City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)
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Cardinal O’Hara guard Izaiah Pasha gathered the ball after teammate Miles Johnson swatted away a Sankofa lay-up attempt. 

The stalwart guard’s eyes darted up the floor to a streaking Aasim “Flash” Burton who palmed the ball in his right-hand, cocked his arm back as he flew toward the rim, and finished the play with a vicious tomahawk slam. 

The junior, who played at Math, Civics and Sciences last season, made Manor College’s small gymnasium erupt with ‘ayys’ from his teammates at the Difference Makers Showcase. 

“As soon as I got here they started helping me with my bounce,” Burton said. “We got the Vertimax. I started doing it at least like a month ago.” 

Flash’s leaping prowess isn’t the only thing that’s changed for the better since he arrived at  1701 South Sproul Road. 

Key contributors for the Lions like Pasha, Josh Coulanges, and Pearse McGuinn have all benefited from the transfer’s consistent play and well-rounded skill set, which bodes well for an O’Hara team that has its eyes deadset on the Palestra. 

“He brings an ability to score,” O’Hara head coach Ryan Nemetz said about the 6-foot-1 guard. “But he also facilitates, which helps guys like Izaiah and Josh get theirs as well. 

“Flash is a very well rounded guard and even Izaiah and Josh are starting to figure out how to play together to complement their games. The flow is starting to get better in that regard and (Flash) helps facilitate that.” 

“It’s great playing with him,” junior classmate McGuinn said. “He creates a lot of space and he’ll always find me when I’m open. He’s not the type to just go off on his own.” 

The junior guard earned the nickname ‘Flash’ as a kid when he was playing for a neighborhood league team called the South Philly Bulldogs. His coach bestowed the nickname because he made flashy passes and shots. 

He stays true to his nickname today, playing with that same flare. 

Flash transferred to O’Hara after his sophomore season at the Public League’s MCS where he averaged 9.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 43% from the field. 

“In the summertime, the guys kinda found out quickly that he can play with us,” Nemetz said. “The style he plays fits our system really well. He’s been consistent from the beginning.” 

Burton’s acclimation to his new team was made easier through an overnight workout with Pasha during the summer. The then-soon-to-be teammates worked on skills and then battled one-on-one for 30 minutes. 

“That’s when we really got competitive and we got close off that,” Burton said. “When I got close to Izaiah, everyone was cool.” 

Flash admitted that the 6-foot-4 Iona commit got the best of him that night. However, he said things would be different if the two Division 1 prospects squared off again.

“I feel like right now I would cook him,” he said. 

The remaining players welcomed Flash into the fold almost immediately as his pleasant disposition made everything easy. 

“Within the first week you could just tell that he was family to us,” the 6-foot-7 McGuinn added. “He’s really great off the court. You can really communicate with him and talk to him. He’s a great guy.”

“Anytime after school before we have practice we always go to eat. We always bring him with us and we just really bonded with him and it's great.” 

Burton and his new teammates’ looked in-sync in their 71-58 win over Public League opponent Sankofa Freedom on Wednesday night. The Lions’ excellent defense and balanced offense proved too much for the Warriors (4-5). 

“We stayed disciplined to our principles,” Nemetz said about the win. “When we stay principled, we are able to get deflections and turnovers and then we are able to get out in transition.I think we held them to only seven points in the second quarter after giving up 15. We locked up and that was the key, sticking to what we do as a system defensively.” 

During the second half, Sankofa struggled to get into an offensive rhythm against the Lions’ alternating 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 zones that disrupted passing lanes and created easy buckets for Nemetz’s squad. 

O’Hara’s half-court offense had its way as well. 

Burton scored 10 points, collected three rebounds, and added one steal, block, and assist. Even though his stat sheet lacked pop, his facilitating role helped balance Pasha and Coulanges’ attack and helped McGuinn assert himself over Sankofa’s interior defense. 

Pasha scored at all three levels, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two assists. The 6-foot-1 Coulanges had 18 points, two offensive rebounds, and one assist.  McGuinn, who earned game MVP honors, totaled 18 points, four rebounds, two steals, and one block.

“I missed a lot of shots I usually make,” Burton said. “But my teammates kept me involved. So, I’m proud of that. I feel like we did our job.” 

Nemetz was proud about his team’s overall performance, but he’s particularly excited about Flash’s future contributions when PCL play begins. 

“He’s almost had a triple double in two or three games,” Nemetz said about Flash’s early season success. “He’s been very consistent for us. His IQ is very high so his game will translate well to how I envision us playing in the PCL. I think he’ll do well when we start up in January.” 

The PCL is one of the best high school league’s in the country and Burton is pumped to compete against the best and play in energetic environments night-in and night-out.

“Everyone comes to the Catholic League games” he said. “Every game is gonna be packed. The crowd intensity, that's what I really like, going to away games. I really like playing away games.” 

Burton embraces the villain role.

Though his game still lives up to his nickname, he’s not trying to win games with finesse and grace. Burton wants his opponents to dominate and humiliate his opponents … and maybe quiet a few more gyms with tomahawk dunks before the season is over.

“It's like when I get in that mood,” he said. “I just wanna hurt people’s feelings. Like most of the time, I see myself as the villain. And I like that. I like killing you in front of everybody you know.”

By Quarter:

O’Hara:  14 | 27 | 15 | 15 || 71

Sankofa: 15 | 6 | 18 | 17 || 56

Scoring:

O’Hara: Pasha 18, Coulanges 18, McQuinn 18, Burton 10, Johnson 6, Cervellero 3, Hobbs 2

Sankofa: Alston 22, Williams 12, Coleman 7, Holt 6, Hosten 4, Hardy 3, Brown 2