Scott Huff previews Wednesday’s District One AAAA Tournament games featuring SOL teams.
By Scott Huff
And the beat goes on…
PIAA Quad-A District One Semifinals
Wednesday – February 25, 2015
Temple University
# 6 Abington Ghosts (24-3) vs. # 7 Pennsbury Falcons (22-5)
6:00 pm
Season Resume:
Abington finished the regular season as the Suburban One League National Conference champion.
Pennsbury finished the regular season as the Suburban One League National Conference runner-up to Abington.
Playoff Resume:
Abington advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 58-49 victory over # 3 Pennridge in the quarterfinals. Senior Amir Hinton led the Ghosts with a game-high 22 points, while senior Matt Penecale added 21 points for the winners.
Abington Ghosts 16 13 8 21 * 58
Pennridge Rams 9 11 18 11 * 49
Abington opened the District One playoffs with a 59-58 victory over # 27 North Penn. Hinton led the Ghosts with 19 points, while Penecale scored in twin digits with 17 points. Abington advanced to the quarterfinals with a 55-47 win over # 11 Chester. In the win over the Clippers – Hinton scored a game-high 19 points, while Penecale scored in double digits with 17 points.
Pennsbury advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 68-58 victory over # 2 Methacton in 
the quarterfinals. Senior Cameron Jones led the Falcons with a game-high 25 points, while Derrick Woods (18) and Mekhi Bryant (15) also scored in double figures.
Pennsbury Falcons 17 20 13 18 * 68
Methacton Warriors 16 13 11 18 * 58
Pennsbury opened the District One playoffs with a 70-53 victory over # 26 Central Bucks South. Woods had a monster game for the Falcons with a 36-point performance, while Jones scored in twin digits with 15 points. Pennsbury advanced to the quarterfinals with a 55-41 win over # 10 Downingtown West. Bryant scored a game-high 20 points for the Black & Orange, while Jones (14) and Woods (11) also scored in double digits.
Abington Head Coach Charles Grasty says: “We have beaten a very good basketball team eight times in a row – and people keep telling me that the law of averages is going to catch up with us. But I keep telling the players that every game is a different game. Pennsbury is going to be very hungry – and in reality those kids really want that streak to end. One of our goals is to win a district title – and we are going to have to beat Pennsbury for that to happen. The last two years we were happy just to get to Temple – now we have to know what to do once we get there to win the game. It is going to be an intense game – and we are going to have to match their intensity if we want to beat them. Pennsbury is very good.”
Pennsbury Head Coach Bill Coleman says: “We are going into the game with the mentality that we want to win a district championship – we just don’t want to beat Abington. We have three senior leaders (Cameron Jones, Mekhi Bryant, and Derrick Woods) who know it’s their last shot at winning something big. Their maturity is going to be a big factor in how well we play these next few games. The stars of the team should be the stars in the big games. They have put in a lot of extra work to be able to take care of business. The team that is going to win this game is the team that is the most unselfish and the team that executes.Winner Gets: The winner of this game will advance to the PIAA Quad-A District One championship game to be played on Friday at Temple University at 8 pm against the winner of the # 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. # 9 Ridley contest.
Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the PW-Ridley game to determine the # 3 and # 4 seeds from District One on Friday at the site of the higher seed.
# 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (23-2) vs. # 9 Ridley Raiders (22-5)
7:30 pm
Season Resume:
Plymouth Whitemarsh finished the regular season as the Suburban One League American Conference champion.
Ridley finished the regular season as the Central League runner-up to champion Conestoga.
Playoff Resume:
Plymouth Whitemarsh advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 47-36 victory over # 12 Lower Merion in the quarterfinals. Xzavier Malone scored a game-high 15 points for the Colonials, while Andre Mitchell (13) and Jimmy Murray (11) also scored in twin digits.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8 3 20 16 * 47
Lower Merion Aces 8 11 8 9 * 36
Plymouth Whitemarsh opened the District One playoffs with a 73-33 rout of # 29 Cheltenham. Mitchell scored a game-high 29 points, while Malone and Murray each scored 12 points for PW. The Colonials advanced to the quarterfinals with a 49-35 victory over Springfield (Delco). Mitchell scored a game-high 15 points, while Murray scored in double figures with 11 points.
Ridley advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 36-34 victory over # 1 Conestoga in the quarterfinals. Julian Wing scored a game-high 12 points, while Brett Foster posted nine points for the Raiders.
Ridley Raiders 9 10 8 9 * 36
Conestoga Pioneers 5 8 15 6 * 34
Ridley opened the District One playoffs with a 68-55 victory over # 25 West Chester Rustin. Foster scored a game-high 21 points while Armeer Staggs scored in double figures with 16 points. The Raiders advanced to the quarterfinals with a 57-40 win over # 26 Great Valley. Wing scored a game-high 21 points for Ridley, while Foster chipped in with 19 points for the winners.
Plymouth Whitemarsh Head Coach Jim Donofrio says: “Ridley is a very interesting team. They play with a lot of confidence and are very unselfish. They are like us in that they like to play the game with high energy – and that includes the way that they play defense. I think they are out to prove something. They have three players that can hit the three-point shot – but yet, they can attack the basket. We want to go to Temple and make it fun – have the kids play loose – but play with a purpose. You can let that environment fuel your energy – but you can’t let it intimidate you. We got an extra day to prepare – work on the details – and we are going to be ready to go.”Winner Gets: The winner of this game will advance to the PIAA Quad-A District One championship game to be played on Friday at Temple University at 8 pm against the winner of the # 6 Abington vs. # 7 Pennsbury contest.
Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the Abington-Pennsbury game to determine the # 3 and # 4 seeds from District One on Friday at the site of the higher seed.
PIAA Quad-A District One ‘Playback’ Game
Wednesday – February 25, 2015
# 3 Pennridge Rams (22-4) @ # 2 Methacton Warriors (23-4)
7 pm
Season Resume:
Pennridge finished the regular season as the Suburban One League Continental Conference champion.
Methacton finished the regular season as the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division champion.
Playoff Resume:
Pennridge lost in the PIAA Quad-A quarterfinal round to # 6 Abington by a 58-49 score. The Rams were led in scoring by Danny Long with a team-high 16 points. Joey Molettiere added 12 points for Pennridge.
The Rams opened the District One playoffs with a 78-54 victory over # 30 Spring-Ford. Long scored a game-high 25 points for the Rams, while Zach Murreda scored in twin digits with 23 points. Pennridge advanced to the quarterfinals with a 53-47 victory over # 14 Coatesville. Long scored 15 points to lead the Rams, while Ryan Cuthbert (13), Muredda (11) and Molettiere (11) each scored in double figures.
Methacton lost in the PIAA Quad-A quarterfinal round to # 7 Pennsbury by a 68-58 score. The Warriors had four players score in double figures – Chris McCarthy (15), Sean Mann (13), Tom Dyer (12), and Justin Ardman (11).
The Warriors opened the District One playoffs with a 76-60 victory over # 31 Marple-Newtown. Dyer and Ardman each scored a game-high 20 points for the Warriors, while McCarthy (18) and Mann (15) scored in double digits. Methacton advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 64-54 victory over # 13 Phoenixville. McCarthy and Mann led the Warriors with 17 points each, while Dyer added 16 points for the winners.
Pennridge Head Coach Dean Behrens says: “We looked at the film of the Methacton-Pennsbury game and we were very impressed. They have had a great season. We were a little down after our loss to Abington, but we have a chance to be the # 5 seed from District One and that isn’t anything to sneeze at. Both Methacton and us are going to have to get over emotional losses – and the team that plays with the most energy will most likely win the game. (Current Methacton head coach and former Pennridge Athletic Director) Jeff Derstine and I said when the brackets came out it would be cool to play each other at Temple. It might not be Temple – but playing each other is still going to be great. We still have a lot of basketball left to play.”Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # 1 Conestoga vs. # 12 Lower Merion game to determine the # 5 and # 6 seeds from District One on Friday at the site of the higher seeded team.
Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the Conestoga-Lower Merion game to determine the # 7 and # 8 seeds from District One on Friday at the site of the higher seeded team.
About the Author
