City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The situation was simple for Bensalem.

Two games left on the schedule. And the only way to even have a chance at earning a spot in the District 1 6A playoffs was to win both of them.

In the latest District 1 rankings released Monday, Bensalem was No. 25, a single spot behind Neshaminy for the final playoff spot. And the team the Owls hosted on Saturday afternoon, Avon Grove, was ranked 26.

To say the Bensalem gym reeked of desperation might have been an understatement.

“They’re in the same boat,” Owls coach Mike McCabe said. “They’re fighting for their lives.”

A senior-laden Bensalem squad playing its final home game was not to be denied, however. Richard Dean Jr. led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds as the Owls kept their hopes alive with a 51-38 win over the Red Devils.

“We knew we had to win out to have a chance at the playoffs, so that’s what we had to do today,” Dean said. “We just don’t want to get kicked out, because we know we can make some noise if we get in.”

It was truly a whole-roster effort for Bensalem, which had eight scorers contribute to the total. That included senior guard Dylan Haslett, one of three seniors not typically in the starting lineup who got the opportunity on Senior Day.

Haslett opened the game wide-open from the top of the arc and rattled home a 3-pointer; he added a layup two minutes later -- off a feed from another one of those typical reserves, Austin Squillace -- before exiting the game after a little more than four minutes of action.

Those were his first five points of the season.

“If we would have had a game ball in there, it would have went to Dylan,” McCabe said. “He worked hard all year long, he doesn’t complain...it gives you a lot of self-satisfaction to see that happen.”

A 3-pointer by senior Brian Quarterman (9 points) gave Bensalem a 16-13 lead after one quarter, and the Owls never looked back. It was 27-19 at halftime and 38-26 by the end of three quarters; Avon Grove was never able to make a serious push in the fourth.

Bensalem (9-12) mostly frustrated a Red Devils attack built around the backdoor cut, giving up several backdoor layups in the first quarter but afterwards settling down to limit the damage done around the rim.

Avon Grove (10-10) shot 12-for-38 (.315) from the floor and just 10-of-22 on its foul shots while turning it over 11 times against the Bensalem defense.

“You can see they run good stuff and what we had to do was be disciplined,” McCabe said. “And I thought for the most part we were pretty disciplined, and we ran our stuff and we defended really well.”

The Red Devils were paced by 12 points each from senior Brandon McCullough and junior Scooter Whiteside.

Dean, a 6-4 wing and Bensalem’s go-to scorer, had at least one bucket in each quarter, scoring nine points in each half. He added three big-time blocks in the second half, erasing several Avon Grove layup opportunities as his team continued to expand its lead during the third quarter.

Fellow senior Ward Roberts ended the third with a casual half-court shot at the buzzer, the last of his seven points; the 5-11 guard also added four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“I knew it was going in,” he said of the long-range prayer. “I said give me the ball, I’m going to make it.”

“He practices that every day,” McCabe said, “ even though I yell at him.”

The win sets up what could be a win-or-go-home finale at Pennsbury (14-7, 7-4 SOL) on Tuesday night for Bensalem. The Owls (3-8 SOL) played the Falcons close at home on Jan. 12, losing 55-52; that’s one of seven losses they’ve suffered this year by five points or fewer.

If they can pull of the win this time around -- well, it’s still far from a guarantee, but there’s hope that the season won’t quite be over just yet.

After all, the program was in a very similar situation just one year ago, when the Owls qualified for the District 1 AAAA's 32nd and final seed on the last possible day.

"I was just reminding the kids, it reminds me of last year," McCabe said. "We went out to Glen Mills, we were down six with a minute left, we came back, tied it up, put it in OT and won it in OT, and then we got in[to the tournament].

“We’ve got to go up (to Pennsbury) and play with confidence, because we’ve played with confidence the last few games, and see what happens."

Avon Grove's season isn't over, either; the Red Devils have two games left to try and earn enough points in the rankings system to squeak in, hosting Downingtown East on Tuesday and traveling to West Chester Henderson Thursday to close out the regular season.