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By Scott Huff
CHAMBERSBURG – Plymouth Whitemarsh sensation Jaylen Bond had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions Wednesday night. The talented 6-foot, 7-inch junior was asked to leave the game twice by the game officials in order to tuck his #15 jersey into his baggy shorts.
But when Bond was in the game, he completely undressed North Allegheny (23-6) with a superlative 26-point scoring performance as the Colonials (28-2) advanced to the PIAA Quad-A state championship final with a 71-47 victory over the Tigers.
Plymouth Whitemarsh will square off with fellow District One rival Penn Wood – a 70-51 winner over Bethlehem Liberty in the other semifinal game. Penn Wood (27-3) defeated PW 54-49 in overtime in the PIAA District One Quad-A title game.
Bond was truly magnificent as he shot 12 of 13 from the field (92 percent) and added a pair of free throws. He also recorded a game-high 14 rebounds – seven off the offensive glass.
“Jaylen had to swallow his pride the last few games with some sub-par games, but he came up with a monster game tonight,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “And for him to have that type of game, in front of some very important people, was a great thing for him.”
Bond showcased his awesome talent in front of one very watchful pair of eyes – University of Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon.“Really, I didn’t know that he was here,” smiled Bond. “I do know that this was the best game that I have played in the whole playoffs.
“I sometimes put too much pressure on myself,” added Bond. “Now we can finally focus on Penn Wood.”
But to get to that Penn Wood contest – to be played Saturday night at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University at 8 pm – the Colonials had to take care of business against North Allegheny.
The Tigers had taken out two number one seeds – Strong Vincent from District 6 and Mount Lebanon from District 7 – and advanced to the semifinal game with an upset of Gateway. And North Allegheny did so with the ability to bury shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
“Doing what we are doing isn’t easy,” said Donofrio in reference to the preparation PW has to make before each game. “North Allegheny traps the ball unlike most of the teams we have played, and through these playoffs we have seen many different systems of how to play the game.
“You can go through all the X’s and the O’s, but it comes right down to ‘do you want to win the game’, added Donofrio. “Once we figured out their system, it was like sharks in the water.”
The sharks did not appear in the first half, though. PW struggled somewhat with turnovers and led by just 24-22 at intermission.
In the second half – the sharks were in the water.
“We knew that if we could get some steals we could go on a run,” said junior Sam Pygatt who scored 13 points and had seven rebounds for the Colonials. “And we began to turn them over in the second half and get some lay-ups.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh went on a 16-2 run at the outset of the third period to put the game away. Bond scored 12 of those points – mostly from point blank range under the basket – to fuel the run.“The beginning of the third quarter created separation, and they are much too skilled for us to come back,” said North Allegheny head coach Dave DeGregorio. “Every one talks about their ‘bigs’ (Bond and C.J. Aiken), but I thought their guards were extremely quick and forced us do things we didn’t want to do.”
The Colonials shot a breathtaking 20-of-25 from the field in the second half (80 percent) and were never challenged. Aiken had a quiet ‘double-double’ with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“Our focus has to remain winning a state championship,” said Pygatt. “We now have that chance.”
“We learned a lot even though we lost to them the first time,” said Bond. “We have to come out strong – and stay strong the whole game.”
And Bond might just have that gold medal draped around his neck.
And he can even have his shirt tail out.
North Allegheny 8 14 7 18 - 47
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14 10 20 27 - 71
North Allegheny: Anthony Dallier 18; Jack Counahan 12; Steve Ferringer 8; Ryan Besonson 5; Anton Constantino 4.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Jaylen Bond 26; Sam Pygatt 13; C.J. Aiken 12; Whis Grant 8; Marcus Badger 4; Brandon Dixon 2; T.J. Clancey 2; Kenny Williams 2; Julien Bond 1; Brandon Brown 1.
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