PW rolled to a big win over Central Bucks East to capture the 2023 SOL Tournament title. Photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f582224377
SOL Tournament Final
Plymouth Whitemarsh 68, Central Bucks East 40
By Todd Thorpe
PLYMOUTH MEETING - There was no question Tuesday’s matchup between SOL Liberty Division champ Plymouth Whitemarsh and SOL Colonial champ Central Bucks East was a battle between the two teams that established themselves as the two finest the Suburban One League had to offer.
And when districts kick off later this week, PW and CB East have the distinction of owning the No. 3 and 4 seeds, respectively, as well as first-round byes into next Tuesday’s second round.
But one question was answered emphatically on Tuesday night and that was which team was far and above the best team in the SOL.
And the host Colonials did more than just claim their first SOL tournament title since 2018, they made a statement even beyond the confines of their league with a decisive 68-40 blowout win.
“Like I was saying, that was a statement,” said junior point guard Jaden Colzie. “That’s a statement game right there. Thirty points? A lot of teams are beating teams by two and four. We just had a statement game and that’s 30 points.
“We’re the key to winning this district title. I think we’ve got a shot. If we stay on the goal that we have, which is the district title, I feel like we’re going to concentrate, we’re not going to let up. We want the district title. That’s all we want.”
That confidence is well deserved. The trio of Colzie (16 points), Qudire Bennett (21) and Chase Coleman (15) outscored a 21-3 CB East team 52-40.
Colzie’s eight points – including a pair of 3s – led PW in the first quarter. Bennett had 11 of his team’s 17 points in the second quarter, and Coleman had nine points to lead PW in the third quarter.
“After our West Chester East loss at Widener, we’ve just been killing teams from the beginning,” Bennett said. “In our district, out of our district, we don’t fear no team.
“Just the amount of role players we have, and me, Chase and Jay are dominant scorers. No team can stop three dominant, double-digit scorers every night, and we have other players that can score too. We get our other teammates involved.”
The type of win it was going to be was pretty obvious right from the start.
“I saw it was 7-1 (in the first quarter),” Colzie said. ”When it hit 7-1 and we called timeout, I felt like we had them right there. We were being elastic, playing defense, helping.
“(CB East is) a shooting team. We just keyed on that, we held the guards, had our hands over the ball, just like our coach said to. That was the job and I feel like we never looked back.”
The Colonials, who led 14-6 after one period, took a 31-14 into halftime and then outscored the Patriots 22-13 in the third quarter to stretch that lead to 53-27.
The key to the PW’s standout effort, according to their coach, could be summed up in one word – preparation.
“We do our homework and lots of it,” coach Jim Donofrio said. “Every game at this point is now to amoeba yourself into what that (opposing) team does. These guys would not have followed this game plan even a month ago.
“It reminds me of some of the better teams I’ve had in the past. We had to cover Lower Merion in one sequence in districts where they spread like crazy, and then three days later play Pennsbury when they had Dalton Pepper and Lavoy Allen, two future pro guys, and that was all swarm, run and jump, and to make that kind of change was one of the most fascinating things I saw high school kids do.
“These guys are starting to enter that doorway of – okay, this is a whole different defensive sequence. Saturday was a zone we haven’t played very often, but it worked. I’m watching these guys on film. Multiple guys knocking down 3s, and you can’t let them get lift. We’re very quick. Quickness messes people up. It just does. If we were to turn around and play Imhotep tomorrow, we’re in the same boat all of a sudden. We’re doing that with discipline now. To win anything of value, you better understand what your opponent does, so I give our guys a lot of credit.”
For 1,000-point scorer Bennett, who will add his name to the illustrious PW history books when his playing career is over, it was his first SOL title.
“When our coach (Jim Donofrio) first found out about this tournament, he was giving us a rundown,” Bennett said. “When you play … in this tournament it can be good and it can be bad, because players can get hurt, or whatever, but since we have a first-round bye (in districts), he wants us to keep our mojo and our swag going, so this tournament helped us a lot.
“And this win gives us a taste of what it feels like to be a champion of something.”
Having played on several PW teams himself, Bennett said this team has a different feel to it than those in the past.
“Just the dog and the fight we have within each other,” he said. “Sometimes, our coach will be on us about being goofy and silly in practice, but once the lights go bright, it’s a different type of dog in us.”
Lincoln Sharpe had a monster game under the boards for the Colonials, pulling down 12 rebounds and scoring five points. Sharpe and twin sister Abby have the unique distinction of both playing key roles in their program’s title wins Tuesday night.
So, the Colonials (now 23-2) have wrapped up an undefeated league regular season and an emphatic SOL Tournament title, and the focus now turns to the District One Class 6A Tournament, which for them starts Tuesday against the winner of Friday’s first-round game between No. 14 Penn Wood and No. 19 Norristown.
“It’s one game at a time,” Donofrio said. “Try and enjoy the journey while you’re trying to reach a certain destination.”
CB East (21-4, 14-2 SOL), which was with Joey Giordano, was led Tyler Dandrea’s 11 points and nine from Dhruv Mukund. The Patriots will play the winner of the first-round game between No. 13 Pennsbury and No. 20 Abington.
CB East (40)
Jacob Cummiskey 1 0-0 2; Tyler Dandrea 3 3-4 11; Kyle Berndt 3 2-2 8; Nolan Jacob 1 0-0 2; Dhruv Mukund 3 2-3 9; Nick Condo 0 3-4 3; Miles Demby 1 0-0 2; Bryce Lolas 1 0-0 3. Totals 13 10-13 40.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (68)
Jaden Colzie 6 2-3 16; Chase Coleman 6 2-2 15; Qudire Bennett 8 3-6 21; Jah Sayles 2 0-0 5; Lincoln Sharpe 2 1-2 5; Rodney Willis 1 0-0 2; Evan Ring 1 0-0 2; Ben Marsico 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 8-13 68
CB East 6 8 13 13 - 40
PW 14 17 22 15 - 68
3-point goals: CBE-Dandrea 2, Mukund, Lolas; PW-Colzie 2, Bennett 2, Coleman, Sayles
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