Cheltenham advanced to the District One 6A semifinals. Check all the recaps. Cheltenham/PW photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Bensalem/Norristown photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Class 6A Quarterfinals
#3 CHELTENHAM 52, #22 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 40
Rasheem Dearry really didn’t care that he and his Cheltenham teammates owned a big win over Plymouth Whitemarsh already this season.
Friday’s District 1 6A quarterfinal matchup with the Colonials had much more at stake than their first meeting back in January. The winner would get a ticket to the district semifinals, and with the
Colonials on a roll over their past few contests, the Panthers could ill-afford to overlook them.
“(Assistant coach Sharif Bray) told us the second time is always going to be tougher,” Dearry said. “Definitely, they want to win, we want to win. It’s going to be a dogfight when it’s like that.
“That first time, regular season game, it matters but it doesn’t matter. This is the playoffs, everybody wants to win.”
Dearry scored a team-high 15 points, including eight in a row in the first quarter after Cheltenham had fallen behind 7-3 to open the game. The senior buried back-to-back baseline 3-pointers about 30 seconds apart, giving the Panthers a lead they would carry the rest of the game.
“I was just doing my part, doing what I could do to help the team whether it was scoring, playing defense, rebounding, offensive rebounds, just keeping us together,” Dearry said. “When somebody misses a shot and they get frustrated, it’s my job to keep us together.”
The Panthers’ defense ensured they only needed one lead. PW got within a point on the first possession of the second quarter before the teams traded six-point runs that kept Cheltenham in front, 21-20.
Justin Savage scored off a nice find by freshman point guard Josiah Hutson and Dearry hit another three to put the Panthers up six before a steal and an impressive layup by Zende Hubbard pulled PW within 27-23 at the break.
For as close as the first half was, the third quarter totally belonged to Cheltenham. The Panthers opened on an 8-0 run, outscored the Colonials 14-4 and didn’t allow a field goal in the period.
Plymouth Whitemarsh committed five turnovers in the quarter while going 0-for-7 from the floor, playing right into the Panthers’ aggressive defense.
“We were trying to make sure we closed out possessions with rebounds, we didn’t want to give them any open shots, we wanted them all to be contested,” Panthers coach Patrick Fleury said. “The biggest thing for us defensively is communicating and being on a line. When the ball moves, everybody moves before the catch, so they’re there before the catch. They executed that well, the backside of our defense was vocal and they were the safeties for us and helped a lot.”
Six different players recorded a steal for Cheltenham, led by Elias Walker’s three. Brandon Bush had the most emphatic, deflecting a pass into the open court before turning it into a one-handed dunk that put the Panthers ahead 43-29.
The Colonials didn’t have a lot go well on the court, but Hubbard’s play was not on that list. Hubbard scored a game-high 16, taking advantage of the attention Cheltenham gave Jaden Colzie and Qudire Bennett defensively.
“They’re a good team,” Fleury said. “(Coach) Jim (Donofrio) is one of the guys that’s been doing it for a while, so they’re always well prepared. This is the first time since 2020 that we’ve been able to play them twice in a season.
“Just the whole team coming together tonight and fighting through adversity, no matter what the case was. We need to refocus tomorrow at practice and push forward for our game on Tuesday.”
Cheltenham – despite its 27-0 record – will be on the road as the third seed and will travel to No. 2 Lower Merion in the semifinals on Tuesday. A year ago, the Aces knocked the top-seeded Panthers out in the district quarterfinals, preventing Cheltenham a chance to play in the state tournament.
“We’ll have a plan, Coach Pat is one of the smartest coaches I know, so he’ll definitely have something,” Dearry said. “They’re a tough team so we have to do what we have to do, which starts with staying together.”
“We’ll see how it plays out,” Fleury said. “We are in the final four, so we definitely have to get ready for a tough game. All the games from here on in will be tough games.”
With 46.8 left in the fourth quarter, the hard-fought game was halted for several minutes due to a disruption. As the teams returned to the floor after a Cheltenham timeout, an obscene comment was directed at Fleury from the section of bleachers directly behind the scorers’ table between the team benches.
Fleury immediately alerted the officials then called for administrators to remove the fan who created the disruption, leading to a stoppage while the fan was removed from the gym.
“Do spectators really think that using vulgar and profane comments will alter the outcome of the game – that’s the question of the night for me,” Fleury said.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-8, 12-4) will host Abington in a playback game on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12-11-4-13 40
Cheltenham 16-11-14-11 52
Plymouth Whitemarsh (40) – Zende Hubbard 6 4-6 16, Marshall Baker 0 4-9 4, Trey Jones 2 0-0 5, Qudire Bennett 5 3-4 13, Taji Hubbard 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 11-19 40
Cheltenham (52) – Rasheem Dearry 5 2-4 15, Josiah Hutson 5 0-1 12, Elias Walker 2 4-5 8, Nasir Edens 1 0-0 2, Brandon Bush 6 0-1 12, Justin Savage 1 1-2 3. Totals: 20 7-13 52
3 point goals: PW – Trey Jones. Cheltenham – Rasheem Dearry 3, Josiah Hutson 2.
#12 NORRISTOWN 50, #4 BENSALEM 46
The Owls struggled to find their offense early in Friday’s contest against the visiting Eagles, and they found themselves on the short end of a 24-16 score at halftime.
“We started slow and couldn’t recover,” coach Ron Morris said. “Credit to Norristown – they shot really well in the first half. They had three 3s in the first quarter, so credit to them for hitting shots
on the road in a hostile environment. We had some turnovers early.
“But we buckled down. Our guys never give up. We’re as resilient as they come. We got down, we came back, and we just kept battling and battling, and we just couldn’t get over the hump. Every time we made a run – we tied it up twice, and then we couldn’t get that extra shot or that extra bucket.”
The Owls were in the game until the final whistle, trailing by just two after Jeremy Rodriguez completed a three-point play with eight seconds remaining. They came oh so close to getting a steal on the Eagles’ ensuing possession but were whistled for a travel, and the Eagles sank a pair at the foul line to seal the Owls’ fate.
“A credit to them – they made a lot of foul shots in the fourth quarter,” Morris said. “They were 11-for-16 in the fourth quarter.
“We were resilient. It’s unfortunate to lose a game like that, but we come back Tuesday and have to be ready to play.”
Jeremy Rodriguez led the Owls with a game high 18 points. Allen Myers added 10 points while Tra Edwards had nine points, and Aaron Sanders had six.
“Jeremy (Rodriguez) was scoring – he got going offensively in the fourth quarter,” Morris said. “Allen (Myers) had a really good game. He had 10 points, he probably had at least 10 rebounds and five or six blocks.
“Tra Edwards played well off the bench. He’s a kid who just keeps working hard, staying positive, and he gave us big minutes. Aaron (Sanders) again defensively kept one of their best players to single digits.
“It’s one of those games. It was a physical playoff game. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end.”
Bensalem (20-7, 13-3 SOL) will host #24 Garnet Valley in a playback game on Tuesday.
Norristown 14-10-9-17 50
Bensalem 7-9-15-15 46
Norristown (50) – Zaki Gomez 4 1-2 9; Greg Mobley 1 0-0 2; DJ Johnson 3 4-8 11; Righteous Mitchell 2 5-7 9; Myron Kirlew 2 1-2 7; Williams 1 0-0 3; John DiNolfi 4 0-0 9. TOTALS 17 11-19 50.
Bensalem (46) – Jeremy Rodriguez 6 5-6 18; Tra Edwards 3 1-2 9; Allen Myers 4 2-4 10; Eric Gonzalez 0 1-2 1; Aaron Sanders 2 2-2 6; Antonio Morris 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 11-16 46.
3-point goals: Norristown – Myron Kirlew 2, DJ Johnson, John DiNolfi, Williams; Bensalem – Tra Edwards 2, Jeremy Rodriguez.
#2 LOWER MERION 60, #23 ABINGTON 28
The Ghosts saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end, falling to the Aces in a rematch of last year’s District One 6A title game. Lower Merion won that game as well, 62-41.
The Aces took control of Friday’s game early, opening up a 22-8 lead after one quarter and stretching that to 42-12 by halftime. The second half began with the mercy rule in effect.
Derrius Lucas scored 11 points to lead the Ghosts while sophomore Jeremiah Lee added seven points. He also had five rebounds.
The Ghosts connected on just 11-of-40 shots from the field (27.5 percent). They were 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
Abington (16-9, 11-5 SOL) will travel to #22 Plymouth Whitemarsh for a playback game on Tuesday.
Abington 8-4-5-11 28
Lower Merion 22-20-6-12 60
Abington (28) – Connor Fields 0 2-4 2; Fhenyx Scutt 1 0-0 2; Paul Glants 1 1-2 4; Jeremiah lee 3 0-0 7; Liam Rardin 1 0-0 2; Derrius Lucas 5 0-0 11. TOTALS 11 3-6 28.
Lower Merion (60) – Jaylen Shippen 3 0-2 9; Teddy Pendergrass 1 1-2 3; Justin Poles 2 0-0 4; Peter Gribbin 1 0-1 2; Sam Brown 3 2-3 8; Demetrius Lilley 10 0-0 21; Jordan Meekins 2 0-0 5; Henry Bard 1 0-0 2; Sam Wright 2 1-2 6. TOTALS 25 4-10 60.
3-point goals: Abington – Jeremiah Lee, Derrius Lucas, Paul Glants; LM – Jaylen Shippen 3, Demetrius Lilley, Jordan Meekins, Sam Wright.
Class 6A Playback
#7 WEST CHESTER EAST 56, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 51
The Indians had things going their way in the opening half and took a 30-25 lead into halftime. They still led by five heading into the fourth quarter when the host Vikings closed out the game with an 18-8 tear, bringing an end to a successful season for the Indians.
“This is a great group of kids,” Rock North coach Jesse Krasna said. “They were so invested in getting better dating back to last spring. They improved individually and really came together as a team from then to now.
Watching the growth as a result of their hard work was awesome. They always put the team first. Coaching them was easy because they cared about one another and held each other to high standards. We were a player led team.”
Adam Mahtat led the Indians with 17 points – nine in the second quarter. Jack Blum added 14 points, and Bernie Parent finished in double figures with 13 points.
“Our seniors Logan Saifer, Ryan Burkett, Shane Anhalt and Bernie Parent steered the ship and our underclassmen bought in,” Krasna said. “The loss stings because the season was so enjoyable and so many close bonds were formed. I know this group will look back and be proud of what they accomplished and have a lot to smile about.”
Council Rock North closed its season with a 17-9 record. The Indians were 11-5 in SOL play.
Council Rock North 14-16-13-8 51
West Chester East 11-14-13-18 56
Council Rock North (51) – Bernie Parent 3 5-8 13; Adam Mahtat 7 2-3 17; Jack Blum 6 0-0 14; Ryan Burkett 2 0-0 5; Logan Saifer 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 19 7-11 51.
West Chester East (56) – Josh Sherlock 2 0-0 5; Rorey Puchalla 0 1-3 1; Jose Ramos 7 2-2 19; Jack Kushner 6 1-2 13; KJ Cochran 4 0-0 10; Jack Gallagher 1 0-0 2; Ryan Price 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 22 4-7 56.
3-point goals: CRN – Bernie Parent 2, Jack Blum 2, Adam Mahtat, Ryan Burkett; WCE – Jose Ramos 3, KJ Cochran 2, Ryan Price 2, Josh Sherlock.
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