City of Basketball Love

Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35)
––

It was fair to wonder how Plymouth-Whitemarsh boys basketball would respond Friday night in its playback game against Cheltenham.

A young team that plays more underclassmen than upperclassmen, without a ton of varsity experience, it would have been easy to let emotions from Tuesday night’s loss to Chester in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals boil over to Friday night. 

Instead, they responded in emphatic fashion en route to a 69-45 victory against Cheltenham, clinching a spot in the PIAA state tournament and ending the Panthers’ season. Plymouth-Whitemarsh will play at Bensalem on Tuesday night in a seeding game.

“That was a hard loss,” Colonials head coach Jim Donofrio said of the loss to Chester. “Another loss in a similar line of losses this season. They were really down the next day, so I was a little concerned. It’s not fun eating these close losses. As a coach, though, you have to show your team the face they need to see, not the face that you’re feeling.”

Donofrio, who owns more than 500 wins as the head coach of PW, was able to rally his troops with an opportunity ahead to still make the state tournament. 

“Every practice leading up to this game I’m not going to lie, we were down, but we still made sure to stay focused, have our heads up and know we could still achieve what we did tonight,” senior point guard Jaden Colzie said. “Everyone was still highly engaged and ready for tonight. I’m glad we were able to flush that loss out of our system and get the win tonight.”

The second quarter was the turning point for the game, as the visiting Colonials outscored Chelthenam 22-4 on the back of an 11-point quarter from Colzie after he was held scoreless in the first frame. 

“I feel like I was forcing a little bit too much, and I just had to let the game come to me.” Colzie said.

Jack Hayes, a 5-foot-9 sophomore reserve guard, made a few key plays on one possession that helped PW expand its lead to double digits and really take control of the contest.

Shortly after checking into the game, Hayes was able to collect two offensive rebounds off missed 3-pointers, and off the second rebound he dished to Colzie, who connected on a shot from downtown and gave PW a 21-10 lead with 3:26 left in the first half.

The matchup was never really in doubt after that. 

“Jack Hayes makes us different, because he is an unbelievably diverse player,” Donofrio said. “He’s the dog on the team. He just loves being in the mix. You wish that was more infectious with the other guys. He’s got some Dennis Rodman in him. He just brings life to the team.”

Hayes also hit a buzzer beater layup to extend the PW lead to 17 as the game entered the fourth quarter.

While Colzie (17 points) and sophomore standout Mani Sajid (16 points) did their usual damage in the scoring column, senior sharpshooter Ben Marsico (13 points) and sophomore Michael Periera (15 points) were integral as well.

“Michael Periera’s development has changed things for us and has allowed us to play four guards around him, and his growth over the second half of the season has been big for us.” Donofrio said of the raw, but talented big man. “Light bulbs keep going off for him. He allows us to play four guards around him, and then he is in there protecting that rim.”

The four-guard lineup allowed PW to play some more pressure defense and make Cheltenham uncomfortable. The Panthers shot just 2-of-15 from 3-point range and 1,000-point scorer Josiah Huston was limited to eight points. Osei Johnson led the Panthers with nine points, and senior forward Niles Tinsley scored eight points in his last high school game. 

“I love how we have been defending, but the defense has to learn for 32,” Donofrio said. “That’s the thing with young teams, you can be up 17 and you blink and you are only up 11 and you are giving the other team hope. Tonight when they cut the lead, I think we did a good job of extending the lead and taking away that hope.”

Entering Friday's game, PW was 4-7 in games decided by single digits.

“These guys have to tell themselves that they deserve victory,” Donofrio said. “You had the lead in the fourth quarter in eight of the 10 losses, you just have to close games. They did that tonight.”

In a year full of ups and downs and emotional losses, Colzie and the rest of the senior class get at least three more games (two playback seeding games and one state tournament game).

“It feels amazing,” Colzie said as he wraps up an impressive career for PW that includes more than 1,000 points and a District 1 title. “We have had an up-and-down year, all year. We have had a lot of games that we have just gave away at the end. This is my first time winning at Cheltenham ever, too, so that feels good, too. All the ups and downs of the year, it feels good to get to states.”

By Quarter

Cheltenham: 8 | 4 | 11 | 16 || 45

Plymouth-Whitemarsh: 7 | 22 | 17 | 23 || 69

Shooting

Cheltenham: 17-44 FG (2-15 3PT), 8-13 FT

Plymouth-Whitemarsh: 23-51 FG (9-22 3PT), 15-24 FT 

Scoring

Cheltenham: O. Johnson 9, Huston 8, Tinsley 8, Mason 6, Addison 6, Wilson-Worley 4, Hill 4

Plymouth-Whitemarsh: Colzie 17, Sajid 16, Periera 15, Marsico 13, Patruno 20, Ahmed 2, Davis 2

~~~

District 1 6A Boys

Quarterfinals (Fri., Feb. 23)
1) Lower Merion 66, 24) Springfield (Delco.) 51
4) Chester 67, 5) Coatesville 64
2) West Chester Henderson 68, 7) CB East 63
14) Garnet Valley 64, 6) Methacton 53

Playbacks (Fri., Feb. 23)
8) Bensalem 69, 16) Conestoga 51
13) Plymouth Whitemarsh 69, 12) Cheltenham 45
15) Downingtown West 53, 10) Perkiomen Valley 48
3) Spring-Ford 51, 11) Central Bucks West 43

Semifinals (Tue., Feb. 27)
1) Lower Merion vs. 4) Chester
2) West Chester Henderson vs. 14) Garnet Valley

Third-place playbacks (Tue., Feb. 27)
5) Coatesville vs. 24) Springfield (Delco.)
6) Methacton vs. 7) CB East

Playbacks (Tue., Feb. 27)
8) Bensalem vs. 13) Plymouth Whitemarsh
3) Spring-Ford 51 vs. 15) Downingtown West