City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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WARMINSTER >> Good shooters always stay ready.

After a scorching first half in Wednesday night’s PCL clash at Archbishop Wood, Calvin Smith saw plenty of extra defensive attention come his way after halftime. The Devon Prep senior hadn’t so much as attempted a shot in the second half but when the ball found him wide open on the wing and the host Vikings making a bit of a run, Smith was ready.

Smith’s spacing and that timely shot played a crucial role as the Tide topped the Vikings 78-56 to stay in the early PCL standings shuffle.

“It happened last year, after the Roman and La Salle games where I had good shooting performances, teams started doing that,” Smith said. “We started to work on plays to get movement with me getting the ball and also isolating the sides so that they can’t help and it’s one-on-one for whoever wants to drive.”

Smith finished with 18 points, 14 of them coming in the first half, as one of four Devon Prep players to reach double-digit scoring in a well-rounded effort. The win improved Devon Prep to 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the PCL, while Wood dropped to 0-3 in the PCL.

The Tide’s offensive production is symbiotic in nature, teams that load up on Reece Craft and Zane Conlon inside - as Wood did in the first half - leave room on the perimeter for Smith to put up shots.

When Smith starts to hit from long-range and mix in a few scores other ways, then he tends to draw the defense out, which is what happened after halftime. That in turn let Conlon and Craft had more room inside and it wasn’t a coincidence the two senior forwards saw the majority of their points come after halftime.

“Zane and Reese are really good at finding me and they’re really good at getting in then kicking out,” Smith said. “Once (Wood) started focusing on me a little more, that’s when they got theirs, so they showed really good patience with that

Devon Prep coach Jason Fisher wasn’t surprised to see Smith shoot the ball well on Wednesday. He’s seen plenty of it from the guard since Smith transferred from Harriton prior to his junior year but he’d also seen it in that same venue just a few weeks prior.

“It’s something about this court for him, he just has confidence, shoots with confidence and he played that way tonight,” Fisher said. “

Smith, who set the Devon Prep single-game record with eight made threes last year, nearly replicated that feat against Don Bosco Prep at the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout held by Wood on Dec. 21. In that 68-58 Tide victory, Smith sank seven threes and while he only made four in Wednesday’s win, he didn’t feel any less comfortable shooting in the Vikings’ gym.

“I don’t know, they were both good games so that helped, I had to turn it up and be fully locked in,” Smith said. “I guess I just like this gym.”

Smith had eight points and an assist in the first quarter, scoring the last five points for the Tide as they took a 21-17 lead after eight minutes. He added six more in the last 50 seconds of the second quarter, splitting them evenly on an and-one drive to the rim and a three with 2.5 left on the clock that sent Devon Prep to the break leading 40-30.

That was enough to get him an extra shadow in the form of a Wood defender throughout the second half, the Vikings not letting Smith move to the open spaces he’d found in the first half. That was fine with the senior, 

“I tried to develop my body over the summer, get more physical because I felt like I got beat up a bit last year,” Smith said. “I worked on physicality, ball-handling and getting downhill.

“I was in the Central League before, so that’s more of a slower, half-court type of offense and in the PCL, first game’s against Roman and everything’s just up-and-down so that was the biggest adjustment; the speed and skill.”

Conlon, who scored 21, and Craft, who added 13 points, both battled foul trouble much of the game. The two seniors each picked up two in the first half and got to four fouls in the final quarter, with Craft fouling out with 5:19 to play.

Wood, which was without standout freshman Rowan Phillips for a second straight game due to a minor injury on top of senior Milan Dean still being out with an injury, wasn’t able to keep pace offensively in the second or third quarter.

Vikings junior Brady MacAdams did all he could, scoring a game-high 26 points that included a 13-of-15 effort at the line but a 21-3 Tide run branching the second and third quarters put Wood in a 20-point hole. Still, their frenetic energy in the fourth cut the lead to 61-50 on a MacAdams hoop with 4:46 to go.

Smith, who had gone nearly 12 minutes of game time and much longer than that in real time without a shot, was ready. Conlon got into the post and kicked out to his classmate, wide-open on the right wing for a three that hit nothing but net and brought some stability with 4:35 on the clock.

“It’s all my teammates telling me to stay ready,” Smith said. “I was locked in and ready for it. I was hunting my shot a little bit, I wanted to get a shot up. I didn’t have to make it, but I think it was the best shot we could have gotten on that possession, so I wouldn’t have been mad if I missed it.

“That said, it felt really good. They were on a little bit of a run so I feel like if I had missed it, it definitely could have gotten a little closer.”

Senior Mason Thear, who had a strong 17 points, followed with a poised finish under the basket for a quick 5-0 spurt that quelled Wood’s comeback attempt.

“That was a huge shot,” Fisher said of Smith’s trey. “We were up 11, that puts it up to 14 and while the game wasn't over, it settled things down. It was that point of the game where they were making a run, they were playing aggressive and we needed somebody to step up and make a play.”

Last year, Smith and Thear weren’t eligible for the postseason as transfer players, so they could only partake in Devon Prep’s run to a PIAA Class 3A title from the bench and in practice. This year, both are in key roles for a veteran team that’s eyeing some big things in the league and now at the Class 4A level.

There’s a lot yet to be figured out in the PCL standings and that will figure out the postseason side, but Smith didn’t hide that he’d like to be an active participant in a state run this year

“I’m really excited, it was kind of depressing for me and Mason to only be able to practice,” Smith said. “Because we got bumped up, I think there will be some good competition and it should be a lot of fun extending our season hopefully.”

Smith is not currently committed to play in college and added that he’s not currently talking with any schools. He’s undecided if he will play at the next level but would welcome the opportunity to do so if one presents itself.

Fisher said the senior is simply playing with a ton of confidence right now. He put the work in to round out his game, he plays well with his teammates and when his time comes, he’ll be ready.

“He just has the confidence,” Fisher said. “He’s a shooter, a knock-down shooter and you saw it right there. He didn’t think about the moment; he just shot the ball.”

By Quarter
DP: 21 | 19 | 21 | 17 || 78
AW: 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 || 56

Scoring

DP: Zane Conlon 21, Calvin Smith 18, Mason Thear 17, Reece Craft 13, Shane Doyle 8, Cooper Fairlamb 1

AW: Brady MacAdams 26, Jaydn Jenkins 9, Dylan Powell 8, Caleb Lundy 5, Mike Green 3, Brian Donohue 3, Ayden Davis-Carter 2