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PET puts AAA bracket on notice in first round win

03/08/2014, 10:30pm EST
By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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All of the talk heading into the PIAA Class AAA state playoffs revolved around the powerhouses.

Archbishop Carroll, Allentown Central Catholic and Neumann-Goretti were dubbed as some of the favorites to take home the crown in Hershey, Pa. just two weeks from now.

On Friday, Philadelphia Electrical and Technology let everyone know that it could very well be in the mix, in Carroll’s gym to boot.

Seniors James Suber and Larenz Thurman summed it up quite well.

“We kind of take the underdog role,” Thurman said. “We keep our minds that’s all, we don’t worry about what the media says or anything we just go out and play hard each and every game.”

“We got to take the underdog role if nobody wants to talk about you,” Suber said. “We just come out here and win and give ‘em something to talk about.”

The Chargers certainly gave ‘em something to talk about.

PET jumped out to a 19-6 lead after the first quarter and coasted to a 68-50 win over Blue Mountain. The Chargers led by double digits the rest of the way and led by as many as 24 points late in the third quarter.

Thurman led the way with a game-high 23 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half. Junior guard Anthony Harris scored 15 points while junior guard Devante Truitt added 13 to join Thurman in double figures.

Suber added five points and a game-high 15 rebounds as the Chargers outrebounded Blue Mountain 37-25. Junior Jihad Barnes and sophomore Nysir Marshburn added six points apiece.

PET’s defense was suffocating, limiting the Eagles to just 6 of 26 (23 percent) shooting in the first half as PET took a 31-19 lead into the break.

By the middle of the third quarter the result was just a formality.

The Chargers (17-11) put people on notice that, despite a 16-11 record heading into the state playoffs, they’re more than capable of making noise in this tournament. Underdogs or not.

“We’ve always been underdogs since I’ve been here,” PET coach James Lewis said. “We’ve been playing well lately. Only thing I can say is we won one game, we got to get to the next one and time will tell. But I know for a fact it’s not easy beating us.”

It certainly won’t be easy beating the Chargers.

Philly Electric has been in the Public League’s “A” Division for the past four years, playing against some of the top competition in Philadelphia. Though the Chargers went 3-7 in the ‘Pub’ this year, a couple of late-season wins helped in their place in March and provide some much needed momentum.

PET knocked off Imhotep Charter in the quarterfinals of the Public League playoffs before falling to eventual runner-up Constitution in the semifinals.

“It gave us a lot of momentum and a lot of energy,” Suber said of the late surge. “It showed us that if we could get those games we could get any games.”

Thurman, who transferred to PET from Wilmington Friends for his senior year, shared the same sentiment.

“We played inconsistent a lot this season,” Thurman said. “As the season kept going I think we started to pick it up and we’re ready for a run at a state championship.”

Suber also came to the Chargers for his final high school season, only he came from another Public League team in Bartram. The 6-foot-6 workhorse has an offer from Division-I Maryland Eastern Shore. He previously held an offer from Tennessee-Martin, but its coach was fired.

Avenging two regular season Imhotep defeats by knocking off the Panthers in the playoffs showed just how far the group had come.

“Larenz Thurman and James Suber have come a long way,” Lewis said. “It’s their first year in the program. It was rocky in the beginning, but I think they kind of settled down a little bit and they’re giving us what we need right now at the right time.”

The Chargers will meet District One champion Holy Ghost Prep, who dispatched of Bermudian Springs 65-53 on Friday, in the second round. A win against HGP would set up a potential matchup with Carroll in the third round and a chance for PET to prove itself on a big stage.

“They’re a very good team,” Lewis said of Carroll. “But we can’t worry about Carroll we got to prepare for the next round first.”

“This is our fourth year in the states,” Lewis added. “I just think that [it’s about] taking it one game at a time, preparation and preparing. The key is just playing hard and competing as a basketball team… just let the chips fall.”


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