City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
—

Western Pennsylvania’s New Castle has a historic, storied basketball program which went to its first state championship in 1936.

Eastern Pennsylvania’s Imhotep has a modern, vaunted basketball program which went to its first state championship in 2009 after its inception in 2001.

The two sides will clash for a PIAA Class 5A championship Friday night in Hershey’s GIANT Center.

The Panthers (27-4) are loaded - nothing new - with high-major college talent in 6-7 junior forward Justin Edwards (offers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn, and more), 6-2 sophomore guard Ahmad Nowell (Auburn, Kansas), and 6-foot junior guard Rahmir Barno (Temple, La Salle, Drexel) at the front of the pack.

Imhotep head coach Andre Noble recognizes that, although he says the less-heralded players are what make the team click.

“We’re not the team we are without the contribution of the other guys,” Noble said. “[Rider commit] Mo Abdullah has been big for us. [Gannon commit] Ronny Raphael has been in double digits most of the games in states so he’s been big for us. [Sophomore] Ma’Kye Taylor, [seniors] Chad Anglin, Yahmir Satterfield, all those guys have been big for us. Obviously everyone knows about the three (high-major) guys, but the depth of our team is what’s helped us be as good as we are.”

And they’ve been good, beating teams by an average of 20 points in PIAA tournament play including a 25-point beatdown of Chester in the semifinals after squeaking away with a four-point win against Marple Newtown in the quarterfinals.

Imhotep has a deep, talented roster that’s capable of winning a game with suffocating defense, explosive offense, or both.

The Panthers and Noble have a 55-7 overall record in PIAA tournament play and have never lost a PIAA title game. They have a perfect 7-0 record with the championships coming in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019.  

“We don’t think about that at all,” Noble said on the undefeated mark. “I don’t think about that at all. I don’t know what everyone else thinks. I just focus on preparing for our opponent and Friday is a good opponent.”

Imhotep didn’t get a chance to make a run in 2020 since the tournament was canceled due to COVID or 2021 due to a player testing positive for the virus.

“It feels great to be back,” Noble said. “I think we’ve been playing good overall. We didn’t play our best against Marple Newtown. All in all I think we’re playing pretty well. [New Castle] is going to present some challenges. They shoot the ball very well. This is going to be a challenge for us to beat this team.

“They run a really good offense. They move it and share it. I think the big key is controlling [Michael Wells] and [Isaiah Boice], their top two leading scorers. Those two really get them going. [Jonathan Anderson] is also solid. Those guys are all good. They all make plays. [Wells] can really shoot, he has NBA range. He’s also strong around the rim. He must be a football player.”

After telling Noble that New Castle’s leading scorer Wells was committed to Youngstown State to play football he said, “Some basketball coaches missed that one. I don’t know how good he is at football; he must be pretty good, but he’s really good at basketball.”

New Castle, Wells and head coach Ralph Blundo will have their hands full, but are embracing the opportunity as an underdog.

“We know that there’s a gap there talent-wise,” Blundo said. “We have to be the best team we can be in order to try and neutralize some of that talent. We know it’ll be a great challenge. But we’re looking forward to it.”

The WPIAL, or District 7, runner-up Hurricanes (27-2) sport a 47-23 overall record in PIAA tournament play with four title appearances, winning once with current Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker leading the way to a 31-0 season in 2014.

They may not be favored, but they’re outscoring opponents by 23 points in the PIAA tournament and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Getting this far is an incredible achievement in its own right and New Castle has persevered through some crushing defeats this season and last.

The Hurricanes fell at the hands of eventual 5A champion Cathedral Prep 52-50 in overtime in the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament, which they felt was a great opportunity to win its second state title before it slipped away.

“The circumstances made it more possible than ever considering some of the great programs that opted out and the fact only district champions were in the tournament,” Blundo said on his team’s chances last year. “It definitely created more optimism than normal. That was a disappointing overtime loss to Cathedral Prep because we felt that we let one get away.”

Another crushing defeat came in the WPIAL Class 5A championship against Laurel Highlands this season, a 60-58 double overtime loss.

“We actually played really well,” Blundo said of the District 7 championship loss. “They called a foul with 0.3 seconds on the clock against us and the guy made two free throws and that was it. It was a brutal, devastating loss.”

Yet here the Hurricanes are.

“That’s what I’m most proud of is the resilience of the kids to bounce back from something like that,” Blundo said. “The state tournament started right after that game. We played [the WPIAL championship] Friday and then Tuesday we had a state playoff game. There was really no time to dwell. That served us well. We moved on quickly.”

The most New Castle has been tested in the state tournament was against fellow WPIAL opponent Penn Hills in the quarterfinals, which the Hurricanes eventually won by eight. The other wins have come by 13, 51, and 20 behind the steady play of Wells.

The 6-4 senior scored 33 points in the first round, 41 in the second round, had 17 and 12 rebounds in the quarterfinals, and rounded it out with a 26-point performance in the semifinals.

The Hurricanes also get significant contributions from seniors Michael Graham and Cahmari Perkins and juniors Boice, Anderson, DaJaun Young and Nick Wallace.

“We’re really balanced,” Blundo said. “We've had guys in double figures at different times all year with Mike being our leading scorer the majority of the time.

“We’re a versatile team. We’ve been able to get to the rim, finish around the hoop. We’ve had moments where we’ve shot it well. In terms of who we are, we kind of shift what we do based on who we’re playing.”

Come 7:30 p.m. on Friday, that’ll be the mighty Imhotep.

“We have played good basketball in the tournament,” Blundo said. “Obviously Imhotep is an elite team. They’re outstanding. You just don’t see teams like that very often. Honestly in my 12 years, with probably the exception of Archbishop Carroll in ‘15 with Derrick Jones, they’re right up there with the most talented teams I’ve seen. 

“What makes them really good is they’re really well coached, too. When you put that all together, you have one of the best teams in the country.”