City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It wasn’t the way Dobbins wanted to earn a state tournament bid, but a win’s a win.

The Public League semifinalists were well in control of a District 12 5A play-in game between themselves and Bonner-Prendergast, up 16 in the closing minutes, Bonner coach Billy Cassidy all but giving the ‘it’s been a good season’ speech to his squad, when they almost gave it away.

The Friars got within a point but no closer, the Mustangs holding on for a 56-54 win at Father Judge on Wednesday to earn the fourth seed out of District 12 in the upcoming state tournament. 

“We definitely had it in the bag, but it was like, I don’t know what happened,” senior wing Kareem Diaz said. “We just stopped, we just gave up on defense and not boxing out, and they were hungry, they weren’t letting off, they were trying to get up.”

Dobbins led 54-38 with under three minutes remaining when it all nearly came undone. A three-ball by Bonner senior Brady Eagan and then a couple foul shots by junior Deuce Ketner cut it to an 11-point game, but those two weren’t done. A Ketner 3-pointer was followed by a Dobbins turnover which put Eagan at the line. He made the first, missed the second, got his own rebound and the put-back, then stole the ball and laid it in.

Suddenly, with 40 seconds still to play, it was a 54-51 ballgame, and the Bonner bench and fans were in a tizzy. Another Dobbins turnover led to two more Ketner foul shots, and the 6-foot-6 wing buried them with 23 seconds to play, the last of his 20 points.

Dobbins was finally able to break the Bonner press, getting a Diaz layup with 13 seconds remaining, Bonner getting the ball upcourt and calling timeout with four seconds to play. Eagan — who rounded out his 16 points with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists — took a jumper from the right wing and was fouled with 1.3 seconds left but the referees ruled his foot was on the line, awarding him two foul shots; he hit the first and intentionally missed the second, getting the rebound but his final shot hit back iron, falling into a Dobbins players’ hands as the buzzer sounded.

“I just told them that, since we’ve had a couple close calls like this one, I told them we can’t do this, we’ve been lucky on a few occasions and we’ve just got to know when to execute,” Dobbins coach Derrick Stanton said. “You have to play and be ready to play.”

Stanton’s clipboard took the brunt of the former West Point instructor’s frustrations as Dobbins committed turnover after turnover in those final two minutes — 10 in the second half, 17 for the game — causing him to slam it to the ground for emphasis. 

“I don’t curse, so a lot of times, I take it out on that,” he said, laughing. “I think I’ve only broken one, to be honest with you.”

Junior guard Saleem Hudson disagreed: “Like three or four,” he said. “We’re used to it, though. He just expects more from us.

“I like coaches like that, that don’t cut you no slack,” Hudson added. “He expects a lot from us, and turns us into better young men over the year doing all that.”

Stanton has set the bar high for Dobbins, and the Mustangs have delivered for their second-year head coach. The win over the Bonner -- which was playing without juniors Reggie Selden Jr., Kevin Rucker Jr. and Nelson Lamizana, the three transfers ineligible for PIAA playoffs -- lifted them to 25-2 on the season, the best season the Mustangs have had in quite a while, making it to the Public League semifinals for the first time in more than a decade, their goal to win a few games in states and make some noise the same way West Philly did a year ago, an underdog group that all puts it together for a special season that few saw coming.

So when he slams that board down, it’s for a reason — he wants his players to be able to experience as much of their season as they can, as much basketball as they can, as much time with their teammates and their coaches as they can.

“What I tell them all the time is, ‘you don’t understand how important it’s going to be,’” he said. “When you’re 25, 26 years old, you’re going to look back on it and say ‘we made a run.’ There’s thousands of high school basketball players that never get this opportunity; I want them to take advantage of that and give their all, don’t ever leave and say ‘wow, if I did this, maybe we could have gone to Hershey.’ 

“That’s what I tell them, always give them reminders of how important this is and how fleeting time is — before you know it, you’re going to be coming back, watching these guys and trying to explain to them,hey, you want to take advantage, because when we went to play so-and-so school, we had a great time or a great experience.”

Stanton’s message is generally getting through: the Mustangs defend and share the ball at a high level, with Hudson setting the tone in both of those regards on Wednesday. The 6-2 junior guard scored five points but much more importantly dished out seven assists and came away with six steals, creating a number of odd-man opportunities that resulted in buckets. 

(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Diaz (above), the versatile 6-5 lefty, was the beneficiary of a number of those, finishing with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, showing why a number of area D-III programs are all over his recruitment. Junior guard Zach Campbell (10 points, 9 rebounds) and sophomore guard Jarrell Little (10 points) joined him in double figures. Freshman guard Makaii Akridge popped off the bench for a couple 3-pointers, including one just ahead of the halftime buzzer to send Dobbins into the break up 26-22. They also were without senior guard and usual starter Faheem Robinson, bothered by a wrist injury; they’re hopeful to have him back by the time the state tournament begins.

“I feel like once we get it rolling, a lot of people can’t beat us,” Hudson said. “We’ve just got to stick together.”

In the first round of the state tournament, Dobbins will play the District 2 champions, either Abington Heights or West Scranton, who play on Friday in the championship for the northeast corner of the state. It’s the Mustangs’ first time in the state tournament since 2020, when they lost by 21 to Panther Valley in the first round of the 3A bracket on the backs of an 11-13 season.

Suffice to say there’s a much different feeling this time around. The goal is to win at least a couple games and make it to a likely quarterfinal matchup with Imhotep Charter, who beat them in the Pub semifinals on their way to an easier win in the championship than they got from the Mustangs. 

“We just want to go at each other hard and make each other better,” Hudson said. “We’re not coming here to lose, we want to go far in the states, maybe meet Imhotep again.”

By Quarter
Dobbins:  13  |  13  |  15  |  15  ||  56
Bonner:    11  |  11  |  11  |  21  ||  54

Shooting
Dobbins: 21-45 FG (5-17 3PT), 9-12 FT
Bonner: 18-48 FG (4-24 3PT), 14-19 FT

Scoring
Dobbins: Kareem Davis 23, Zachary Campbell 10, Jarrell Little 10, Makaii Akridge 6, Saleem Hudson 5, Gabriel Galloway 2

Bonner: Deuce Kenter 20, Brady Eagan 16, Zach Coneys 6, Jamal Hicks 5, Tommy Venditti 5, Brett Johnson 2

~~~

Archbishop Wood rolls Olney in 6A qualifier

By the time the third quarter ended, there was no doubt about who’d be punching a ticket to the Class 6A state tournament. 

Archbishop Wood delivered a sound defeat to Olney in the District 12 6A play-in game, 88-47, ending their season, while also giving Wood their fifth straight state tournament berth. It didn’t take long for the PCL semifinalists to distance themselves from Olney, commanding a 45-27 lead going into the half. From there the Vikings never let up, dominating the rest of the game en route to a win. 

With the game blown wide open going into the fourth (72-33), Wood was able to sit their starters and key rotational players.

“We got everybody in at the end of the game,” head coach John Mosco said. “We had the lead, so it was good to get them in and get guys some minutes.”

Sophomore Carey ‘Deuce’ Maxey led all scorers with 17 points, followed by senior Eric Gardner scoring 13 points off the bench, all in the fourth quarter, with Milan Dean Jr. and Jalil Bethea both finishing with 12 apiece. 

“We shared the ball and a lot of guys scored,” Mosco said. “We ended up with 26 assists on 35 buckets, so it was worth it.” 

With this tournament berth, Wood will either face CB East or Upper Darby in the first round of the PIAA 6A tournament, but they won’t know who until those two teams face each other on Friday in a seeding game.

“We’ll get tape on em’, we’ll see who we’re playing,” Mosco said. “We’ll gameplan for them and then get ready to play that Saturday for the first round.” 

Wood has been in this position before, four years in a row as a matter of fact. The Vikings have made the 6A tournament the last four years, advancing to the championship game in three of those four tournaments (‘19, ‘21, ‘22), the 2020 year being unfinished due to Covid-19. In their three championship games, they lost each of them, including to PCL foe Roman in last year’s title game.

Wood, who won their first and only state championship in 2017, and missed the tournament altogether in 2018 will look to make a deep run, and possibly secure their second championship in school history. 

“Kids are happy, they know we don’t have to put the uniforms away so we get to play for another day,” Mosco said. “Now it’s win or go home.” — Myles Berry

By Quarter
Wood: 14  |  31  |  27  |  16  ||  88
Olney: 10  |  17  |   6   |  14  ||  47

Scoring
Wood: Carey Maxey 17, Eric Gardner 13, Milan Dean 12, Jalil Bethea 12, Gus Salem 9, Josh Reed 8, Carson Howard 6, Liam Breslin 3, Mike Green 3, Joseph Kelly 3, Markus Dixon 2

Olney: Matthew Roman 9, Shyheed Taylor 8, Samir Boyer 7, Tiyon Thomas 6, Stewart Clark 5, Yusef Frazier 5, Bahsir Barrow 3, Sabree Glover 2, Salot Young 2