City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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BERWYN — Penncrest came into this season with high expectations. 

Just past the midway point of the regular season, it’s possible the Lions are surpassing them. 

The only unbeaten boys basketball team left in District 1, Penncrest put its perfect record on the line Thursday night at Central League co-leader Conestoga and passed another test, opening up a double-digit lead in the second quarter and finishing strong for a 62-51 road win. 

There’s a lot of hoops to be played, but there’s no doubt that Mike Doyle’s squad is opening eyes around the area. 

Even if they’re entirely unsurprised by the way the first six weeks have gone. 

“We’re really unselfish, we all love playing with each other, so that obviously contributes to it,” senior wing Theo Gladue said after scoring a team-high 19 points against Conestoga, including a breakaway slam in the first quarter. “We played great in the offseason, we all love playing with each other, we all love each other. It’s just a brotherhood around here. I expected it all-around.”

“I was expecting us to do amazing,” junior forward Mikey Mita agreed. “That’s what we’ve done so far, but there’s still more we have to accomplish. We haven’t won anything yet.”

The Lions have only won one of their first 12 games by single digits, beating Springfield (Delco.) by three on Dec. 17 but otherwise rolling over everybody, the Pioneers 10-2, 6-1) included.

Gladue paced four in double figures, as all of Lions’ starting five chipped in significantly. Mita added a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double; junior guard Connor Cahill scored 13 points with six rebounds, two steals and two assists; junior guard Sean Benson scored 11 points with four rebounds and three assists; junior guard Will Stanton only took two shots and didn’t end up in the scorebook but added five assists, three rebounds and two steals. 

Time and time again, Doyle would spread the floor with those five, letting Stanton, Benton or Gladue get into a mis-match situation, get past their man and get downhill, where they could all either finish at the rim or find a plunging Gladue or Mita, who combined to shoot 13-of-19 from the floor. 

“I feel like we really spread them out really well,” Mita said. “Spreading them out gave us a lot of opportunities for open lane drives and then the cuts behind the backdoor.”

“I give their guards credit, they beat us off the dribble,” said Conestoga coach Sean Forcine, who saw an eight-game win streak come to an end. “I thought we could have defended the dribble a little bit, and I give them credit, they got around us, made the right read, we didn’t make the proper adjustments in time. We’ll go back to the drawing board and figure that one out.”

Penncrest’s lead hit 15 points multiple times in the third quarter, but seven straight points by Conestoga between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth had it down to 48-41 with under seven minutes to play. 

The Lions didn’t blink, Mita scoring on a layup and then immediately picking up a steal to start a 6-0 run which got the lead right back to double digits. Cahill helped Penncrest close strong, the 6-0 guard scoring seven points in the final quarter, including an and-one layup to help slam the door shut. 

“I feel like we’ve always been a team that’s been somewhat solid to close out but it’s gotten a lot better this year,” Mita said. “Everybody’s come into their own, coming out of their own shell and everyone’s part of the team, everyone’s a leader.”

While Penncrest hit more than half of its shots (22-of-40, 55%), they were equally good at walling up inside to prevent Conestoga from finishing easily at the rim. The Pioneers finished the game 14-of-51 (27.4%) from the floor, including just 4-of-27 (14.8%) in the first half. 

Junior wing Shane O’Brien led the way for Conestoga with 15 points, the left-hander hitting three 3-pointers and 6-of-8 from the foul line. Junior guard Rowan Miller added 11 points though he was the target of much of that staunch defense; he also added five assists and five rebounds. 

Penncrest (12-0, 7-0 Central League) seized control with a 19-7 second quarter, one which saw Mita score nine of his own. The 6-foot-7 forward hit a corner 3-pointer late in the period as well as a post-up bucket and all four of his foul shots.

It was momentum built up from Gladue’s first-ever in-game dunk, a breakaway slam which closed out the opening quarter. 

“It’s just fun to hype the whole team up with a play like that, get the energy going,” Gladue said. 

“I thought it was amazing,” Mita said. “I was hype, I was excited for him.”

Penncrest ended the second quarter with even more momentum, Benson feeding Ryan McKee for a wide-open layup and a 31-17 advantage. 

The Lions’ perfect record will face another major test on Saturday as they host the league’s preeminent program, Lower Merion (9-3, 5-2), the defending league champs having dropped close games to both Conestoga and Garnet Valley (11-2, 6-1). The Lions host the Jaguars next Thursday.

While winning now is a good sign for Penncrest, they know none of it will matter if they don’t get it done in February and March as they chase the program's first title of any kind since back-to-back District 1 5A crowns in 2017 and 2018.

“It’s great right now,” Gladue said, “but we’ve got to turn the page.”

By Quarter
Conestoga:  10  |   7   |  19  |  15  ||  51
Penncrest:   12  |  19  |  17  |  14  ||  62

Shooting
Conestoga: 14-51 FG (7-23 3PT), 16-23 FT
Penncrest: 22-40 FG (5-11 3PT), 13-16 FT

Scoring
Conestoga: Shane O’Brien 15, Rowan Miller 11, Cory Hogan 9, Sam Gibbs 8, Sunny Tummala 3, Ben Robinson 3, Luke Hunter 2

Penncrest: Theo Gladue 19, Mikey Mita 17, Connor Cahill 13, Sean Benson 11, Ryan McKee 2