City of Basketball Love

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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LANSDALE -- Devon Prep had to be patient, but they finally got their chance to compete in the state playoffs. It’s been over a decade since the Tide last played a state playoff game, back when they competed in the Bicentennial League. Now part of the Philadelphia Catholic league, under head coach Jason Fisher, the Tide are a completely different program. 

In Fisher’s ninth season at Devon, he got his first win in states, defeating Dock Mennonite 71-48 in dominant fashion. 

Based on how the game went, it was hard to believe that Devon hadn’t played in a state playoff game in over 10 years. The Tide came out locked in and ready to go, playing like they had been there before.

“We really focused on going out and enjoying the experience and having fun out there,” Fisher said. “We went away from telling them that it’s a state playoff game and if you lose your season’s done. It was kind of just, ‘go out and play,’ it’s basketball. They did, and I thought they played really loose at the beginning of the game.

Along with not having the experience in state playoff games, Devon had to deal with not playing a game for the past two and a half weeks. After a 68-58 loss to West Catholic in the PCL quarterfinals, the Tide had an extended period of time which opened up the potential for some rust to kick in.

There was no rust for Devon. They wasted no time pouncing on Dock in the first quarter, leading 24-9 after the first eight minutes. Senior point guard I.V. Pettit and sophomore Ty Mishock both drained two threes in the first, while Jacen Holloway bullied his way down low, scoring eight points in the first quarter. 

Playing in the Catholic League is a gauntlet, with every night presenting a different challenge and as hard as it is, playing in the league has its benefits down the line. Devon has experience playing in big games the past couple of seasons and they didn’t let the lights shine too bright against Dock. 

“We came out with a lot of energy which helped with the win,” Holloway said. “We’ve been building up for these the past 2-3 years and today we came out and executed.”

Holloway played an integral part in Devon’s win, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first half. Dock had no answer for Holloway as he got into the paint at will, scoring all his points inside the restricted area. He was also able to get his teammates involved, dishing out five assists and grabbing six boards. 

“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Holloway said. “It was our first game back in a while, so stay aggressive and do my thing, along with getting everyone else involved.”

Holloway has steadily been improving ever since the beginning of last season. He started for Devon last year as they made a surprise run to the PCL semi-finals, before losing to Roman Catholic. In a normal season, The Tide would’ve been able to participate in the state playoffs, but because of the shortened bracket, they were unable to compete. 

Besides Eamonn Walsh and Chris Patton, both of whom are teammates at King’s College, Devon returned their entire rotation from last season. Devon is a deep group that has a good mix of seniors, juniors and sophomores, all of whom know how to play with each other. No matter who’s on the floor, the ball is always moving and everyone gets involved. 

Even though the Tide dominated from start to finish, they did find themselves in foul trouble in the first half. Leading scorer Lucas Orchard picked up two fouls in the first couple minutes, with Allen Cieslak (Susquehanna) doing the same, forcing them both to spend large portions of the first half on the bench. Mishock would also eventually be forced to the bench with two fouls in the second quarter as well. 

Without a couple of starters out in the first half, Devon didn’t miss a beat. With a mix of starters and bench players, the Tide continued to dominate.

Pettit scored 11 of his 13 in the first half, including excellent on ball defense, forcing a number of Dock turnovers. The Tide got good minutes from Jake Kenney and Tyler Scarpulla off the bench, who didn’t score much, but kept the energy up as Devon increased their lead to 46-19 by halftime. 

With their starters back in the second half, the Tide never let Dock cut into their lead and by the fourth quarter, the running clock was put into place. 

Cieslak finished with 14 points and Mishock had 13 to give the Tide four players in double figures in what was a team effort. Their unselfish play was a big part of the win and their success this season. 

“They really look for each other, they look for their teammates and put the team first,” Fisher said. “Even if that means they don’t get as many shots, they’re ok with that because the team is doing well.”

Dock’s Nathan Lapp finished with 22 points but was held in check for most of the game. Ten of his points came in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach. Devon did a good job of sending multiple players at him, forcing him to give the ball up when he didn’t want to. 

Devon’s firepower proved to be too much for Dock, as they advanced to the second round to take on Columbia. For Devon, it’s all about staying the course and improving with each game.

“We have to keep on getting better, we’ll watch film tomorrow and see what we need to work on and what needs to be fixed.” Fisher said.

By Quarter
Devon:  24  |  22  |  14  |  11  ||  71
Dock:     9   |  10  |  14  |  15  ||  48

Scoring
Devon: Holloway 21, Cieslak 14, Pettit 13, Mishock 13, Orchard 5, Costello 3, Scarpula 2

Dock: Lapp 22, Bultje 11 Johnson 9, T. Martin 4, V. Martin 2