City of Basketball Love

Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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Despite having a very successful season last year, Phoenixville feels as though they left a lot to be desired in close games. This year, the Phantoms are back and ready to do what they failed to do at key points last season: finish games.

Last year, the Phantoms had an excellent year that included both a Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) Final Four appearance and a trip to the second round of the District 1-AAAA playoffs. They finished 10-3 in PAC-10 play, before falling to Methacton in the conference semifinal.

In postseason play, Phoenixville defeated Souderton 64-56 in the first round of districts before eventually falling to Methacton 64-54, for the third time in as many tries; Downingtown West ended their season in the play-back rounds.

Head coach Eric Burnett knows that his team has to do better in close games, as they lost a handful of games down the stretch, especially to rival Methacton, after being competitive for the majority of the game.

“It was a little bit of inexperience,” Burnett admitted. “Playing in the PAC-10 semifinals last year in front of a thousand people was an entire new experience for everyone, myself included.”

Last season, Phoenixville lost multiple close games out of conference to both Oxford and Academy Park, after failing to take their chances in both games. Then, in conference and district playoffs, the Phantoms had two good chances to take down Methacton but were unable to capitalize in the 4th quarter. 

The PAC-10 semifinalists will have to try to replace the scoring production of two graduated seniors Mike Anthony and DeAndre Gadsden. Anthony, a 6-1 guard, averaged 9.0 points per game. Gadsden, a 6-2 guard, averaged 14 points per game.

However, this senior-laden team features a lot of depth, with plenty of juniors and seniors returning and ready to step up and take a bigger role.

“We’re gonna need another big year from Christian [Kelly], but we have a lot of guys like Avery Close, Matt McLaughlin, and Marquise McDuffee who have been working hard this offseason,” Burnett said. “We’re going to need good play out of all those guys contributing.”

Christian Kelly, a 6-4 wing guard, is back for his senior year after an outstanding junior season where he earned PAC-10 Player of the Year honors, averaging 22 points per game. Kelly has been working hard to improve his all-around game and become an even better player this season.

“I’ve really been working at being able to dribble better, create my own shot for me and create for others when I can,” Kelly said.

Joining Kelly in the backcourt is 5-10 senior guard McDuffee, who has to step up into a bigger role this year. McDuffee averaged 6.2 points per game last year, but has room for improvement in his scoring as he sees more  minutes as a senior.

As a part of last year’s team, McDuffee knows how tough it was to come up short in big games down the stretch.

“Closing games is the key,” McDuffee acknowledged. “We did a good job the first three quarters with our pressure and intensity, but sometimes we struggled down the stretch when our intensity dropped.”

Even though he is only a junior, 6-4 forward Avery Close sees himself as one of the leaders of this team as he has varsity experience from last season. Close is a good three point shooter, who also has to step up production to help replace lost seniors.  

“Last year, I mainly just shot 3s, but now I’ve been working on my other guard skills like dribbling and passing,” Close said.

In the frontcourt, the PAC-10 frontier division favorites have a new face to help add much needed production. McLaughlin, who transferred from Pope John Paul II for his senior year, averaged five points per game last season.

In just his first few practices with Phoenixville in preparation for the first game of the season, the 6-5 big man has already meshed well with his fellow teammates.

“I’m a lot closer with a lot of the guys here, we have great chemistry, and I try to make a friend and teammate out of everyone here,” McLaughlin said.

After losing to Methacton three times last year, the Phantoms’ second year head coach knows that there is going to be extra motivation on the line this season. Especially for the seniors, who know that this team has the potential to contend for the conference title and make a run in districts.

“I know it’s going to be on our mind. they beat us three times last year, but this is an entire new year, and we’re looking forward to Methacton and our whole schedule,” Burnett said.

Methacton may have an entire new lineup, but the returning seniors remember last year’s losses very well. And they are using it to help fuel their PAC-10 title challenge this year.

“We’re always pushing ourselves as hard as we possibly can,” McLaughlin said.

If this experienced group can play better in big moments this season, they will find themselves back with another chance in the Final Four come February.

“We have to finish games,” Close said. “There were a few last year that we let slip away down the stretch.”

Phoenixville does not have to wait long to get their  revenge against the defending champions. The Phantoms host Methacton on December 8 in their conference opener.