City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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At halftime of Phil-Mont Christian’s non-league game against Collegium Charter, Stuart Ross didn’t head back to the locker room with his team.

Instead, the Collegium Charter coach stayed out at midcourt, briefly putting aside his current allegiances for past ones. For it was alumni weekend at the small Glenside private school, and Ross, a 1995 graduate of Phil-Mont, took the opportunity to join a a few dozen other alums who had returned for the evening’s events for a group photograph.

“Brought back a lot of memories, it was good to see a lot of friendly faces,” he said. “The whole thing was a little different, but it was fun.”

Less fun for Ross was watching the team he used to play for run away from the team he’s currently in charge of for a 64-41 victory.

The game was the third of the evening, played in front of a packed house of around 300 spectators who filled the bleachers lining one side of the court as well as an observation area above it. And their cheers filled the small gymnasium in the 72-year-old school from start to finish.

“I told the guys tonight, ‘this is the biggest and loudest crowd we’ve played in front of this year...I’m not playing and I’m jacked, so your guys’ intensity should be out of the ceiling tonight,’” Phil-Mont’s seventh-year head coach Glen Dolton said. “And it was, they did a really good job.”

The Falcons (6-1) had a balanced attack, with four players in double figures.

Senior Sean Griffin, a 6-7 forward who’s being recruited by Division II schools like East Stroudsburg and Kutztown, finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds as well as three blocks, as he stood a good four inches taller than anybody on Collegium’s roster.

But the best Phil-Mont player on the court in this one was another senior, Osaze Thornton. Playing in just his second game this season--and second in as many days--Thornton was around seemingly every rebound, finishing with the same amount of boards as his jersey number, 15; the 6-3 forward also had 16 points to co-lead his team.

“He was working through some stuff, we’re happy to have him back,” Dolton said. “He helps us a lot on the glass, and keeps things alive and is real active defensively.”

Also finishing with 16 was senior Noah Baldez, an athletic 6-1 guard who showed off his ups with a pair of blocks in his own right. And junior forward David Guiliani had 14 of his own to go along with eight rebounds.

Clearly, this is much more than a one-man show.

“Noah, this is the best and most consistent that he’s played. I know that he’s been able to do this, we’ve just been encouraging it over the years,” Dolton said. “This is what we hope to be about--four, five, six guys trying to score every night.”

Griffin didn’t even score until the final bucket of the first quarter, which put his team up 15-8 after the opening eight minutes. The lead would remain in that vicinity until halftime (29-20) before the Falcons really opened things up with a 9-0 run to open the third quarter.

The Cougars wouldn’t get any closer than a 11 points the rest of the way, and a 12-0 run by Phil-Mont that begin with a 50-39 lead and 3:17 remaining slammed the door shut.

Dolton and his staff are hoping that increased depth will make a difference in the district tournament in February. Last year, the Falcons were the top seed in the eight-team bracket but were upset by Jenkintown in the semifinals of a tournament where only the two finalists make it to states.

Two years ago, when these seniors were sophomores, they were part of a team that made the second round of the state tournament, and are hungry to get back.

“That’s kind of been burning on guys right now because we have almost everybody back, we’re a much different team right now with our depth,” Dolton said. “It only shows up that five guys scored, but I’m able to play 8-9 guys and they’re quality guys and I can put them in there and get something.”

Collegium’s star guard, freshman Ahmadu Sarnor, was held to 14 points, well below his season average of 25 ppg.

“He’s deal with a lot of box-and-ones, even last year he dealt with a little bit of box-and-one,” Ross said. “He’s used to it, but it’s a different level now.”

This is Collegium Charter’s first year as a member of PIAA’s Class A, having left the non-affiliated Tri-County League they’d been in previously. While they’re currently without a conference, Ross said they were hoping to join the Bicentennial; either way, they’ll be eligible for the District 1 Class A tournament for the first time in February.

With the move up in competition, Ross has challenged his team, scheduling games against Octorara, Downingtown East, Phelps and Coatesville, as well as a good portion of the BAL.

“It’s all learning, we’re only eight games in,” Ross said. “Hopefully we’ll see these guys in districts and we’ll be better prepared to have it.”