City of Basketball Love

By Matt Allibone (@Bad2theAllibone)
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Mani Sajid doesn’t like to talk about himself. 

The dynamic Plymouth Meeting junior takes pride in being humble. He’ll throw down a mammoth dunk and point out the player who started the fastbreak. He’ll draw the defense toward him, find an open teammate and give them credit for getting open later on. 

But even Sajid can’t deny what might be his best trait — right up there with his incredible length, basketball IQ and high-arcing 3-point shot. 

His incredible sense of when to take over a game and destroy an opponent’s momentum. 

“I just score the ball when I score the ball,” Sajid said when asked about it. 

He sighed and let out a nervous laugh. 

“Yeah, I guess you can say I do that.” 

Sajid scored 26 points to lead Plymouth Whitemarsh to a 74-42 road win over Bensalem in the Suburban One League quarterfinals Friday night. But that total doesn’t give his performance justice. 

The Colonials (17-6) led by just two after a back-and-forth first quarter. Bensalem (14-9) nailed four 3-pointers in the frame and didn’t look overmatched. Sajid had just four points. 

Then the 6-foot-5 junior exploded for 16 points in the second quarter to give Plymouth Whitemarsh a 12-point advantage going into halftime. Every time the Owls got it close, Sajid answered with a dagger. 

It was briefly a one-point game, then Sajid made a smooth cut to the lane for a bucket. He threw down a dunk to extend a five-point lead to seven, watched Bensalem answer with a bucket, and immediately nailed a 3. 

In the final seconds of the half, he cut down the baseline and didn’t appear to have a good angle for a shot … until he backed his defender away from him to give himself just enough space for an easy bank shot. 

“My teammates helped a lot with all that,” he said, deflecting all the credit. “They moved the offense and the ball and got me open.” 

Sajid scored just six points in the second half as the Colonials turned the game into a blowout — leading by 26 after the third quarter. Standout Bensalem guard Amir Drummond missed the second half with an injury after scoring eight points in the first two quarters. 

Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 6-foot-9 junior big man Michael Pereira also had a big game with 16 points and a couple of thunderous dunks. 

But Sajid and the Colonials don’t have much time to relax. They face top seed Upper Dublin (22-1) in the SOL semifinals 1 p.m. Saturday. 

Plymouth Whitemarsh just faced the Cardinals Tuesday — and lost 73-55. The Colonials also lost to Upper Dublin 65-45 on Jan. 7.

But they’re hoping Friday’s win unlocked something that will help them not just Saturday but the rest of the postseason. According to longtime coach Jim Donofrio, Plymouth Whitemarsh finally allowed the game to flow through Sajid, with the rest of the Colonials organically making plays due to the attention given to their star.  

Donofrio said he saw that chemistry start to click against Upper Dublin on Tuesday. It was the team’s second straight loss after a two-point defeat to Abington last Friday. 

“Losing to Abington put me in a mood, and the kids were concerned after losing to Upper Dublin that I would be critical, but I wasn’t,” Donofrio said. “Because the kids have been fighting how to play with Mani on the floor, because they don’t understand it goes through him. They think that means we don’t believe in them. Oh no, we believe in them. 

“Tuesday it started to come together. We started to trust each other more. And we looked different (Friday).” 

On the surface, Sajid seems to have the world in the palm of his hand. He started racking up Division I offers last spring and is averaging over 23 points per game this season. Every time he steps on the floor, everyone in the gym knows who he is. 

Of course, it isn’t easy for anyone to deal with that pressure — certainly not a teenager. And it isn’t easy for other teenagers to coexist in the shadow of that spotlight. Donofrio said Sajid entered the season thinking he needed to score every possession without any help. 

He’s since learned he will be more effective if he’s moving off the ball just as often as he has the ball in his hands. 

“It’s much easier to be Rocky than to be Apollo Creed,” Donofrio said. “Mani was thrust into the spotlight in April, and all of a sudden he was Apollo Creed with coaches calling him like crazy. It seems like a great thing, but when you’ve got something to prove and people are saying you’ve already proven it? Well, that’s a unique psychology we’re working through. 

“We’re a young team, and we have to be sophisticated because of how much Mani is known. And these kids are just juniors.” 

Through this context, Sajid’s humble nature makes perfect sense. He’s spent this season learning to trust his teammates while still taking over games when necessary. 

How far will Sajid be able to carry the Colonials this postseason? It might depend on how fast he and his young teammates can continue to grow while accepting they still have plenty to learn. 

“I’m never happy,” Donofrio said with a laugh. “There’s little things you’re looking for. You’re trying to make a team that is new to this type of run get experience. When we’re up by 15 tonight and we lunge on defense? That will get us down by 20 to Upper Dublin in three seconds. You have to play every possession with great focus and respect.” 

By quarter

Plymouth Whitemarsh 18-22-19-15-74

Bensalem 16-12-5-9-42

Scoring

Plymouth Whitemarsh: Sajid 26, Pereira 16, Thompson 10, Davis 6, Denard 4, Edwards 4, Bridgeman 2, Conicello 2, Hayes 2, Taormina 2

Bensalem: Drummond 8, Lee 6, Chetman 5, Johnson 5, Corbett 3, Mayfield 1