City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Delaware Valley Charter’s matchup against South Philadelphia HS in the Public League playoff’s second round was more than just a matchup of former ‘B’ Division rivals and a rematch of a non-league game earlier in the season.

It was a coaching battle between friends–Del-Val’s Jason Harrigan and Southern’s Troy Holiday. Though it would be more accurate, during the game, to call it a suspended friendship.

“We don’t speak leading up to it,” Harrigan said. “It’s my team versus the other team, so it’s not friendly until afterwards.”

The two met as t-ball teammates when they were barely six years old and have competed with and against each other in various sports over the years, including countless games of 1-on-1 growing up in Willingboro, N.J.

The stakes were a little different this time around, with a guaranteed spot in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs and a berth in the Public League quarterfinals on the line. And just like in December, it was Harrigan’s Warriors who emerged victorious, moving on with a 60-51 win over the Rams.

“It’s bittersweet, but it was still fun to be able to compete against each other,” Harrigan said. “I’ve known him forever, he’s a really good coach…he had those guys ready to play, they pulled off a big upset the other night and they gave us all we could handle tonight.”

“It’s something else, man, it’s like old times,” Holiday said. “To go up against him now is really special.”

Southern (12-10, 7-5) was certainly up for its second playoff game in a row against an ‘A’ Division opponent after dispatching Philadelphia Electric & Technology on Monday, jumping out to a 20-14 lead after one quarter. It would be a one-point Rams lead entering the fourth quarter, but they weren’t able to hold on.

Del-Val took the lead for good on a Karl Lewis layup with 4:12 to go, though they wouldn’t close things out until two minutes remained. Semaj Motley’s steal-and-layup with 1:17 remaining made it a 54-49 game, and DaShon Giddings followed with a layup 40 seconds later to put things away.

“That was a fun game, it was a very, very gritty game,” Harrigan said. “We shot the ball terribly from the field and we had to rely on defense and that’s what the playoffs are all about. You never know if you’re going to make shots, so you’ve got to make free throws and you’ve got play defense.”

Del-Val certainly clamped down on the defensive end, forcing Southern turnovers by the bushel and taking advantage in transition. While the Warriors had more than their own fair share of turnovers, it was something that the Rams had trouble dealing with all game long.

“That’s the problem–turnovers, man,” Holiday said. “We had a lot of unforced errors, if we could limit those unforced errors, then we could have had it.”

The only thing working offensively for Southern was the scoring touch of junior guard Kahssan Kay, who had five 3-pointers as part of his game-high 25 points.

Giddings, a 6-foot-5 senior wing, finished with 23 points to lead the Warriors. Motley added 15, and Lewis 10 as the only three players on the team with more than four points.

The win means that Del-Val has qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the fourth straight year under Harrigan, though this is the school’s first in the AAA classification after bumping up from AA.

Before that tournament begins on Friday, March 6, there are still as many as three more Pub playoff games remaining–starting with the AAA final (overall quarterfinal) against Imhotep Charter in two days.

“It does feel good to be in states, but the Public league championship is still out there,” Harrigan said. “We’re in a tough division, and AAA is extra-tough, but right now we can’t wait to practice and play a game on Friday, so that’s really the focus right now.”

The loss ends South Philadelphia’s season, but Holiday has plenty to feel good about heading into next season. Three of his starters–Kay plus sophomores Barry Quartlebaum and Ahmad Wimbush–are all returning, and a five-game winning streak before Wednesday’s loss showed the team was trending in the right direction.

“It sets down a foundation for bigger and better things coming up. We expect big things next year,” Holiday said. “We have a good young core, we could play with anybody. We’re going to take that core, get some new fresh players in there and we’re going to make a run for the ‘chip next year.”