City of Basketball Love

By Justin Procope (@1Procope)
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PHILADELPHIA — Thursday’s Philadelphia Public League Playoff game between Imhotep Charter and Dobbins Tech  night was not one that was expected in the first round. As recently as eight days ago, the two ‘A’ division teams seemed much more likely to meet deep in the tournament like they did last season in a semifinal game at the Liacouras Center.

WIth a 7-3 record in the Pub ‘A’ division, the Mustangs were looking forward to high seed, eager to reach the heights they did a season ago. Instead, they found themselves in the final seed of the playoffs, having forfeited all of their wins after it was revealed last Thursday they were unknowingly playing with an ineligible fifth-year senior on the roster. 

A play-in win vs. Bartram earned them another shot at the two-time defending champions Imhotep that ended in a 65-31 loss to the Panthers and concluded the Mustangs’ season much sooner than they expected and hoped.

“I felt bad for them because I knew they wanted to go far in the playoffs, meet Imhotep in the final four, something magical like that,” Dobbins head coach Derrick Stanton said. “But after we sat back and looked at it, I was happy that my seniors got a chance to play in the playoffs. It was very easy that we could have just been told we’re not in the playoffs.”

The last two meetings between these programs ended in similar fashion, with the Mustangs falling 75-42 in December and 69-51 in last year’s Public League semifinal and would have likely played out similarly regardless of the round. 

However, an early loss in the Public League playoffs means Dobbins won’t be one of the Public League’s Class 5A teams competing in the state tournament like they did last season after the run to PPL semis.

Stanton will be back next year, but the same can not be said for seniors Zach Campbell and Saleem Hudson. Campbell, a 1,000-point scorer and second team all public-league honors last season, has grown alongside Hudson from a promising young player to a senior captain. Neither of them envisioned their career ending like this. 

“They meant everything to us because they were actually the foundation,” Stanton said. “So it’s really hard to see it come to an end. Every time we talk about it, we kind of tear up a little bit, but then when it finally came it was hard.”

Imhotep head coach Andre Noble, in search of his 12 Public League Championship, empathized with Dobbins’ seniors and the unusual hand they were dealt. 

“I felt really bad for them,” Noble said.  “They really helped build Dobbins back to a good program. And I wish those guys well.”

“They did an amazing  job of bringing Dobbins back to being one of the best teams in our league. So it's unfortunate what happened, but I’m also happy that they were able to do that for their school.” 

For Imhotep, Public League champions in 11 of the last 14 seasons, it was a dominant first step in what is expected to be another successful title defense. 

After a sloppy first half, the Panthers flipped the switch defensively in the second. Led by 5’8 sophomore guard R.J. Smith, who finished the game with a game high 14 pts with four three-pointers, Imhotep quickly turned a 13-point halftime lead into a 22 point drubbing by the end of the third quarter. 

“We hang our hats on defense,” Smith said. “So once our defense started clicking, our offense started clicking and we shared the ball. We are a great shooting team too, so that's what helps us a lot.”

Ahmad Nowell, the senior guard committed to UConn, was far from his best (10 points), but still finished with a double-double with 10 assists. While the usual scoring volume was not there, he produced several highlight plays including no-look passes, up-and-under layups, and an alley-oop assist that put the exclamation mark on the game. Junior guard Carnell Henderson chipped in with nine points while senior forward Ma’Kye Taylor, an Albany commit who recently returned from injury, controlled the interior on both ends off the bench. 

The Panthers will have a chance to fine tune their well oiled machine on Saturday in a non-conference matchup with Executive Charter before continuing their playoff run against String Theory on Tuesday. 

“We know the job’s not done,” Smith said. “We want to get the triple crown. The PUB, cities, and states. We want to go back to back.”

By Quarter

Dobbins 9 | 6 | 12 | 4 || 31

Imhotep 15 | 13 | 21 | 16 || 65

Scoring

Dobbins Saleem Hudson 10, Zachary Campbell 5, Haneef Davis 5, Tylee Richardson 4

Imhotep: RJ Smith 14, Ahmad Nowell 10, Carnell Henderson 9, Jeremiah White 4, Ma’Kye Taylor 4