City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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CHELTENHAM — Like fewer and fewer kids with hoop dreams are doing these days, Yakeen Respes stuck it out at Cheltenham. Through freshman ball, a couple years of JV, getting some varsity action as a junior, but not enough to get noticed. 

Not once did he consider leaving, to see if there was another place he could get on the court faster, to throw his hat in another ring.

“Since freshman year, I knew I always wanted to stay here,” he said. “I never thought about leaving — no matter if I played freshman, JV, I knew what I had to do to get to the next level. 

“I love the coach; it’s a family, when you play for this team, it’s a family. Who wouldn’t want to play here?”

Now a senior, Respes is getting his chance, and he’s making the most of it. The 6-foot-3 left-hander showed his value on Friday night, playing a big part in Cheltenham’s come-from-behind, 68-63 win over William Tennent to stay unbeaten in league play.

It was a high-level, back-and-forth affair between the two Panthers squads, William Tennent (3-2, 2-1 SOL-Freedom) jumping out to a 21-8 lead after one quarter, but Cheltenham (4-2, 3-0) closed to within three (32-29) at halftime, the same margin it remained (50-47) after three quarters.

The hosts retook the lead early in the final frame, sophomore guard Josiah Hutson (26 points) leading the way, but Tennent was not going down without a fight, even in an unfriendly atmosphere. It was a 63-63 game in the final minute, when Respses came up with his biggest couple plays.

His first was a bucket, off a feed from junior Kamani Healey, put Cheltenham up two points with under 30 seconds to play; after a missed shot from Tennent, he hit two foul shots with 13.7s left, the four points that sealed the win for his Panthers.

Yakeen Respes (2) is a full-time varsity starter for the only season of his high school career. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“Those two free-throws were big, and he didn’t flinch,” Cheltenham coach Pat Fleury said. “Early on, emotionality was [...] one of the things that was difficult for him, and in a moment where that could have reared its head again, it didn’t.

“That’s what we’re about,” the Cheltenham alum added later. “We take our kids from Cedarbrook [Middle School] and we walk them all the way through and by the time they leave out the doors, they’re young men. A lot of what we saw tonight was ‘Keen growing up as a person.”

A combo wing who has to play the ‘4’ man on an undersized Cheltenham squad, Respes finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from the foul line, with five of his team-high nine rebounds coming on the offensive end.

He got his production off a few tough mid-range jumpers and a few finishes at the rim, missing his only 3-point shot, but it was his hustle on the glass that really stood out.

“I like to say I play defense, that’s probably the best part of my game,” he said. “And rebounding, I do crash a lot, I enjoy doing the dirty work.”

It’s a similar role to that filled by other combo wings that Fleury has coached in recent memory, like multi-year varsity contributors and 2022 grads Rasheem Deary and Justin Savage, two of Respes’ good friends and both now on the roster at Delaware Valley University. (Del Val is one of the Division III programs who have reached out to Cheltenham about Respes, and the only one he would name, but said he’s “got his options open” when it comes to playing basketball next year).

Though Respes might not have the polish or experience of those two, and his game is a little different — Deary was a terrific 3-point shooter and Savage an easy above-the-rim athlete, two traits Respes didn’t show on Friday — his effect on the game can be similar, making an impact in various ways, in his own way.

Unlike Dearry and Savage, who had multiple years as varsity starters, making them experienced seniors, Respes is still in his first few weeks as a significant varsity contributor, in a different role than he's ever been.

“(Justin is) like an older brother, in a way,” Respes said. “Tells me what I need to do, what I’m doing wrong, what I need to work on. Those are guys that I appreciate, I will never forget them, ever.”

Hutson, who didn’t score in the first quarter, had 10 points in the second but really turned it on in the second half, the speedy 5-9 point guard generally able to get by whoever Tennent put in front of him, his ability to get into the lane causing big problems for the Tennent defense as he either got to the rim or dumped off to a cutter.

“It’s clear that teams are going to prepare for Josiah, but the beautiful thing is we asked him to focus this year on the defensive end and facilitating, and he’s doing that,” Fleury said. “He just waited for the moment, he read the game, which is what we want, and when he was able to make plays, he made those plays. He’s not perfect, but he’s definitely a high-level guard.”

Kevin Addison-Anderson added eight points and six rebounds off the bench for Cheltenham, which won its third straight game, all in league place, after early-season losses to Executive Education and Math Civics & Sciences. Freshman Malik Hughes also had eight points, with four rebounds, and Healey chipped in four points and six rebounds, plus two assists; senior Nile Tinsley had four points and five rebounds, all of his points key ones in the fourth quarter.

William Tennent got a terrific performance from Kirby Mooney, who’s having a breakout start to his junior year, plus 16 points from senior George Marion. Mooney, a 6-3 guard, finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds, continuously getting into the lane and playing off two feet, showing great patience and poise around the bucket, going 11-of-14 from inside the arc, missing all six of his 3-point attempts, and going 8-of-10 from the line. 

“Definitely kudos to him, as just a basketball fan, 30 is 30 wherever you get it, so I am highly impressed for him,” Fleury said. “As a coach, we’re going to clip it, and that can’t be a norm…if you scored 30 and we still won, there’s a lot of room for growth. But he did amazing, not too many people come in here and get 30.”

The two teams will meet again on Jan. 31 at Tennent; in the near future, Cheltenham plays at Upper Moreland on Tuesday, while Tennent goes to New Hope-Solebury that night as SOL-Freedom play continues for both. 

By Quarter
William Tennent: 21  |  11  |  18  |  13  ||  63
Cheltenham:        8   |  21  |  18  |  21  ||  68

Shooting
William Tennent: 23-52 FG (4-20 3PT), 13-19 FT
Cheltenham: 26-60 FG (2-13 3PT), 14-20 FT

Scoring
William Tennent: Mooney 30, Marion 16, Dawson 5, Devor 5, Scheller 3, Devine 2, Aburima 2

Cheltenham: Hutson 26, Respes 15, Addison-Anderson 8, Hughes 8, Healey 4, Tinsley 4, Metcalf 3