PW, North Penn & CB East were winners in Tuesday’s District 1 6A second round games. CB East/Abington photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. North Penn/Coatesville photos courtesy of Jon Sklut, and PW/Penn Wood photos courtesy of Michael Rice and Larry Small. Check back for galleries of all three games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f582224377
CLASS 6A
#3 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 64, #14 PENN WOOD 62
In the end, it came down to one quarter. One lay-it-on-the-line, leave-it-all-on-the-court quarter. The Colonials found themselves staring at a seven-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter. With the game hanging in the balance, they outscored Penn Wood 25-16 to escape with the heart-stopping win in front of a packed house.
“We knew we had to come out in the last quarter because our coach always says – you could be up by 30, and it could go from 30 to 10 in a matter of minutes,” PW senior Qudire Bennett said. “Thirty-two minutes is a long time, and the game of basketball is about teams going on runs. That fourth quarter we knew they were just
too hyped and just too excited like the game was already over where there was another eight minutes left.
“We raised it to another gear that they just couldn’t match, and that’s how we changed a seven-point deficit to up by four.”
Bennett was in the middle of the action, scoring eight points in the final frame. Chase Coleman had 10 points in the quarter, but they weren’t the only contributors in a quarter that saw the Colonials turn up the pressure defensively with their suffocating trap defense. Lincoln Sharpe delivered a game-saving defensive play in the closing seconds.
“We’re down seven going into the fourth quarter, and their kid, (Nasir) Washington, is a major Division 1 basketball player,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “We threw three guys at him. We switched onto him constantly, and he still was doing what he wanted, so in all honesty, when you get to that scenario, you’ve got to go after them at 85 feet and make this one seriously fast game, and it worked.
“Lincoln (Sharpe) woke up, and Chase Coleman and Lincoln for getting outrebounded on both ends of the floor – all of a sudden, we just were the dominant team for a five-minute run. We came onto the floor in the fourth and literally hit the five percent more energy we needed. Lincoln and Chase at one point got three offensive rebounds in a row, ripping the ball out of their guys’ hands, finishing and
getting fouled. It was pure fight – they figured out what the fight level had to be.
“They’re the most fun games to play, they really are. Teams do wonderful stuff with matchups and changing defenses and all, but when you get athletes on the floor playing at a really high level speed, it’s just – hang on for dear life and watch the energy. To have eight or nine team fouls and to not foul for five straight possessions and create turnovers is a serious level of focus. That was the difference.
“Then, of course, they weren’t going away, and it just became what basketball is sometimes. When the last shot goes up, pray it doesn’t go in if it’s not your guy shooting it, and that’s what it was.”
Coleman’s 26 points – 18 in the second half – led the Colonials, and Bennett added 22. Sharpe finished with eight points.
“This was everything you would want as a coach out of a game to learn lessons but try not to cut it that close,” Donofrio said. “For all the heroics, we played so brilliantly with eight or nine team fouls trapping over 90 feet. It’s the best we’ve done all year. I didn’t think we could be that fast. Lincoln Sharpe was rotating beautifully. Quidire (Bennett) and Chase Coleman were just brilliant. The intensity and the desire not to lose – the heart was absolutely phenomenal. Much respect to our guys for that. At the same time, a great game to get out of your system – survive and (advance). I know our kids like to say – ‘hey, we’d like to win the district,’ but this should humble us into realizing – you just go one game at a time and try to survive.”
There was no mistaking the significance of PW’s home crowd.
“With our crowd, our student second, our cheerleaders – everybody in our gym, it just brings so much energy and confidence to us,” Bennett said. “Our coach says – ‘Don’t try and put on a show. It will put on a show for everybody if you just perform and play with your hearts.
“We do our best in every single game, no matter who’s in double digits – we just want to perform as a team because we’ve all been working hard since this summer to get to this moment.”
The Colonials, who led 14-13 after one quarter, trailed 30-25 at halftime. Things didn’t improve in the third quarter, and Penn Wood led 46-39 after three.
“Going back and forth for three quarters, it was just hard fought,” Bennett said. “Even though we made mistakes, we’re all in this together, and we have to keep our heads up and just keep pushing. Make a mistake – move on to the next play.
“As a four-year varsity player and veteran, sometimes I do (worry), but the whole time, I’m like ‘We’ve got this game.’”
The win punched the Colonials’ ticket to the state tournament.
“To me, it’s very important because freshman year, the season got cut short due to COVID and losing in playbacks,” Bennett said. “Sophomore year, because it was COVID – you play 16 games and you have to win districts just to make it to states.
“Junior year – beating CB South and Downingtown West to qualify for states. I wanted to win districts and we came up short to Cheltenham. Then losing to (Archbishop) Wood in the first round of states, it was a tough loss to me, but I said, to myself, ‘Next year, we’re going to get districts, we’re going to get states.’”
Washington’s 23 points led Penn Wood, and according to Donofrio – whose team was eight days removed from winning the SOL Tournament, the second round game is historically a dangerous game after a first round bye.
“Right now, a lot of it is about psychology,” Donofrio said. “Penn Wood is up and coming. Their kid
Washington is a major talent. It looks like he’s just starting to figure out how good he is, so that’s the most dangerous guy on the floor.
“Friday night he had nine 3s, so he’s dropping 30-point games. We have three guys that can do that, but at the same time, our schedule in the last month has been a lot of matchup zone teams, so the pace has been different. We had the week off, and you’re trying to explain to our guys the atmosphere.”
Penn Wood was hardly a stranger to the Colonials.
“They’ve been in our spring league the last two years, so they’re not going to come up here nervous,” Donofrio said. “They’ve played on our main floor about six times, so there’s a little bit of that. There was a great crowd.
“That gym is a big gym, and if it fills up, it’s quite an experience for high school kids. The noise level tonight was just absolute fun for fans. In all honesty, they were just doing what I hoped they wouldn’t do. They were just a half a second quicker to the ball all night, and then we started dropping our heads a little bit after three (quarters), but you have to remind your team why they have 23 wins – they’re so talented on offense that we could drop 30 points in a quarter, so why not make it the last eight minutes. Stop sulking, and let’s realize what we have to do if we want to win. It’s a bad loss if we lose – not a bad loss to Penn Wood, no disrespect to them, but it’s going to break your heart.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (24-2, 16-0 SOL) will host #6 North Penn in Friday’s quarterfinal contest. The two teams met in the SOL Tournament semis, and the Colonials blew open a close game with an inspired second half to earn a 75-57 win.
Penn Wood 13-17-16-16 62
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-11-14-25 64
Penn Wood (62) – Nasir Washington 8 6-6 23; Sadiq Fountain 3 2-2 8; Mekhi Shillingford 3 2-2 8; Kivaleon Clarke 1 0-0 2; Chris Taylor 1 2-3 4; Jadyen Thompson 1 0-0 2; Donald Hairston 5 2-2 12; Prestin Washington 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 23 14-15 62.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (64) – Jaden Colzie 2 0-0 5; Chase Coleman 7 11-12 36; Qudire Bennett 7 -7 22; Jah Sayles 0 1-2 1; Lincoln Sharpe 4 0-2 8; Rodney Willis 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 21 18-23 64.
3-point goals: Penn Wood – Nasir Washington, Prestin Washington; PW – Qudire Bennett 2, Jaden Colzie, Chase Coleman.
#4 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 59, #20 ABINGTON 46
By Todd Thorpe
BUCKINGHAM – It was a long week.
Seven days separated Central Bucks East from its last game – a 28-point blowout loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh in the SOL Tournament championship game.
Shaking off that loss and preparing for Tuesday’s District One Class 6A second-round game against 20th-seeded Abington was the mission for the Patriots over those
seven days.
And when they took to their home floor again on Tuesday, things were back normal for a team that won its third straight SOL Colonial Division title and 19 games in the regular season as the Patriots notched a convincing 59-46 win over the visiting Galloping Ghosts.
“I definitely came in excited and ready to go but I didn’t play my best game,” said CB East junior Jacob Cummiskey of his team’s loss to PW when he had just two points, “My shots were off. Right after the game it was rough, but I play this game because I love it, you know. It’s fun. I like putting the ball in the hoop, I like going into the lane. It was definitely a rough game, but we bounced back tonight. That’s all that matters.”
In Tuesday’s win, Cummiskey finished with a team-high 16 points. That the junior point guard in his third year as a starter bounced back with a big game wasn’t a surprise to his coach.
“Jake just works so hard,” said Patriots’ coach Erik Henrysen, whose team earned a berth in Friday’s
quarterfinal round with the win and also guaranteed itself a spot in the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs.
“He’s the last one to leave, probably, every practice, so I’m not surprised that he was able to bounce back quickly. And, you know, having Joey back, to take care of the ball, take some of those responsibilities, was a big help as well.”
Joey is senior guard and co-captain Joey Giordano, who missed the PW game with an injury. His presence was huge Tuesday, as he not only helps when facing pressure defense, but he can get to the lane and either score himself or find open teammates for 3-pointers.
“(PW) is a good team, credit to them,” Cummiskey said. “They pressured the ball really well, but without our second guard, it was a little bit of a struggle.
“We were without Joey and that was a tough loss, but we knew what was at stake coming into this game and we were all hungry. We came out firing right away.”
Cummiskey spearheaded a big second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers and 10 first-half points for the Patriots, who took a 25-17 lead into halftime.
And he wasn’t alone. Dhruv Mukund scored 12 points, Giordano and Kyle Berndt both added 10 and Tyler Dandrea scored nine points (all in the fourth quarter).
And the Patriots connected on seven 3-pointers.
“Attitude and energy,” said Cummiskey, who had three 3s. “We’ve been a second half team all year. We come out firing in the second half, so the goal tonight was right away, get on the boards. We know Abington is a big physical team and we did exactly that.”
It also helped being back home, a home-court advantage it will also have in Friday’s quarterfinal game against Downingtown West.
“It’s something that they earned,” Henrysen said “We’ve played 25 games leading up to today and won 21 of them, so they earned the spot that they’re in. Sure, we’re going to be happy to play a couple home games.”
The Patriots may have lost a game a week ago, but that’s all they lost and Tuesday’s win over Abington showed everyone that they still had their swag and were indeed the team they were all season.
“The goal right now is the next game on Friday,” Cummiskey said. “Last year we got that tough loss against Perk Valley in the first round, and that’s biting me right now. Tonight, we showed up, we played well and now we moved on to the final eight, and we’re going to prepare for Friday.”
Abington was led by Jeremiah Lee’s 22 points and Paul Glants’ 13 points. Lee also had nine rebounds and one blocked shot. Josh Young led the Ghosts under the backboards with 10 rebounds to go along with two blocked shots.
Abington connected on 17 of 54 shots from the floor (31.4 percent). The Ghosts were just 1-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Abington (13-11, 10-6 SOL) will host a district playback game on Friday against No. 21 Haverford High as the Ghosts attempt to play back for a berth in the state playoffs.
Abington 5 12 10 19 – 46
CB East 11 14 17 17 – 59
Abington (46) – Paul Glants 5 2-2 13; Jeremiah Lee 8 6-9 22; Damon Rawls 1 1-2 2; Josh Young 1 1-2 3; Kellen Ingram 1 1-2 3; Lathan Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 11-17 46.
CB East (59) – Jacob Cummiskey 5 3-4 16; Tyler Dandrea 3 3-3 9; Kyle Berndt 3 2-4 10; Joey Giordano 3 4-8 10; Dhruv Mukund 3 4-4 12; Caleb Lyzinski 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 16-25 59.
3-point goals: A-Glants; CBE-Cummiskey 3, Berndt 2, Mukund 2
#6 NORTH PENN 64, #11 COATESVILLE 60
The Knights – who led for the better part of Tuesday’s second round contest – suddenly found themselves trailing Coatesville by a point in the game’s final minute.
“We didn’t really call anything because we were having a hard time beating their press,” said NP coach John Conrad, who elected to not call a timeout.
Mario Sgro really didn’t need a play called. The senior guard saw an opening and took it, burying a turnaround jumper in the lane to put the Knights back on top.
“When they took the lead, there was no time really to call a play,” Sgro said. “When I got it, I was just trying to get the best shot that we could at the time.”
The Red Raiders had an answer, taking a 58-57 lead with 37 seconds remaining, and again, Sgro delivered, this time sinking both ends of a one-and-one.
“I’m comfortable at the free throw line,” Sgro said. “At the end of practice, coach tries to mess with us while we’re shooting free throws as practice for that kind of situation. I’d say we’re all comfortable in that situation.”
The Knights’ defense came up with a big stop, and Corey Meade scored despite being fouled and then completed the three-point play, putting the knights on top 62-58. Coatesville scored to make it a 62-60 game, but Norman Gee connected on a pair of foul shots to give the Knights their final margin of victory.
“It was a pretty exciting atmosphere, a good high school basketball game,” Conrad said. “Coatesville
travels really well. They brought a ton of people. It was a great atmosphere, and obviously, I’m very happy for the kids.”
Tuesday’s win secured a berth in the PIAA 6A Tournament for the Knights.
“It was one of the things we talked about early in the year – we talked about getting a home playoff game for districts and then trying to find our way into states,” Conrad said. “I’m very happy for the kids to be able to do that.”
It’s a dramatic turnaround from last season.
“We didn’t even make the playoffs last year,” Sgro said. “At the beginning of the season the first couple of practices, coach made it clear that we have a good team, and we can make it to states. He said, ‘Let’s make it there,’ and we finally did. We got our goal, but we’ve got to keep on going.”
The Knights – behind six points from Ryan Deininger – led 12-8 after one quarter only to watch the visiting Red Raiders score 20 points in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 28-25 lead. The Knights got the lead back with a 19-15 third quarter that included seven points from Teddy McAllister. The fourth quarter belonged to Sgro, who scored eight of his team’s 16 points to propel the Knights to a win that gave the North Penn faithful who packed the bleachers reason to celebrate.
“It was a great relief,” Sgro said. ”Coatesville had so much pressure on us, and it felt good to walk out of there with a win.
“North Penn hasn’t had a home playoff game in quite some time, so it feels really good to play in front of the home crowd when they have your back.”
McAllister’s 15 points led a balanced North Penn attack. Sgro finished with 11. Deininger and Gee both added 10 points, and Meade had eight.
“Everybody contributed, and you have to beat a team like Coatesville,” Conrad said. “I thought Norm (Gee) did a good job handling the pressure, (Ryan) Zeltt was a good rebounder. Teddy McAllister his some big 3s in the third and fourth quarter, and (Deininger) was (Deininger). He really got us going early.
“I just thought all the guys, even the guys off the bench (Nicholas) Hoffman, Corey Meade and Lee Hammond gave us great minutes.”
North Penn (19-6, 12-4 SOL) will face a familiar foe when it travels to Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday for a rematch against the SOL Tournament Champion Colonials, who defeated the Knights 75-57 in the tournament semifinals in a contest that was tightly contested for one half.
“We played PW two games ago, tonight we had Coatesville and now we play PW again,” Sgro said. “It was 30-30 at the start of the third quarter, and they just went on a huge run. They switched up their defense because they were playing us man in the first half, and then they started trapping us in the halfcourt. We just have to be ready for their traps and try not to dribble too much.”
Coatesville 8-20-15-17 60
North Penn 16-13-19-16 64
Coatesville (60) – Zuri Harris 7 3-4 18; Dior Kennedy 1 2-2 4; Marquis Peoples 3 2-3 9; Larry Brown 3 0-2 6; Jeremiah Marshall 6 2-4 14; Amon Fowlkes 2 3-6 7; Chris Proctor 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 12-21 60.
North Penn (64) – Mario Sgro 2 6-6 11; Norman Gee 3 2-2 10; Teddy McAllister 5 2-3 15; Ryan Zeltt 1 0-0 3; Lee Hammond 1 0-0 3; Ryan Deininger 5 0-3 10; Corey Meade 3 2-5 8; Nicholas Hoffman 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 22 12-19 64.
3-point goals: Coatesville – Zuri Harris, Marquis Peoples; NP – Teddy McAllister 3, Norman Gee 2, Mario Sgro, Ryan Zeltt, Lee Hammond.
#2 LOWER MERION 71, #18 NESHAMINY 42
CLASS 4A
#1 COLLEGIUM CHARTER 83, #4 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 61
The Spartans scored enough points to win on most nights, but Collegium Charter, looking every bit the part of the number one seed, had just too many weapons.
“Their one kid averages four points a game, and he had 20 tonight – they just made shots,” Springfield Twp coach Rob Fusaro said. “We schemed for it, and our guys rebounded well which we wanted them to do.”
Collegium jumped out to a 23-11 lead after one quarter and never looked back on its way to a win that brought an end to the Spartans’ season.
Dylan McKenzie’s 13 points and three assists led the Spartans, and the senior standout – who averaged 18 points a game – will leave big shoes to fill.
“It’s sad to see him go because I’ve had him since I started here,” Fusaro said. “He’s done a lot, and he’s such a great person to have. He’s really helped me build what we’re trying to do in terms of his playing and just as an example to younger kids. We run a camp, and I told him he needs to speak at camp.
“I have a group text with the guys that leave. I try to keep them engaged with our program. He’s someone I value as a player but as a person and leader and an example of what we want a Springfield Township boys’ basketball player to be.”
Miles Goodwin added nine points and seven rebounds, and Brett Smith also had nine points to go along with four assists. Trey Mapp added eight points and five rebounds.
Springfield Township closed out its season with a 7-14 record overall.
“I think it was a really good building block, staying consistent, which they hadn’t really done in the past,” Fusaro said. “Having seven wins – I think we probably could have had a couple more. Staying in that 8-10 win range consistently is something we’re really striving to do as a program – to build the consistency that we are a competitive program and we’re going to strive to keep that expectation.”
Springfield Twp 11-17-17-16 61
Collegium Charter 23-23-18-19 83
Springfield Twp (61) – Dylan McKenzie 4 4-5 13; Miles Goodwin 2 4-4 9; Brett Smith 3 3-9 9; Andre Henry 2 2-2 6; Trey Mapp 4 0-0 8; Will Cooney 2 0-0 6; Bob Hartman 2 2-3 8; Will Hastings 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 20 15-23 61.
Collegium Charter (83) – Duce Jackson 10 2-4 23; Evan Schnitzius 7 1-1 21; Travon Mack 4 0-0 9; Josh Jones-Pinilla 4 2-2 11; Nick Kiley 5 2-2 12; Aaron Pitt Jr 2 3-4 7; TOTALS 32 10-13 83.
3-point goals: Springfield Twp – Trey Mapp 2, Will Cooney 2, Dylan McKenzie, Miles Goodwin, CCS – Evan Schnitzius 6, Duce Jackson, Travon Mack, Josh Jones-Pinilla.
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