City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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SPRING GARDEN — Alantay Dawson and Khair White-Blaylock wouldn’t describe their relationship as friendly prior to this summer.

The two spent the better part of their high school careers on rival teams — Dawson at Math, Civics & Sciences and White-Blaylock at Constitution. White-Blaylock even accidentally injured Dawson in the Philadelphia Public League semifinals last winter.

Their relationship changed this summer when Dawson arrived at Constitution following MCS’ closure. A summer of workouts in the gym prepping for their senior seasons, turned the former rivals into friends.

Now, the duo are two of the seniors trying to lead the Generals on a state final run, which started Saturday with a 59-44 PIAA Class 2A win over Dock Mennonite.

“Before I got here, we had a little thing going on where I didn’t really like him like that just because we were on different schools,” Dawson said. “But when I got here, we became close friends. … We both came here to win a state championship and that’s our mission right now, to end the season with a win. We left the past in the past and we’re onto bigger and better things now.”

Junior Nick Young led Constitution with 17 points followed by 13 apiece from Dawson and White-Blaylock on Saturday. Dock senior Tony Martin led the Pioneers with 13.

Neither team had ease putting the ball through the hoop early with several scoreless minutes of basketball before Dock went up 5-1 and led 6-4 after a quarter.

The Generals used a 16-1 run to go up 17-8 on a feed from senior Khaleek Johnson to Young. Dock’s first points of the second quarter didn’t come until a Justin Panaia bucket with 1:41 left in the half.

Constitution went into half with a 21-12 lead and never saw its lead any lower than nine the rest of the way. The Generals’ defense made Dock look uncomfortable throughout. Both White-Blaylock and Dawson complemented the defense of sophomore guard Rahleem Brown, who has earned the nickname of “Bug Spray” from his teammates for his pesty ways on the court.

“We just took their heart and kept taking their heart,” said White-Blaylock, who was fasting along with Brown.

Young had eight of his points in the third and White-Blaylock finished a tough bucket late in the period to give the team a 43-34 advantage after three.

White-Blaylock and Dawson, two of the team’s main seniors along with Johnson, had the ball in their hands throughout the fourth to steady the ship through the finish without any nervous moments.

“Scoring, defense, rebounding and just being an all-around good player,” White-Blaylock said of Dawson. “He’s someone I can play off, and he can play off me. Right now, nobody in these next four games is stopping me and him.”

“Last year, he played a little guard, but this year he became a real true point guard,” Dawson said of White-Blaylock. “He controls the vibes on the court. He helps everyone get to their spots. He draws a lot of attention, so he helps me score the ball a little bit more. It’s been fun.”

Constitution continues state action against District 3 runner-up Linville Hill, a 77-42 winner over Marian Catholic, on Wednesday.

Dawson was part of a state quarterfinal run with MCS last season. White-Blaylock and the Generals reached the semifinal round. The two are hoping Wednesday is the next step toward something neither has achieved in their respective high school careers.

“We’re telling them we need to do what we couldn’t do last year,” White-Blaylock said. “Neither one of us won. We didn’t win a state chip or a Pub all four years of high school, so we’re just telling them that we’re trying to go out with a bang.”

By Quarter

Dock Mennonite: 6 | 6 | 12 | 20 || 44

Constitution: 4 | 17 | 22 | 16 || 59

Scoring

Dock Mennonite: Tony Martin 13, Justin Panaia 11, Robby Sukaly 10, Marques Brown 4, Koby Rollerson 4, Tim Weir 2

Imhotep survives scare from CB East

In front of former Panther Justin Edwards and his Philadelphia 76ers teammate Tyrese Maxey, Imhotep held off CB East for a 62-46 win in the PIAA Class 6A first round.

Junior R.J. Smith scored 19 points, and classmate Latief Lorenzano-White had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Nolan Behm scored 19 points to lead the CB East upset bid.

“This is definitely a wake up call,” Imhotep senior Carnell Henderson said. “You gotta respect the game every game and don’t ever underestimate your opponent.”

Powered by Lorenzano-White in the first quarter and a spurt from freshman Ian Smith to start the second, Imhotep led 22-10 with 6:43 left in the first half. The game was teetering towards a blowout before the Patriots scored 12 consecutive points to knot the game, 22-22, on a bucket by senior Behm with 1:40 left in the period. Senior Graham Smith had two big threes during the run.

CB East went into half trailing 28-26 then scored the first five points of the third quarter, going ahead 31-28 on a three by senior  Shane O’Hara-Jamison.

They were still within two late in the third before Henderson drilled a three off a feed from Smith to send Imhotep into the fourth with a 44-39 advantage.

“I’m just really proud of our guys,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. “Our four seniors, they played their hearts out, and they kept it close and gave probably the favorite in this tournament everything they could handle for three and a half quarters.”

Behm struck first for CB East to start the fourth, but Smith answered with a three that started an 11-1 Panthers run, spurred by the Imhotep defense ratcheting things up. R.J. Smith went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe during an 11-point fourth quarter to help Imhotep stave off the upset bid.

“We just try to be the best leaders possible,” R.J. Smith said. “We always talk about holding each other accountable, and then we came up with the win.”

CB East’s seniors Behm, O’Hara-Jamison (11 points), Smith (nine points) and Anthony Molnar (four points) scored all but three of the team’s points in the game. They’re a group that’s waited its turn to shine for the Patriots, but went out with a gutty performance in their final game together.

“Only Nolan Behm played JV as a freshman,” Henrysen said of his senior group. “The other three seniors, they started on the freshman team. They grinded, and I’m proud of their development, and here they are in a state playoff game, playing against the No. 1 seed and it’s just nice to see what they’ve done over the years developing.”

Imhotep has lost some pieces this season, yet still found ways to edge Samuel Fels in the Public League championship and then Catholic League champion Father Judge in the District 12 title game.

Sophomore Kevin Benson III (nine points) and freshman Ian Smith (eight points) both had big moments in Saturday’s win. 

Next up for the Panthers is District 3 four seed Chambersburg on Wednesday.

“We just gotta be better on ourselves,” Smith said. “We didn’t play our best. We got the win, obviously, but a win doesn’t always feel like a win, the he way we played. We just gotta get back in the lab, watch film and do what we need to do to win a state championship.”

By Quarter

CB East 10 | 16 | 13 | 7 || 46
Imhotep Charter 14 | 14 | 16 | 19 || 62

Scoring

CB East: Nolab Behm 19, Shane O’Hara-Jamison 11, Graham Smith 9, Anthony Molnar 4, Connor Mekanik 3.

Imhotep Charter: R.J. Smith 19, Latief Lorenzano-White 12, Carnell Henderson 11, Kevin Benson III 9, Ian Smith 8, Rocky Johnson 3.