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PIAA Semifinal Preview: Mon., March 20

03/20/2023, 12:15am EDT
By CoBL Staff

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)

The number of teams still playing in the 2022-23 season is rapidly dwindling. The PIAA season is down to the state semifinals, which begin Monday night with action in the boys’ 1A, 4A and 5A classes as well as the girls’ 2A, 3A and 6A classifications.

Only three games featuring local teams will take place that evening, all in the Philadelphia area, and two of them are rematches. Here’s an in-depth look at all three:

Boys 5A: (12-1) Imhotep Charter (28-3) vs. (12-2) Archbishop Ryan (17-10)
7 PM @ St. Joe’s Prep


Imhotep's Yahmir Satterfield, right, goes up for a shot on Archbishop Ryan's Thomas Sorber during the District 12 championship game earlier this month. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

These two local powers met up three weeks ago in the District 12 title game on March 2 when Imhotep rolled until Ryan tightened things up with a late push to make it 69-58. Panthers’ Kentucky-bound wing Justin Edwards finished with 18 points despite taking a shot to the face in that one that took him out of the game midway through the third and forced him to get stitches after the game. 

Imhotep has yet to be challenged in the state tournament with wins over Holy Ghost Prep (85-33), Muhlenberg (68-32) and Abington Heights (65-38) on its way to the semifinals. Edwards, a 6-7 small forward ranked No. 1 in the country by ESPN, can dominate on both ends of the floor, putting up 31 against Abington Heights. Classmate Rahmir Barno, a Florida Gulf Coast commit, and junior Ahmad Nowell, a nationally ranked prospect, are both 1,000-point career scorers as well. Senior Yahmir Satterfield is a strong defender who can knock down shots and junior forwards Ma’Kye Taylor and Jeremiah White add plenty of size. Freshman guard R.J. Smith is fun to watch off the bench and fellow freshman Zaahir Muhammad Gray has seen extended action in the postseason as well. Seniors Baasil Saunders and Malcolm Muhammad would be big pieces on most other squads.

Ryan junior 6-9 forward Thomas Sorber is a high-major prospect coming off a 12-point, 12-rebound, nine-block in a win over previously unbeaten Radnor. Junior guard Darren Williams, who filled it up for 28 in the win over Radnor, can fill it up and lock down on defense as well. Senior guard Zaire Paris leads Ryan at the point. The Raiders also have junior guard Ryan Everett, who can get hot from deep, and 6-6 junior wing Jaden Murray, who will have his hands full against a Panthers team with a lot of size. 

Imhotep, ranked as one of the top teams in the country, is certainly the favorite to win this one. A 77-68 win over MCS on Jan. 10 was the only time a PIAA team hung with the Panthers this season. The size of Edwards and whoever else Imhotep threw at Sorber slowed him down in the District 12 title game. Williams had 22 and Everett got hot from deep with four threes in that one, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with a loaded ‘Tep squad as Imhotep’s defense overwhelmed the Raiders and forced a large number of turnovers and fastbreak buckets. It would take a much cleaner offensive performance, some red-hot shooting and a terrific defensive performance for Ryan to pull off the upset.

Boys 4A: (12-1) Neumann-Goretti (25-3) vs. (11-1) Allentown CC (23-8)
7 PM @ Pottstown

This Class 4A semifinal matches up the classification’s last two state champions with the Vikings winning in 2021 and the Saints winning last season. Neumann-Goretti wasn’t at its sharpest in a 74-64 quarterfinal win over Bishop Shanahan, but junior guard Robert Wright III, a Baylor commit, took over in the fourth quarter as the Saints pulled away in the second half. Allentown Central Catholic knocked off one Catholic League squad, Cardinal O’Hara, in the second round before cruising past Eastern York, 60-44, in the quarters. The Saints are the reigning state champions and loaded once again, but will likely need a more complete effort to take down the District 11 champions.

Wright, who was recently named the Pa. Gatorade Player of the Year, is a strong point guard who can take over a game with his scoring or distributing. Senior 6-8 big man Sultan Adewale can take over at times as well for the Saints, while junior 6-5 wing Amir Williams can get hot from deep and provides a lot of length on the defensive end — both D-I recruits as well. Wright’s backcourt mate Khaafiq Myers, another D-I recruit, has been out with an injury. Freshman guard Stephon Ashley-Wright, Wright’s younger brother, has stepped into his place, adding a hounding defensive presence to the lineup. Senior 6-2 guard Bruce Smith flies somewhat under the radar but he has a knack for knocking down big shots and adds plenty of toughness and a veteran presence.

Allentown Central Catholic is led by a pair of sophomore guards in Lucas Mushrush and Jahrel Vigo. Mushrush is a microwave from deep, hitting the game-winner against O’Hara in the second round. Senior guards Nick Pulieri and Anthony Jones are the other two the Vikings lean on while 6-8 junior forward David Fridia adds some size to the group. Vigo finished with 16 and Mushrush finished with 12 in the win over Eastern York.

Even shorthanded without Myers, the Saints look like one of the best teams in the state. Many have tried to slow Wright to no avail. The margin gets slimmer for N-G however against a program with a winning pedigree, size and talent. If the Saints don’t take care of the ball or come out on a cold shooting night, the Vikings have plenty of firepower to knock them off.

Girls 6A: (12-1) Cardinal O’Hara (23-5) vs. (12-3) Archbishop Carroll (14-11)
7 PM @ Garnet Valley

It’s a Delco Catholic League battle for a trip to Hershey, and these two programs have no shortage of familiarity with one another. The two schools, separated by a 15-minute drive down the Blue Route, played each other in last year’s Catholic League championship game, a dominant O’Hara win (55-30) after Carroll had gotten the better of the two during the regular season. This year, it was O’Hara who won the regular-season matchup, 40-36 on Jan. 26, in a game where Carroll opened up a 15-0 lead in the first quarter and change before O’Hara found its footing, a 15-4 third quarter getting them back into it.

O’Hara sophomore Molly Rullo, as she’s been doing much of the season, led the Lions with 17 points in that first encounter, the 5-10 wing scoring nine of those in the fourth quarter. Rullo, a Division I recruit and daughter of two former Drexel standouts, is coming off a 31-point performance in a 20-point quarterfinal win over Central York, setting a new career high in the process. Her and junior guard Joanie Quinn, who picked up a La Salle offer last month, have been sharing scoring duties, while junior forward Carly Coleman, junior guard Greta Miller, senior point guard Bridget Dawson and freshman point guard Megan Rullo have found their moments to contribute a big shot while playing strong defense. 

Carroll, which got by Abington 55-43 in the quarterfinals after dispatching District 1 champs Perkiomen Valley in overtime the round before, has been getting consistently strong play from senior forward Taylor Wilson, the 6-0 Army commit going for double figures in all three state games so far. Freshman Alexis Eberz had a big game with 24 points against Abington, while Brooke Wilson — Taylor’s younger sister, a junior guard — added 12 points and 18 rebounds against an undersized Ghosts squad. 

This one’s going to come down to two things: defensive details and shot-making. Both teams are going to be as locked in as possible defensively, making it difficult to create off the bounce and find open shooters, and you can bet that both teams are going to have to work and move the ball to find a sliver of an opening. With two teams that are ready to take advantage of any defender who’s a step slow or doesn’t make the right rotation, this will come down to which team leaves shooters open as little as possible, and which team is able to knock down the open looks it gets. 


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