City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

WEST PHILADELPHIA — Devon Prep senior Zach Orchard earned some household bragging rights Friday night. While his older brother Lucas had a fine career for the Tide, Orchard did something big bro never did.

Orchard was one of two new additions in the Tide’s starting lineup as they took down Public League runner-up Math, Civics & Sciences 53-33 for the District 12-3A championship at West Philadelphia High School. 

It’s Devon Prep’s first district title since claiming a District 1-2A championship in 2012 and their first in District 12 since becoming a member of the Catholic League in 2018-19.

“It’s special because he never won a district title,” Orchard said. “It’s great.”

The Devon Prep boys basketball team poses together after winning the District 12 3A championship over MCS at West Philadelphia on Friday. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Devon Prep (10-13) was down starters Calvin Smith and Mason Thear due to PIAA transfer rules. MCS (17-10) was shorthanded too with seniors Sair Alsbrooks, the team’s leading scorer, and Maki Hill both ineligible for the postseason due to PIAA transfer rules.

Juniors Zane Conlon, Shane Doyle and Reece Craft took the floor for the Tide to start the game like usual, joined by Orchard and freshman Cooper Fairlamb, who played in 13 and eight games, respectively this season.

Conlon put together a dominant 18-point, 11-rebound outing to go along with 14 points and three steals from Doyle. Fairlamb added seven, hitting an early three that started a 15-0 Devon run to put the Tide up 26-9 with 2:12 left in the first half. Orchard added a pair of triples, his second capping a 7-0 run to start the second half that put Devon Prep up 35-15 with five and a half minutes left in the third.  Juniors Mike Pergolis and Ayinde McLendon are two others who saw an extended run in the rotation.

“I feel like the seniors, we tried to boost their confidence up the entire time,” said senior forward Ben Costello, who provided a lift off the bench. “I think they were ready all season, going in practice really hard. Coop really showed today that he’s a really good player, and he’s going to be a really good player for us the entire rest of the season.”

Devon Prep ended its Catholic League playoff run in the opener against Cardinal O’Hara, 63-61, on Feb. 14. Coach Jason Fisher gave his team some time off before they returned to practice about a week before Friday’s game.

Whatever they did during the stretch worked as the Tide never let its lead slip lower than 13 after the strong start.

“As soon as we got word of when this game was, it was six days of hard practice, building toughness leading up to the game,” Conlon said. “We watched film, prepared and we are ready to execute.”

The Tide knew a key to the game would be how it handled the MCS pressure. Even without two of its best ballhandlers in Smith and Thear, Devon Prep stayed poised throughout. The Mighty Elephants swiped a few steals, but they never made the big run to turn the tide of the game after falling into an early 15-point hole. 

“We knew they had guards who like to press, so during this week of practice we just worked on handling pressure, being aware of where your man is leaving you to go double the ball and just coming back and being a good wide receiver for your teammates,” Doyle said.

He gave some of the credit to the Tide’s newest practice team players: Thear and Smith. The hope is they can find a way to contribute to a state run in practice before helping on the floor next year.

Thear, who likes to talk some trash according to his teammates, has been a sharpening stone for Doyle all season long.

“Going against Mason, me personally, coming into this game and during the state run I just had to deal with him,” Doyle said. “Learning how to handle the ball between pressure, and Mason he can get under my skin at times, even during PCL play we just kept battling in practice, which is great for both.”

Conlon described this Devon team as having a special bond. They sit together at lunch. They’re with each other in free periods. That made hoisting a championship plaque together and breaking a 12-year district title-less streak all the more special.

“It’s the first one in like a decade,” Conlon said. “It’s cool to just bring it home with our group of guys who are so connected.”

Both Devon Prep and MCS, which was led by seniors Azeem Murphy and Kevin Carter’s seven points apiece, will continue their seasons in the PIAA Class 3A tournament. A District 12 team has won the title in each of the past two seasons with Devon making a run as the District 12 three seed in 2022 before West Catholic won the district title last season.

That's one accomplishment Orchard won’t be able to supplant his brother — a key piece on the 2022 Devon team — just match.

“Hopefully five more games, and it’s a state championship,” Orchard said.

“We’ll take it one game at a time, see who our opponent is and go from there,” Costello added.

Devon Prep 53, Math, Civics & Sciences 33

By Quarter

MCS  4 | 11 | 9 | 9 || 33

DP 13 | 15 | 13 | 12 || 53

Scoring

DP: Zane Conlon 18, SHane Doyle 14, Cooper Fairlamb 7, Zach Orchard 6, Mike Pergolis 3, Ben Costello 3, Reece Craft 2.

MCS: Azeem Murphy 7, Kevin Carter 7, Mliak Myatt 5, Aiden Brown 5, Zion Robinson 4, Rahki Mason 3, Alantay Dawson 2.