City of Basketball Love

Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)
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After taking their lumps in the Inter-Ac for two years, the Penn Charter junior class trusts that the losses early in their high school career will lead them to success in their final two seasons. 

In 2019, when this year’s junior class were freshmen, they only mustered one win in Inter-Ac play. And during their sophomore campaign, COVID-19 didn’t let the Quakers get back on track as they played the least amount of conference games in the league.

After two years of disappointment, the junior class that includes Mark Butler, Isaiah Grimes, Trey Shinholster, Keith Gee and sixth man Colin Schumm sights on an Inter-Ac championship. It’s a group that’s taken turns leading the way, each shining on different nights as Penn Charter has come out on fire this season.

In Post & Pivot’s Reindeer Games, the Quakers rode Butler and Grimes to a 64-53 victory over O’Hara, in the last game of the day, after four of the scheduled seven games were canceled due to teams dealing with COVID-19 situations. 

The guards have different approaches to their games, and their versatility combined with their other classmates is what has John Owens’ Quakers out to an 8-1 start on the year. 

Butler, who holds an offer from George Washington and is currently talking to other Division I schools, has been working on his perimeter shooting since the summer with Philly Pride to become more appealing as a prospect. But the 6-0 guard views himself as more of a playmaker. 

“I think I’m a floor general that can score when needed,” Butler said. “I like to make plays, getting to the lane on two feet and see what the defense gives me.” 

“College coaches want to see me shoot as an undersized guard, so I’m just constantly working on my jump shot, and I feel like that translated a lot today with my pull-up jump shot.”

Grimes, who plays many positions as a football player, brings more of a bruiser mentality to the hardwood. The 6-3 guard is a force on the interior and likes to take advantage of physical mismatches whenever he can like he did against the Lions (3-2) on Sunday en route to a game-high 17 points leading to him being named the game’s most valuable player. 

“I felt like I had a good advantage physically, so my coach was telling me to drive,” Grimes said. “I missed a few layups, but he told me to keep going, so that’s what I did, and they started to fall.”  

“That kid’s a monster,” Butler said. “He’s kind of the glue. He’s always fighting for loose balls, he does a lot for us. He played out of his mind today, getting to the rack at will… I love how he’s playing.”

Both Butler and Grimes have been at Penn Charter since sixth grade and are now chasing their dreams of becoming All-Inter-Ac players and, more importantly, Inter-Ac champions in tandem. 

“Our saying this whole year has been ‘It’s Our Time’ because we feel like we’ve been getting beat up on a lot, and we feel like this our year to win [the Inter-Ac],” Grimes said. 

Grimes grew up in the Mayfair area of Northeast Philadelphia and recently moved to the East Falls area to be closer to Penn Charter when he was a freshman. Since arriving in middle school, the junior has grown to embrace the familial bond on School House Lane.

“It’s been great. It’s like a real community vibe there, they welcome me, and I feel like I belong there,” Grimes said. 

Mark Butler (above) picked up his first Division I offer, from George Washington, this summer. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Butler, an Mt. Airy native, has actual familial ties to Penn Charter through his father, Mark Butler Sr., who also played basketball for the Quakers, and who he calls an “OPC” or Old Penn Charter, the school’s traditional moniker for its alumni. Butler admits that the transition to Penn Charter was tough early on, especially academically.

“In middle school, it was definitely tough, I won’t even lie, the academics are really challenging,” Butler said. “But once you’re there for a while you get used to it, and I’ve adjusted really well.” 

And Butler overcoming challenges in the classroom early on parallels the Quakers’ on-court play. They are now looking to completely turn around their fortune in the Inter-Ac after going 1-9 in league play in 2019. And after only playing four league games last year (2-2), the Quakers see this year as their opportunity to win the inter-ac for the first time since 2004. 

In Sunday’s outing, the Quakers also got a significant contribution from Trey Shinholster (11 points) and even though Gee and Schumm were off this particular game, the team has options when it comes to putting the ball in the hoop. 

“I think as a team, we just all trust each other. Back when we were freshmen, we were getting beat up. We were young, all new to the high school game,” Butler said. “But now it’s kind of like we’re giving out the punishment as juniors.”

On O’Hara’s side, they were led by Izaiah Pasha (17 points) and Josh Coulanges (14 points), but their efforts weren’t enough to pick up the third win for the Lions in five days. 

“They always say the PCL is the toughest league, so we want to play the best so we can be the best,” Butler said. “I think this was a really good test and La Salle on Tuesday will be another good test against teams that have bigs like [Springside Chestnut Hill].”

By Quarter
Penn Charter:       11  |  22  |  14  |  17  ||  64
Cardinal O’Hara:   16  |  14  |  11  |  12  ||  53

Scorers
Penn Charter: Grimes 17, Butler 16, T. Shinholster 11, Schumm 6, K. Shinholster 6, Gee 3, Cotton 3

Cardinal O’Hara: Pasha 17, Coulanges 14, Johnson 10, Harris 5, McGuinn 4, Speights 3