City of Basketball Love

Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)
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In last year’s state final, Constitution was just grateful for the chance to step on the court.

A COVID-19 exposure in the semifinal round put the Generals’ championship matchup against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in jeopardy. They couldn’t practice and feared the worst: a forfeit.

Some extensive, teamwide COVID testing cleared Constitution before the game, but the Chargers prevailed to win the first state title in school history. 

A year later, the two teams will meet once again in the PIAA 2A boys’ state championship on Friday afternoon. With things looking a bit more certain — knock on wood — this time around, Constitution is hoping to enact some vengeance on OLSH at Hershey’s Giant Center.

“We’re feeling great,” Generals senior Jacob Beccles said. “We’re feeling 100% as a team. Last year, we really weren’t locked in before the state championship (due to the circumstances). So this year, we have practices before the game. We’re more focused on the state championship than we were last year.”

Beccles, along with fellow senior Lamar Glover, started for Constitution in last season’s final. The two guards carry the offense for the Generals, Beccles providing scoring from the wing with Glover often muscling his way into the lane. Stopping the pair of standouts has been the priority for opposing teams this year, but it’s much easier said than done.

“A couple teams in states have tried to throw junk at us,” Generals coach Rob Moore said. “But you have to still be able to guard them, right? There’s boxes-and-ones and triangles-and-twos and all these different plays, but they’re predicated on having guys that can guard those guys. But if you can’t guard those guys, those defenses don’t work.”

Surrounding the duo is rebounding senior guard Simere Blagman and 6-foot-5 senior center Jamal Carr, whose presence in the front court could be a difference-maker after he missed the championship game last year with an injury.

OLSH brings back four starters from last season’s team into this championship rematch. Most notable is senior Jake DiMechele, a career 2000-point scorer and the 2021 PIAA Class 2A Player of the Year. The 6-foot-3 guard is the motor behind the Chargers’ offensive attack. Junior Rocco Spadafora has slid over to the point guard position after playing off-ball last season, while forwards Dawson Summers, a senior, and junior Bryson Kirschner are also returning.

“We have experience,” OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said. “Our returning players have experience in playing in that game last year. We’re hoping that they will help lead our team and help us execute well and try to accomplish the things we like to do.”

The Chargers (27-0) have won 67 consecutive games as a program. They cruised through the regular season and to a District 7 championship in dominating fashion this year, winning all but two games by 20 points or more. That trend continued into the first three rounds of states as OLSH downed United (75-50), Carlynton (74-43) and Ridgway (54-27). The team’s first real test came in the semifinal against Kennedy Catholic, rallying back from a 22-point deficit to win 78-68 in overtime.

Constitution (22-8), on the other hand, has a few entries in the loss column, but has faced quality opponents all year. An early-season trip to Las Vegas to play teams from all over the nation along with competing in a talented Philadelphia Public League has pitted the Generals against top-end talent throughout the season. 

“Constitution, the battles they faced night-in and night-out were probably much more difficult than what we faced,” Rodriguez said. “Basketball in the city of Philadelphia is just amazing; it’s played at a very high level. … We also had some tough challenges over the year. We played some big games against larger classifications. … We believe that a lot of the games we played prepared us for this moment. But it’s not lost upon us that it’s not at the level Constitution faces night-in, night-out.”

After winning District 12, Moore’s Generals are back in a familiar spot. Constitution has won four state championships (2012, 2014, 2015, 2018) since the start of its program in 2009 and is now back in the state final for the seventh time since 2012 after beating Delone Catholic (79-58), Shenandoah Valley (60-46), Holy Cross (50-48) and Old Forge (67-40). Deep runs into the state playoffs is the norm for the program at this point, and winning the whole tournament is the top goal.

“It almost feels normal,” Moore said of making the state championship game. “It almost feels different in the years that we don’t get there. It’s just our expectation as a program to be in this spot or at least giving ourselves a chance to be in this spot.”

Back in the same spot again, the Generals hope to flip last season’s result. But OLSH certainly won’t go down easy with history on the line. A win for the Chargers would tie the PIAA record for consecutive wins in addition to securing back-to-back state titles.

“It’s a business trip for us, and we’re going to do the best we can,” Rodriguez said. “The boys haven’t gotten too far ahead of themselves. They think, ‘We’re not happy just to be here. We want to go out here and compete.’ And hopefully we can compete well.”

Constitution hopes to prove last season’s contest would’ve gone differently if not for its shutdown prior to the game. A rematch with OLSH is the perfect way to settle the debate. 

“We’re trying to get revenge back from last year,” Beccles said. “We’re just remembering what happened when we lost and trying to go out my senior year as a state champion.”