City of Basketball Love

Ben McWilliams (@BenMcWilliams22)
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Germantown Academy seniors Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey know that it’s not always the Patriots’ stars who come through in big moments -- it’s often the team’s role players that shine when needed.

After all, they’ve both been there themselves.

“Over the last three or four years, we’ve really counted on third or fourth guys in big games to show up,” McCloskey said. “Last year it was me, sometimes, and the year before that it was Evan.”

Monday night was as big of a game as any for the Patriots this season, as it took on Penn Charter in the Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association (PAISAA) quarterfinal. Just as McCloskey expected, GA would need its role players to step up if it was going to beat its fiercest rival.

Enter Josh Brownstein.

The senior forward, known for his interior toughness, scored 15 points for the Patriots in a 68-46 win over Penn Charter on Monday night.

Coach Jim Fenerty pulled Brownstein early in the game after the 6-foot-5 forward struggled on the defensive end against the Quakers small lineup, before returning to the game to hit two momentum swinging three pointers.

“The greatest motivator in the game is, ‘Sit down here and watch for a minute,’” Fenerty said. “I could see the fire building up in Josh. We’ve been saying all along that we cannot be as good as we want to be if it’s just two guys. I think we got some incredible contributions from Brownstein.”

While McCloskey led the way with 23 points for GA and Longino added 21, it was Brownstein’s performance that swung the momentum for the Patriots.

“It’s huge to have [Brownstein] scoring double digits in a game like this,” Longino said. “It gives not only us energy, but it gives the coaching staff energy. Seeing a guy like that, that doesn’t normally score that much have a big game, it’s amazing.

The ever-humble Brownstein however, was quick to shift the credit to his longtime teammates.

“With Kyle and Evan-Eric always creating space for us inside, they’re able to kick it out and create shots for us,” he said. “I’ve been playing with Evan-Eric my whole life and we have a little chemistry. All of us do just because we’re best friends on and off the court.”

It was a tough end of the season for Penn Charter, as the Quakers fell to its rival for the third time this season. Junior Mason Williams had 12 points while senior guard Adam Holland added 11.

Next for GA is a daunting rematch of last year’s PAISAA final against top-seeded Westtown School, a game the Patriots lost 73-65. This year, GA is without its former star point guard, and current Penn Quaker, Devon Goodman, while Westtown is as formidable as ever.

“I have to call [76ers coach] Brett Brown and get an NBA scouting report on these guys,” Fenerty said.

The Hill School and Episcopal Academy meet in the other PAISAA semifinal, which take place on Friday night at Malvern Prep.

Those NBA scouting reports would be surely be helpful for Westtown’s seven-foot center Mohamed Bamba. Bamba is the number one senior in the state and the number four in the nation, according to Rivals.com. Draftexpress.com’s 2018 NBA mock draft has Bamba as the third pick.

Westtown also features Arizona commit Brandon Randolph, the 53rd best senior in the country, and forward Cameron Reddish, the fifth best junior in the country, per Rivals.com

“We’re going to give it a shot and see what happens,” Fenerty said. “Some people are saying, ‘well if you stay within 40,’ but that’s not our goal. I know we will compete on Friday night. That’s all I can guarantee. I know this group, I know they will go out and they will compete.”

For Longino, who is currently second all time in GA history with 1,632 career points, the Westtown game is more than just an opportunity to put an exclamation point on his illustrious high school career. Longino claimed offers from D-IIs West Chester, St. Anselm (N.H.), Merrimack (Mass.) & Lincoln University and mentioned New Hampshire and LIU-Brooklyn as D-I programs that have expressed interest in him.

Longino has yet to commit to a school, still hoping for that elusive D-I offer.

“Right now my recruitment is what it is,” Longino said. “I’m looking for this game to be my coming out party almost. I’m looking to show that I can play at that high level with those high-level guys.”

McCloskey, who committed to Villanova to play quarterback, is ready to relish the role as David in the Goliath matchup.

“They have all the pressure,” McCloskey said. “They have everything to lose. We’re going to go out and give it our all with nothing to lose and hopefully catch them off guard and really shock the world.”