City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Kai Shinholster always grew up looking up to older brother Trey.

Around fifth grade he added a few more big bros — Trey’s AAU teammates Mark Butler and Keith Gee and one of the kids they often played against Isaiah Grimes.

As the group headed off to travel to tournaments, Kai was there running around the hotel room and taking part in the fun.

“He was always the little brother of our AAU team and when he came here it was more of the same, always looking out for him,” Butler said. “Love that kid.”

When they arrived at Penn Charter, Kai was still around and he joined them at the varsity level a season ago — something that kid running around the hotel rooms dreamed of.

“I always wanted to be on the court with them, but I was always the young bull,” Kai said. “Now, I’m with them. It’s so exciting.”

The Quakers have a strong senior class hoping to guide them to an outright Inter-Ac title on their way. Off-the-court, that little brother role is fine. 

On-the-court, Kai knows he can’t be the ‘younger brother’ any more. 

That’s been the case in the Quakers’ 6-0 start, most recently an 88-79 come-from-behind over victory over Archbishop Wood during Saturday’s Inter-Ac/Catholic League Challenge at West Chester’s Hollinger Gymnasium.

Kai finished with a game-high 28 points (five threes), spearheading the charge as the Quakers rallied out of a 13-point hole in the second half.

“(Coach Dave Bass) said he really needed me to be more aggressive because sometimes coming in I could take the ‘younger brother’ role with these guys, being the only sophomore amongst the starting five of seniors,” Kai said. “He needed me to be aggressive and take that leap this year.”

Kai was 5-6 guard as a middle schooler a few years ago. Trey remembers thinking he would help the Quakers one day, giving PC an extra ball handler and getting some experience at the point guard spot before taking over when Butler graduated.

In the last two years, Kai sprouted to about 6-4, long outgrowing the ‘little brother’ moniker in a literal sense.

He was a long, tall shooter for the Quakers as a freshman season, when Butler started to notice little bro might have more to offer. This season, Kai, who added Division I offers from Hofstra and Robert Morris in the summer and UTEP last month, is doing much, much more.

Trey and Kai’s other ‘older brothers’ have taken notice.

“Me and my brother, we would always play in the driveway one-on-one and I would always beat him, practices I would get him,” Trey Shinholster said. “He wouldn’t always be stepping up to the role he should be. This year, he came into the big role. He’s being a leader more. For the team, it’s great.”

“Seeing that kid’s development is crazy,” Butler said. “Watching from last year going from a catch-and-shoot guy and he’s really one of our best scorers now. When we need a basket we look for him. He’s a really good player and he’s only gonna get better.”

Wood rolled out to a 21-8 lead after a quarter of play Saturday and went up by as many as 16 before taking a 42-29 advantage into halftime behind 13 points from junior Jalil Bethea and 12 points from junior Josh Reed. They led the Vikings with 22 and 18 points, respectively in the game. Seniors Carson Howard and Gus Salem both added 13.

It looked like Wood was ready to cruise to a victory up 51-38 with 3:50 to go in the third before the Quakers made their push. Kai and Trey Shinholster helped PC go on a 13-0 run to tie the game, capped by a three by Kai.

That was a big three, but it wasn’t his biggest. 

The two teams kept it tight in the fourth quarter, exchanging the lead multiple times. A terrific take by Butler tied things 76-76 with less than a minute to play and that’s where the score stood at the end of regulation.

The Quakers scored nine of the first 10 points in overtime, taking control of the game on another big three by Kai.

“That was electric,” Kai said. “I was nervous going into it a little bit but once that connected, everything just felt so good.”

“That put it away man,” Butler said. “Big-time players make big time plays and he’s a player. A lot of big shots by him and you’re going to see a lot more of that in the future too.”

Penn Charter was missing two of their top six in Grimes and fellow fifth-year senior Colin Schumm on Saturday due to PIAA rules that don't let fifth-years play. Kai’s big night was a huge help and Butler, a Lafayette commit, added 20. Junior Kevin Cotton added 13, including three threes.

The Quakers think they may have surprised a number of people with the victory over one of the PCL’s recent powers.

“That was a great win,” Trey Shinholster said. “I think we’re really underrated in the city right now. I think a lot of people who were talking about this game before the game saying whatever they were thinking, but we came out on top so that’s all that matters.”

The Quakers shared the Inter-Ac title with Malvern Prep last season. The goal for the seniors is to end their tenures with an outright championship.

Their little brother knows he’ll be important in helping them achieve that goal.

“I want to be a real big part of it because I also want to build it up for myself once they're gone, so that the legacy of Penn Charter basketball is still around and people want to come here,” Kai said.

By Quarter
Penn Charter:  20  |  8 |  21  | 28  |   19   |  12  ||  88
Archbishop Wood:      21   |  21  |   14   |  26  |  3  ||  79

Scoring
Penn Charter: Kai Shinholster 26, Mark Butler 21, Trey Shinholster 13, Kevin Cotton 13, T.J. Bryson 9, Keith Gee 7, Mason Smith 4, Scott Doran 2.

Archbishop Wood: Jalil Bethea 23, Josh Reed 18, Carson Howard 13, Gus Salem 13, Milan Dean 5, Deuce Maxey 5, Marcus Dixon 2.

Ryan wards off Malvern Prep

After Archbishop Carroll downed Germantown Academy, 71-55, and Penn Charter rallied past Wood, both the PCL and Inter-Ac had a victory to their name in Saturday’s challenge. So bragging rights were up for grabs in the final contests of the night between Archbishop Ryan and Malvern Prep.

The Friars made their runs but Ryan proved too much, holding on for a 57-48 victory. Junior forward Thomas Sorber scored 15 points and junior guard Darren Williams and senior guard Zaire Harris both added 13 points. Junior Ryan Williams scored a game-high 20 points for Malvern, including a rim-rattling jam.

After Ryan jumped out to a 17-11 lead after the first quarter, Malvern jumped ahead early in the second. Freshman guard Rowan Miller was the spark, finishing two contested buckets in the lane and then grabbing a steal and sending Ryan Williams out on the break to put the Friars ahead 18-17.

Ryan made sure the deficit was short-lived, rallying with a 15-4 run to close the half. Ryan Williams made tough shot after shot in the third to keep the Friars tight, trailing 41-35 after three quarters.

It took a while for Ryan to deliver the knock out blow, but it finally came when Sorber outletted to Williams for and and-one with 1:35 left, putting the Raiders back up double digits, 53-42.

By Quarter
Malvern Prep:         11  |  11 |  13  | 13  ||  88
Archbishop Ryan:    17   |  14  |   10   |  16   ||  57

Scoring
Malvern Prep: Ryan Williams 20, Rowan Miller 8, Junior McFadden 7, Charlie Oschell 6, Hayden Pegg 3, Achilles Tucker-Turner 2.

Archbishop Ryan: Thomas Sorber 15, Zaire Paris 13, Darren Williams 13, Christian Durham 5, Rocco Marabito 9, Jaden Murray 3