City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The Public League’s regular season is officially meaningless.

Crumple it up, throw it in the trash, take it out to the dumpster.

All year long, it was Imhotep Charter who was the heavy favorite to win the Pub, cruising through the “A” Division with a 10-0 record with an average margin of victory of 23 points. No other Pub team came closer than 13 in any regular-season contest, and for good reason.

“Imhotep just had more athletes than everybody else,” Constitution head coach Rob Moore said. “They were just so much deeper than everybody else.”

And then, in the league’s quarterfinal round--which doubles as the league’s Class AAA championship--Delaware Valley Charter pulled the upset, beating the Panthers 62-58.

Imhotep’s season isn’t over; Division I recruits Daron Russell, Jaekwon Carlyle and the rest of Andre Noble’s Panthers will be in the PIAA Class AAA bracket as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed out of District 12, depending on the results of a to-be-played seeding game against either Neumann-Goretti or Archbishop Carroll.

But now it will be one of Constitution (A), Mastery North (AA), Del-Val (AAA) and Martin Luther King (AAAA) that will be Public League champs in 2016, and it’s certainly anybody’s game.

The semifinals will be held Tuesday evening at South Philadelphia HS; Del-Val meets Mastery North at 6 PM with Constitution/King to follow.

“It feels great, obviously we beat a really, really good team that has been dominating the entire league, very well-coached team,” Del-Val coach Jason Harrigan said. “Now to have an opportunity to play in the final four, which is somewhere our kids definitely wanted to be, it's a great opportunity and we're just excited about playing.”

The Warriors are riding a 14-game win streak, getting contributions from everybody on a rotation that can stay as short as six.

Seniors Semaj Motley and the Lowman twins--Wade and Waheem--as well as sophomore guard Antwuan Butler have all been taking turns as Del-Val’s primary offensive weapon, while Harrigan credited another senior, Makhi Morris, as the team’s top defender.

“They’ve been playing together as a team, sticking to our principles, their assignments,” Harrigan said. “Over that type of stretch, you’ve got to execute but you’ve really got to play together as a team.”

As the runner-ups to Imhotep with a 7-3 record in Public League "A" Division, Del-Val now assumes the role as the tournament favorite, especially considering the Warriors face a "C" Division team, Mastery North Charter (13-0), in their semifinal.

In the other semifinal, both Constitution (4-6) and King (4-6) are underdogs in their own right, even though both have state title aspirations.

“There’s really no pressure on my guys,” Moore said. “We have nothing to lose at this point. We’re loose, we’re ready to play, and just going to leave it all out there on the court Tuesday night and see what happens from there.

“If somehow we can win on Tuesday, we feel confident that we can play with anybody, these last three teams remaining. But right now Del-Val is the best team still left in.”

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Breakdown
Semifinal 1: Delaware Valley vs. Mastery North
After knocking off Imhotep, Del-Val is the new favorite in the Pub tournament, having come in second place in the “A” Division with a 7-3 league record. Mastery North (24-1) stormed through the “C” Division with a 13-0 record, but the Pumas haven’t had to play anybody above that division yet in the league playoffs. This will be the first big test of the year for Mastery North, led by junior guard Eli Alvin. Last year, the Pumas made it to the PIAA quarterfinals as the third seed out of District 12, but they’ve had to replace junior wing Koby Thomas, now at Imhotep. Delaware Valley is guard-heavy, featuring 5-11 senior Semaj Motley and talented 5-10 junior Antwuan Butler, who's been a big reason the Warriors have won 14 in a row. If Del-Val can slow down Alvin and force his teammates to make tough shots, the Warriors should be able to win rather handily over their lower-division opponent.

Semifinal 2: Martin Luther King vs. Constitution
The first two matchups between these “A” Division rivals both went to overtime, with Constitution taking the first and King taking the second. This is familiar territory for both teams; Rob Moore’s Generals have been to the Pub semifinals in five of the last six years, and they’ve advanced to the finals every time. Sean Colson’s Cougars haven’t been at this level for quite as long, but won the Pub in 2014 and made the state title game last year. Constitution is led by 6-6 junior wing forward Maurice Waters, who had 30 points in the quarterfinal win over Math, Civics & Sciences, while junior guard Tamir Green can score in bunches and senior wing Anthony Satchell--the team's only returning starter from last year's PIAA Class A champions--provides toughness, rebounding and defense. King relies on the senior backcourt trio of Jabri McCall, Kahssian Kay and recent Chestnut HIll commit Nasir Bell, especially with senior big man Rasool Samir currently dealing with a lower leg injury. Constitution needs to take advantage of Samir's absence and beat King on the glass to advance to the final yet again.