City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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NORTHEAST — Not that long ago Yahmir Satterfield was a middle schooler watching former Imhotep standouts Fatts Russell and David Beatty guide the Panthers to a 31-2 mark during their senior seasons, winning Public League, District 12 and PIAA championships along the way.

It was hard not to think of himself one day suiting up for Imhotep and leading a team on a similar run.

“I felt as though I could do the same thing or match that type of legacy that they had,” Satterfield recalled.

Satterfield, now a senior in the Panthers starting lineup for the first time, is living out his dream.

He and the Panthers improved to 25-3 on Thursday night at Abraham Lincoln High School with a 69-58 District 12 5A championship win over Archbishop Ryan. Satterfield clung to the title in the championship picture, the second one the Panthers have taken this season after finishing off their Public League title run this past weekend.

“It’s very big, especially being a senior, we’re just trying to go out winning every thing like we did last year and even more,” Satterfield said.

The Imhotep boys basketball team poses with its District 12 5A championship plaque after Thursday's win over Archbishop Ryan at Abraham Lincoln HS. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Satterfield is one of seven seniors on the Panthers’ roster, sharing the floor with classmates Justin Edwards, Rahmir Barno and Amaury Hunter and junior Ahmad Nowell to begin Thursday’s championship contest.

Edwards, a Kentucky-bound forward, scored 18 points before taking a blow to the face that sent him to the locker room with 4:44 left in the third quarter (He got six stitches after the game). Nowell added 17 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of steals and blocks, and Barno totaled nine points, eight assists and five steals, while Satterfield finished with eight. 

Unlike Barno and Edwards, who saw action early in their Imhotep careers, Satterfield’s moment took time. He was the eighth or ninth player in the rotation last season before earning his spot as a starter heading into his senior campaign.

“I’ve seen my role get bigger pretty much as I’ve continued to work harder,” Satterfield said. “Just coming in as a freshman and seeing my guys Justin and Rahmir work hard to get where they got and me just coming up after them was definitely big.”

Satterfield said the biggest thing he focused on to carve out a starting role this offseason was his shot. It took a little while for the Panthers to get going, but Satterfield hit a pair of threes to give them an 8-6 lead three and a half minutes into Thursday’s game and Imhotep never trailed again.

Ryan junior guard Ryan Everett, who finished with 12 points, knocked down a pair of triples early in the second quarter and Jaden Murray scored a basket to trim a 19-10 Imhotep lead down to five. The Panthers responded with a 19-3 run to close the second half. Steals by Barno and freshman R.J. Smith sparked the rally that gave Imhotep a 41-21 lead at the break.

“He’s capable, he’s been hitting shots, we expect him to,” Imhotep coach Andre Noble said of Satterfield. “He’s a captain, a three-year captain of our team. We expect him to be big for us. He’s been a team player his entire four years here, and he’s important to our team.”

Imhotep led 49-29 when Edwards went down in the third quarter and still held a 55-34 lead heading into the fourth. Ryan junior guard Darren Williams, who finished with 22 points, and junior big man Thomas Sorber, who finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, combined for 16 points in the fourth and freshman Brett Mariani added another five.

The Raiders got as close as 10 in the final minute, but made their run much too little to put any real pressure on the Panthers.

“We knew that they were gonna come with the press, and we tried to do too much with dribbling the ball,” Archbishop Ryan coach Joe Zieglinski said. “Our spacing wasn’t great for a couple possessions and once they get one, they get more excited and we kind of had a rough stretch there that ended up getting the game out of reach at halftime.

“We battled in the second half, and I loved what we did in the second half, had some young guys in there playing tough and making shots.”

Imhotep will host District 1 sixth seed Holy Ghost next Friday, March 10 in the first round of the state tournament, while Archbishop Ryann will take on District 1 eighth seed West Chester Rustin. Noble said dreams of a state run will quickly fade if the defending state champion Panthers don’t tighten some things up.

“Did not handle the ball well, too many turnovers, unforced, no reason.” Noble said. “We gotta play better if we want to win a state championship. That’s not good enough.”

Edwards is bound for Kentucky next season, while Barno is headed to Florida Gulf Coast. Satterfield won’t be suiting up next to the No. 1 player in the country as he continues his hoops career, but he should have plenty of high-level hoops ahead with offers from West Chester and Kutztown on the table.

He’s taken a visit to West Chester and has one planned at Kutztown later this spring, hopefully following a state title run that cements him and his teammates as one of the best in Imhotep history.

 “Just to go out like this, being a starter, doing a whole bunch in my senior year, having a bigger role in my senior year, it’s just a lot,” Satterfield said. “I’m thankful, and I appreciate the time and the moment that I have.”

By Quarter

Archbishop Ryan 10 | 11 | 13 | 24 || 58 

Imhotep Charter  19 | 22 | 14 | 14 || 69

Scoring

Archbishop Ryan: Darren Williams 22, Thomas Sorber 14, Ryan Everett 12, Brett Mariani 5, Jaden Murray 4, Zaire Paris 1.