City of Basketball Love

Graham Foley (@Graham_Foley3)
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Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Ahmin Williams stormed off the court with 50 seconds left in the second half against Bishop Shanahan on Tuesday night.

He marched past his bench, high-fiving his teammate with little enthusiasm and his head held low. Williams had fouled out and given Shanahan two free throws that tied the game at 52.

The game went to overtime. Williams, Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s leading scorer in the game, could not play.

Regardless, Plymouth-Whitemarsh finished off Bishop Shanahan and won a thrilling contest in overtime 55-53. The Colonials overcame a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the scrappy and clean-shooting Eagles.

Still, Williams was less than pleased about fouling out and not helping his team finish the victory.

“It was extremely frustrating because I knew I could still help my team win,” Williams said. “I was extremely frustrated but I had to keep my head together, know my team could pull out the win without me. And that’s what it’s all about, if I go down, we need somebody to step up. Next man up, that’s what we always say. Next man up.”

While Williams felt frustrated, it is fair to say the Colonials (2-0) would not have been in a position to win at all if it weren’t for his play.

Down 45-36 to start the fourth quarter, Williams responded by going 4-of-5 from the field and scoring eight crucial points in the final minutes. Senior guard/forward Matt Walker hit two electrifying 3-point shots to close the gap and Williams’ late layups allowed the Colonials to tie the game and take a late 52-50 lead.

P-W head coach Jim Donofrio was impressed by Williams’ final stretch and even joked about his fatal foul.

“Well he basically in that one minute won the game for us and then decided ‘let’s not make it that easy,’” Donofrio said with a chuckle. “He just basically took over that one minute run there. Offensive rebounding, baskets, steals, it was beautiful. But even he’s got some learning to do.”

Williams comes into his junior season with a new leadership role. Last year’s district championship winning team was stacked with seniors, allowing Williams to play a decent amount but not have “the heat” on him, as Donofrio said. This season, with his twin brother Ahmad Williams and Walker, he will be one the guys who are relied upon to make big plays when it counts.

According to Donofrio, he is more than capable of making those plays. Williams has stepped into to this leadership role and led by example.

“He is the heart and soul guy of the team,” Donofrio said. “He’s just the hardest-working guy. He is a relentless defender and has turned himself into an opportunistic scorer. He doesn’t even have to be a ra-ra guy, he just sets a pace that is so high-level that you have no choice but to play hard.”

Walker, who was instrumental in Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s comeback victory, was also quick to praise Williams.

“He’s great, he’s all hustle,” Walker said. “He saves us all the time, like in the fourth he had all these defensive stops. It’s crazy. He gave us a spark and without him we probably would have lost.”

Williams finished with 17 points, leading the team. Behind him was junior guard Kevin Tilghman with nine, three of which came from an eventual game-winning 3-point shot in overtime. It was the only field goal for either team in the extra period.

Bishop Shanahan, an upstart from the Ches-Mont league, held the lead for much of the game on Tuesday. Junior guard David Angelo, despite being the shortest player on the court, went 7-of-9 from the field knocking down five of his seven attempted 3-point shots and totalling 19 points.

His seven points in the third quarter, along with 6-6 junior center Kevin Dodds’ six, allowed the Eagles to take control of the game a build a nine-point lead. Dodds, the team’s next highest scorer, finished with 15 points. His defensive presence under the net also helped to quiet the Colonials’ offense.

After the lead dwindled in the fourth quarter, senior guard Danny Browne (eight points) hit two free throws with 50 seconds left to tie the game. The Eagles went 7-for-9 from the foul line, a crucial part in their ability to stay with P-W.

In overtime, a single free throw from Dodds was their only source of offense.

Tuesday’s win was crucial in the development of this year’s Plymouth-Whitemarsh team. Last year, the Colonials had an incredibly successful season that included a district title. However, after losing much of last year’s best players to graduation, including Rider freshman Xzavier Malone, the 2016-17 squad is searching for an identity.

Non-league tests like Tuesday’s, however, are perfect for a team that needs to be challenged. According to Williams, if the guys can continue to work hard and grind out victories like this one, they can improve as a unit.

“We’ve got a lot to learn, but we’ve just got to keep competing,” Williams said. “Every day we have to come to play and take no team for granted. It was easy last year because we had six seniors that have been through the process for three, four years, and now everyone is new to the situation so it’s a building process for us.”

Donofrio also agrees that his guys some struggles this year as they come to terms with who they are as a team. However, he believes that wins like Tuesday’s grind-it-out comeback victory prove that this team can be a great one this season.

“We need to figure out who we are,” Donofrio said. “It might take the whole season to figure out who this team is. This team may struggle more than people realize for most of the year and then actually, however, be really dangerous at the end. I’m hoping we win a lot but I think a lot of the rankings stuff and all the attention is on the potential and that potential needs a lot of work right now.