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Academy New Church 72, SCH Academy 60: Quick Report & Photo Gallery

12/16/2019, 9:30pm EST
By Josh Verlin


ANC coach Kevin Givens (above) and his Lions are off to a 4-2 start to this season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Went over to Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy this afternoon, as the Blue Devils played host to the Lions of Academy New Church in an Inter-Ac vs. Friends League matchup. ANC, which might be Westtown’s greatest threat in the FSL, certainly didn’t look fazed by the short road trip, with its impressive seniors leading the way in a 72-60 win. 

Keep an eye out for a feature story on a confident ANC group in the next day or two, but in the meanwhile, here’s a few notes and stats from the game itself, as well as a photo gallery down below:

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–– The Lions (4-2) returned their entire starting lineup from a year ago, and they play like an experienced group. It all starts with two seniors: Isaac “Zeke” Marshall and Glenn Sabb. Marshall was tremendous in this one, going for a game-high 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. Though he didn’t showcase much in terms of outside shooting, Marshall’s got a terrific ability to get to the rim with or without the ball, showcasing a beautiful spin move and floater in the first half, and hitting several mid-range pull-up jumpers as well. He could play his way into scholarship territory.

Sabb didn’t have the scoring impact that Marshall did, finishing with 10 points (4-9 FG, 2-3 FT), but the muscular 6-2 guard did just about everything else: he finished with 11 rebounds, seven steals, and six assists, flirting with a quadruple-double early in the fourth quarter before his team slowed down the tempo in the last four or five minutes. He’s going to a to-be-determined PSAC school for football, but the Lions will certainly benefit from his presence on the court for one last season.

–– The most interesting prospect on the court was ANC’s junior center, Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad generally got the better of SCH senior David Robinson, though Robinson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds; Muhammed had three rejections and four rebounds, though he mostly cleared space inside for Sabb, Marshall and sophomore Anthony McCall (15 points, six rebounds) to grab most of the boards. Muhammad stands 6-8 with long arms and legs, and he displayed good coordination and timing, plus decent form on his foul shooting (1-3 FT). If he comes on strong the next couple years, Muhammad could even find himself in Division I territory, though he’s still got a lot of work to do in all aspects of his game. 

–– If SCH sophomore Darius Isaac’s name sounds familiar, he’s the younger brother of former Penn Charter/Chestnut Hill college guard Demetrius Isaac, a speedster of a lead guard who could get up and down the floor in a flash. Darius definitely has some similarities to his brother, a smaller guard (5-9) who likes to play with the ball in his hands, as he’s the Blue Devils’ primary point guard and had to do a lot of bringing the ball up against ANC’s full-court press. Isaac finished with 14 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals, going 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line.

–– SCH senior Delonce Hines is definitely good enough to play at the next level. He had 12 points, seven boards, and three steals before fouling out, but he's got a solid body, a smooth jumper, and is an active defender.

–– Both teams were missing a few key pieces in this one due to injuries, but the absences shouldn’t last too long. Academy New Church has been without senior point guard and returning starter Devin Bryant for the first few games of the season; SCH Academy (1-5) is missing two starters in Ke’Shawn Williams and Jared Sprague-Lott, both seniors.

By Quarter
ANC:   17 | 21  | 20 | 14  | 72

SCH:   15 | 16  | 19 | 10  | 60

Shooting
ANC: 29-54 FG, 1-8 3PT, 13-27 FT

SCH: 19-54 FG, 7-22 3PT, 15-21 FT

Scorers
ANC: Marshall 26, McCall 15, Sabb 10, Allen 7, Muhammad 7, Keel 3, Dawkins 2

SCH: Isaac 14, Hines 12, Robinson 10, Bandura 7, Markey 7, Neverosky 6, Thorpe 4

CLICK THE PHOTO BELOW TO ACCESS THE FULL GALLERY


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