City of Basketball Love

Matt Gaffney (@GaffReports)
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NEW HOLLAND — Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A boys basketball quarterfinal between Devon Prep and Executive Education Charter at Garden Spot High School featured plenty of March madness.

Zane Conlon’s 3-pointer with two minutes left in the second overtime broke a 55-55 tie as Devon Prep held on to defeat Executive Education 62-57 in an instant classic.

The District 12 champion Tide advance to the state semifinals Tuesday against Math, Civics & Sciences at a time and site to be determined.

“That was an absolutely awesome game,” Devon Prep coach Jason Fisher said. “It’s a shame one team had to lose because both teams gave everything they possibly had.”

“It was a fun game,” Conlon said. “We gave it our all out there, and everyone provided energy down the stretch. Even the bench was getting into it — gotta love that.”

Conlon scored a game-high 22 points while teammate Reece Craft had 21 to pace the Tide (13-13).

Most of Saturday’s game was a slugfest as each team struggled to find any offensive consistency in the first half. Neither team was able to establish control as they traded numerous leads throughout the contest.

Prep fell behind 14-7 after the first quarter as buckets were hard to come by against the long Raptors (23-5), who had 6-foot-10 Lamine Sanoh patrolling the paint. The Tide, however, kept battling and eventually made their move.

With Executive Education holding a six-point lead in the second quarter, the Tide put together an 8-0 run capped by Craft’s three-point play with 2:45 left. It gave Devon Prep its first lead and a little momentum as they went into the break up 25-22.

Both teams started to heat up in the second half.

Executive Education’s lightning quick guard, Rylan Muniz, got hot in the third quarter and started to find his range from 3. Despite being the focal point of Devon Prep’s defensive attention, he still managed to wiggle free and finish with 19 points. No shot was bigger for the Raptors than his game-tying buzzer beater at the end of the first overtime.

As tough as Muniz was, the duo of Conlon and Craft was too much for Executive Education to overcome. 

Craft was, well, crafty in the paint as he finished off a backdoor feed from Conlon or navigated against the length of Sanoh. Conlon’s all-around game was on display as he powered his way into the paint, made 3s and found teammates for open looks with precision passing.

Conlon stepped up in crunch time and made the biggest shot of the night in the second overtime, a 3 that proved the go-ahead score. 

“My teammates and coaches instill confidence in me to take that shot, and my teammate found me for the open shot,” he said.

“Our guys played so tough,” Fisher said. "The defense from Mike Pergolis and Ayinde McLendon, Reece and Zane battling, Shane (Doyle) doing a little of everything. Just a great effort.”

It was a team effort by Prep, but the combination of Conlon and Craft made a big difference on both ends of the floor. Their defensive presence helped prevent Sanoh, who finished with six points, from getting his first field goal until the first overtime.

“Our main goal (to defend Sanoh) was to push him out a little bit so he couldn't get right over our heads and find him when the shot went up to make sure we kept him off the glass,” Craft said. “That was a point of emphasis in practice.”

The chemistry that Craft and Conlon have on the court is palpable.

“I always look for my post partner,” Craft said. “We feed off of each other’s energy. He looks for me, I look for him and try to get ourselves going to help the team.”

Both Craft and Conlon said now is not the time to celebrate. 

“We recognize the good effort we put in but know that the job’s not finished,” Craft said. “We have to stay mentally composed and make sure we are ready for the next game.”

“Watch film, prepare for the next one and leave this one in the past,” Conlon said.

By Quarter

Devon Prep: 7 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 7 || 62 

Executive Education: 14 | 8 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 2 || 57

Scoring

Devon Prep: Conlon 22, Craft 21, Doyle 7, McLendon 6, Pergolis 4, Costello 2 

Executive Education: Muniz 19, Hornberger 15, Lopez 11, Shipley 6, Sanoh 6

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PIAA 3A Boys

Quarterfinals (Sat., March 16)
12-1 Devon Prep 62, 11-1 Executive Education 57 (2OT)
12-2 Math, Civics & Sciences 60, 4-1 Loyalsock Township 54
10-1 Girard 70, 7-3 Mohawk 50
10-2 Franklin 83, 7-1 Deer Lakes 66

Semifinals (Tue., March 19)
12-1 Devon Prep vs. 12-2 Math, Civics & Sciences
10-1 Girard vs. 10-2 Franklin

Championship at Giant Center (Sat., March 23)
TBD, 2 p.m.