City of Basketball Love

Michael Zingrone (@mjzingrone)
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Koby Thomas and Daron Russell had never been so tired.

Imhotep faced a tough challenge with seven players, along with head coach Andre Noble, absent Thursday afternoon against Math Civics and Sciences, the result of an altercation in a game against Constitution on Tuesday.

The Panthers had a roster of just eight to take on the Mighty Elephants, including a bench consisting of three junior varsity players who had to be called up to provide some semblance of depth.

Thomas and Russell had to step up and play every single minute in the 76-73 overtime win over MCS.

Both players were leaning on their knees with every little break during the action in overtime, but they powered through -- even though two of Imhotep’s starters fouled out by the end, forcing two of those junior varsity players to play during the last crucial minutes.

“I’m just exhausted,” said Thomas, the springy 6-foot-5 wing and Robert Morris commit. “We had to fight through it.”

Thomas put on a show with 31 points and 15 rebounds, coming up with several big-time slams. He caught a few alley-oops off the hands of Russell, the 5-10 Rhode Island commit who finished with six dimes to go along with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Sophomore Donta Scott was the last typical starter to finish out the game; the 6-7 wing forward finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

“With the other guys, he doesn’t have to have that big of a role, but today he stepped into the position he’s probably going to have to step into next year,” Russell said. “So it was a good learning experience for him.”

Trailing by 15 at half, Thomas helped spring the comeback efforts for the Panthers as he scored 13 of Imhotep’s 25 third quarter points to keep the game within striking distance leading into the fourth.

“Koby did everything today,” Russell said. “We knew we needed to have a big game, but I wasn’t really, all of that was Koby Thomas, he was doing everything -- grabbing rebounds, finishing putbacks.”

With contributions from all five starters, Imhotep was able to make the fourth quarter very entertaining, making this a punch for punch affair as regulation winded down. The Panthers gained their first lead on a Bernard Lightsey layup with 16 seconds left, forcing MCS to push back to send it to overtime.

MCS senior Malik Archer, the Mighty Elephants’ leading scorer, hit four free throws in the final minutes of the fourth to stretch the battle into overtime.

In overtime, after Imhotep opened up a six-point lead, Archer and teammate Tymair Johnson both made a huge three each to keep it close through the closing moments. Archer finished the night with 32 points, Ahmad Wimbash added a double-double for the Mighty Elephants with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

With the win, Imhotep’s fill-in coach Jonathan Hall picked up his first win as a head coach. Hall is an English teacher at Imhotep who played two years of Division I basketball at St. Bonaventure.

He was faced with a tough challenge in his debut, to say the least.

“I think more people doubted us, I feel like it’s great to get the win.” Hall said. “I told the kids at halftime we were feeling sorry for ourselves and no one was going to care that the rest of our team wasn’t here, we just had to come out and get it done.

“I think I’ve got bragging rights around the school with the other assistant coaches, so I’m going to take that today.” he added with a chuckle.

Russell was a huge help to the first-time head coach by controlling the game for the Panthers. Him and Hall frequently got together to talk during break to guide the comeback efforts.

“Daron helped me out tremendously because I leaned on him to get the feel of the game, what he saw, what he didn’t see.” Hall said. “I went to him every free throw and asked him what he saw.”

The duo of Russell and Thomas used a tremendous amount of energy at both ends of the floor combining for 22 rebounds and five steals. Also they lead Imhotep’s offense with Thomas shooting 14-for-18 from the floor after him and Russell were able to collaborate on many plays.

“I know he’s exhausted, I’m exhausted,” he added with a smile.