City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Darnell Artis, now a senior at Gywnedd Mercy, remembers sitting in his coach’s office as a freshman and making a pledge to John Baron.

“I made him one promise,” Artis recalled. “I was in his office and looked at the nets on his wall. And I promised him I would get him another net on that wall.”

In his first three seasons with the Griffins, Artis came up short, as he and his teammates lost in the semifinals each year. On Saturday, Gwynedd Mercy was finally in the CSAC title game, and it was Artis’ last chance to capitalize on his pact.

The fourth-year guard and the Griffins delivered.

Artis tied a game-high with 27 points and 22 came in the second half as Gwynedd Mercy pulled away from Neumann for an 84-70 victory and the program’s first conference title since 2009. The Griffins advance to the D-III NCAA Tournament, and they’ll find out their seeding and first-round matchup early next week.

As time wound down, and the Gywnedd Mercy starters already on the bench, the team’s seniors shared an emotional hug with their head coach – the start to a joyous celebration, trophy ceremony and net cutting on their home floor.

It was an impassioned celebration for a few reasons. For one, it was a long time coming for the Griffins’ four-year seniors, who came up short in the playoffs on three occasions. It has also been a trying season for Baron, the 14th-year Gwynedd Mercy head coach. Baron’s ex-wife, Jane, is battling Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and he opened up about the situation to CoBL last month.

Still, Baron has not missed a game on the sidelines this season, and was able to share Saturday’s championship with his two children, Jaylen (13) and J.P. (11).

“It’s been a sad year, no doubt. But this has just been a little moment that allows me to be happy for a day,” Baron said after winning his third conference title as a coach, second in the CSAC. “There’s been some struggles, but no one is more proud of the four seniors than me. Some of the years when we were losing in the semifinals, we doubted ourselves a little bit. But we didn’t today. I’m so happy for them.”

There was one big moment on Saturday when some doubt could have crept in for the Griffins. Top-seeded Gwynedd Mercy led by 10 at halftime, but No. 2 Neumann – the defending CSAC champ – went on a 15-0 run early in the second half and led, 47-43, with 15 minutes left.

That’s when Baron had a message for his seniors.

“I brought them into the huddle during their run and told them ‘You got us here, you have to win it for us,’” the coach said. “They usually play this many minutes, but we shrunk the bench a little bit and stuck with those guys to win it for us.”

The Griffins (21-6) also got 27 points from senior Julian Hyden, and he and Artis led a late charge. The score was tied 61-61 with about six minutes left, but Gywnedd Mercy got some separation with an 8-0 run. The first six points came from Arits – half on one of his three 3-pointers, the other half on an old-fashioned 3-point play – and the last two were a Hyden layup. The feed, of course, came from Artis.

Artis and Hyden also combined to go 20-for-23 from the foul line as the Griffins went 30-for-35 from the charity stripe, while the Knights hit only half of their 18 free throws. Gwynedd Mercy also dominated the glass, corralling 45 rebounds to Neumann’s 31.

Neumann (19-8) got 23 points from James Butler and another 14 from DeShawn Lowman, but did not have enough answers late. The Knights season is likely over unless they receive an at-large bid in the NCAA field.

For the Griffins, it will be each player’s first trip to the tournament. One of the facts, among others, Artis could not stop smiling about afterward.

 “I’m so happy. I pictured this a million times and I cried during picturing it, literally in my room. I wanted to win it so bad,” Artis said. “My grandfather, it’s his birthday today and he passed away last summer, so that’s part of it. But I’m just so ecstatic, happy, relieved. We’re going to the NCAA Tournament. That’s crazy.

“…Coach Baron has been through so much and I love him to death. He’s so happy right now. Our whole community is so happy right now. This means so much to us.”