City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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WEST YORK — Adam Sherman’s Central Bucks West side may have gotten their first look at West York High School’s shiny new gymnasium Saturday night, but the Bucks attacked the basket like they’d been in there many times before.

Many, many times before.

Shooting the proverbial lights out — and amazingly Sherman’s Bucks were considered the visiting team — Central Bucks West used its remarkably efficient marksmanship to fend off a Central York club fueled by rabid backing that just wouldn’t go away 60-55 in the opening round of the PIAA’s Class AAAA playoffs.

Luke Irons led the way with 18 points for CB West (24-6), which advanced to Wednesday’s second round opposite reigning Class AAAA champion Roman Catholic at a site and time to be determined.

Roman Catholic downed Academy Park 73-58 in another opening-round scrap.

Bill Power (14), Cal Reichwein (13) and Connor Lynch (12) also cracked double figures for Sherman’s Bucks, who canned 63.3 percent (19-for-30) of their field-goal attempts and were even better (11-for-17) from beyond the 3-point arc.

“We found a nice rhythm,” Sherman said. “It was nice to see.

“Hopefully we continue to play that way.”

Irons also made three trips to the free-throw line in the final 26.2 seconds, bagging five of six as CB West secured its invite to the next round.

“It’s great for this group,” Sherman said. “They put the time in, so to see them put the time in and get the reward is awesome. By the same token, we think this is the school record for wins so we’re pretty excited for that.

“We welcome the next challenge. You get to play for a couple more days. It’s March. There’s nothing better than playing basketball in March.”

Jared Wagner dropped in 20 points — the relentless York College recruit also grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists — and Nathan Markey chimed in with 16 more for Kevin Schieler’s gritty Panthers (23-5).

Down 32-23 at the halftime break, Central York rattled off the final eight points of the third quarter, slicing its deficit to four (37-33) with eight minutes to go.

And when Reichwein knocked down three treys to open the fourth quarter, CB West rapidly expanded its lead to 13 (46-33) with just over six minutes to play. Although both sides swapped points, that lead remained 13 at the four-minute mark.

“That’s what we’ve missed,” Sherman said, referring to Reichwein’s return from knee problems. “Having one more weapon out there is great. He’s got great court vision. It’s tough to play without him. It was nice to see him play well.”

Central York, however, was able to get within three (53-50) with 1:36 left when Wagner drained a trey from well out on the left wing. Power’s finish and two Irons freebies bumped the lead to seven, but Wagner’s drive and Markey’s trey from the other side of U.S. 30 had the Panthers within 58-55.

Just 10.3 ticks were showing.

Central York’s season was just about done, yet …

“They’re a resilient group. I told them before the Reading game and I’ve been singing their praises all year long that there’s no challenge they’re scared of,” said Schieler, whose Panthers tumbled to Reading in last weekend’s District 3-AAAA title game. “There’s nothing they’re not afraid to accept.

“Seems like a long time ago, but in November we were having to read that we were in a rebuilding year and that we lose all these guys,” Schieler added. “Not those 15 guys in there. It’s basketball. Roll the ball out and anything’s possible. Given the way they play, they made a lot of things happen.”

So when Irons knocked down two more free throws to make it a two-possession game, CB West’s opening-round victory finally was secured.

“Same repetition there,” Irons revealed. “I’m not trying to think about the score or the situation or anything else. Just sink the shots.”

And sinking shots was what CB West was able to do all game long.

Their work from the perimeter — Lynch was 4-for-6 from deep, Reichwein was 4-for-7, Power was 2-for-3 and Irons was 1-for-1 — was the difference.

And Sherman’s club was effective whether passing the ball around the arc for an open look or using the dribble-drive to penetrate and kick.

“We knew coming into the game that they would give a lot of help on the initial penetration, so we knew the kick threes would be there,” Irons said. “Sometimes they go, sometimes they don’t go, but tonight they went for us.

“So we were getting in a little bit of a rhythm. And when they started to get out [on our shooters] better, we were able to get the ball inside. It was a nice balance of getting to the rim and getting some kick threes.”

Everything was falling — or so it seemed.

“They’re a great shooting team,” Schieler said, referring to CB West’s 11-for-17 success from deep. “That’s ridiculous. That’s good, compliments to them. We knew they were a good shooting team. I thought we could have done a much better job in the first half of contesting and closing out, but I thought we did a better job in the second half — despite the 3-for-3 they were in the fourth quarter to start.

“They’re a good team,” Schieler continued. “They’re very well-coached. They’re very disciplined. They’re big men aren’t the biggest guys in the world, but they read very, very well. And they do a great job on defense, too.”

~~~

Saturday's Results
CLASS AAAA
FIRST ROUND
Saturday, March 5
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 81, Lebanon 41
Bangor 57, Central Bucks East 37
Simon Gratz 63, Lower Merion 61 (OT)
J.P. McCaskey 50, Abington Heights 46
Parkland 71, Conestoga 49
Ridley 50, Wilson West Lawn 34
Central Bucks West 60, Central York 55
Roman Catholic 73, Academy Park 58
Reading 61, Hatboro-Horsham 44
Emmaus 74, Martin Luther King 63
Chester 55, Hempfield 46
Spring-Ford 74, Spring Grove 43
Carlisle 64, State College 54
North Hills 70, Latrobe 60
Pine-Richland 81, Bethel Park 57
Taylor Allderdice 66, Penn Hills 50

SECOND ROUND
Wednesday, March 9 (sites/times, TBA)
Plymouth-Whitemarsh (1-1, 26-2) vs. Bangor (11-2, 26-2)
Simon Gratz (12-3, 15-10) vs. J.P. McCaskey (3-7, 22-7)
Parkland (11-1, 26-3) vs. Ridley (1-3, 27-2)
Central Bucks West (1-6, 24-6) vs. Roman Catholic (12-1, 23-4)
Reading (3-1, 26-3) vs. Emmaus (11-3, 20-8)
Chester (1-2, 21-7) vs. Spring-Ford (1-5, 23-7)
Carlisle (3-5, 20-6) vs. North Hills (7-2, 17-9)
Pine-Richland (7-1, 21-6) vs. Taylor Allderdice (8-1, 25-1)

QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, March 12

SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, March 15

CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, March 19
At Giant Center, Hershey, 8 p.m.