Wissahickon and Abington fell in the semifinals while Council Rock North and Norristown picked up must-wins in playback games. To view photos of the Abington/Lower Merion, Chester/Wissahickon and Souderton/Coatesville games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Philadelphia – The Suburban One League sent a pair of underdogs to the Liacourus Center at Temple University, and although both Wissahickon and Abington failed to come away with upset wins, the #5 Trojans and the #11 Ghosts were very competitive with both #1 Chester and #2 Lower Merion.
“We really wanted to show that we could compete from the beginning of the game,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson after his Trojans dropped a 67-52 verdict to heavily favored Chester. “We didn’t compete early, but I think we proved that we could compete for the rest of the game.”
“We fell behind in the second half, but we kept our composure, and we kept battling,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty after his Ghosts dropped a 68-54 decision to favored Lower Merion. “We had some shots that just didn’t fall. I’m not at all disappointed with the way we competed.”
Wissahickon will now host Abington in a game that will determine the #3 and #4 seed from District One in the state tournament. The game will be played on Saturday – time to be determined.
Wissahickon (22-4) stumbled early – missed its first ten shots –did not score for the first 5:41 – and trailed the high-powered Clippers 10-0. Chase Wilson – who led the Trojans with a team-high 19 points - scored the first Wissahickon basket on a 3-pointer. Chester led 17-5 by the close of the quarter.
“The pressure might have gotten to us a little, we took some tough shots at the beginning of the game,” said the Trojans’ silky smooth sophomore point guard. “But we were able to regroup and we played much better as the game went along.”
“Chester has a way of making you very uncomfortable,” said Coach Wilson – father of the silky smooth point guard. “They can force you to play a way you don’t want to play. They can be mentally intimidating, but I think after the first quarter we found that we could play with them.”
In fact, Wissahickon and Chester played to a 35-35 stalemate in the second half. And the Trojans did not do their damage on the second tier players of the Clippers – it came against the best talent that Chester had to offer.
Seniors Jordan Reed and Tanoh Kpassagnon each had eye-popping moments around the rim with some thunderous dunks. Reed finished it twin digits with 13 points, while Kpassagnon scored in double digits with 10 points.
“This is the first time we have been this deep in the playoffs in a while,” said Wilson. “And Chester is here every year. It was a great experience for our team.
“We have to put this behind us and get ready to play an excellent Abington team,” continued Wilson. “We will got into that game with the idea of winning, we don’t know how to play any other way.”
Wissahickon Trojans 5 12 18 17 - 52
Chester Clippers 17 15 15 20 - 67
Wissahickon: Chase Wilson 19; Jordan Reed 13; Tanoh Kpassagnon 10; Kyle Garrett 7, and Chris Carrodorni 3. Total – 52.
Chester: Darius Robinson 21; Kareem Robinson 12; Erikk Wright 11; Rondae Jefferson 8; Zamir Geiger 5; Richard Granberry 4; Shanier Cottman 3; and Tymier Butler 3.
Abington (19-7) could not overcome its size disadvantage as the Ghosts were limited to one shot offensively and gave up several offensive rebounds to the taller Aces (25-2) who scored key second chance baskets.
“Lower Merion has some really ‘long’ players and we had to make quite a few adjustments to the shots we took,” said Grasty. “We saw them play Souderton, and we knew that they had a lot of athletic ability. Our style is to attack the rim, and we tried to continue to play that way tonight. Maybe we could have made an extra pass or two, but I was happy with the effort we gave.
“I really thought we were ‘in’ the game the whole night,” added Grasty. “The final score might not look like it, but I thought we competed well against one of the best teams in the state.”
Lower Merion may not have Ace alum Kobe Bryant on the floor, but LM did have BJ Johnson. Johnson – a lefty – tormented the Ghosts for a game-high 29 points. And Darryl Reynolds was a monster under the boards with 16 rebounds to go along with 18 points and six blocked shots.
Abington was led is scoring by junior Anthony Durham with a team-high 19 points, while Jordan Simmons scored in twin digits with 11 points.
“We might have rushed some of our shots on offense, and we were a little too excited to play in front of this crowd,” said Durham. “But we didn’t play scared. We had some shots blocked, but we were still aggressive going to the basket. We attacked just the way that Coach wanted us to.
“It was great to get here this year and get the experience,” added Durham. “Next year, after we work hard in the off season, we want to come back here and win districts.”
Abington Ghosts 16 15 9 14 - 54
Lower Merion Aces 18 14 19 17 - 68
Abington: Anthony Durham 19; Jordan Simmons 11; Mike Griffin 6; Anthony Lee 5; Matt Penecale 5; Jiere Morrisey 4; Tom Kennedy 2; and Chris Ruhl 2. Total – 54.
Lower Merion: BJ Johnson 29; Darryl Reynolds 18; Raheem Hall 13; JaQuan Johnson 4; Justin McFadden 2; and Yohanny Dalembert 2. Total – 68.
Consolation ‘Playback’ Games
Eagles Soar To Huge Victory
Norristown (18-8) had an enormous rebound from its Chester loss as the # 9 Eagles flew to a 50-42 victory over # 4 Central Bucks West (22-4). The Birds outscored the Bucks 20-11 in the fourth period to secure the win. Marquis Bryant and Jahbri Hargrove led Norristown with 12 points each, while Tyler Schechter scored a game-high 17 points for West. Norristown will host #10 Souderton (20-6) to determine the #5 and #6 seed from District One in the state tournament. Central Bucks West will travel to # 3 Coatesville to determine the #7 and #8 seed from District One in the state tournament.
Norristown Eagles 9 10 11 20 - 50
Central Bucks West Bucks 12 7 12 11 - 42
Norristown: Marquis Bryant 12; Jahbri Hargrove 12; BJ Gordon 10; Luke Kelley 5; Richard Bouknight 5; Samir Bey 4; and Jahad York 2. Total – 50.
Central Bucks West: Tyler Schechter 17; Jack Rogers 8; Derek Dyer 8; Jared Kelly 5; and Shane Kellar 4. Total – 42.
Big Red Captures Big Victory
COATESVILLE—In preparing for their District One class AAAA matchup with Souderton, the Red Raiders may have overlooked one detail when analyzing the Indians attack - how to account for 6’ 5” senior Ryan Connolly.Connolly started with a hot hand, hitting three bombs from beyond the arc on three consecutive possessions fueling a 23-18 lead with a minute expired in the second quarter.
The Souderton inside game seized control of the tilt with senior guard Luke Moyer dictating the pace of the game, forcing the Coatesville defense into playing a half court game which was completely out of their comfort zone, allowing Connelly and senior Ry Yozallinas to run roughshod in the paint.
“I haven’t been shooting exceptionally well the last couple of games,” said Connelly, who torched the #3 seeded Red Raiders for a career-high 30 points. “Maybe they didn’t think I could shoot, I was a little surprised when after I made a couple threes they still didn’t pressure me. This was a complete team game and will really help our confidence heading into Friday.”
Coatesville (23-6) cut the lead to seven midway through the fourth quarter, but Souderton slammed the door with a 7-0 run fueled by the inside game of Connolly and his partner in the invasion of the Red Raiders zone all night Mark Wonderling, who chipped in ten points and nine rebounds. --Submitted by Dave Conard
Souderton will travel to #9 Norristown (18-8) to determine the #5 and #6 seed from District One in the state tournament. Coatesville will host # 4 Central Bucks West (22-4) to determine the #7 and #8 seed from District One in the state tournament.
Souderton Indians 14 17 16 19 - 66
Coatesville Red Raiders 15 10 12 19 - 56
Souderton: Ryan Connolly 30; Mark Wonderling 10; John Kanas 9; Luke Moyer 8; Ry Yozzallinas 7; and Greg Mendrezcki 2. Total – 66.
Coatesville: Andre Boggs 13; Tyler Burke 12; Chris Miller 9; Tymier Miller 7; Vinnie Williams 6; Dameon Nixon 4; Chris Jones 2; Leroy Hoggard 2; Emmett Hunt 1. Total – 56.
9th Seed ‘Survivor’ Games
Cheltenham (17-9) kept its season alive as the #13 Panthers clawed #8 Pennsbury (18-8) – 67-63. Jarrell Haywood and Nafis Walker combined for 24 fourth period points as the Black Cats outscored the Falcons 27-11 and escaped with the victory. Haywood finished with a game-high 29 points. Pennsbury led 39-22 at the close of the first half and was led in scoring by Kieran Bolger with 25 points. Cheltenham will now be on the road to play Council Rock North (20-6) to determine the #9 seed from District One in the state tournament.
Cheltenham Panthers 10 12 18 27 - 67
Pennsbury Falcons 18 21 13 11 - 63
Cheltenham: Jarrell Haywood 29; Nafis Walker 16; Guy Henderson 9; Toyon Wynder 5; Nile Lyons 4; and Aaron McGlawn 4. Totals – 67.
Pennsbury: Kieran Bolger 25; Shawn Pepper 15; Mekhi Bryant 12; Ryan Charity 5; Jerrel Burke 2; Davon Hopkins 2; and Dan Ransom 2. Total – 63.
Council Rock North (20-6) kept its season alive as the #7 seed Indians captured a 50-47 victory over #14 Penn Wood – 50-47. Arron Goodman sparked Rock North with a 16-point/22-rebound performance. The Indians held high scoring Malcom Richardson to a team-high 13 points for the Patriots. CR North will now host Cheltenham with the winner gaining the #9 seed from District One in the state tournament.
Penn Wood Patriots 6 13 12 16 - 47
Council Rock North Indians 13 11 12 14 - 50
Penn Wood: Malcom Richardson 13; Jerry Price 10; Dahmere Mincey 7; Corey Foster 6; Tyree Bynum 5; Gemil Holbrook 4; and Cory Broach 2. Total – 47.
Council Rock North: Arron Goodman 16; Rip Engel 11; Aaron Morgan 5; Matt McCloskey 5; Kyle McCloskey 5; Brandon Knott 4; and Alex Jordan 4. Total – 50.
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