skip navigation

PIAA 1A: City School falls just short against unbeaten Linville Hill

03/15/2023, 12:30am EDT
By Corky Blake

Corky Blake (@corkyblake)

The City School boys basketball team climbed the mountain and came oh-so-close to planting its flag on a monumental upset in the PIAA Class A second round Tuesday night.

But the closing three minutes belonged to District 3 champion Linville Hill Christian as the Warriors scored the final eight points to improve to 23-0 with a 50-42 victory over The City School at Pottstown’s Earl Strom Gymnasium.

Linville Hill and Radnor were the only boys teams who came into the PIAA tournaments with perfect records. Through the opening 16 minutes and first two minutes of the third quarter, the Warriors certainly looked the part. They led 38-20 as senior center Daniel King scored five unanswered points to start the third.


Jamil DaSouza (above) and City School almost upset unbeaten Linville Hill. (Photo: Corky Blake/CoBL)

“At halftime, I asked our guys ‘think about tonight and what you would have done differently,’” City School coach Barry DeVine said. “Once you do, go out and do that in the second half.”

“The second half we came out and played with more energy, and that built our confidence,” said City School senior Jamil DeSouza. “The key to our comeback was defense. We got up closer on their guys. And we hit some 3s.”

City School’s rally began with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Jasin Custus. After Jaden Johnson drove for a basket, DeSouza splashed 3s around a trey from Shawn Murphy.

In less than four minutes, the District 12 champion was within 38-34 of Linville Hill.

“We got more aggressive and extended our defense (in the second half),” DeVine said. “We had some trouble against their flex offense in the first half.”

Custus added another layup to open the fourth quarter. Murphy made two free throws, and sophomore Albert Davis, with ice in his veins, stroked a smooth 3 from the right side to tie the game at 42-42 with 4:25 remaining.

But those would be the final points of the season for City School.

The Lions missed a go-ahead runner in the lane and then committed a turnover on the next possession with the game still tied.

“I think our youth showed there,” DeVine said. 

The Warriors finally regained the lead as senior guard Matt Lapp took charge and roared down the lane for a right-handed layup and 44-42 edge with 2:40 to go. Lapp added two more by scoring under the basket on an inbound play, and King (19 points) made four free throws in the final 1:10 to advance Linville Hill into the quarterfinals.


Jasir Johnson (above) hit three 3-pointers in the first half. (Photo: Corky Blake/CoBL)

City School shot 11-for-28 from 3-point range and only made a pair of two-point field goals against Linville Hill’s 2-3 zone. DeSouza topped the Lions with 12 points.

“They didn’t want us to go downhill against them,” said Jasir Johnson, who made all three of his 3s in the first half. “I was confident shooting (3s) and feeling it tonight.”

DeSousa made four 3s and Davis two.

“The other team was smart and went zone against us,” DeVine said. “When we saw them, they played man but were smart to keep us from getting into transition. They dared us to shoot, and we responded.”

The City School’s second season playing in the PIAA ended at 23-4. The 2022-23 campaign included winning the Penn-Jersey League American Division. Custus and Jasir Johnson made the league’s first team and DeSouza was a second-team choice.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished the past two years,” said Jasir Johnson, who intends to play at the Division III level next winter.

“We built a close connection this year,” added DeSouza, who’s also looking to continue his basketball career in college. “Some transfers came in and we made them part of the team. Winning a game and playing in (state tournament) is big for me and the program.”

~~~

By Quarter
City School
: 11  |   9   |  15  |   7   ||  42
Linville Hill:  17  |  16  |   8   |   9   ||  50

Shooting
The City School: 13-41 FGA (11-28 3PT), 5-6 FT
Linville Hill Christian:  18-31 FGA  (1-5 3PT) FT 13-24

Scoring
The City School: Jasin Custus 5, Jasir Johnson 9, Jaden Johnson 2, Jamil DiSouza 12, Shawn Murray 8, Albert Davis 6

Linville Hill Christian: Reagan Smoker 3, Tim Fisher 3, Stephen Smucker 13, Matt Lapp 8, Daniel King 19, Gage Juste 4

~~~

Girls 6A
(3-1) Cedar Cliff 39, (1-6) Upper Dublin 26
(7-2) Upper St. Clair 42, (1-4) Pennsbury 31
(1-9) Abington 40, (1-8) Springfield-Delco 35
(12-1) Cardinal O’Hara 42, (1-3) Spring-Ford 39
(12-3) Archbishop Carroll 41, (1-1) Perkiomen Valley 38 (OT)

Boys 5A
(1-1) Radnor 75, (12-3) West Philadelphia 61
(12-2) Archbishop Ryan 59, (1-5) West Chester East 46
(12-1) Imhotep Charter 68, (3-5) Muhlenberg 32

Boys 4A
(3-5) Eastern York 75, (12-2) Overbrook 54
(11-1) Allentown Central Catholic 49, (12-3) Cardinal O’Hara 46
(12-1) Neumann-Goretti 74, (11-2) Bethlehem Catholic 49

Girls 3A
(4-1) Mt. Carmel Area 48, (12-2) West Catholic 38
(3-1) Lancaster Catholic 64, (1-1) New Hope-Solebury 54

Girls 2A
(1-1) Faith Christian 35, (4-1) South Williamsport 28
(1-2) Sacred Heart Acad. 42, (4-2) Line Mountain 40

Boys 1A
(1-1) Chester Charter 56, (4-2) Northumberland Christian 38
(3-1) Linville Hill 50, (12-1) City School 42
(1-2) Phil-Mont Christian 57, (3-5) Mount Calvary Christian 46


D-I Coverage:

HS Coverage:

Small-College News:

Tag(s): Home  High School  Boys HS