City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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George School’s boys roster and coaching staff are almost entirely new compared to last year.

That didn’t stop Kasey Fleming from approaching the game with a little extra motivation. 

The Penn Charter senior, who spent the last two years at George, brought his ‘A’ game on Friday night — as did the rest of the Quakers, who absolutely rolled the Cougars 86-44 to close out a tripleheader Friday night as part of the Speedy Morris Invitational.  

Fleming scored 19 points and added five rebounds, six assists and four steals as Penn Charter opened up a double-digit advantage in the first quarter, stretched the gap to 17 by the break and then blew it open with a 23-6 third quarter to erase any hopes of a George School comeback. 

“For sure, this game was definitely personal,” Fleming said afterwards. “A lot of guys left, a lot of new faces, but this game definitely was very personal. Came into this one with a little bit of extra energy than usual.”

Fleming played his two years at George under Ben Luber, now an assistant at Penn. New George School coach Chris Harris returned just one player from the varsity rotation in guard Max Kipper, but Kipper was out with an ankle injury on Friday night.

Despite that, Fleming said he’d been looking forward to the game since he found out the Cougars were on the Quakers’ schedule, during the fall. Once they got through Wednesday’s road game at Abington Friends with a win, Fleming knew exactly what was coming next. 

“Trying to focus in class but it’s tough, my mind wanders,” he said. “Definitely thinking about it all day.”

It’s been a tough start to the season for Fleming, who got sick with the flu near the end of November. He said he pushed through the illness for the season opener against Germantown Friends on Nov. 25 but then missed the next 12 days (and 12 pounds) as he said he was sicker than he’d ever been before. 

Fleming returned to the court for the win over Abington Friends, and though he said he’s still working on getting his energy back — he’s added five pounds back to his 6-foot-4 frame — he looked very much back to his old self in the win over his previous program. His day started with an and-one take, part of an eight-point first quarter; he added 11 more in the second, then focused more on his play-making in the third before the Quakers’ bench played the entire fourth quarter. 

“We didn’t talk about how personal it was, but you could tell,” sophomore guard Carter Smith said. “You could see it from the beginning of the game, Kasey came out hot, started playing really good, hitting shots. I think it was mental for him, he came to play.”

The Quakers forced 16 turnovers and committed just nine. They also dominated the glass, coming away with 15 offensive rebounds, while shooting 6-of-15 from 3-point range through the first three quarters before the game was in the hands of the reserves (9-25 overall).

Carter Smith (above) paced Penn Charter with 22 points in the win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Smith paced the scoring column in the win for Penn Charter (5-1), finishing with 22 points (8-12 FG, 1-2 3PT, 5-9 FT). A 6-4 guard with a high ceiling now in his third year as a member of the PC varsity squad, Smith is coming into his own as a big-time scorer and prospect, adding five rebounds, five steals, three assists and a block in an impressive performance that included a couple fantastic finishes at the rim. 

“I feel like it’s been a step up each year,” said Smith, who noted that he’s starting to see teams pay more significant attention to him defensively as he’s become one of the Quakers’ primary sources of offense. “I think it’s just like, if teams are going to guard me a different way, then I’m a good playmaker so I’ll be able to get other people involved. I don’t have to score to affect the game every time.”

Another sophomore who impressed in the win was 6-11 sophomore Daniel Gilhool, whose fluidity and assertiveness have both clearly taken strides, as evidenced by an efficient 12-point, nine-rebound performance which saw him grab six of those on the offensive end. 

“[He’s] definitely giving himself more of a post presence,” Smith said. “He’s really good at kicking out to shooters and he’s good at finishing, too.”

The rest of the Penn Charter rotation all played well as nine different Quakers entered the scoring column. Eighth grader Jackson Boyd stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks off the bench; sophomore Luke West added eight points, three rebounds and two blocks. 

Sophomore guard M.J. Thompson paced George School with 13 points, including a big-time put-back slam in the second quarter. Senior Sebastian Harding and sophomore Patrick Crotty added eight apiece.

By Quarter
PC:  24  |  22  |  23  |  17  ||  86
GS:  14  |  15  |   6   |   9   ||  44

Shooting
PC: 31-65 FG (9-25 3PT), 15-21 FT
GS: 16-51 FG (5-18 3PT), 7-16 FT

Scoring
PC: Carter Smith 22, Kasey Fleming 19, Daniel Gilhool 12, Jackson Boyd 8, Luke West 8, Dominic Comitale 5, Graham Hamilton 5, Silas Birnie 5, Myles Jacobs 2

GS: MJ Thompson 13, Sebastian Harding 8, Patrick Crotty 8, Ethan Rounick 5, Frankie Hoyonowski 5, Jayden Driver 5

~~~

Game 2: Penn Charter 51, Perkiomen School 29

Penn Charter’s girls swarmed all over Perkiomen School, forcing 21 turnovers, as they ran away to an easy win in the middle game. 

The Quakers picked up 17 steals in the first half alone, absolutely overwhelming the Panthers with their full-court press and half-court, on-ball defense, then turning those opportunities into good looks at the other end. 

Senior wing Marleigh Jackson led the way with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double, adding five steals, two assists and a block. Her classmate, guard Molly Dougherty, stuffed the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals, playing tenacious defenses. All five of Penn Charter’s starters, including junior Laila Sharp (9 points), junior Mia DiBenedetto (2 points) and sophomore Aubrei Smith (4 points), had multiple steals as the Quakers led 29-5 at the break.

Perkiomen School found its offensive rhythm in the second half, getting 16 points from senior guard Mizan Shell, but they couldn’t overcome the large gap as Penn Charter was too strong on the boards.

By Quarter
PC:   19  |  10  |  14  |   8   ||  51
Perk:  2   |   3   |  14  |  10  ||  29

Shooting
PC: 19-72 FG (8-31 3PT), 5-12 FT
Perk: 10-33 FG (0-10 3PT), 9-15 FT

Scoring
PC: Marleigh Jackson 22, Laila Sharp 9, Molly Dougherty 6, Cailyn O’Brien 6, Aubrei Smith 4, Mia DiBenedetto 2, Katie Shoup 1, Leah Tyre 1

Perk: Mizan Shell 16, Imelia Feliz 6, Jordan Rivera 5, Paige Fisher 2

~~~

Game 1: Haverford School 67, Perkiomen School 59 

The duo of Silas Graham and Manny Butts was too much for Perkiomen to handle, and an impressive Haverford defensive effort got it done as the Fords toughed out a quality win in the opener. 

Graham, Haverford’s standout 6-4 junior guard, led the way with 20 points, including five rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block; Butts, a 6-7 junior, was ultra-efficient with a 19-point, two-rebound, two-steal outing, giving up a couple inches to the Perkiomen frontcourt but out-playing them by a clear margin. 

The Fords (5-1) came away with nine steals to generate easy offense, but also made plenty of tough buckets at the rim, mostly by Graham and Butts. But they got timely shot-making from sophomore forward Walter Plimpton (9 points, 3 rebounds), junior Conor Morsell (8 points) and senior Dillon Gamble (7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) to hold off the Panthers. 

Perkiomen (5-5) led by three after one quarter, but the Fords owned the second 18-7 to lead 32-24 at the break; it was 44-32 by the end of the third quarter, and though Perkiomen scored 27 points in the fourth, Haverford hit all three of its 3-pointers and 10-of-14 from the line in the final quarter alone (19-26 for the game) to hang on.

By Quarter
Fords: 14  |  18  |  12  |  23  ||  67
Perk:  17  |   7   |   8   |  27  ||  59

Shooting
Fords: 22-42 FG (4-13 3PT), 19-26 FT
Perk: 20-44 FG (9-22 3PT), 10-14 FT

Scoring
Fords: Silas Graham 20, Manny Butts 19, Walter Plimpton 9, Conor Morsell 8, Dillon Gamble 7, Chris Adams 2

Perk: Alec Roumph 18, Tyler Royal 12, Darnell Lloyd 9, Zay Johnson 6, Elijah Crispin 5, Bennett White 4, Reeve Sysko 3, Evan Colao 2