are doing a great job of working hard and not just settling for getting to states. I think they’re still ready to play and move on.”
Neshaminy
Projected starters and season averages:
#4 – Steve Warhola (5-9, Sr., PG) 7 PPG, 3 assists, 2 steals
#11 – Tyler Katz (6-2, Soph., F) 9 PPG, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
#15 – Ryan Arcidiacono (6-3, Soph., G) 16 PPG, 6 rebounds, 5assists, 2.5 steals
#21 – Dwight Williams (6-3, Jr., F) 9 PPG, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
#22 – Mike McGarry (6-6, Jr., C) 11.5 PPG, 6 rebounds
The rest of the Redskins:
#5 – Joe Bianchino (6-0, Soph., G)
#10 – Bobby Marterella (6-1, Soph., F)
#12 – Dave Baron (6-5, Jr., F)
#13 – Randy Young (5-8, Jr. G)
#20 – Justin Andrews (5-7, Fr., G)
#24 – Donte Smith (5-10, Jr., G)
#32 – Charlie Marterella (6-1, Jr., F)
#44 – Richie Schafer (5-9, Soph., G)
#13 Pennsbury vs. #5 West Chester Rustin
Zak Kumor is used to looking up to his opponents.
Not because he’s in awe of them but rather because the Pennsbury senior – thrust into the starting center role out of necessity – routinely gives up four, five, six inches and sometimes even more to his opponents.
Kumor, you see, measures in at all of 6-1, but that number doesn't begin to tell the size of his heart.
“Every single night he’s got to look at the scouting report and say, ‘Oh god, what have I got here,’” coach Frank Sciolla said. “Whether it’s a 6-9 kid or a 6-5 kid – it’s just a matter of what edge he can get.
“He battles. He’s got to play so many minutes for us, and at times, we have to let him play through mistakes, which is fine because he gives us so much effort.”With the graduation of six seniors – including centers Goron Dulac and Tom Marcinkowski, Kumor found himself the heir apparent to the center spot.
“We were playing a summer league game, and Mr. Sciolla said, ‘Wow, we are not going to have a lot of height,’” Kumor said. “Last year I did come in for guys like Tom and Goron for two or three-minute spurts, but the difference with that is that Dalton (Pepper) was still on the floor, and Dalton was 6-5.
“I did not know what was going to happen this year.”
What happened was that Kumor – who hadn’t played center since his AAU days in fourth grade - found himself in the five spot, going against centers with more height and more bulk.
“Mr. Sciolla asked me to do it, and I didn’t see why I couldn’t give it a try,” he said. “I’m not alone – I have teammates like Zach Sibel and other guys who are stepping in to play the four and five. If I’m small to be the five, everyone else is small to be playing the four and five.
“But we really pride ourselves on team defense. That’s really where it is. As a team, it’s important, if we can get stops, that we are able to get good shots up.”
There’s also the not-so-little matter of rebounding.
“We have to get a box out every single time down the floor,” Kumor said. “There will be games where we lose the rebounding battle, but we can control how much they win it by.”
Kumor gives the Falcons another dimension at center as evidenced by his performance in their 40-39 upset win over Coatesville on Tuesday.
“In that situation, away from the basket, he handled the ball a lot, and he had success with it,” Sciolla said.
Kumor is one of many reasons why the Falcons are still alive and well in the district playoffs.
“Zak is a great example of a kid who’s in your program and gets better every year,” Sciolla said. “He’s never the first person who gets mentioned in the newspaper article, but this kid is there every day. There’s never a question of if he’s going to be there. The question just is – how much fun is this kid going to have.
“He recognizes what it’s about. He recognizes how important it is to be there with his teammates and to share with them and to have fun with them. He knows it’s not all about himself. He doesn’t make it about himself. He makes us all better, and that’s coaches included.”
As captains, Kumor and teammate Jesse Krasna have led the Falcons to unexpected heights.
“During the offseason, they were great leaders for us,” Sciolla said. “They were positive when things were not going our way, and even if they weren’t playing well themselves, they were positive and unselfish.”
It was the captains who helped pull the team together after a five-game losing streak that was capped by a lopsided loss to Pennington. The Falcons have not lost since, winning six straight.“We had a practice after the Pennington game, and it really, really set the tone for what we wanted to do the rest of the way,” Kumor said. “That was a very, very tough time, but we still have confidence in each other that we could do it.
“We didn’t want to give up because there was still light at the end of the tunnel, and if there was any window of opportunity, we wanted to get it.”
The Falcons will face yet another formidable opponent when they take on a West Chester Rustin squad that scores points in bunches this season.
No matter the outcome, one thing is certain – Kumor will be enjoying every minute of what has been an unbelievable ride.
“I don’t think I couldn’t ask for it to be any better,” he said. “It’s been unbelievable.
“We are very excited and very grateful to be in the state playoffs. We’re excited to represent District One, and we cannot wait.”
(#13) Pennsbury (15-9) vs. (#5) West Chester Rustin (21-3)
Friday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., at Great Valley High School
Common opponent: Coatesville (West Chester Rustin lost to Coatesville 104-98. Pennsbury defeated Coatesville 40-39 in a second round district game on Tuesday.)
Last game: Pennsbury 40, Coatesville 39 (Jesse Krasna led the Falcons with 15 points.)
West Chester Rustin 66, Norristown 43 (Anthony Nash scored a game-high 26 points. Cory Black added 19 points and Rondell White, 12 points.)
Coach Frank Sciolla says: “This is the first time we have played this team, but we have faced a lot of good teams. We played the toughest schedule in our league, and maybe that helped us. To play Rustin is a great challenge because they have done an amazing job with their program.
“They have a great player in Rondell White, who’s a two-sport stud. They’re really going to come at us with a couple of 6-4, 6-5 guys, which will be a challenge, and at the other end, they’ll come after us with speed. There’s a reason they’ve scored 70 (points) a game, and it’s because they have a lot of nice weapons. We’re going to have to counteract that and hopefully keep the game close.”
Pennsbury
Projected starters and season averages:
#4 – Jesse Krasna (5-11, Sr., PG) 13.4 PPG, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals
#5 – Dante Devine (6-0, Sr., G) 6.0 PPG, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 steals
#12 – Kieran Bolger (6-0, Soph., G) 8.7 PPG, 2 rebounds (12-for-23 from three-point range in last four games)
#25 – Zak Kumor (6-1, Sr., F) 8.5 PPG, 6.2 rebounds
#34 – Zach Sibel (6-0, Jr., F) 1.8 PPG, 2.3 rebounds
The rest of the Falcons:
#10 – Ryan Christy (6-0, Soph., F)
#21 – Mike Ciotti (5-7, Sr., G)
#22 – Andrew Long (5-10, Sr., G)
#23 – Chris Liccione (5-9, Sr., G)
#32 – Kris Hassell (6-1, Jr., F) 3.5 PPG, 2 rebounds
#33 – Chris Glennie (6-0, Jr., F)
#40 – Jimmy Higgins (5-10, Jr., G)
#42 – Jay Jabat (6-0, Jr., F)
#55 – Dan Ransom (6-8, Soph., C)
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