City of Basketball Love

David Gough (@DG0UGH)
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Antonio Rizzuto has had an impressive junior year with his Northeastern Bobcats. That impressive season continued on Thursday night in the District 3 Champs’ 61-40 win over Upper Merion.

The 6-foot-2 guard scored a game-high 24 points to add to a productive postseason that includes multiple 30-point efforts. He credits his extended family for his not only for his success in basketball but also for the love of the sport.

“My cousins played for the University of Albany and they both inspired me to be a good player, so I just kept working hard,” Rizzuto said. “You always want to be better than your cousins. I love them and that’s basically what got me started.”

That hard work has landed him four Division I offers in Albany, High Point, Columbia, and Stony Brook. He has even garnered interest from schools like Davidson and St. Joseph’s.

Hawks’ coach Phil Martelli was in attendance at Manheim Township for Thursday’s state playoff doubleheader and took note of Rizzuto’s performance.

Still, Rizzuto has one more year -- and possibly three more games in the 2017 season -- before he heads off to college and there’s plenty to improve upon just like any other high schooler.

Yet, for Bobcats’ coach Jon Eyster, Rizzuto’s game is lightyears ahead of what it was his sophomore season. Just his change in size has helped him tremendously.

“He didn’t look like this last year,” Eyster said. “As a sophomore, he was an inch and a half shorter and 20 pounds of muscle less. He couldn’t play above the rim like he does now.”

Rizzuto’s ability to get above the rim is something that the junior agrees is a vital -- and the most fun -- part of his game, citing his athleticism.

And that’s not even where he shined on Thursday night.

Rizzuto knocked down a number of outside shots including three 3-pointers which might have been four if he were a few inches further back on a shot early in the fourth quarter.

That part of his game has been perhaps the most impressive part of his junior season.

“He’s shooting almost 50 percent from the 3-point line [this year] which is pretty amazing to be honest with you,” Eyster said laughing.

For a while, it didn’t look like Northeastern was going to win the game by 21. It didn’t trail all game, but Upper Merion battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit to get within three with just over a minute remaining left in the third quarter.

Rizzuto responded immediately with the second of his three triples. That was followed by a layup by senior Brandon Coleman layup and two free throws by Rizzuto. Just like that, the Bobcats were back up by 10 as the third period ended.

Rizzuto had already contributed 15 points to that point, but his best was just beginning. He scored nine points in the fourth including the first five extending Northeastern’s lead to 15.

From there, the Bobcats were on their way to outscoring the Vikings 20-9 in the final period as Upper Merion shot just 3-of-14 from the field in that time.

Those misses led to breaks down the floor.

“Our kids did a good job helping, digging down, and rebounding,” Eyster said. “We knew that if we could get their misses, we could beat them down the floor.”

The Bobcats began to put on a show that got their fans rocking and while Rizzuto played a key role, that’s largely due to Fred Mulbah.

The junior -- who tied Coleman as the second-leading scorers with 14 points -- provided seven assists in the game. Some of which were behind the back.

His last four went to his classmate in Rizzuto in the fourth quarter. The duo gave Upper Merion fits in the final eight minutes.

“We’ve been playing with each other since we first started playing basketball,” Rizzuto said. “It’s big for us. Eye-to-eye, we know everything [about each other’s game].”

The two have played with each other since third grade and they now find themselves three wins away from a state title eight years later.

To get there, the Bobcats will have to go through Archbishop Carroll first on Saturday. The Patriots took care of Palmyra in their second round game with a 35-point victory.

Rizzuto still thinks his team is capable of making it to the championship and that’s evident by Northeastern’s blowout victory over a much taller Upper Merion team. 

The Bobcats only have one player above 6-2 while the Vikings had 6-7 and 6-8 forwards in Ethan Miller and Matt Faw. They combined for just 24 points on Thursday after combining for 43 in their first round win over Greencastle-Antrim.

“We’re never going to be intimidated,” Rizzuto said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. Upper Merion was a big team, but we’ll always take it at somebody. It doesn’t matter how big they are.”

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Class 3A Second Round: Delaware Valley Charter vs Trinity

For the entire season, Delaware Valley Charter’s unlucky number was 60. That -- at least this time -- wasn’t the case against Trinity.

The Warriors had lost all seven games they gave up at least that many points. They won all 21 when they gave up anything fewer.

On Thursday, Delaware Valley won 71-60, effectively ending that statistic and even though they gave up five-dozen points, coach James Lewis was happy with the team’s defensive performance.

“We have been playing defense like that all year,” Lewis said. “Really, we just gave away several games at the beginning of the year.”

Trinity was able to stay within distance of the Warriors after three as it was down just five. The Shamrocks were able to do so thanks to 27 points from senior guard Austin Gilbertson.

In the first 90 seconds of the fourth, however, the game was immediately out of reach. Delaware Valley went on an 8-0 run that was started by two consecutive 3-pointers by senior Makhi Morris.

The 6-foot-3 guard finished with a game-high 30 points. Just as he put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter, he jump started the Warriors to begin the game scoring the team’s first eight points.

Morris and junior Antwuan Butler -- who had 23 of his own -- scored the first 19 points of the game setting the tone as the Shamrocks could not catch up.

“They’re my leaders,” Lewis said. “We’ll go as far as those two guys take us.