City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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WHITEHALL — One team in a PIAA Class 5A Boys Basketball Tournament contest between Phoenixville and Whitehall was not rattled by an early 8-0 deficit.

One team settled into a smothering zone that suffocated its opponent.

One team grabbed every loose ball, every rebound, every hustle play.

One team hit big shot after big shot in a deciding fourth quarter.

It sounds a lot like that team was a special Phoenixville group, making its first appearance in the PIAA tournament since 2009.

However, on Friday night it turned out District 11 runner-up Whitehall was a formidable opponent to the tune of a 62-46 first-round win over the Phantoms. Phoenixville, the District 1 third-place team, ends its season with a record of 20-8.

“It’s tough,” Phoenixville head coach Eric Burnett said. “I mean, Whitehall is a really good team. They played hard. I thought they played harder than us in different ways where the ball wasn’t bouncing our way. A lot of that comes down to working harder on some of those rebounds when shots aren’t falling, you need to find other ways to make plays. I thought Whitehall did that a little bit better than us tonight.”

Phoenixville did start strong with that 8-0 run just three minutes into the contest. Little by little, though, Whitehall chipped away at the lead, cutting the deficit to 18-14 at the end of the quarter after a pair of 3-pointers from senior Luke Keppel, who finished with a game-high 23 points, including the 1,000th point of his career.

The Phantoms didn’t give in, and despite a quiet six first-half points from senior forward Max Lebisky (13 points) led 29-25 at the break. Christian Cervino kept Phoenixville in charge with 11 first-half points, while freshman Keron Booth came off the bench with a nifty drive before the break.

“Whitehall hasn’t won a state game in 20 years,” Keppel said. “When we lost that district championship to Pocono Mountain West, we didn’t know how much time we have left together. It means a lot.”

The second half was just a different story as Keppel and company were just getting started. Phoenixville managed just four buckets the entire second half, and when Ethan Ringenberger delivered a 3-pointer, Whitehall had its first lead, 36-33, with 2:06 to play. The Zephyrs (17-9) never trailed again.

While the Zephyrs were patiently figuring out how to attack the Phantoms’ zone, Phoenixville seemed stuck in quicksand.

“Whitehall is a tough team,” Burnett said. “One of the keys tonight was to win the hustle plays. I circled that before the game, one way they beat us if they did that. I don’t think we got out-hustled once all year. Tonight was the night.” 

Whitehall led 40-34 entering the final frame and just kept on firing away. Whitehall extended its lead to 44-36 with six minutes left when 6-foot-7 center Aric Hines (18 points) made the play of the game with a thundering dunk.

Lebisky answered with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 44-39, but Keppel came right back with a 3-pointer for Whitehall and then it was a march to the free-throw line.

“We hadn’t won a state playoff game in a couple of years here,” Hines said. “We just knew we wanted to keep playing. We made some defensive stops and started making some shots. I feel like they got tired and stopped making shots for a bit.”

It took a good 30 minutes after the contest ended for the teary eyed Phantoms to appear from the locker room. This group will lose seven seniors, including Cervino, Lebisky and McClintock.

“I think the greatest thing that we’ve talked about for two years is just the journey that it was and embracing each day,” Burnett said. “I give a lot of credit to them for the seniors specifically, the seven seniors, they deserve recognition, guys that didn’t play a lot of minutes but showed up every single day. They worked hard. Showing up for two hours was the best part of their day. That’s all you can ask for as a coach. When I look back I will reflect on how many people rallied around them, it’s great to see so much support.”

The cupboard won’t be bare next year for Phoenixville. Returning starters are junior Deacon Baratta and sophomore Dawson Brown, along with freshman spark plug Booth.

“The future is bright,” Burnett said. “We might not have the size that we have this year, but we certainly have some dogs that have a lot of fight in them and some really good basketball players. I’m really excited about that. We will take some time to celebrate our season and do some reflecting and enjoy this.” 

By Quarter

Phoenixville: 18 | 11 | 5 | 12 || 46

Whitehall: 14 | 11 | 15 | 22 || 62

Scoring

Phoenixville: C. Cervino 13; Brown 4; McClintock 3; Lebisky 13; Booth 5; Baratta 6; Absher 2.

Whitehall: Hines 18; Roberts 9; Keppel 23; Orochena 3; Dogmanits 3; Ringenberger 6.

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PIAA 5A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
12-1 Imhotep Charter 64, 1-6 Pottstown 46
12-2 Archbishop Ryan 67, 1-4 Sun Valley 43
1-1 Unionville 56, 3-8 Manheim Central 31
2-2 Dallas 71, 12-3 West Philadelphia 61
2-1 Abington Heights 91, 12-4 Bonner-Prendergast 64
11-2 Whitehall 62, 1-3 Phoenixville 46
3-5 Exeter Township 67, 1-2 Upper Dublin 60
1-5 Radnor 63, 11-1 Pocono Mt. West 44

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
1-1 Unionville vs. 2-2 Dallas
12-2 Archbishop Ryan vs. 1-5 Radnor
3-5 Exeter Township vs. 12-1 Imhotep Charter