City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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NEWTOWN SQUARE — Even after he’d had a few minutes to digest it, Ben Stanton still couldn’t get over the roller-coaster ride he and his teammates had just endured.

“That was the craziest game I’ve been a part of, I think, in my high school career,” the Penncrest senior said after a 46-45 win. “The technicals, the crazy game-winner, the whole atmosphere, it was awesome. It was so fun.”

The stakes were indeed large at Marple Newtown High School, the host Tigers and visiting Lions not just neighbors and rivals but the final two teams left for the sixth and final spot in the Central League playoffs. Winner was in, loser was out, though not done for the season. Also on the line were key points in the District 1 5A seeding race, with Marple coming in No. 2 in the district and Penncrest several spots below, aiming for a top-four seed and the bye that comes with it. 

Mix in two large student sections positioned right next to one another — Marple’s taking up one entire baseline, Penncrest’s students filling up the section behind its own bench — and the atmosphere was ripe for a good one.

Everybody in attendance certainly got that, and then some. 

Penncrest threw the first punch, going up 13-7 after one quarter and building the advantage to double-digits in the second, Stanton and classmate Saahir Lee hitting just about every shot they took. Marple clawed back to within 26-20 at the break, freshman Matt Gardler hitting a crazy one-handed 3-pointer to give the Tigers a boost going into the locker rooms.

The hosts continued to close the gap out of the break, getting within 37-35 going into the final frame. The fourth quarter saw the teams even up at 40 with 5:40 left, though Penncrest went up 44-40 with 3:24 remaining on a Lee layup through contact. 

Marple battled back thanks to stout defense from Gardler and Justin DiBona, who had three steals apiece; DiBora’s last takeaway, with under a minute to play, allowed the Tigers to tie it at 44, setting up the wild finish. 

Penncrest called timeout with 12 seconds left, knowing the ball would end up in the hands of Lee, the Lions’ speedy lead guard, whose scoring touch had been on point all evening. 

“When we got in the huddle, they just said get the ball and go,” Lee said. “I saw the lane and just took it.”

With one defender on his hip and another ready to take a charge, Lee put up a floater with his left hand, banking it off the glass and through the hoop. The clock’s final second ran out, the buzzer sounding.

Penncrest’s students, thinking they had won the game, partially stormed the court. The referees, putting 0.8 seconds back on the clock, ruled that Penncrest’s fans had violated PIAA regulations by doing so, and issued a technical foul. 

“We made the layup and they all ran at me and I didn’t know what to do, we all got excited but when (the referees) blew the whistle (for the technical foul) we were shocked,” Lee said. “Our world spun around so fast.”

When Penncrest coach Mike Doyle protested for too long, he was assessed another tech.

“I just think it’s a silly rule,” he said afterwards. “Once the buzzer sounds and the one ref has called the game [...] and then the kids storm the court and you call a technical, then how are they supposed to know that? It’s just a tough, tough call.”

Marple’s best foul shooter happened to be Gardler, the latest impressive young hooper from a family that’s turned out plenty of them. The 5-11 guard had had a terrific game on both ends of the floor, with 12 points and those three steals, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, including a clutch one in the fourth quarter and a steal-and-layup to help Marple’s comeback.

That he only connected on the last of four foul shots will certainly be a growing point, but his coach, teammates, and opponents were nothing but complimentary afterwards of a youngster put in an incredibly difficult spot.

“He’s going to be a helluva player,” Doyle said. “He’s going to have a tremendous career and he’ll be fine when he’s playing in college someday. He’s a Gardler, he’s tough, he’s going to shake it off and have a tremendous career.”

Marple (13-9, 8-8) had one final look to win it, and it wasn’t a bad one, with an inbounds pass from halfcourt finding its way to Eric McKee, who was unable to add to a team-high 15 points as his last-gasp shot hit the side of the backboard. 

The second court rush by the Penncrest students didn’t draw any fouls.

“I’d say that has to be by far the most fun win of the year,” Lee said. “Especially since how huge the crowd was tonight, we didn’t expect that much of a (turnout) from our fans, and it’s great to see them all come out here and get it rowdy for us.”

Lee (24 points) was fantastic, shooting 12-of-17 from the floor, hitting a number of tough turnaround jumpers and off-angle layups. Stanton, an Elizabethtown commit and the other half of Penncrest’s 1-2 scoring punch, had 17 points on 7-12 shooting. 

Barely entering the scoring column with two points but impressing in his own way was 6-2 senior forward Quinten Perilli, who leapt his way to 18 rebounds, controlling the glass for Penncrest all game long. 

“In my opinion, in Ben’s opinion, he’s the most valuable player of our team,” Lee said of Perilli, who’s also committed to Elizabethtown, for baseball. “If I can’t score, we have Ben; if Ben can’t score, we have me, but we have nobody who can rebound like Q.”

“Saahir and Ben [are a] two-man wrecking crew, but Q just gets every single rebound,” Doyle said. “He’s got to be one of the best rebounders in Southeast Pennsylvania.”

That Penncrest (12-10, 8-8) is even in the playoffs is courtesy of a late-season rally that’s seen them win seven of their last nine games overall, just enough to earn a berth in the upper half of the league and a spot in its postseason. 

The Lions will face No. 3 seed Haverford High on Thursday in the league’s opening round, with No. 2 seed Radnor awaiting the winner. Doyle’s coached Penncrest to both league and district titles, and while he might not have Tyler Norwood on this year’s group, he’s got them confident right when they need to be.

“We got hot at the right time,” Stanton said. “We dealt with COVID and injuries throughout the beginning of the season, we just caught fire here and we’ve got to keep rolling. It’s been really fun playing with these guys.”

By Quarter
Penncrest: 13  |  13  |  11  |   9   ||  46
Marple:       7   |  13  |  15  |  10  ||  45

Shooting
Penncrest: 21-36 FG (4-11 3PT), 0-4 FT
Marple: 18-51 FG (3-18 3PT), 7-11 FT

Scoring
Penncrest: Saahir Lee 24, Ben Stanton 17, Chase WIlson 3, Quinten Perilli 2

Marple: Eric McKee 15, Matt Gardler 13, PJ Esposito 4, Matt Cantwell 4, Jordan Bochanski 3, Justin DiBona 2, Jonny Small 2, Owen Mathes 2