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JTBL Report: Thursday, May 12

05/13/2016, 12:15am EDT
By CoBL Staff

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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Here’s the report from the JTBL on Thursday, May 12; for the full league standings, schedule and leading scorers, click here:

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Game Scores

Pennsbury 72, Harry S. Truman 67
Cherokee 67, Bishop McDevitt 56

Archbishop Wood 65, C.B. West 40
Imhotep Charter 61, George Washington 57

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Wiley Roberson (above) leads a Cherokee squad looking to prove itself against some top Philly teams in the JTBL. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Cherokee relishing Philly experience

After losing to George Washington in their first week of JTBL play last week, Cherokee was able to even its record with a double-digit victory over Bishop McDevitt. While Cherokee may not be the only team in the league with a current .500 record, it is the only team in the league located outside of Pennsylvania.

The Marlton, N.J. program does not usually play against teams from the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware river. Assistant varsity coach Dave Distel, who’s coaching the team during the JTBL, acknowledged that the league is a great opportunity for his team.

“You just look around: Imhotep, [George] Washington, Archbishop Wood,” the longtime assistant said. “You’ve got great teams here, and they are teams that we don’t normally see. It’s a terrific league. Two good groups. Good officiating. It’s a great way to kick off our offseason.”

Cherokee was led by 6-foot-3 junior wing Wiley Roberson, who finished with 21 points in the win over McDevitt. Tymere Bennett maintained a force inside for the Chiefs, scoring 18 points on the night. At 6-6, Bennett has the height to serve as a threat on the boards, but also maintains an athletic build which permits him to be quick on the floor.

Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement in summer league games.

“We have a lot of things to fix. Obviously it’s very new, it’s early in the spring. But I was really happy with the way they shared the ball and specifically in the second half with how they defended McDevitt,” Distel said. “McDevitt’s got a lot of good athletes on the perimeter, and they did a really good job in the second half tightening up the defense. Not so good in the first half, but they really adjusted well. They found the open guy offensively, that’s all I can ask for this time of year; they did a nice job.”

According to Distel, only about half of Cherokee’s projected varsity team played in its matchup versus McDevitt. Additionally, the Chiefs are a without an important senior class from the past year--including guards Kevin Brown, Tyler Tobin and Luke Gibson plus Luke’s brother, 6-foot-6 forward Grant Gibson.

To fill the void in the paint, Cherokee will rely on Bennett and rising senior Chris Tracy. Both Tracy (6-9, 180) and Bennett bring some length and versatility to the Cherokee frontcourt, though neither have the offensive savvy that Gibson brought to the table.

“We’re not necessarily sold on playing the exact same way as last year, because we’ll have different players, different pieces,” Distel said. “Everybody has to do their piece, everybody has to do their job, and we’re talented. We’re talented, but we’re young.” -- Andy Backstrom

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Karrington Wallace is transitioning to more of a combo forward role for Archbishop Wood. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Wood’s Wallace working on transitional summer

Two years ago, Archbishop Wood head coach John Mosco welcomed a pair of young forwards to his program in Seth Pinkney and Karrington Wallace. As freshmen, Pinkney--then about 6-foot-7--had about an inch height advantage on Wallace, but both were defensive post specialists with their long arms and athleticism.

Two years later, Pinkney has shot up to a lanky 6-10, while Wallace is only slightly taller than he was when he first got to high school. And so Wallace, with his classmate slated to patrol the paint for the Vikings for the next two years, is working on something of a shift in his style.

The lefty showed that in a big win over C.B. West, scoring a dozen points in a variety of ways, including a nice turn-around mid-range jumper and a few finishes around the rim. He also was doing a lot more handling the ball on the perimeter, and had a few options out of the high post to pass or attack.

“I’ve been working on that for a while but didn’t really put it into my game last year,” he said of his expanded offensive game, “so it’s new now.”

So far, Mosco is impressed with the work ethic that Wallace has displayed this offseason.

“He’s really getting after it in the weight room and in the workouts and stuff like that,” the former longtime Neumann-Goretti assistant said said. “He’s a lot more focused, and he’s still young, last year he was a sophomore. So I think he’s maturing and he’s getting after it.”

If Wallace can adjust out to more of a combo-forward role over the next two years, that should be a good boon for Wood, which has fallen just short of making the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra each of the last two years.

With Pinkney making it tough for opposing guards to get easy looks around the rim and finishing lobs on the offensive end, Wallace’s ability to play more of a versatile inside-out role benefits both rising juniors as they transition towards becoming key pieces of the varsity squad.

“It just frees up space for both of us,” Wallace said. “If I’m outside I can give it to him, or we can play high-low [...] it helps both of us.” -- Josh Verlin

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Anthony DiCaro (above) comes from a Division I basketball background, as his father played at St. Joe's. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Quick Hits

--The son of former Saint Joseph’s guard Tony DiCaro, who played on the 1981 Hawks squad that upset No. 1 DePaul in the 1981 NCAA Tournament, Cherokee 2019 G Anthony DiCaro showed off his Division I pedigree with an impressive performance in the Chiefs’ win over McDevitt. The 6-3 rising sophomore had a dozen points, including a nifty floater in the lane and a pair of 3-pointers, but he also showed off some great court vision with a few no-look passes and had a pretty good handle as well. As long as he keeps working and improving all aspects of his game, DiCaro should be a player to watch in South Jersey the next few years and could end up in Division I territory in his own right.

-- In what promised to be a preview of the Public League next year, Imhotep Charter scratched and clawed its way to a 61-57 win over George Washington. Imhotep rising junior Bernard Lightsey was lights-out, finishing with a game-high 29 points. The muscular 6-foot floor general flashed his ability to finish through contact like a prototypical Philly guard, while also playing tough defense on GW’s top ball-handlers. Despite Lightsey’s strong performance, Imhotep was unable to put away GW until the waning moments of the game, when GW’s Saleem Brown was called for a charge with under a twenty seconds to go and his team down 58-55. Imhotep rising sophomore Dahmir Bishop chipped in 12 points despite being saddled throughout with foul trouble, while fellow sophomore Chareef Knox added nine points of his own.

-- Central Bucks West played with heart, but was simply undersized and overwhelmed by the interior presence of Archbishop Wood’s big men in their 65-40 loss. Wood dominated in the paint, often scoring on second chances following offensive rebounds. Ultimately, turnovers and inconsistencies in the mid-range game for C.B. West proved to be its own recipe for defeat. Wood got strong outings from rising seniors Collin Gillespie (19 points) and Matt Cerruti (17), plus 12 from Wallace and 11 from rising junior Andrew Funk. West was led by 12 point sfrom rising junior Jake Reichwein.


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