City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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HARRISBURG — As Don Davis looked on from Delco Christian’s anxious sideline area and the early misses began to pile up for standout senior Wyatt Harkins, the Knights’ skipper didn’t fret or stomp or pull the 6-1 wing to the side.

Davis merely waited.

And when Harkins adjusted his game and began going to the basket with more frequency — and more intensity — looks began to fall. Harkins also began making regular stops at the foul line and, most nights, freebies dropping are a certainty.

With Harkins finding a rhythm offensively and Davis calling for some nasty pressure defense predicated on quickening the pace, District 1 runner-up Delco Christian was able to shrug off its early sluggishness and carve out a 45-32 triumph over Greenwood in the opening round of the PIAA’s Class A playoffs Friday night at suburban Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin East High School.

Harkins finished with 23 points — 21 from the second quarter on — and grabbed five rebounds as Davis’ Knights (15-12) pushed into Tuesday night’s second round and a date with surprising Shenandoah Valley at a site and time to be determined.

Shenandoah Valley sidelined previously undefeated St. John Neumann of Williamsport 70-59 in another opening-round scrap.

T.J. Tann and Bryce Shook tacked on six points each for the athletic Knights, who were able to force a more deliberate Greenwood side (13-14) into committing 19 turnovers — including 15 in the first three quarters.

Although Greenwood pulled into a 24-all tie on Noah Wright’s finish at the rim midway through the third, a pair of Shook buckets and Harkins’ and-one had Davis’ Knights holding a 32-27 lead when the quarter came to an end.

Kent Houser’s Wildcats, District 3’s second-place team, never got closer. Seth Ferguson topped the Tri-Valley League entry with 14 points.

By that time, however, Delco Christian had the pace right where it wanted. Quick when the Knights were trying to score in transition or considerably slower when the Delaware Countians opened the floor in an effort to milk clock.

Harkins added seven points down the stretch for good measure.

Hard to believe the Knights were trailing 8-3 some eight minutes in.

“We just weren’t putting the ball in the basket,” said Davis, whose club canned just one of its 14 looks in the opening quarter. “I felt like we were getting decent shots. We were tentative going to the rim and I’m not sure what that was.

“I don’t know if we were trying to make it or the big kid [the 6-6 Wright], but we were tentative. We just didn’t shoot it. We were [5-for-28] at halftime,” Davis added.

“I just told them, ‘Keep being aggressive and those shots will fall.’”

Harkins certainly heeded those timely instructions.

Just 1-for-7 in the opening quarter — and with his jump shot not falling — Harkins started going hard to the rack. And even if Harkins couldn’t get the ball to drop (7-for-22), he was getting to the line with plenty of regularity.

“Oh, man,” Davis said. “He’s always better when he gets a couple baskets to fall like going to the basket. And then that mid-range, he never got the mid-range going. But as you can see, we don’t flinch when he pulls up and he can shoot that shot well.

“A couple shots didn’t go in early and then the second quarter he just said, ‘Hey, this is not happening on my watch.’”

And it didn’t.

“My jump shot, it was like it was in the rim and then all of a sudden it got sucked right out,” Harkins cracked. “I knew my shot wasn’t falling so I had to attack the rim.

“I wasn’t getting a lot of calls throughout the game,” added Harkins, who also was 9-for-9 at the stripe. “I knew I just had to keep going strong, but I knew if I elevated and tried to go up as high as I could eventually they’d start falling for me."

By then, the Knights had the pace of play to their liking.

“That was the game plan was to get the tempo quicker,” Davis said. “We tried to do that in our man-to-man [early on], but it just did not work. So we came out in our three-quarter court press and that seemed to bother them.

“Second half, they started to figure it out,” Davis continued. “But by that time I felt like the momentum was in our favor and we were in a better position to pressure them and dictate the tempo of the game.”

“It got more and more physical and we couldn’t run the offense,” said Houser, who has totaled 497 career victories. “If you can’t run an offense under pressure, you’re not gonna score. That’s been a sore point for us all year.

“Again, that’s what you rely on and that’s what we practice and you’ve got to be able to do it. When you can’t do it, you’re gonna have a hard time getting points.”

Greenwood also ran smack dab into a Delco Christian side that benefited from playing in suburban Philly’s Bicentennial League, a circuit that had a total of five teams reach states across three classifications.

Throw in reigning state champion Constitution, two games in Illinois at the end of the regular season and the experience Davis’ Knights gained a year ago when they reached the second round of states before losing in overtime to Millersburg.

Greenwood, meanwhile, hadn’t been to states in several seasons.

“When you get to states, every team’s there for a reason,” Harkins said. “No one sneaks into states or kind of sneaks through the cracks and makes it into the state tournament. Every team that’s in the state tournament deserves to be in it.

“We knew going into this that you can’t overlook anybody, so we expected a hostile environment, we expected not to get as many calls,” Harkins added. “We knew what we were coming into and I think the past four years of making it to this point just helped us out tremendously as far as being focused and being calm.

“Almost like, ‘We’ve been here before, let’s go do it.’”

And they did.

Yet Delco Christian absorbed its share of body blows before making its return to state play. While injuries slowed the Knights’ regular-season progress, losing Devin Hill and Grant Fischer (both have been dismissed) didn’t help.

Especially since both were averaging around 14 points per game.

“Experience is good,” Davis admitted. “This is the fourth year in a row these guys have been coming to the state tournament, so every time you come it’s like, ‘This is what we do.’ So we were very comfortable going through the district play and now the state playoffs. I’m real proud of them.

“They’ve been persevering all year,” Davis continued. “They’ve been through injuries and we have two of our top three scorers that aren’t on our team any more. So we’ve been through it and these guys just continue to persevere through difficult things.

“Even that first half, as ugly as it was, we just kept playing hard. And finally we broke out and we broke loose.”

Right into the second round of states and a pending scrap with Shenandoah Valley.

“We made it to that point last year and we’re back there,” Harkins said. “And last year was a heartbreak for everyone, myself included, and I think we’re just going to have that last year, that fire of losing a very winnable game last year.

“We’re going to use that to motivate us,” Harkins continued. “These next two days of practice are going to be crucial for us. “

~~~

CLASS A
FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 4
York Country Day 51, Sullivan County 42
Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian 75, Paul Robeson 63
Math, Civics & Sciences 79, Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 47
Old Forge 63, Cowanesque Valley 50
Shenandoah Valley 70, Williamsport St. John Neumann 59
Delaware County Christian 45, Greenwood 32
Constitution 64, Lancaster County Christian 39
Southern Fulton 67, West Shore Christian 49
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 63, Union-Rimersburg 39
Bishop Carroll 58, Erie First Christian 42
Coudersport 64, Bishop Guilfoyle 57
Kennedy Catholic 75, Jeannette 42
Homer-Center 60, Ridgway 58 (4OT)
Sewickley Academy 45, McConnellsburg 25
Farrell 44, Monessen 37
Elk County Catholic 52, Eden Christian 44

SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, March 8 (sites/times, TBA)
York Country Day (3-1, 23-0) vs. Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian (1-1, 29-1)
Math, Civics & Sciences (12-2, 12-14) vs. Old Forge (2-1, 15-9)
Shenandoah Valley (11-2, 18-8) vs. Delaware County Christian (1-2, 15-12)
Constitution (12-1, 16-12) vs. Southern Fulton (5-1, 22-5)
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (7-1, 19-8) vs. Bishop Carroll (6-2, 18-8)
Coudersport (9-2, 23-3) vs. Kennedy Catholic (10-1, 24-2)
Homer-Center (6-1, 26-0) vs. Sewickley Academy (7-2, 24-3)
Farrell (10-2, 20-6) vs. Elk County Catholic (9-1, 28-0)

QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 11

SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, March 15

CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday, March 18
At Giant Center, Hershey, 2 p.m.