City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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It’s no secret that, in the 2015-16 season, District 1 basketball has experienced an impeccable level of parity. As the playoff push began, it became clear that there were at least ten or twelve teams that could easily have cut down the nets at the Liacouras Center as district champions.

A bulk of that group was teams that haven’t been known for their success across the scape of district one history--No. 3 Downingtown West, No. 7 Central Bucks West, No. 8 Strath Haven, and No. 10 Phoenixville, and No. 12 Spring-Ford have all burst on the scene in the last few years.

However, when the dust settled and four teams emerged as semifinalists, those teams fell by the wayside, leaving four programs that have been there and done that in the district playoffs to fight for the title at Temple.

No. 2 Plymouth-Whitemarsh, No. 4 Ridley, No. 9 Chester, and No. 11 Lower Merion; the four of them combine to hold a total of 31 district trophies and 18 state championships, and each has played in the District 1 final four at least once in the last three years.

Two of those storied programs who have arguably two of the most accomplished coaches in the area will face off Tuesday night in the semifinals: P-W, coached by 18th-year head coach Jim Donofrio, and Lower Merion, coached by 26th-year head coach Gregg Downer.

"When I see Lower Merion, it gets my absolute, fullest, 100 percent attention," Donofrio said.

Having coached against one another for nearly two decades, the two share the same respect for one another that scads of basketball fans in the area also have for them.

“(Lower Merion) was in our summer league and (Downer) saw his team play one night and I’m sitting with him and he says ‘ugh, we’ve got such a long way to go’ and I said ‘I’m sure you’ll be in the district final four next year, don’t worry about it’ and he is,” Donofrio said of his long-time colleague and competitor. “The reason why he’s the best coach I know is, your job in the end is to get your team to play to its ultimate potential and believe it’s supposed to win and get them to minimize their weaknesses and maximize their strengths.”

Donofrio’s Colonials have been known for years as a team who plays uptempo, run-and-gun, 94-foot basketball. Lower Merion’s system consists of a much more slow, patient, meticulous approach, especially when the Aces hold the lead.

However, Donofrio notices some similarities within the stark difference in play.

“Our styles are more similar than people think, they really are, he’s the best there is at spreading and holding and getting you to fall asleep and making any kind of uptempo difficult,” he said. “It’s the ultimate cat-and-mouse game, he’s going to play anywhere from one to four and five different defenses. We do multiple sets, he does multiple sets."

The last time they met came in last year’s district quarterfinals. The Colonials, who held the 4-seed, knocked off the twelfth-seed Aces at home to advance to the Liacouras Center, where they lost to Abington in the championship game.

That title game loss certainly resonated with Donofrio’s team, and one player in particular, 6-foot-4 guard Xzavier Malone, who after playing well in last year’s semifinals struggled against Abington and watched his team suffer an 18-point defeat.

Donofrio said it was a matter of “emotional maturity” for Malone, who last year was just experiencing the growing pains of an emerging Division I prospect. Now, the Rider commit and 1,000-point scorer is the leader of the Colonials.

“It’s a part of the growing process and last year I don’t think I was mature enough--he’s right, I wasn’t ready,” Malone said. “I feel like I should be ready (this year) and I know it’s a big stage but I’ve been there before so I’m not going to be too spooked about it, I’m going to just play my game and hope the ball goes in.”

Malone and the rest of his team will undoubtedly be back much hungrier than last year, having seen the experienced the bright lights and felt the sting of falling short 12 months ago.

Then again, the other three semifinalists have just as much experience in critical games like these.

“Whenever you get to say P-W’s playing a Ridley or a Chester or a Lower Merion, or any of the big names, there’s something a little extra about it,” said Donofrio. “Don’t under-appreciate the moment.”

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Breakdown
2) Plymouth-Whitemarsh Colonials vs. 11) Lower Merion Aces (6 PM)
Two of the best coaches in the area go head-to-head in what should be an intriguing chess match of a basketball game. Gregg Downer’s Aces have the players to get out and run with the Colonials, led by senior K.J. Helton at point guard, junior sharpshooter Noah Fennell and junior wing Terrell Jones, plus a steady big man in D-III Claremont McKenna (Cali.) commit Jeremy Horn. At 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, Horn has a nice size advantage on P-W’s own senior center, 6-foot-6, 210-pound Mike Lotito, but Lotito is a little craftier and more mobile than his bigger counterpart. P-W does have an advantage in the experience department, as Lotito, Rider commit Xzavier Malone and several other upperclassmen were around for the Temple run last year, while LM’s seniors were only freshmen the last time the Aces made it this deep into the district tournament. If this game is played in the 60s or 70s, it benefits P-W; if Lower Merion can somehow keep it in the 40s and 50s, the Aces’ chances look a lot better.

4) Ridley Green Raiders vs. 9) Chester Clippers
Ridley’s guard-heavy attack will be an interesting contrast to the frontcourt-heavy Clippers, who are back in the District semifinals after getting knocked out in the play-back round a year ago. The Raiders are led by two-time Central League MVP and East Stroudsburg commit Brett Foster, one of three seniors who carries the bulk of the scoring load for head coach Mike Snyder; 6-2 guard/forward Julian Wing and 6-1 Ryan Bollinger are the others, but the rest of the Raiders know their roles and play some of the toughest man-to-man defense around. Chester is powered by 5-7 senior guard Khaleeq Campbell, who sets up the Clippers’ offense and helps distribute to big men like 6-8 senior Maurice Henry, a Delaware State commit, plus 6-6 junior Jamar Sudan and 6-7 junior Jordan Camper. How Ridley handles the glass and the physicality of Chester’s frontline will determine the outcome.