City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21) &
Kyle Loedel (@KyleLoedel)
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Until the final play, Oakley Spencer’s impact on the scoring column for Plymouth-Whitemarsh was largely nonexistent.

He only had two points entering the last minute of the game, as the second-seeded Colonials marched down the court and held the ball with their district quarterfinal showdown against league rival Central Bucks West locked at 41.

Then, when head coach Jim Donofrio called a timeout with just ten seconds left, the play he drew up wasn’t for Spencer. The alternative option wasn't either. 

Nonetheless, when both of those plans failed, there was the senior guard to pick up a clutch offensive board and pop the ball right into the net as time expired, catapulting the fans at Colonial Elementary School into a whirlwind of emotion, and more importantly, his team into the District 1 semifinals with a 43-41 victory.

“Coach drew up a play with ten seconds left, it was a double stagger for (Xzavier Malone), coming from down low, and if that wasn’t there it was supposed to be a post move for Mike (Mike Lotito),” Spencer said. “They covered (Malone), they basically double-teamed him, they knew he could hit the game-winning shot and left me wide open.

“I knew there was a couple seconds left on the clock and that they could possibly get a big rebound, so I went for the rebound and just threw it up there basically,” he added.

The crowd, which was involved all game--even resulting in one ejection--created a classic atmosphere for Friday’s quarterfinal. It was the P-W student section, however, that nearly caused some issues, with the first few rows hitting the court prematurely at the buzzer’s sounding.

In Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game fashion, C.B. West’s head coach Adam Sherman had called timeout prior to the clock showing all zeros. In this case, no technical foul was called; the 7-seed Bucks were awarded seven tenths of a second and failed to capitalize.

“There are certain programs that can put out this kind of environment, and it’s just really humbling to have some of the experiences we’ve had the last two years in a row, to have a top four seed, three straight home games, incredible crowds...is really, really something you’d better appreciate, because not everyone gets to enjoy that,” Donofrio said.

For the other thirty-one minutes of play, senior guard and Rider commit Xzavier Malone and senior big man Mike Lotito held the hotter hands. Malone was crucial down the stretch, dropping five of the Colonials’ last seven points on his way to a team-high 16 points, before Spencer’s putback officially sealed the deal.

“What the great ones do is they make them when it matters, and (Malone) made them when it mattered,” Donofrio remarked.

On the other hand, C.B. West sophomore forward Jake Reichwein and versatile senior guard Billy Power engaged most of the Bucks’ offensive attack, including a clutch drive and lay-in by Reichwein to tie the game at 41 with 1:23 remaining.

“You have to adjust as a coach in these games to be way more positive than during the season, and during the last five minutes because, as a coach, you’ve got to believe, and hang in, and hope you make a great play,” Donofrio said. “We got a brain cramp in the last two minutes of the game, when we were up four or five, and they’re not going to go away; we helped them come back, so, that wasn’t too intelligent but, you live and learn you’re just fortunate, that’s all.”

C.B West’s patient attack offensively--which was juxtaposed against a high-flying P-W press that would end up forcing 15 turnovers--led them to 30-24 lead after a strong layup by Power with 5:38 left in the third frame.

Power led his team with 13 points, while Reichwein chipped in 11 points and four boards.

“What C.B. West does they do really, really well,” said Donofrio. “Whenever they get a senior-loaded team, they are really as good as any team in district one. It’s an irresistible force against an immovable object."

However, just as all was seeming to tilt in favor for the Bucks, Lotito sparked an 8-0 Colonial run, silencing the slew of C.B. West fans who had traveled from Doylestown, and taking a 32-30 advantage late in the third.

The 6-6 senior Lotito, who would finish the game having tallied 12, contributed nine of the Colonials’ 13 third quarter points before passing the torch to Malone for the final eight minutes of play.

Although it seemed as though the Bucks held momentum at times down the stretch, that late-third quarter P-W lead would remain intact for the remainder of the night.

Going forward, one of the most tantalizing matchups of the district one playoffs is set to take place as Donofrio’s Colonials take on Gregg Downer’s Lower Merion Aces in a showdown of two of the area’s most storied programs.

For Donofrio, a head coach of eighteen years, the atmosphere of playing at Temple University’s Liacouras Center won’t be anything new.

It won’t be new for his players either; P-W came up just one win shy of a district title as they fell to Abington in last year’s championship game at Temple.

“I think that’s a big piece of it, I’m a big believer that you only win championships if you kind of built to do that from the couple of years before and you build to that, you taste it and get a little comfortable with the fact that you can get back there,” said Donofrio. “I think that’s a reason why we think we can get back there this year is because Xzavier, and Oakley, and Lotito, they tasted it...we won the state in 2010 because in 2009 we went to the semis and we laid an egg.”

“You say to yourself, ‘I deserve that much again,’” he added.

For a team who’s been hungry ever since that game, it’s safe to say they’re looking forward to Tuesday night.

“When you have your great teams, you like to challenge them by saying ‘fellas, the fun starts when you make the district semis,’” said Donofrio. “Now, let’s see what we can do."

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Friday's District 1 AAAA Results
No. 11 Lower Merion 68, No. 14 Conestoga 45 (Game story)
No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh 43, No. 7 C.B. West 41 (Game story)
No. 9 Chester 49, No. 17 C.B. East 33
No. 4 Ridley 54, No. 12 Spring-Ford 50 (Game story)

Play-Back Round
No. 5 Pennridge 61, No. 20 Perkiomen Valley 42
No. 18 Academy Park 71, No. 10 Phoenixville 58 (Game story)
No. 3 Downingtown West 63, No. 27 Upper Dublin 59
No. 26. Hatboro-Horsham 66, No. 1 Coatesville 57

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Tuesday's District 1 AAAA Semifinals
Liacouras Center, Temple University
No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. No. 11 Lower Merion (7 PM)
No. 4 Ridley vs. No. 9 Chester (8:45 PM)

Seeding Rounds
Higher seeds host
No. 12 Spring-Ford vs. No. 17 C.B. East
No. 7 C.B. West vs. No. 14 Conestoga

Play-Back Elimination Games
Higher seeds host
No. 5 Pennridge vs. No. 18 Academy Park
No. 3 Downingtown West vs. No. 26 Hatboro-Horsham