City of Basketball Love

Matt Chandik (@MChandik26)
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WESTTOWN — Wissahickon’s 2015-16 season ended on the wrong side of the playoff picture by the thinnest of margins.

The Trojans found themselves one spot away from the field, left to wonder what one or two more made plays would have meant. They spent the postseason envisioning what their turn would look like and what it would feel like to break through.

Friday night, they didn’t have to wonder anymore. Wissahickon went into Bayard Rustin’s gym in a winner-goes-to-states, loser’s-season-is-done scenario.

Just the way you draw it up.

Backed by an incredible 30-point, seven-rebound effort from Chaz Owens and a perfect 7-for-7 fourth quarter at the free-throw line from Zach Gelman, the Trojans upended the Golden Knights, 54-50, for District 1’s seventh and final spot in the PIAA tournament.

“It’s exciting because these guys last year were a team that missed playoffs by one spot, and this year, we knew we had the talent to possibly get there,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “We played Penncrest - we had three chances to win that game and we lost. In the game against Springfield, we had them down 14 almost at the end of the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter, we just collapsed.

"You start to think, ‘man, maybe it’s not meant to be.’ I told the guys, ‘you’ve got to determine how bad you want this. At this point, it’s easy. You know your sets. You know what to do. You’ve just got to go out there and make plays,’ and it’s nice to see them go do that.”

Owens was a man on a mission from the start. He buried seven first-quarter points, a total that ballooned to 12 at the half, but it was obvious to everyone around him that he was feeling it and needed the ball more often. He went 4-for-6 from the field in the third quarter before piling up 10 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the fourth quarter.

His lone blemish in that final frame? One missed free throw.

Rustin had no answer for Owens. He got to the rim with ease. He hit a pair of 3-pointers, including one right in front of his own bench that got the Trojans rocking.

“I was getting in rhythm early and attacking the basket,” Owens said. “All game, I was just looking to keep attacking and find shots when I’m open. (The Golden Knights) were leaving the lane wide open for me to attack early on, so I was looking to get to the basket and get to the line.”

Those problems were compounded for Rustin when Tajir Asparagus ran into foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul at 5:51 of the third quarter and fouled out with 4:17 to go in the game on a Marlyn Johnson drive to the hoop. Without Asparagus’ troubles, there’s no telling how the game would have unfolded. He collected seven points, six boards and two assists in the first half and seemed well on his way to a double-double, but the Golden Knights couldn’t consistently find other answers.

Chris McMahon finished with 16 points on the strength of four 3-pointers.

Owens was part of that problem on the defensive end, too. He played a leading role in hounding standout Rustin guard Brandon Frazier into a nine-point night. Frazier, who added four assists, only took six shots all night, and Owens’ length helped limit his shooting options.

And if there was any doubt that this night was special, Owens took it away when he roared down the court in transition and threw down a vicious lefty dunk in the third quarter. He looked like a guy who usually does that once or twice a game, but admitted that it was his first dunk of the year.

“The guys in the locker room were saying he got pissed off because the (Rustin) fans were calling him, ‘Bruno Mars,’” Wilson said with a laugh. “Next game, we should tell the other fans to call him, ‘Bruno Mars’ because if we can get that out of him every game, that’d be pretty great.”

Owens’ 24-karat magic performance did the talking for him, but when it came to ice the game, it was Gelman putting on a clinic from the charity stripe. The senior knocked down all seven of his free throws to keep Rustin at bay, something that was especially glaring when the Golden Knights countered with a 1-for-6 final quarter from the line.

“We always had that expectation (to make states),” Gelman said. “We felt like we were kind of getting slept on this year by a lot of reporters and in the Suburban One and we wanted to prove them wrong, so that’s what we came out and did.”

That’s how they locked up a trip to the middle of the state to play the District 3 champion. It won’t be easy, but just making states is one check off the preseason list.