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PIAA 5A: Hershey-bound Imhotep crashes Ryan's chances with second-half surge

03/21/2023, 12:45am EDT
By Owen McCue

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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PHILADELPHIA — Two and a half weeks ago, Imhotep’s defensive pressure swallowed up Archbishop Ryan to turn the District 12 title game into an early rout.

Two title wave-like runs in the first half washed away the Raiders' hopes before they could really start to build.

Joe Zeglinski’s squad got another crack at putting together an upset over the Panthers in Monday’s PIAA 5A semifinal at St. Joe’s Prep. Through 16 minutes, they worked their way within one, even briefly holding the lead.

Then finally the looming wave crashed, unraveling the Raiders’ hard work in about three minutes like a sandcastle washed away at high tide.


Imhotep's Justin Edwards (3) dunks on Archbishop Ryan's Zaire Paris. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Imhotep swarmed the Raiders to start the third quarter, jumping ahead by double digits early in the period on the way to a 72-50 win. Junior guard Ahmad Nowell had 23 and seniors Justin Edwards and Rahmir Barno both had 14 as the defending state champions booked another trip to Hershey where they will hope to finish off their season with state gold against Exeter on Friday night.

“They made adjustments,” Imhotep coach Andre Noble said. “I knew they were (going to) and I didn’t know what he was going to do. Joe’s a good coach. They made adjustments with our pressure, which we expected and did a better job of handling it early, but we made it harder a little bit later. We didn’t need to get 20, we just needed a little quick run to separate.”

Imhotep’s pressure got to Ryan early in the March 2 matchup — a 69-58 Panthers’ win. The Panthers led by 20 by halftime after blitzing the Raiders with big runs in the first and second quarters.

Zeiglinski came out with a plan to slow Imhotep’s offense on Monday, using a combination 3-2 (with 6-9 junior forward Thomas Sorber up top) and 2-1-2 zone that gave Radnor fits in the quarterfinal round. 

Ryan did a much better job protecting the ball and the zone proved effective early to stay within reach 12-8 after the first quarter. The Raiders took the lead on Zaire Paris layup in the final minute of the first half before trailing 26-25 heading into halftime.

Imhotep's Rahmir Barno (1) dribbles the ball in transition as Archbishop Ryan's Thomas Sorber (35) attempts to keep up. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

“We thought heading into this game the way we were playing, if we were able to keep it to a halfcourt game we were gonna be right there,” Zeiglinski said. “That’s what we did in the first half. We were getting some good shots, and they did some things to take away Thomas but other guys stepped up and we were playing patient and we were controlling the game a little bit.”

Imhotep hadn’t gone into the locker room without a good bit of breathing room since a 66-61 win over Oak Hill Acad. (Va.) on Feb. 2. The nationally ranked Panthers put together romp after romp on the way to Public League and District 12 titles and continued that in the first three rounds of the state tournament.

There was no panic when things were a bit different at the halftime break Monday night.

“It’s been a while, it’s been a long time, I couldn’t even tell you the exact day,” Nowell said. “But going into halftime they were just telling us it was OK. We knew us playing them for the second time was going to be a dog fight, that they were going to be used to our sets and our plays, so it was just settling down and really locking down into what we needed to do.”


Imhotep's Mayke Taylor goes up for a shot Monday against Ryan. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

The Imhotep wave crashed over Ryan quite quickly at the start of the second half. The Panthers were up 38-27 with 5:15 left in the period after a 12-2 run. Edwards’ presence at the front end of the team’s press a big reason why as he piled up four steals and plenty more deflections.

“We’ll pressure just about anybody, and knowing them because we played them in the city championship, we knew we could get them with our pressure,” Nowell said.

“That was a major goal for us jumping out in front of them like that,” said junior Makye Taylor, who added 10 points and six boards. “We came in kind of lackadaisical, but we knew if we could press the button that we could get there.”

Senior Yahmir Satterfield extended the lead to 45-29 with a triple at the 3:30 mark. Freshman R.J. Smith gave his team a 51-36 lead with a triple heading into the fourth and it didn’t take long to get to 20 in the fourth.

“We did a good job of creating space and not letting Edwards get into that trap early in the game at least in the first half,” Zeiglinski said. “I thought we were prepared for it. We worked on it the last two days. We gave ourselves a chance in the second half and some things got away from us and they sped us up a little bit. It only takes them a two-minute run.”

“It kind of just slipped away from us in that third quarter, some spacing and not so on-time passes,” he added. 

Noble praised the defense of Nowell and Barno on Ryan junior Darren Williams, who finished with just four points after coming into Monday’s game on a red-hot tear. Sorber finished with 18 points and Paris added another 13, while junior guard Ryan Everett finished with nine.

Paris is the lone senior starter so Sorber, Williams, Everett and junior Jaden Murray along with juniors Christian Durham and Rocco Morabito, who had to miss the postseason due to PIAA transfer rules, will be back to make the Raiders one of the state favorites next season.

“We’re looking forward to it obviously, but right now this one’s going to hurt for a little bit because I thought if we were able to control the ball and not let them get that one run we were gonna be in it,” Zeiglinski said.

Imhotep answered its first true scare with ease on Monday night. The Panthers head to Friday’s title game against the District 3 champions in Hershey looking to cement themselves as one of the best teams to come through the program.

“We’re extremely excited,” Taylor said. “This group has only been there once because of COVID, so it’s nice to send our seniors out, especially Justin and Rah and Yahmir out with a bang.”

By Scoring

Archbishop Ryan: 8 | 17 | 11 | 14 || 50

Imhotep Charter: 12 | 14 | 25 | 21 || 72

Scoring

Archbishop Ryan: Thomas Sorber 18, Zaire Paris 13, Ryan Everett 9, Jaden Muarry 6, Darren Williams 4.

Imhotep Charter: Ahmad Nowell 23, Justin Edwards 14, Rahmir Barno 14, Makye Taylor 10, Yahmir Satterfield 6, R.J. Smith 3, Baasil Saunders 2.


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