skip navigation

Beatty makes second state championship opportunity count with Imhotep

03/25/2017, 7:30pm EDT
By Michael Bullock

David Beatty (above) won a state championship with Imhotep, two years after losing one with Archbishop Carroll. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
--

HERSHEY — As David Beatty stuck around the celebratory end of Hershey’s emptying Giant Center late Saturday afternoon — soaking up the atmosphere in between several dozen handshakes — the gold medal hanging from his shoulders said plenty.

Even if Beatty was trying desperately to maintain his bravado.

Especially since the Imhotep Charter standout had to be giddy inside following a convincing 80-52 triumph over District 10 champion Strong Vincent that brought the Panthers a PIAA Class 4A title, the school’s first state crown in four seasons.

Yet while the 6-foot-3 Beatty collected 19 points, grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists, it just might have been his defensive intensity early that so visibly established a determined tenor and provided the high-octane fuel that charged the Panthers.

Regardless of what transpired between Giant Center’s prominent red boundaries throughout a 32-minute exercise that quickly tilted in Imhotep’s favor — Andre Noble’s bunch led 27-11 after one quarter and 48-26 at the break — it might have been the post-game medal ceremony that truly provided Beatty with a sense of fulfillment.

Finally, in his second attempt to mine state gold, Beatty had come up … large.

A satisfying accomplishment? For sure.

“I feel amazing right now,” Beatty quickly admitted. “Just to accomplish this knowing how I felt two years ago, but to come back and accomplish this my senior year going into my college year it feels good. I need that momentum.

Turned away two seasons ago when the Archbishop Carroll program he played for at that time, Beatty and his teammates were denied a PIAA Class AAA championship by Philadelphia Catholic League playmate Neumann-Goretti, falling 69-67.

So when Imhotep pulled into Giant Center earlier Saturday, Beatty didn’t stand up in front of his Panthers teammates and offer some demonstrative spiel at a seriously high decibel level, opting instead for a simple yet encouraging message.

“I just told my teammates, ‘Just calm down and enjoy the moment,’” said Beatty, who banked 11 points and grabbed three rebounds in Carroll’s loss two seasons back. “We’re gonna be fine. We’ve been in this position three times this year and just have fun.

“If we give it our last, you can’t get mad. We gave it our last and we came out on top.”

While Beatty was the lone Imhotep player with experience in a state championship environment — he spent last year at St. Benedict’s (N.J.) Prep before returning to Philly for his final season — Noble had been through a few title games as well.

Enough, in fact, to have claimed four championships.

“I think the biggest thing that Dave did was that he came into our community and just wanted to be a good teammate,” Noble said. “The biggest thing I can say about him is we played [Math, Civics & Sciences] in the [Pub] semifinal game and Dave had four points. And he was one of the happiest guys in the locker room.

“When you have a kid that talented who’s willing to sacrifice just to win like that, that’s the biggest thing. He could have come in been arrogant and not listen, but that’s not who he is. The biggest thing he’s shown me is he just wants to be a teammate.”

A teammate who really wants to win.

And win was what Imhotep did Saturday afternoon, as state title No. 5, with Beatty and all-time leading scorer Daron Russell leading the way, arrived in decisive fashion.

“This has been holding us back,” said Russell, the Rhode Island recruit. “Actually, this has been killing us. He got here, but we hadn’t gotten here.

“To finally get this burden off our chests and off our shoulders, it’s amazing.”

And for a powerful Imhotep program that spent the entire season sitting atop City of Basketball Love’s Class 5A rankings, punctuating a tremendous run flush with highlights — regular-season titles at the Beach Ball Classic and Montverde (Fla.) Invitational, along with Philadelphia Public League and District 12 titles — by hoisting a state championship was a fitting ending for a talented group flush with underclassmen.

“From the season we had and playing at the two national tournaments, in venues similar, I don’t think our guys were nervous at all,” Noble said.

“Beach Ball is not as big, but it’s similar and they can make it seem as huge but I don’t think our guys ever got really nervous about playing here.”

Imhotep had a number of talented pieces already in place — Beatty and Russell were the only seniors available Saturday afternoon — but things meshed unbelievably snugly once Beatty returned to Philly to join Russell in the Panthers’ backcourt.

One can never have too many motors.

Especially at the defensive end of the floor.

Such as yesterday when Imhotep set an early tone.

“We just wanted to pressure [David Morris]. We just wanted to pressure their team,” Beatty said of a Strong Vincent squad that committed nine turnovers in the first quarter as Imhotep built a 27-11 lead. “With the guys behind me, we just wanted to make them turn the ball over so we could get easy transition buckets.”

Now that Imhotep’s chase for a state championship is over, Beatty will be parked in front of his television set Sunday when South Carolina takes on Florida in an Elite Eight contest at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Having signed with Frank Martin’s Gamecocks in November, Beatty will have an obvious rooting interest in which side advances to the Final Four.

“I just feel like I made the best decision for me and I feel like Coach Frank Martin is a great guy and he deserves everything that’s coming to him and their team,” Beatty said. “Just a great team. They all love each other. … They have the best fans in the country.

“So I feel like they deserve to be there.”

And with Beatty coming in to play some of the sticky defense that Martin demands for 40 minutes or longer, he’ll be ready to jump right into the fray.

“I pride myself on my defense,” Beatty said.

“That’s just me as a person, so I feel like I’ll fit right in with the team.”

Much like he did upon arriving at Imhotep.


HS Coverage:

Recruiting News:

Tag(s): Home  Old HS  Michael Bullock  Boys HS  Public League A (B)  Imhotep