City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Each year, before the season begins, Joe Dempsey and Jim Donofrio get together at Phil’s Tavern in Blue Bell for a meal and a couple cold beverages. 

It’s a tradition that goes back quite a few years, its roots coming from their years growing up as friends in Conshohocken, though Donofrio — a 1981 graduate of Plymouth Whitemarsh, where he’s been head coach since 1998 — is a few years older than Dempsey, who graduated in 1984 from now-closed Archbishop Kennedy. 

“We’ve known each other a little bit now,” Donofrio said. “Probably about 45 years.”

“We grew up in the same area, played at the same parks, we both played at the Fellowship House [...] we go back, we’re such good friends,” Dempsey said. “We stay in touch throughout the year. I know the way he thinks and the way he coaches.”

When Dempsey was head coach at La Salle (2004-18), which he led to the PIAA Class AAAA championship game in 2014, he routinely brought his teams over to P-W for scrimmages, played in their spring leagues, and the two borrowed each other’s gym when needed. The Catholic League and Suburban One League schools only played once in that time, according to Dempsey, a P-W win at Cheltenham as part of a Coaches vs. Cancer event.  

(“He’s younger than me,” Donofrio said in a text. “Better memory.”)

Dempsey took over at Spring-Ford last year, putting him in District 1 for the first time, and it hasn’t taken long at all for the two friends to meet up in a big game. The two have become rivals for a week, as they will face off this Saturday in the District 1 Class 6A championship, 6 PM at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

Both of their teams are having fantastic seasons: No. 1 Spring-Ford is 25-2, the Pioneer Athletic Conference champions, with a 20-game win streak in between its first and last game of the regular season; No. 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh is 26-2, the Suburban One league champs, without a loss in 2023. 

Donofrio, who won his 500th game at P-W earlier this season, will be going for just his second District 1 championship, in his seventh attempt. It’s a game he’s found himself matched up against some of the other best coaches in the area, like Abington’s Charles Grasty or late Chester coach Larry Yarbray (or Lower Merion’s Gregg Downer, in the semifinals), and Dempsey is no exception.

“(I’ve gotten) a chance to see how detailed he is, and how focused he is, he’s a great coach and we’re both basketball junkies, in terms of analyzing the game and talking about the psychology of kids,” Donofrio said. “It doesn’t surprise me that in (a couple) years he’s gotten them into a nice basketball passion.

“Coach Downer and then Coach Joe, they’ve got me putting my thinking cap on,” he added. “Kinda fun, and nerve-wracking at the same time.”

Spring-Ford had established itself as a top-half program in the Pioneer Athletic Conference under Chris Talley, who always had the Rams competitive, with several small-college prospects coming out of the program. But this is the best they’ve ever been, Dempsey taking advantage of the foundation Talley built in the district and a strong youth program, as well as the best young crop of talent that’s come through Royersford. 

“We do have a fair number of young kids playing currently and we have a lot of nice players in the freshman and sophomore class,” Dempsey said. “The number one thing we wanted to do was build on what Chris Talley’s done and just maybe turn the culture up a couple notches in terms of just the expectations and what the kids are capable of [...] I think I got the word out that if you want to play serious basketball and you want to remain in the district and not head to one of the private schools, you can get a great experience here.”

The Rams’ youth movement starts with sophomore guard Jacob Nguyen, a talented 6-foot-3 combo guard and sharpshooter, still just 15 years old and with a great upside. He’s one of two sophomores in the starting lineup, along with 6-4 wing Tommy Kelly, who brings a lot of versatility to the floor. They’re joined in the starting lineup by junior guard EJ Campbell and seniors Caleb Little, a point guard, and wing forward Alex Lewis.

Off the bench, Dempsey uses senior guard Tyree Banks, senior forward Zach Zollers, senior guard Mike McKenna and freshman forward Oben Mokonchu, though the top five, plus Banks and Zollers, see the majority of the minutes. It’s a defensive-minded group, one which has held 10 opponents this season to 40 points or less, but they can score it too when needed.

Campbell has been on a tear this postseason, scoring 27 points on 8-of-8 shooting (3-3 3PT, 8-8 FT) in the semifinal win over No. 5 Downingtown West, which lifted Spring-Ford into its first-ever district championship game a year after they finished 13-9 and missed out on the district playoffs entirely.”

“It’s been surreal,” Campbell said. “Nobody thought we were going to (go) this far [...] we surprised a lot of people.”

That Plymouth Whitemarsh is at this point is less of a surprise. The Colonials looked strong this summer and into the fall, Donofrio having a roster that was clearly one of the best in District 1, a few key holdovers joined by a big-time transfer that’s been a significant boost: Chase Coleman, the former Archbishop Carroll guard who’s back in the area for his junior year after leaving Philadelphia for his sophomore campaign.

Coleman has joined with senior wing Qudire Bennett and junior guard Jaden Colzie to form a talented three-man backcourt for the Colonials, who’ve always thrived off uptempo, aggressive, confident shot-makers and shot-takers and a full-court pressure defense, but this year’s been a little different. 

“What I think has us at a higher level this year is that I don’t have to [press] — I know people think we do, the reputation is always 90 feet and doing some kind of trapping, but honestly we’re not doing that much of it,” Donofrio said, “and what that means is you have a really solid defensive team.”

While the product of Bennett, Coleman and Colzie — who combined for 46 points in PW’s 64-58 win over No. 2 Lower Merion in the semifinals — has been expected, a few others have stepped up to make the Colonials really dangerous this season. That includes senior forward Lincoln Sharpe, a multi-sport athlete who Donofrio said “came out of nowhere” to become a key piece after skipping basketball season last year to focus on baseball,  senior wing Jimmy Flowers, who leads a deep bench, and junior wing Jahseir Sayles, a 6-4 wing with big-time athleticism and really good length.

While Sayles tried to make his impact in the offseason as a slashing and shooting option, it’s his play on the other end of the floor that has made him a valuable part of the rotation.

“He’s kind of defined himself this season by becoming a perimeter defensive guy at 6-foot-5, with length, who can cover guards,” Donofrio said. “It’s just fun to watch how he has brought a fiery intensity with discipline [...] it alters what we can do.”

The tempo battle will be key towards deciding the victor on Saturday, which also includes rebounding and turnovers — if Spring-Ford can’t do well in either category, the Rams will have trouble controlling the tempo, and vice-versa — but the biggest factor might be the arena itself.

Both Donofrio and Dempsey have coached on big stages before, but none of their kids have ever played in an arena the size of the Liacouras Center, which seats nearly 10,000. It won’t be full the same way the Palestra is for Catholic League championships — but even a crowd of three to four thousand will be significantly more than any of the players are used to, not to mention the bigger court and its collegiate 3-point arc, which always proves to be a mental barrier for those not used to it. 

Whichever team manages to ignore all the noise and just keep doing what it’s been doing will be in a good spot.

“I keep telling the kids, stay in your lane — if you’re not good at something, don’t do it, it’s not the time to try it,” Dempsey said. “If you’re not a 3-point shooter, don’t be trying that at the Liacouras Center. If you’re not a great dribbler and you look up and find Coleman or Colzie or somebody on you, today’s not the day to experiment with your left-handed, between-the-legs dribble. 

“It’s just about that, staying in your lane, not getting hyped up when you see the big arena, (because) there will probably be a decent crowd, and just not trying to do too much.”