City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The last time Martin Luther King advanced to the Philadelphia Public League championship game, in 2014, was also the last time the Cougars took home the title.

After graduating the majority of its rotation from a team that won just 15 games a year ago, losing to Constitution in the Pub semifinals and Emmaus in the opening round of the state tournament, King had no such outside expectations this year.

Head coach Sean Colson had to work with a group that was a mix of last year’s deep reserves as well as a handful of transfers from all over the city. All eyes in the Pub were on Imhotep and its pair of Division I guards; on Math, Civics & Sciences, which made it to the Class A state championship game a year ago; on Constitution, a state semifinalist in 2016.

When King lost its first three Pub games of the season, that expectatation seemed to be confirmed.

And yet, after a 62-58 win over Delaware Valley Charter on Saturday afternoon, the Cougars are championship-game bound.

The Cougars will meet regular-season champ Imhotep on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Saint Joseph’s University.

“We just needed time to gel,” junior guard Denelle Holly said. “In the beginning of the season we were really struggling, trying to figure out roles, what we were going to do and how we were going to win. Now we figured it out and we’re going to the championship.”

To get there, King (20-7) had to go through a Del-Val program that was attempting to defend its league championship of a year ago, though it’s largely a new-look Warriors with a new head coach (James Lewis) and only two returning starters.

Those two -- Antwuan Butler and Makhi Morris -- combined for 45 points, but King effectively shut down the rest of the Del-Val (17-6) offense, forcing 21 turnovers over the course of the game.

It was similar issues that kept King from winning either of the two matchups between the teams earlier in the season.

“In the regular season we beat ourselves...late-game turnovers, missed free throws at the end, just little stuff,” Holly said. “We limited our mistakes today and came out with the win.”

Holly had 13 points, tied with senior Elijah Kiah-El for the team’s lead; the two both came over from George Washington HS in the offseason. Also finishing in double figures were junior big man Will McNair (11 points) and senior guard Qadir Burgess (10 points).

(Read More: Jihad Watson bounces back big-time for King)

That’s something the Cougars have in common with the Pub championship team from three years ago.

“No stars,” Colson said. “We had a Sammy Foreman, a pretty good name, but no stars.

“That was a more experienced team, this is a young team,” he added. “We don’t have a bunch of seniors, so it just took a while.”

The frontcourt of the 6-9 McNair (10 rebounds, four blocks) and 6-7 Kiah-El (nine rebounds) proved to be a big problem for a Del-Val team that had 6-7 Dion Harris (two points, 12 rebounds) working hard on the glass but few other players consistent grabbing boards.

McNair had two crucial blocks in the final minute of the game to help King preserve the lead.

“Will always could run; he wasn’t like crazy out of shape, but he always ran,” Colson said. “But I felt like his presence in the game [has improved]. He can catch and finish a little bit better now. And he’s a bit more composed, not always rushing.”

Colson, who had a brief stint in the NBA before embarking on a long pro career as one of the best guards in Europe, has helped develop a number of guards already in his five-year tenure at King.

This year, his biggest focus has been Holly, a 6-2 slasher who was primarily a scoring guard at Washington but has become the Cougars’ point guard this season.

“He probably didn’t like all the cursing out that I was giving up [early in the season],” Colson said. “But you know what? He’s playing a lot better and he’s the leader of our team.

“Early in the year, halfway through the year, nobody would follow Denelle Holly. Now, everybody’s following him. He’s the leader of our team and that’s because he’s taken all that from me.”

Imhotep presents a formidable opponent in the final, led by Division I bound Daron Russell (Rhode Island) and David Beatty (South Carolina) plus a bevy of talented sophomores.

But King is playing its best basketball of the year at just the right time.

“Even though we lost a couple games late in the year, it started coming with three, four, five games left when the chemistry came,” Colson said. “They were just selfless. I just think that’s the big word. They’re just not worried about points, rebounds, they’re worried about wins. Points and things come when you just worry about wins.”