City of Basketball Love

Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35)
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Practice what you preach.

When Cheltenham head coach Pat Fleury was playing in his high school days for the Panthers, he always had a defensive mindset. He has preached that defensive intensity as a head coach for the Panthers, and that helped carry Cheltenham to its opening-round District 1 Class 6A playoff win over North Penn 47-41.

“It’s been a staple,” Fleury said of the defensive pedigree that is associated with the Cheltenham brand. “When I played it’s what I wanted to do, so I try to instill it with them.”

The No. 12-seed Panthers will play fifth-seed Coatesville on Tuesday night and guaranteed themselves at least one more game after that, whether it is in the quarterfinals or a playback game as they compete for a PIAA tournament berth. North Penn’s season came to an end.

Cheltenham is 15-1 on the season when it holds opponents to 60 points or less. The Panthers held the No. 21-seed Knights — 7-0 this season when they scored 65 or more and 1-6 when they scored 45 or less — under that magic number.

“People will say you’ve got to score the ball, but defense is a staple,” Fleury said. “It also shows the cohesion and the selflessness of a team to rotate three, four, five times and just care about one common goal of closing out a possession.”

Bringing a strong defensive effort in this one was a tall task, as North Penn was an up-tempo team throughout the season with the ability to score the ball in high volumes.

“I mean, coming into this game it (the focus) was definitely mainly defense,” junior guard Josiah Huston said. “I give credit to our coach, (assistant) coach Sharif (Bray). He was teaching us all week that it isn’t just about scoring, it’s about defense. He did a very good job coaching us this week, and I thank him for that.”

A back-and-forth affair for the entire 32 minutes came down to once again a few plays on the defensive end — some good, some bad and some lucky.

Ahmaar Godhania hit a 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the game and drew a foul, knocking in the free throw to cut the Cheltenham lead to 42-41.

North Penn almost perfectly executed a baseline out-of-bounds play that led to the game deciding four-point swing. But Corey Meade was unable to convert on a wide-open layup, and Cheltenham grabbed the rebound and freshman guard Kamal Mason laid it in to go up 44-41 with 1:15 to go.

“The four-point swing, I just think because the kids had the right mentality and effort, that we got lucky,” Fleury said. “Any time you are trying to win a tournament, you’ve got to get lucky.”

North Penn had a chance to tie it on an open 3 from Lee Hammond the ensuing possession, but Cheltenham’s defense stepped up again and got the stuff, as well as the rebound, and was able to salt the game away at the line.

North Penn got off to a hot start with a 12-6 lead in the first quarter thanks to seven points from Norm Gee (13 points), but Cheltenham was able to bounce back.

“Just sticking together,” Hutson said. “Everybody takes bumps and bruises. But it’s just mainly sticking together, it’s a brotherhood. Things happen in life, it’s just about how you respond to them. We have done a very good job of just bouncing back and becoming a team.”

A seven-point burst from Nile Tinsley in the second quarter, coupled with some disruptive defense, allowed Cheltenham to take a 21-17 lead to the break.

Huston began to take over in the third quarter with six points and made the plays that don’t show up in the box score.

“Just being prepared and trusting my teammates,” Hutson said. “It’s not about making every play or the home run play, it’s about making the right play.”

Huston (11 points) is in his third year as a starter for Cheltenham and has already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark. He’s grown into the well-rounded point guard Fleury envisioned he would be.

“Your No. 1 job is to run the team, run the locker room and set the culture,” Fleury said about what he preaches to Huston. “Whether you end up with 20 points or nine points, if you just control the game and make timely plays, there is value in that.”

Huston did that and more, as he helped set up Osei Johnson for a few buckets en route to his team-high 13 points.

Cheltenham has a daunting task ahead against Coatesville, which boasts one of the better home court advantages in the state.

“We’re the underdog,” Fleury said. “They’re the five (seed) and we’re the 12 (seed). At this point everybody is 0-0, but the biggest thing is just making sure that we stick to our principles.”

By Quarter

Cheltenham: 6 | 15 | 11 | 15 || 47

North Penn: 12 | 5 | 13 | 11 || 41

Shooting

Cheltenham: 17-45 FG (4-10 3PT), 9-14 FT

North Penn: 14-38 FG (6-17 3PT), 7-10 FT 

Scoring

Cheltenham: Johnson 13, Hutson 11, Tinsley 7, Mason 6, McClendon 4, Addison 4, Hill 2

North Penn: Gee 15, Simpson 9, Godhania 9, Hammond 3, Meade 3, Atkinson 2

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Cheltenham is 14-1 in games it holds its opponents to less than 60 points. It is 15-1 in such games.