To view action photos of the CR North/Chambersburg, Neshaminy/Pottsville and PW/Central Dauphin games, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
NORRISTOWN – Sam Pygatt, Stephon Baker and Marcus Badger comprise the talented backcourt for a Plymouth Whitemarsh team that features University of Pittsburgh-bound Jaylen Bond as its centerpiece.
For those unfamiliar the PW trio, it’s time to get to know them.
In Saturday’s 61-43 win over Central Dauphin in an opening round PIAA Class AAAA contest, Pygatt, Baker and Badger combined for 42 points. Even more importantly, they were the catalysts to PW’s trapping defense implemented to make life difficult for the Rams’ guards, thus keeping the ball out of the hands of 6-8 center Devin Thomas.“You’re talking about Pygatt, Badger and Baker all having something to prove, which is so much fun,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “The defending state champs – can you do it again?
“Now is the time for us to go to the personal challenge – Sam, you’ve been a great unselfish swing man for two years for (C.J.) Aiken, (Whis) Grant, (Brandon) Dixon and Bond. Baker sat on the bench as the sixth man, and he would have been a three-year starter at most places. That’s three years of a lot of practices and knowing an awful lot of schemes. That’s an experienced bunch.”
Although Thomas finished with a game-high 21 points, the Rams never found any kind of offensive rhythm against the Colonials’ aggressive traps.
“This is a group that grew up on that style of basketball,” Donofrio said. “A lot of people in our district and the state tournament – the word on us is it’s an up-tempo idea, but that is actually the first time all year we have gone back to that - because we had to.
“Watching them on film – my sense was their game is predicated around playing behind number 20 (Thomas), the guards set up an inside-out offense and hope you play an accordion defense. It’s a picture poison thing. “Today’s idea was to stop to try and stop that at the head, let (Thomas) get his points when he can, but make it a long day to try and find the ball. That required some tweaking for four days because we have not gone to the man-to-man trapping stuff in awhile, but it’s fun to go back to it.”
It’s even more fun when it works like it did in Saturday’s game. Before the game was two minutes old, the Colonials had a pair of steals – the first by Brandon Johnson and the second by Bond.
“When they start panicking and just throw the ball away, then you know it’s working,” Badger said. “Recently, it hasn’t been working. We just tried to keep them in front of us. Last year, we had C.J. Aiken, so we let them get by us. Now we play lock-up defense.”
The two teams were deadlocked 9-9 after Thomas sank one-of-two from the foul line late in the first quarter, but out of a PW timeout, Pygatt drove the baseline and converted a reverse layup. Then – after a Ram miss - it was connecting in the paint. In the closing seconds of the quarter, Baker buried a trey to put the Colonials on top 16-9.
Bond had seven of his 11 points in the first quarter while Baker – who finished with 17 points – added five and Pygatt had four.
“This year we haven’t been a good trapping team,” said Pygatt, who led the Colonials with 19 points. “Today, we got good results.
“It kind of speeds up the offense – when we’re playing defense like that, it translates into easy offense. You get Jalen Bond and Stephon Baker the ball and get easy layups.”
The Rams pulled to within two (16-14) early in the second quarter, and shortly thereafter, Bond was whistled for his third foul and was forced to take a seat on the bench for the final 5:40 of the half.
I
nstead of the Rams making a move, it was the Colonials adding to their lead.
nstead of the Rams making a move, it was the Colonials adding to their lead.PW led 19-14 after Pygatt buried a pair from the foul line, and when Jake Silvers – who replaced Bond and contributed eight points – scored over Thomas, the Colonials led 21-14. That lead grew to 23-14 after Baker turned a Pygatt steal into an easy bucket.
“When Jalen goes out in foul trouble, that was obviously a big question mark at the beginning of the year,” Donofrio said. “Jake Silvers has come along in big ways.
“We all know in high school basketball one guy can carry a team pretty far, but when you get (Bond) off the table, you’ve got Sam Pygatt and Stephon Baker to deal with. Sometimes a team relaxes then, and we just go fast. That’s what happened.”
The Rams trimmed PW’s lead to 23-18 by halftime, but the Colonials proved they have more than one weapon.
“We play as a team,” Badger said. “It’s not just one man. People think our bench isn’t as deep as it was last year, but we work hard at practice, and everybody just plays hard, and it shows on the floor. We work as a team.”
The Rams continued to hang around in the third quarter, and it was a two-point game (30-28) after a layup by Nick Sedfeldt at the 3:15 mark. But back-to-back dunks by Bond – the second on a fast break with a Baker assist – ignited the Colonials, who led 34-28 heading into the final quarter.
Badger scored a fast break bucket to open the fourth quarter, but the Rams answered with a basket by Brandon LaVia. A Pygatt bucket was followed by an Isaac Rossum bucket at the other end, but when the Rams misfired on their ensuing possession, the Colonials capitalized as Pygatt scored on a drive.
“Not a lot of people know that we’re conditioned,” Pygatt said. “All of our guys play 30-plus minutes a game. We’re used to playing a whole game, and our legs don’t get tired. We like to run. It’s natural to us.”
Another Ram miss set the stage for Badger finding Baker for a fast break bucket and a 42-32 PW lead. The fun was just starting as the Colonials outscored the Rams 19-11 the rest of the way on their way to the big win.
“We just started hitting our shots basically,” said Pygatt, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. “I was a little off in the first half and didn’t hit my jump shots like I usually do.
“We just drove the ball, and when we start making good plays and what coach D calls basketball plays, it translates to good offense.”
The Colonials will face Frankford – which notched a 66-65 come-from-behind win over Bensalem – in a second round game on Wednesday. Their disappointing loss to Council Rock North in the district semifinals is nothing more than a distant memory. “I try to let losses in the past,” Pygatt said. “I don’t worry about them. I just worry about winning the state championship one game at a time.
“The game we just played is over now. That’s in the box, and we’re moving on to the next game, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 61, CENTRAL DAUPHIN 43
Central Dauphin (43) – John Schnaars 1 3-4 5; Nick Sedfeldt 2 0-0 4; Nick Laird 0 0-0 0; Zayd Issah 3 0-0 6; Devin Thomas 8 5-9 21; Brandon LaVia 2 0-0 4; Artie Rowell 0 0-0 0; Brian Laird 0 0-0 0; Ryan Beaver 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 17 8-13 43.
PW (61) – Marcus Badger 3 0-0 6; Jalen Bond 5 0-2 11; Brandon Johnson 0 0-0 0; Stephon Baker 6 4-6 17; Sam Pygatt 7 5-5 19; Jake Silvers 3 2-4 8; Marcus Glover 0 0-0 0; Wayne Thompson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 11-17 61.
Central Dauphin 9 9 10 15-43
PW 16 7 11 27-61
3-point goals: Central Dauphin – Beaver 1. PW – Bond 1, Baker 1.
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