City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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DOYLESTOWN – The Central Bucks South boys basketball team is putting that 0-3 start behind them. Quickly.

The Titans were practicing so well all week they had some positive emotions entering an SOL Colonial opener with neighboring rival CB East. The same CB East which has won the last four Colonial titles and South still hadn’t beaten under third-year head coach Louie Ditri.

Still not even Ditri could believe an almost perfect effort in a 61-37 dismantling of the previously unbeaten Patriots.

“Erik (Henrysen) does a great job with these guys,” said Ditri. “It’s a tough environment to play in. We knew what we were able to do if we were locked in. It was a rough start to the season, but the boys have been locked in.”

In fact they were so locked in and so pumped from the student section that the mighty Titans got a little court-storming surprise after the game from their fans.

“It was just all about emotion and last year and the year before,” said senior Benjamin Harrison, who led the Titans with 17 points. “They were kicking our butts. It feels great to come in here and get the biggest win of the year so far.”

“I didn’t expect that,” said CB South junior forward and defensive specialist Leo Medwid of the court-storming. “I was on JV last year so I wasn’t expecting that. It was really fun.” 

The 0-3 start is something the Titans haven’t forgotten and Ditri certainly keeps reminding them. 

In fact he keeps reiterating to be mentally strong in crucial moments. The last three games CB South hasn’t backed down.

“It was a rough start to the season, but we got it now,” Medwid said. “We weren’t playing how we knew we could play. Now we are on a roll.”

CB South opened the game with a 10-2 run and looked like it was going to never be challenged, but then the Patriots showed their championship mettle and got the deficit to 24-20 at the half on a nice post move from leading scorer and future Pitt baseball player Nolan Behm.

Behm got it even closer on a pull-up jumper as the game was tied at 27 with 5:37 to go in the third quarter. East though didn’t know that South was about to give them one heck of a punch in the gut with a 19-3 run, which gave the Titans an insurmountable 46-30 lead with 5:20 left in the ballgame.

“Get after it, get in their face and not let them run their offense and do whatever they want,” said Harrison of the game plan entering the matchup. “It was 100 percent accurate.”

The big second-half spurt was started with free throws from Harrison and ended with a bucket from the senior forward. Mostly though it was turnovers and getting every 50/50 ball, which made the difference during the run and game.

“We were prepared,” Harrison said. “Last week we weren’t working hard. East is such a good team, so we were prepared. They get turnovers, they run their fastbreak, 3-pointers they put on the board. Every possession was important, especially in the end.”

The stats bare out how flawlessly the Titans played, outrebounding the Patriots 24-15 behind five boards from Medwid. They also got a primetime defensive performance from the junior forward, who frustrated Behm into finishing with eight points on the night.

“As a team we were prepared, switching and everything,” Medwid said. “It wasn’t just one person, it was everyone.”

The final statline certainly bears that out as Harrison finished with 17 points on the night. Still six players all scored at least six points, as sharpshooting Connor Thompson also chipped in with 10 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

“We truthfully can go 11, 12 deep,” Ditri said. “We shortened it a little bit. Those guys are ready to go, chomping at the bit. That’s a key they are pushing each other every day at practice and they are all capable of playing.”

Now that the nerves or lack of focus is gone CB South is back afloat with a 3-3 record. Players and coaches alike mention that 0-3 start as a key to resetting the season. It just so happens that court-storming helped them to kick off the SOL Colonial schedule.

“That was my first one in three years,” Ditri said. “This is the only team I haven't beaten. It’s good for us, first league game to get it here.” 

By Quarter
CB South 13-9-16-21-61
CB East 5-15-10-7-37

Scoring
CB South (61): DiEmidio 9, Barrett 7, Farrell 6, Thompson 10, Harrison 17, McCusker 2, Adebayo 4, Mednid 6.

CB East (37): Mekanik 2, O’Hara-Jamison 12, Bartchak 3, Lutz 2, White 3, Smith 4, Behm 8, Molnar 3.