City of Basketball Love

Varun Kumar (@VRKumar8)
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After losing all but two of its players from last year’s team that lost in the first round of the state playoffs to Emmaus, Sean Colson’s Martin Luther King squad was likely going to take at least a few games for to develop some chemistry between its newcomers.

Though he recognizes some of the challenges of having such extreme roster turnover, Colson has not been entirely happy with how some of the members of his team has played to begin the season.

“We don’t play in summer leagues and fall leagues, but at the end of the day, we’ve had enough practice time. A lot of it is trust. I hate to say it now, since everybody’s saying it, but trust the process,” he said.

MLK has gotten off to a solid start which includes wins over Olney, Bishop McNamara (Md.) and Brooklyn Collegiate (N.Y.), but also has suffered two close losses to both Math Civics & Sciences and Perkiomen in the last two weeks.

“We really outplayed both of those teams and we should have won, everyone knows that, but we didn’t,” Colson said. “We dominated most of the game, but at the end of the game, they play smart, and we don’t and we walk out with a close loss, by one point, by two points. We’re not learning from that, we’re not being consistent.”

On Friday night, the Cougars nearly coughed up a late lead once again, but this time made enough plays down the stretch to hold off an Episcopal team that was still without Navy commit Nick Alikakos, by a 44-41 score.

King (7-3) was paced by a pair of transfers from George Washington in forward Elijah Kiah-El (10 points) and guard Denelle Holly (eight points). Kiah-El was particularly tough on defense and on the boards, while Holly helped ice the game by hitting six free throws in the final two minutes.

“We brought them back into the game by just not being smart,” Colson said after the game. “We won a game that we didn’t really play well. A lot of it wasn’t physical, it was mental. Maybe today we can get away with it, maybe we’re a little bit better team than they are since they’re undermanned, but we’re not good enough to play to our level of competition.”

Colson was not without praise however for some of his players. He was particularly effusive in his praise for was Kiah-El, who has shown a propensity for making the right play on both ends of the floor. Kiah-El, for his part has played well, in the mold of the stereotypical physical Public League forward.

The senior forward set the tone early, and was an anchor his team could lean on even when things were not going well for MLK. He was able to disrupt the passing lane on several occasions while maintaining good position, and snatched several tough rebounds, especially late in the game.

“He’s playing the best on our team. He’s playing like an animal. He’s been a really good leader. He just listens and he plays hard. He doesn’t give an inch, he’s not getting roughed or pushed out of the way.”

On the other hand, Colson, who has experience in the NBA playing the point, challenged his starting floor general, Holly, to play with more consistency, noting that his performance has been up-and-down so far.

Colson also said it was his goal to make Holly a better lead guard, leaning on his own experience, to show the junior what it takes to be able to play a the next level.

“I expect a lot out of him and he does have talent, but he’s just not playing consistent enough. One game up, one game down, up one half, down one half. If you’re trying to be a Division I player, like Denelle is right now, you have to be a lot more consistent,” Colson said.

“He’s had good games. But sometimes he’s not sure when to shoot or when to pass. It’s my job to make him more consistent,” Colson continued.

Colson’s bunch led for nearly the entire contest, and held a sizeable eight point lead with 4:12 to go, but a Jack O’Connell 3-pointer helped bring Episcopal to just a five point deficit.

The Churchmen got to within one possession multiple times in the last three minutes, but Holly’s clutch free throw shooting (6-6 in the final quarter) helped ice the game for the Cougars. Episcopal did have a shot to tie the game at the buzzer, but couldn't connect.

After the game, Colson said he does believe that his team’s best basketball is ahead, and was thrilled to be able to practice with his team more, now that the school will re-open from winter break within a few days.

In addition, Colson was confident that sophomores Jihad Watson and Qawi Morris, two players that play significant minutes for his team, will return from their respective injuries to give the Cougars a boost on January 5 when Public League play resumes against Delaware Valley Charter.

But his message to his players that played was pretty clear-- he didn’t want to let them use injuries as an excuse for their sometimes sloppy play.

“With the nine guys we had, we had more than enough to win today by double digits," he said.