City of Basketball Love

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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Winning isn’t easy and it doesn’t come without hard work, dedication and sacrifice. To win championships, sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

Justin Savage has been willing to make sacrifices all season long for his team to be at their best. His decision is paying off, as Cheltenham stands undefeated (25-0) and Suburban One League champions after beating Bensalem, 50-37, on Tuesday night.

After being a regular in the starting lineup last year for Cheltenham, Savage decided before this season that it would be best for the team if he came off the bench.

“Justin is our leader for sure, we’ve said that from the beginning.” Cheltenham head coach Pat Fleury said. “He was very selfless at the beginning of the year when he came to us and looked at the team and said, ‘You know what, I'll come off the bench.’ He’s clearly a starter on 99 percent of the teams in the area, but, for us, it doesn’t really matter to him. He’s only worried about winning.”

Savage was the spark plug off the bench for the Panthers in their SOL championship win, doing all the little things that help teams win games. His defense drove him, using his length to disrupt Bensalem’s tricky backcourt of Aaron Sanders and Jeremy Rodriguez. 

The senior forward, nicknamed “Mr. Everything” by his coach, didn’t have a monster night numbers wise, but still filled up the stat sheet. He had 10 points, four rebounds and four blocks, but his impact went deeper than that.

“I feel good about it because it helps my teammates,” Savage said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on my team. I can do whatever it takes to win.”

““Basketball wise, he’s amazing,” Fleury said. “He’s one of our most mature kids on and off the floor. We rely on him a lot. He sets a lot of systems of behaviors and our culture.”

After a tight first half, Cheltenham led 24-21, but their energy to open up the second ultimately made the difference. The Panthers tightened up on the defensive end, which allowed them to score the first 13 points of the half. Their ball pressure suffocated Bensalem’s guards, creating easy transition opportunities for the SOL’s No. 1 seed. 

The Panthers were also aided by a couple of monstrous dunks by Brandon Bush in the third quarter. All six of the seniors' points came on major throwdowns, with the first coming in the second quarter. Then in the third quarter, it was showtime.

The Panthers celebrate their SOL championship. (Photo: Zak Wolf/CoBL)

Bush caught the ball around the 3-point arch and, two dribbles later, he caught a body, posterizing Bensalem big man Allen Myers, which got the crowd on their feet. Bush wasn’t done–on the next play he got the ball on a breakaway and took flight again, slamming home another thunderous dunk to put Cheltenham up by double digits. 

“Energy wins a lot of games,” Savage said. “That dunk with Brandon, that brought us together, especially the last one. That’s when I think they [Bensalem] started to fold.”

Playing their seventh games in just nine days, Cheltenham needed the energy boost to create separation from a tough Bensalem team.

Rasheem Dearry led all scorers with 17 points, showing off his inside out game, hitting deep 3s as well as using his big body to score in the paint. The senior knocked down three triples on the night. 

Sophomore Josiah Hutson scored seven and senior Elias Walker had six, but Cheltenham didn’t need an offensive outburst thanks to their defense, especially in the second half. Holding a Bensalem team that often scores in the 60s to just 37 points is an impressive feat.

“I think our guys just had one push in the second half defensively. They kind of locked in,” Fleury said. “I think it wasn’t until the 3:40 mark of the third quarter where we gave up our first field goal. If you’re playing like that as a unit and as a team, then it’s going to be a lot of good results at the end of the game”

Cheltenham smothered Sanders all night, holding him to just four points, forcing him into traffic and taking tough shots. Despite not having the size to match up with Myers, the Panthers held Bensalem’s big to six points. Jeremy Rodriguez led the Owls with 13, hitting three 3-pointers. 

After losing to Pennridge a couple of years ago in the Suburban One finals, Tuesday night was a nice win for Cheltenham, but they have bigger expectations. The Panthers are itching to get back to the district championship after losing to the eventual champions two seasons in a row, Methacton in the title game in 2020 and to Lower Merion in the quarterfinals last year. 

“I think if we keep playing that way and sticking to our defensive principles, we can go far,” Savage said. 

Since being named head coach in 2018, Fleury has had tough teams. The Cheltenham alum doesn’t take all the credit for the success of the program while he’s been the coach. 

“It’s not just me at all, what we’ve built,” Fleury said. “Our coaches put a lot of time in. When you have this type of success, it’s never just one person at all. For us, the only thing that we’re trying to do for our community is we want to make it a point that you don’t have to leave and go to another school. We’ll make sure we’ll take care of you and put you in a position that you can play for championships and meaningful games.”

By Quarter

Cheltenham: 12 I 12 I 17 I  9 II 50
Bensalem:    10 I 11 I  6  I 10 II 37

Scoring

Cheltenham: Dearry 17, Savage 10, Hudson 7, Walker 6, Bush 6, Fevnion 2, Lucas 2

Bensalem: Rodriguez 13, Myers 6, Morris 6, Sanders 4, Edwards 4 Soberal 2, Gonzalez 2