PW & CB East were winners in Saturday’s SOL Tournament semifinals. PW/North Penn photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice. To visit the photo gallery, click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f582224377
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 75, NORTH PENN 57
In the hallway outside his team’s locker room, Jaden Colzie had just been asked about his brilliant third quarter performance that included a 6-for-6 effort from the field and 13 points. The Colonials’ junior point guard was quick to deflect the credit.
“I think it was our defense really,” Colzie said. “We were all fired up. I got easy runouts, I got 3s, and it got me into a rhythm really.”
It was the mention of his highlight reel pass from well beyond the arc to Lincoln Sharpe on the opposite side of the basket for an and-one layup that evoked a smile and an animated response.
“Coach Moore, you loved that pass to Lincoln, didn’t you?’” Colzie asked the Colonials’ assistant coach who was in coach Jim Donofrio’s office.
“I did, I was very impressed,” Moore said.
“I appreciate it, I appreciate,” Colzie said. “I think that was one of my best passes all year. It was great.”
Colzie’s pass that threaded a needle was an example of the teamwork that highlighted the Colonials’ 47-point second half that turned a close game into a blowout. So dominant were the Colonials in the second half, it was easy to forget that the Knights took a short-lived lead in the second quarter and trailed by just two at halftime.
For one night at least, Donofrio’s concerns about his team’s lackluster performance in its preceding two games was forgotten.
“We decided to play with very little heart the last two games, so we had to have a conversation,” Donofrio said. “As much as we have talent, we’re not an experienced team that went far in the playoffs a year ago. I’ve always found that they’re the (teams) that end up doing something special because they learned. They got pretty close and then they brought a lot of guys back.
“(We have) a lot of talented, confident but naïve guys. Even Qudire Bennett and Jaden Colzie have had their heartaches trying to make some noise in the first three years of their careers and haven’t, so one thing we’ve just gone through is – you drop three percent, just three percent of your focus, and then it’s a game with every (team) you play.”
The conversation Donofrio referenced took place at 2:30 on game day Saturday with Colzie and some of the team’s leaders. The veteran coach did not spare any punches.
“It was crazy,” Colzie said. “He was saying we were playing lazy, not getting back on defense. All of it was facts, I won’t even lie.
“The past two games we haven’t been playing as hard as we played all season. That anger that he gave to us – he could have been way worse, but we needed that, and that inspired (us) into the game especially the second half when we blew (open) the lead.”
The first half was a battle. The Colonials – behind seven points from Bennett – led 16-12 after one quarter. North Penn’s Corey Meade scored eight points off the bench in the second quarter, and the Knights, who trailed 28-26 at halftime, made it a ballgame.
The third quarter belonged to Colzie while Bennett added seven points. The Colonials took a 57-37 lead into the final quarter on their way to big win.
“It’s the energy part,” Colzie said. “We just needed energy. We’re not playing with fire. That’s all he (Donofrio) cares about. As long as we’re playing hard, he’s going to take whatever we have.”
Bennett led all scorers with 23 points, which included four 3-pointers. Colzie finished with 19 points and six assists.
“Jaden Colzie has really raised his offensive game in the last month, and we’ve waited for it, he’s waited for it,” Donofrio said. “He’s had a green light since he was a freshman, but I think coming in as a freshman and handing him the ball at the varsity level – you’re certainly going to have a naive kid at that age.
“If he’s going to finish like that, hitting little pull-ups and floaters – you throw (Chase) Coleman and Quidire (Bennett) in, and you can see what happened defensively when you got the breakouts, it’s a track meet.
Coleman also had a big game for the Colonials, scoring 18 points – 12 in the second half. He also had eight rebounds – six offensive. Sharpe had a huge game under the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds (7 offensive).
For the Knights, Ryan Deininger’s 17 points led the way while Meade finished with 15.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (22-2, 16-0 SOL) will host SOL Colonial Division champion Central Bucks East in Tuesday’s SOL Tournament title game at 7 p.m.
“You have to grind till you get what you want,” Donofrio said. “I watched Chester win multiple district titles when we thought we were great, and Chester would come in and everybody they would play would say – what just hit us?
“We have some of that if not a lot of that, but if you don’t care to use it – why buy a fast sports car if you’re going to go 15 miles an hour through a school zone. I just want us to play the way we’re capable of. You have at most 10 of these (games) left if you were to have a magical run, and most people don’t, so I don’t believe there’s reason to be tired at this point.”
North Penn (18-6, 12-4) will be in action in Friday’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament. The Colonials have a first round bye.
“I think this tournament in general is a great prep for what we have going on in the district,” Colzie said. “We’re going to see all these teams in the next week or so. I think it was great prep. We’re getting more reps in, as a team – more chemistry.
“Everyone is going to stay humble. I love this team. This is amazing. I’m really happy we’re in this championship. I just want to win every chip that we have, that’s it.”
North Penn 12-14-13-18 57
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16-12-29-18 75
North Penn (57) – Ahmaar Godhania 2 0-0 5; Mario Sgro 1 0-0 3; Norman Gee 0 4-4 4; Teddy McAllister 1 0-1 2; Luke Cody 1 0-0 2; Ryan Zeltt 2 0-0 5; Lee Hammond 0 2-2 2; Ryan Deininger 7 2-2 17; Corey meade 6 3-6 15; Nicholas Hoffman 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 20 13-17 57.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (75) – Jaden Colzie 7 4-7 19; Chase Coleman 9 0-0 18; Mani Sajid 1 0-0 3; Ben Marsico 1 0-0 2; Qudire Bennett 9 1-2 23; Jahsier Sayles 1 0-0 3; Lincoln Sharpe 3 1-1 7; TOTALS 31 6-10 75.
3-point goals: NP – Ahmaar Godhania, Mario Sgro, Ryan Zeltt, Ryan Deininger; PW Qudire Bennett 4, Jaden Colzie, Mani Sajid, Jahseir Sayles.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 60, UPPER DUBLIN 56 (OT)
The Patriots displayed their resiliency in Saturday’s overtime win, erasing an 11-point first-half deficit and then rallying from eight down in the fourth quarter to earn the come-from-behind win.
“We really needed to piece together a comeback,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We didn’t go out of character. We just kind of stayed the course. It’s worked for us up to this point. We just stayed disciplined on defense and just looked to get stops.”
The Patriots, who trailed by four heading into the final quarter, trailed 46-38 late, but closed out the quarter with an 11-3 run to knot the score on a Jake Cummiskey basket.
“Jake Cummiskey did a great job defending and rebounding,” Henrysen said. “Kyle Berndt was great all day. He was able to get us going with a couple of key 3s, and Tyler Dandrea really came through as well.”
Overtime was not without drama.
“Down the stretch with under a minute to go, we were down two and Tyler Dandrea hit a big 3 in the corner to put us up one,” Henrysen said. “We needed to get a defensive stop, and we did.”
Berndt’s 21 points – which included five 3-pointers – led the Patriots.
“He was really big,” Henrysen said. “I thought just doing the dirty work – Miles Demby and Dhruv Mukund just battling underneath, they were big for us as well.
Cummiskey added 16 points, six assists and six rebounds while Dandrea had 13 points.
For the Cardinals, Brady Fogle led the way with 13 points. Seaton Kukla and DJ Cerisier both had nine points while Griffin Pensabene had eight, and Colin O’Sullivan, seven points.
Central Bucks East (21-3, 14-2 SOL) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh for Tuesday’s SOL Tournament title game at 7 p.m.
“We made it to the final four last year but didn’t make it over the hump,” Henrysen said. “This is big and especially the way we’re doing it. We’re seemingly doing it the hard way – falling behind and needing to come back, but sometimes when you’re behind, you just play without any distractions or thinking.”
Upper Dublin (18-6, 13-3) will return to action Friday in an opening round game of the District 1 5A Tournament.
Upper Dublin 14-15-13-7-7 56
Central Bucks East 14-8-16-11-11 60
Upper Dublin (56) – DJ Cerisier 9, Ryan Mulroy 5, Brady Fogle 13, Griffin Pensabene 8, Seaton Kukla 9, Terrell Turner 4, Chris Kohlbrenner 1, Colin O’Sullivan 7.
Central Bucks East (60) – Jacob Cummiskey 16, Dhruv Mukund 3, Tyler Dandrea 13, Miles Demby 3, Kyle Berndt 21, Nolan Jacob 4.
3-point goals: UD – Brady Fogle 3, Griffin Pensabene, Colin O’Sullivan; CBE – Kyle Berndt 5, Jake Cummiskey 2, Tyler Dandrea 2.
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