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Silpe leads Cherry Hill East to second-straight S. Jersey title

03/09/2015, 6:00pm EDT

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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Before the start of the second overtime period Monday evening, Jake Silpe challenged his Cherry Hill East teammates.

“I went to each player on the court on our team and said, ‘How bad do you want it? How bad do we want this win,’” the senior University of Pennsylvania-commit said.

In the background, the Cherokee student section was breaking out the “I believe” chant–a tough one to go with when both teams went scoreless in the first overtime.

By the end of the second four-minute overtime, it was Silpe who was bookending the Cougars’ nine-point period by stealing the ball from Cherokee and high-stepping with his tongue out in front of Cherry Hill’s massive student section before being fouled with 27 seconds left.

His job was done, and then the Cherry Hill students let it all out.

“I believe that we have won,” they repeated. They were surely right about that.

The Cougars outscored Cherokee 9-0 in those final four minutes and took their second consecutive South Jersey Group 4 championship in a 48-39 victory which prompted the hundreds of students to flood onto the court.

“They’re the sixth man for us,” Silpe said of the student section, known as The Countrymen. “They always have our backs. They came out here today, showed us love, stormed the court. It’s the best feeling ever, knowing they’re behind us and always supporting us.”

It was the second straight year Cherokee fell to Cherry Hill East in the final.

“We worked since November for this,” Silpe said. “This was our goal, right here. It’s the greatest feeling when all your hard work pays off. The biggest failure is underachieving and we did not let that happen.”

But they almost did.

The Cougars, who led 26-14 at halftime, had a seven-point lead (31-24) heading into the fourth quarter. But by midway through the final frame, two free throws by Cherokee’s Tyler Tobin gave the Chiefs their first lead, 35-34, since the first points of the game.

In all it was a 13-3 run starting late in the third quarter to get the lead back.

Silpe, who scored a game-high 23 to go with 11 rebounds and five assists, had an answer. Less than 30 seconds later, the Cherry Hill East point guard knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Cougars back on top.

Cherokee had an answer of its own, as Paul Bellamy scored two of his team-best 18 points to knot the score at 37 with just over two minutes to play.

“Cherokee is well-coached, very well-coached,” Cougars coach Dave Allen said. “And Paul Bellamy is one of the best players in South Jersey. So we knew he was going to catch fire and make plays and he did.”

Allen then decided to try to hold for one shot as the Cougars passed the ball around. But Cherokee pressured and forced a turnover, leading to a Grant Gibson basket to put Cherokee back up, 39-37, with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.

Cherry Hill East let some time come off the clock before a timeout. With 7.3 seconds remaining, the Cougars inbounded under the Cherokee basket. Silpe came off of a screen and attempted a game-winning 3-pointer, but it fell off the iron. Luckily, junior forward Olin McClendon was there to grab the rebound and put it back for the game-tying basket right before the buzzer.

“He saved our season,” Allen said.

“Before the timeout, they told me to crash the boards,” McClendon, who scored seven points, said. “I did what my coach told me to, got the ball and just put it right back up. If you leave me, I’m getting that board. That’s how I am. If you leave me, offensive or defensive, I’m getting that board.”

Silpe knew his game-winning attempt was going to miss shortly after it left his hands.

“I could see that it was off,” Silpe said. “Olin is incredible, he really is. He’s gotten so much better. He grabbed that board, was confident and went up with it.”

After a scoreless first overtime, Silpe – who nearly scored at the first overtime buzzer – ended an almost five-minute scoring drought by slashing to the rim to open the scoring in the second overtime.

Later in the period, Silpe was double-teamed and found junior center Tim Perry for two of his seven points to go with six rebounds.

Cherokee couldn’t make a shot at the other end and senior guard Josh Brown grabbed two key rebounds and made 3-of-4 free throws to seal the deal.

“We just had more heart,” Silpe said. “It came down to heart and who wanted it more. “Everyone locked in, played tough defense and it paid off. We hit free throws at the end. Josh Brown was awesome. He’s one of my best friends and is the greatest teammate ever. He had the desire to get that rebound off the miss.”

It was Silpe, though, who was the emotional leader all night. And his steal late in the game before making two free throws was just a small example of the player he is.

“He has had such an impact in our program, more so in his era than any player I think over the last four years with what he’s done for us,” Allen said. “He does everything for us. He rebounds, plays defense, runs the show, scores and does it all.”

The Cougars now advance to the Group 4 state semifinals on Wednesday. They’ll meet Hillsboro, who upset Freehold on Monday, 66-58.