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District 1 A: Pinkney’s toughness helps Faith Christian boys outlast Plumstead Christian

02/26/2022, 8:15pm EST
By Kevin Cooney

Kevin Cooney (@KevinCooney)

BENSALEM – Gerald Pinkney would thrust himself down the lane like a pinball into a sea of bumpers. It was filled with a sea of bodies that were bigger than his 5-foot-8 inch frame — and usually ended up in the same position: down on the floor and heading back to the foul line.
“I have a lot of body aches right now,” Pinkney remarked afterwards. “But this is what we’ve wanted.”

This was the first PIAA District One Class A boys basketball championship. And it belongs to the Lions, who overcame some shaky moments to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 41-34 win over Plumstead Christian on Saturday afternoon at Bensalem’s Sheldon Per Court.

“We came into this knowing that it would be a dogfight and it would take all four quarters,” said Pinkney, a transfer from Abraham Lincoln who recorded game-highs with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

It took almost the entire 32 minutes for Pinkney and company to seal the win. The biggest shot of the afternoon, however, didn’t belong to him. Up two at 36-34 with 42 seconds left and with the basketball following a Panthers miss at the other end, Pinkney fired a pass from midcourt to the left sideline, where Shane O’Connor had wide-open real estate and without a Plumstead player in the zip code.

Instead of burning time or going for an easy layup, O’Connor rose for a quick shot and drilled a dagger 3-pointer that put the game away.

“He kept telling me all game that he wanted that shot from the corner,” Pinkney said. “We finally found him and then he sealed up the game.”

Pinkney, however, played with reckless abandon. He shot 7-for-13 from the floor with a driving style that allowed him to get to the foul line seven times. He also was willing to get tangled up on the glass with nine defensive rebounds. Throw in a pair of assists and just two turnovers and you have a recipe for success.

“That’s the type of game that you want to see from your point guard and senior leader,” Faith Christian head coach Seth Brunner said. 

And yet, there were scary moments. On consecutive drives, Pinkney appeared to grab at the knee and stayed down until his teammates would grab him off the floor.

“That’s normally part of my game, though,” Pinkney said. “I’m used to getting beat up. My dad (Gerald) always tells me to shake it off. But that’s part of my job, to go in there and facilitate.”

“He usually gets up quick, but with his knee banged up it was tougher,” Brunner said. “If it was any other game, we may have pulled him out of there at some point. But he did a great job of attacking and balancing the scoring for it.”

Pinkney had played for Lincoln in 2019-20, then didn’t play his junior year when the Public League sat out the 2020-21 season because of COVID-19 before transferring to Faith this year. Ironically, Lincoln was playing at the same time in the Public League championship game against Imhotep Charter at the Liacouras Center.

“I’m so happy for them because they have a top-notch team,” Pinkney said. “I’ve got much love for them.”

A state tournament berth awaits the Lions on March 8 against the winner of the third place game in the District 2/11 subregional. As for the Panthers, who were led by Zachary Knudsen’s nine points, they will play the District 12 champion on March 8 in the first round of the state tournament.

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By Quarter
Faith Christian           9   |   5   |  13  |  14  ||  41
Plumstead Christian  7   |   6   |  11  |  10  ||  34

Scoring
Faith Christian: Gerald Pinkney 19, Chris Evans 9, Shane O’Connor 7, Bryce Robison 4, Levi Nice 2

Plumstead Christian: Zachary Knudson 9, Jackson Mott 8, Nicholas Phillipps 7, Roman Kulesa 7, Ryan Jacobs 3


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