City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)

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SOUDERTON — Last time the CB South boys basketball team didn’t practice for two days entering a game, the Titans were staring at an 0-3 record.

A lot has changed since then.

Most notably a 10-game win streak and now perfect 5-0 mark in the SOL Colonial after handing Souderton its first conference loss in a down-to-wire thriller 51-50 on Tuesday night.

The final seven seconds probably felt more like seven minutes to the Titans, but when reserve 6-foot-5 center Kayode Adebayo tipped the ball into the diving hands of senior guard Danny Gies off a Souderton inbounds play the CB South bench could finally take a deep breath.

“It’s huge,” said South’s Benjamin Harrison, who hit the game-winning shot seconds earlier. “I feel like this really kind of stands aside from the other games, a lot of games there was never a big doubt we were going to lose. We were trailing in the second and to end the third. It was getting tight, I thought the fourth quarter was our best quarter executing at the most important time.”

The win exemplified what CB South (10-3) is all about. Nine players scored in all for the Titans with the bench finishing with 24 points. By contrast Souderton had 0 bench points.

In fact at the end of the game Harrison (12 points) and Cole DiEmidio were the only starters on the court.

“We have faith in all of our guys,” Gies said. “It doesn’t matter if the 12th man is in. It doesn’t matter if the first man is in. They all have the same priority and it’s just to get the job done. All 12 guys have that role. They can get that job done. Some guys play five, six or seven guys. We can play all 12 or 13. I am really happy to be a part of this team.” 

If this game was going to indeed end in a heavyweight battle, the first half was just some light sparring. The score was 18-16 at the half with CB South struggling to solve Souderton’s 1-2-2 zone, but still staying in the game with its trademark defense.

Gies was a big factor all night, coming off the bench to shadow Soudy's talented point guard Chance Salone (15 points, 2 assists, 3 steals)

“He’s a great player,” said Gies of Salone. “He’s got a really good bag. All respect to that kid. He gets the job done. Coming into this game we knew he was the high scorer. I thought I was the guy to get into his head and I think that worked out tonight. I don’t know how many he had, I think he had quite a lot. It just shows he’s a good player and I have a lot of respect for that kid. The gameplan was to shut him down, try to get in his head and I think that worked out.” 

When Souderton’s Nolan Watkins opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, it was game on for this prizefight. As Big Red heated up on the offensive end, South began to find openings in the zone as well. However, Souderton took control with a 36-29 lead in the final minute of the third quarter. South answered.

First, Adebayo got free in the post for a bucket and then the momentum really shifted off an unlikely offensive hero. Gies took a pass at halfcourt and somehow heaved a bank 3-pointer between two defenders and it was 36-34 after 3.

“Someone needed to step up,” Gies said. “There’s only three seconds left. I was going to give it back to (Brett) Barrett. I just wanted to shoot it. I definitely called bank.”

The fourth quarter certainly lived up to the billing of two undefeated SOL Colonial teams with nine lead changes with the largest lead being two points.

“It was a chess match trying to find the right matchups,” said South head coach Louie Ditri. “My coaching staff did a great job of subbing guys in and out. It’s testament to our depth. We have 12 guys on our roster. We only played about 10 but all 12 deserved to play. Even us playing 10, not many play 10. It’s a testament to our guys and their willingness to work hard. If they get a minute they give it everything they got which helps us out.”

Adebayo was a big hero for South with the first four points of the frame, but Souderton answered with a pair of buckets from Watkins. When Salone hit his only 3-pointer of the day, Souderton led 44-43 with four minutes to go. Harrison came right back with a basket of his own and a 45-44 South lead.

“It’s fun when you win and it’s also scary at the same time,” Harrison said. “The win feels sweeter. It got rough. There was a second when it’s getting  away from us. They were on a six-game streak, we were on a 9-game streak. It’s pressure here, it feels sweet to pull out the win.”

Another unlikely star, senior Connor Thompson (9 points)  hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter as a back-and-forth battle gave the Titans a 48-46 advantage with 2:20 to go.

Souderton kept answering and a nifty move under the hoop from Nate Rusike (10 points) gave his team a 50-49 lead with 1:22 left.

“We started off that fourth quarter great,” Gies said. “We just kept our heads in it. We were playing great as a team. It didn’t matter what happened. They had a go-ahead layup, We still stuck together. I am really proud of our guys.”

Harrison had the final answer off an inbounds play with seven seconds remaining, taking it right to Souderton big man Grady Kovach for a basket and a 51-50 advantage.

“I knew I was going to catch it and I figured they were going to be in man, but they weren’t,” Harrison said. “It just worked out for me. I figured I was going to the rim and I was going to have a layup. That’s what it was.”

All that was left was one final inbounds play with 2.1 seconds to go. Reserve players Adebayo and Gies did the rest.

“Kayode (Adebayo) was great, he was awesome,” Harrison said. “We had a bunch of guys who stepped up. Gies is one of them. Kayode, Connor (Thompson) hit some big threes. Kayode really gave us energy, blocking Chance (Salone) and getting second chance rebounds. He was amazing. He could be player of the game.” 

Souderton was certainly impressive on both ends of the court with Trey Bui coming through with 12 points and Ruiske 10 more. Watkins added 9 points while big man Kovach finished with 4 points and 13 rebounds.

Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey had no comment after the game.

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Score by Quarter
CB South 8-10-16-17-51
Souderton 10-6-20-14-50

Scoring
CB South (51): Shahin 2; DiEmidio 3; Barrett 3; Harrison 12; Medwid 7; Gies 5; Thompson 9; Farrell 2; Adebayo 8; 

Souderton (50): Salone 15; Bui 12; Rusike 10; Watkins 9; Kovach 4.