City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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A few minutes after his Constitution Generals thumped the Lancaster County Christian Lions in the first round of the PIAA Class A state tournament, Constitution High head coach Rob Moore had several parents come up to him with words of encouragement and thanks--from the Lancaster County side.

One parent inquired how the Generals’ regular-season had gone, another came up to praise the way his kids handled themselves during the 64-39 win.

And this isn’t something new for Moore’s program.

“Last year I got letters from every team we played along the way,” said the coach of the two-time defending state champions. “Handwritten letters from parents, thanking me, letters from the coach from Farrell, cards. Framed it all.

“That meant as much to me as winning gold medals, that those guys had appreciated the way my kids carry themselves, the way we carry ourselves as a team,” he added.

Moore’s guiding what’s largely a new group through their first real state tournament experience. A good percentage of the team’s core the last three years--including Chad Andrews-Fulton, Akeem King and Haneef Vaughn--was sitting courtside cheering on their alma mater. The last key member of the now-graduated quartet, Ahmad Gilbert, is finishing up his freshman year at Minnesota.

So instead, it was junior guard Tamir Green who ran the show, dropping 26 points in the win. Another junior, Maurice Waters, added 10 points off the bench as the only other player on the team in double figures.

Senior Anthony Satchell, the only returning starter, had six points and 11 rebounds while sophomore Jerry Andrews-Fulton added seven and nine boards for the Generals, the District 12 Class A champions. They were just too big, too strong and too athletic for an undersized group from the middle portion of the state, which came in as the No. 3 seed out of District 3.

After several runs through the state tournament, Moore knows that his team is often going to have such advantages in the early rounds. That allowed him the luxury of being able to bring his team along slowly after a deflating loss to Del-Val Charter on Feb. 21, the last time they took the court.

“I just wanted to see everybody get on the court, I want to see guys have fun, get loose," he said. "I’m not really looking for much by way of scouting, I’m looking for us to play defense, rebound, do all the fundamental things."

The Generals (17-11) grabbed 26 offensive rebounds to help them take 71 shots to just 46 by the Lions (17-9), allowing them to overcome a 38 percent night from the floor (27-of-71) fairly handily.

It was 17-5 after one quarter and 36-19 at half, and by the end of the third (53-28) the result was all but decided.

“This is a new level for us, this set the bar pretty high but this is who we want to play,” LCCS third-year head coach Nate Long said. “We want to see what it takes to win those championships especially like the district level, the state level, we’re taking baby steps in the right direction.”

Lancaster County Christian, a tiny co-ed school with 120 kids in grades 9-12 located in Lancaster, Pa., was making its second consecutive tournament appearance. This was the first year the Lions had qualified on their own merit; last season, they were granted a spot at the last minute when the now-defunct Impact Academy withdrew from the tournament.

With four of five starters returning next year, including junior point guard Eli Cosme--the team’s only offensive weapon on Friday night, with 15 points--there’s a good chance these Lions are back in states a year from now.

“Once we execute on the little things and valuing that, these guys now see what it takes, they see that the great teams do all those things and they do them well and they play at a different speed,” Long said. “I think we’re getting there, to take the next step; it’s going to be a slow process because we’re a small school, but hopefully in the future.”

Up next for Constitution is District 5 champ Southern Fulton, which dispatched West Shore Academy by a score of 67-49.

Now Moore's group has that taste of state playoff basketball, but there's plenty of work to be done with the sour flavor of the end of the regular season still lingering.

"They hadn’t realized what the other guys had been through, bouncing back and winning states the last two years after losing in the same exact spots," Moore said. "We let them now that it’s okay, that we have five more games to play. One at a time, but to get to that fifth game is the most important thing for us right now.”

~~~

CLASS A
FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 4
York Country Day 51, Sullivan County 42
Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian 75, Paul Robeson 63
Math, Civics & Sciences 79, Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 47
Old Forge 63, Cowanesque Valley 50
Shenandoah Valley 70, Williamsport St. John Neumann 59
Delaware County Christian 45, Greenwood 32
Constitution 64, Lancaster County Christian 39
Southern Fulton 67, West Shore Christian 49
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 63, Union-Rimersburg 39
Bishop Carroll 58, Erie First Christian 42
Coudersport 64, Bishop Guilfoyle 57
Kennedy Catholic 75, Jeannette 42
Homer-Center 60, Ridgway 58 (4OT)
Sewickley Academy 45, McConnellsburg 25
Farrell 44, Monessen 37
Elk County Catholic 52, Eden Christian 44

SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, March 8 (sites/times, TBA)
York Country Day (3-1, 23-0) vs. Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian (1-1, 29-1)
Math, Civics & Sciences (12-2, 12-14) vs. Old Forge (2-1, 15-9)
Shenandoah Valley (11-2, 18-8) vs. Delaware County Christian (1-2, 15-12)
Constitution (12-1, 17-11) vs. Southern Fulton (5-1, 22-5)
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (7-1, 19-8) vs. Bishop Carroll (6-2, 18-8)
Coudersport (9-2, 23-3) vs. Kennedy Catholic (10-1, 24-2)
Homer-Center (6-1, 26-0) vs. Sewickley Academy (7-2, 24-3)
Farrell (10-2, 20-6) vs. Elk County Catholic (9-1, 28-0)

QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 11

SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, March 15

CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday, March 18
At Giant Center, Hershey, 2 p.m.