PW & Souderton were winners in Saturday’s opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. Souderton/Wood photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay. PW/Cedar Cliff photos courtesy of Larry Small and Michael Rice Photography. Pennsbury/Central Dauphin photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for galleries.
PIAA Class 6A State Tournament opening round
#1-1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 75, #3-6 CEDAR CLIFF 45
PW coach Jim Donofrio can rest easily again.
Mani Sajid took care of that not-so-little matter when he buried three straight 3-pointers to open Saturday’s state opener against Cedar Cliff.
“With Mani’s injury, it’s been pretty impressive that he goes down, and we still win four in a row,” Donofrio said. “The only thing that bothers me about that is – this kid works so hard for four years to help show the whole rest of the state how good he is. He’s around 75-80 percent, so I love his competitive drive, I love his toughness.
“He’s doing an old school thing right now, and he had three points at Souderton and had a lot of assists. He had 12 (points) in the district final, but that wasn’t him. And then to come out today and hit three straight 3s, which is what he was doing for all our home games. It’s just those 3s to start – he had his confidence back. He’s still not quite there, but to do what he did today, you can really sleep a little easier tonight.”
Sajid finished with a team-high 25 points, and he had plenty of help from his teammates, who also did their part to make sure Donofrio would rest comfortably.
“Michael Pereira is just evolving with poise at the right time,” the PW coach said. “He split triple teams with balance. I’m just so proud of how he’s
coming along. He’s really focused.
“Jack Hayes, Buddy Denard, Terron Davis, Micah Thompson – all of them. The defense is at state tournament level. They’re following game plans.”
Saturday’s win was never in doubt and was the first in state tournament play in eight years for the Colonials. This one came on the heels of their dramatic come-from-behind win in the District 1 6A title game.
“The biggest fear was – whenever you win District 1, I’ve seen teams, and we did it in ’23, I’ve seen it happen to the great Chester teams – when you win a district as big as District 1, the happiness is so great that you have to learn how to channel that into wanting more and not becoming complacent,” Donofrio said. “That was the big thing all week for me. Are they giddy? Are they focused? Do we have our edge? I think they almost look at me now and they politely listen, but I do think they are of one mind – they are very focused and want to continue trying to accomplish something else.”
The Colonials led 24-9 after one quarter. Sajid had three 3s and 11 points while Pereira added seven points and Denard, six points on a pair of 3s. By halftime,
the Colonials led 41-22, ensuring the second half would be little more than a formality.
Key players: Mani Sajid led all scorers with 25, which included seven 3-pointers – all in three quarters. Michael Pereira added 21 points, and Terron Davis had seven.
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio:
--The game: “Watching these guys on film, they’re a very unique team. They went into a spread offense, and yet they’re trying to play one-on-one attack basketball with some of their movements, and that’s very, very unique.
“Just to highlight – Jack Hayes’ defense on their 3-point shooter, number three (Jayvion Walker, who had only three points) was just next level stuff. Buddy (Denard) locked in on 24 (Mo Ahmed), who’s basically a bull getting to the rim. And we just played this similar plan against Coatesville, we didn’t have to reinvent too much.”
--The win: “Having not won a state game since 2018, this was more about these guys, making sure my PTSD can go away. It’s really amazing to say with some of the good teams we’ve had that it’s taken this long to do this, but one game at time, survive and move on. We still have to look at this as if we have yet to play our best basketball, and I truly believe that. You’ve got to be greedy now. It’s up to them. I tell them – ‘You
guys have the game plan. This is about want. What do you want? How much do you want to go after greatness? You’re worthy of it. You’ve got to respect the heck out of the game of basketball because you never know how the ball’s going to bounce. You have the tools, you have the experience. Get after it.’”
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh (24-5, 10-0 SOL) will face District 11 runner-up Liberty in Wednesday’s second round. Liberty defeated District 2 runner-up Wilkes-Barre Area 61-52.
Cedar Cliff 9-13-12-11 45
Plymouth Whitemarsh 24-17-19-15 75
Cedar Cliff (45) – Amin Ahmed 2 0-2 4; Julius MacIntire 1 1-1 3; Jayvion Walker 1 0-0 3; Troy Joray 1 0-0 2; Hollis Griffen 2 0-0 4; Garret Weaver 4 2-2 13; Amarian Autry 1 0-0 2; Mo Ahmed 2 6-8 10; Chase Depp 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 10-14 45.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (75) – Jack Hayes 2 2-3 6; Terron Davis 2 3-4 7; Eric Conicello 2 0-0 4; Mani Sajid 9 0-0 25; Michael Pereira 8 3-6 21; Peter Turchi 1 0-0 2; Austin Edwards 1 0-0 2; Jastin Probst 1 0-0 2; Buddy Denard 2 0-0 6; TOTALS 28 8-13 75.
3-point goals: CC - Garret Weaver 2, Jaquian Walker 1; PW – Mani Sajid 7, Buddy Denard 2.
#1-4 SOUDERTON 68, #12-3 ARCHBISHOP WOOD 66
Marques Brown undoubtedly dreamed of moments like this.
That bigger than life moment when – with your team trailing by one - the ball is in your hands, the final seconds are ticking off the clock and the shot that determines the outcome is yours to take.
Some shy away from the moment. Brown seized it.
And with 10 seconds remaining in Saturday’s PIAA 6A opening round game, Brown – a Wood defender in his face- hit nothing but net on a 3-pointer (his seventh of the game) for a win that set off the kind of jubilant celebration reserved for the biggest and the very best wins.
For Brown, the key to his big day could be summed up in one word.
“Confidence,” Brown said. “It’s my senior year, my last opportunity to get looks, so just playing for my team and trying not to have the season end too early.
“I know the season was on the line, but again, just not thinking about it and having a blank mind and just thinking about the ball going in the rim.”
That confidence has its root in Brendan Stanton’s coaching philosophy.
“One of our things we say all year is stay even keeled,” the Indians’ first-year coach said. “Today I actually said we didn’t want to be even keeled. We wanted to enjoy the moment, and the one thing I said during a bunch of timeouts was – ‘The eight- or nine-year-old you would die to be in this spot right now, so just be aggressive and play with confidence. This is not a moment you want to shy away from shooting the basketball. You spent your entire life trying to get to this game. Shoot the basketball with confidence. If you miss it, we don’t care. We can live with that all day.’
“Nate (Rusike) made a great pass to Marques at the end, and that’s something we’ve been on Nate a little bit about – making that pass, and I think it just shows again a very connected team and a group that likes playing basketball together and believes in each other and is probably playing a little better than maybe on paper we should because we have that camaraderie and that belief.”
Wood never managed a shot as the final seconds ticked off the clock, and the historic win – the program’s first in the state
playoffs since 2008 – was in the books.
For Brown, this was not only a win for his team and his school.
“I just love my family – they’ve been always wanting me to play basketball since I was five,” Brown said. “I’m happy I get to see them with smiles on their faces.
“It didn’t feel real. I’m playing for Kobe (Rollerson). I’m wearing his jersey and just hoopin’ for him. He’s my family.”
--The ending: To say the ending of Saturday’s game was riveting would be an understatement. Ater leading by four at the end of one quarter, halftime and also heading into the final quarter, the Indians found themselves clinging to a one-point lead (53-52) after a Caleb Lundy’s three-point play with five minutes remaining, but Brown banked in a three at the other end to up the lead to four. It was still a four-point game (58-54) when the Indians lost all-everything point guard Chanse Salone to five fouls with 3:30 remaining in regulation.
The Vikings pulled to within two after a basket by Dylan Powell, but Souderton’s Dylan Quinn buried a baseline 3 to put the Indians on top 61-56. Brady MacAdams answered with a 3 for the Vikings, but Will Lockwood scored on a cut to the hole for a 63-59 Souderton lead.
Wood rallied to knot the score 63-63, and with less than a minute to play, sophomore Levi Epps scored to put the Indians on top by two, but MacAdams buried his second 3 of the quarter for a 66-65 Wood lead with 31 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Brown’s heroics and the electrifying win.
“It was the most surreal feeling in the world,” Epps said. “If you would have told me yesterday this would be the outcome, I
would have been ecstatic. It’s a great moment.”
--A win for the ages: So big was Saturday’s win that several Souderton faithful mentioned it in the same breath as the team’s stunning 66-58 upset of an undefeated Reading squad in the opening round of the 2008 PIAA 4A Tournament. The Indians – the eighth and final seed from District 1 that year – brought a modest 17-12 record into the game while Reading was 30-0.
Saturday’s game certainly fell into the David versus Goliath category for the simple reason that Wood boasted a lineup that not only included 6-11 Jayden Jenkins but five players who saw action listed at 6-4 and its shortest players to set foot on the court in Saturday’s game listed at six feet.
For the Indians, Epps – generously listed at 6-3 – was the tallest player to see action. He scored seven points in supporting role, four in the fourth quarter.
“My teammates make it easy – they set me up,” Epps said. “It’s easy to play with guys I really enjoy being around, so it’s a drive – I have the passion, we all have the passion to win, and we’re willing to do anything to make it happen. It’s a team effort.”
As for pressure, Epps said the Indians weren’t feeling it.
“We had nothing to lose,” he said. “We’re out here to compete, to win. We know we can compete with anyone, so there’s no pressure.”
Stanton notches 100th win: As milestone wins go, they don’t get much bigger than Souderton’s upset of Archbishop Wood. For Stanton, notching his 100th win was secondary to his team notching one of the program’s biggest wins.
“We haven’t tried to talk about the hundred a ton just because it’s at the point of the year that you never know,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it literally until after the game.
“My assistant came over, and he’s like, ‘That’s a hundred.’ They were like, ‘We don’t know if we have balloons,’ and I was like, ‘This is better than any balloons.’
“This is just the perfect example of why I want to coach high school basketball and be a part of these games.”
The balloons did show up and were part of the on-court celebration.
Key players: Marques Brown scored a game high 25 points, which seven 3-pointers – four in the opening quarter and two in the fourth. Chase Salone added 11 points and nearly as many assists, and Nate Rusike also had 11 points, which included
eight points in the second quarter. Levi Epps added seven points, and Logan Blair had six.
For the Vikings, Malakhi Warren led the way with 18 points – 11 in a 21-point second quarter. Caleb Lundy added 13, including a 5-for-5 effort at the foul line. Brady MacAdams also had 13 points, which included three 3s.
Souderton coach Brendan Stanton:
--Salone stars at point: “He’s playing at a great pace right now, and he’s a confident kid. I’d take him over just about any point guard we played all year, the way he handles pressure. And although he’s a big scorer, I say all the time – ‘Your passing is your superpower.’ He gets everybody else wide open looks. Even in the first quarter – how many shots did he get for Marques and for Nate (Rusike). Then when those guys start believing and feeling good about themselves, we can be a really tough team to beat, but Chanse is the guy that stirs the drink for us all day.”
--Brown on a tear: “I always thought that he could be capable. He’s a confident kid, and we have a confident group, and I think we try to pour confidence into all of our kids. Marques is a great example of what happens when you have a bunch of people and teammates that believe in you.
“Tonight, he guarded (Brady) MacAdams, and he guarded (Caleb) Lundy for stretches. He guarded the 6-11 kid at times in the box and one. He really does whatever I ask him to do. He knows he’s going to have freedom on offense to try to go make plays. I think since Kobe Rollerson’s been out, he sort of has felt even more inspired to be aggressive, and I can’t complain. If a kid shoots 70 percent from 3 (Brown connected on 7 of 10 from beyond the arc), you’re going to take that.”
--A team effort: “I said that everybody’s got to go in there ready to shoot. I know this is a game where it’s very easy probably to feel a bit of tenseness, and I think Marques making some shots early kind of helps settle everyone.
“Logan Blair comes in and makes two 3s (in the second quarter), I think the only two 3s he’s attempted all year for varsity. He might have not had a three made in the JV season. But we said yesterday when we ran the pick and pop stuff, I said. ‘If you get the first one, shoot it. If they’re not going to guard you and if you make it, shoot again’ because against Wood, it’s really tough to get good shots. If you can get a wide open 3, shoot it. I want everyone to feel comfortable shooting it. Will (Lockwood) made some big plays, Dylan (Quinn) made some big plays, but we’ve been telling those guys they’ve got to stay aggressive and got to stay confident.”
Souderton sophomore Levi Epps:
--Camaraderie a key to success: “It sounds kind of ridiculous, but we love hanging out with each other, and we love being around each other every day. I think a lot of teams aren’t like that, so we’re just fighting to have more opportunities to be together and play the game that we love. That’s our drive.”
Up next: Souderton will face District 3 champion Central Dauphin in Wednesday’s second round contest. Central Dauphin defeated Pennsbury.
Archbishop Wood 13-21-14-18 66
Souderton 17-21-14-16 68
Archbishop Wood (66) – Dylan Powell 3 2-4 9; Caleb Lunday 4 5-5 13; Jayden Jenkins 3 1-2 7; Malakhi Warren 7 2-2 18; Brian Donahue 2 0-0 6; Brady MacAdams 4 2-4 13; TOTALS 23 12-17 66.
Souderton (68) – Will Lockwood 1 0-0 2; Chanse Salone 5 1-2 11; Marques Brown 9 0-0 25; Levi Epps 3 0-0 7; Dylan Quinn 2 0-0 6; Nate Rusike 4 0-0 11; Logan Blair 2 0-0 6; TOTALS 26 1-2 68.
3-point goals: AW – Brady MacAdams 3, Brian Donohue 2, Malakhi Warren 2, Dylan Powell; S - Marques Brown 7, Nate Rusike 3, Dylan Quinn 2, Logan Blair 2, Levi Epps.
#3-2 CENTRAL YORK 59, #1-5 CHELTENHAM 54
In a game that came down to the wire, the Panthers came up just short. With less than a minute remaining in regulation, it was a two-point game (53-51) when the Panthers were whistled for a foul. Central York’s Ryan Jackson connected on one of two from the line, and the Panthers would get no closer the rest of the way.
Jaedn Mosley’s 15 points led the Panthers while Chris Harmon had 14, and Tyree Martin also finished in double figures with 10 points. Isa Vargas had eight for the Panthers, who trailed 37-26 at halftime but came roaring back in the second half.
Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury:
--The game: “It was a valiant effort. Central York made a couple more plays than we were able to up there, which led to their victory, so hats off to them.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board and continue to build moving forward.”
--A tribute to the seniors: “I am forever grateful to all of the seniors. In a time where there is all this talk of boundary, no boundary, they pay no attention to it, and I don’t think anybody else should. We live in America. As a capitalistic society, some have more than others, but you’ve got to do the most with what you have, and I think this group did that, and I am forever grateful for them.
“Like I always tell them, ‘The wins are your credit, the losses are mine all day,’ and I am elated to see what the future holds for all of them. I’m forever grateful to them and for everybody supported us from start to finish.”
Cheltenham closed out its season with an overall record of 21-9. The Panthers were 10-0 and the SOL Freedom Division champions.
Cheltenham 17-9-12-16 54
Central York 19-18-4-18 59
Cheltenham (54) – Isa Vargas 3 2-2 8; Chris Harmon 5 2-2 14; Mark Hill 1 0-0 2; Isaiah Dill 0 2-2 2; Jaedn Mosley 5 0-0 15; Micah Millis 1 0-0 3; Tyree Martin 5 0-2 10; TOTALS 20 6-8 54.
Central York (59) – Ryan Brown 4 4-4 14; Kylar Landis 6 2-2 19; Alex Dodson 0 1-2 1; Savien Vanable 1 0-0 2; Gavino Grove 1 0-0 2; Ryan Jackson 6 1-2 16; Doug Layer 1 0-0 2; Ryan Funk 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 20 9-12 59.
3-point goals: C – Jaedn Mosley 5, Chris Harmon 2, Micah Millis; CY – Kylar Landis 5, Ryan Jackson 3, Ryan Brown 2.
#2-1 DELAWARE VALLEY 56, #1-7 ABINGTON 54 (OT)
The Ghosts, who trailed by one after one quarter, used a 21-point second quarter to go into halftime with a 28-21 lead. They took a 42-38 lead into the final quarter when Delaware Valley rallied to knot the score, sending the game into overtime. The Terriers won it with a putback at the buzzer of overtime. It was their first lead since 8-7.
Faison Garland’s 14 points led the Ghosts while Xander Grasty and Malcom Lucas each had 12 points. Lucas had eight of his points in the 21-point second quarter.
Abington coach Dan Marsh:
--The game: “I told them after the game – ‘You know, it’s a tough teaching moment, but it’s also a coaching moment. You have to be able to close out games, especially on the road and especially in states.’ When you make mistakes, and you miss free throws down the stretch, it’s costly.
“This sucks for our seniors, but a lot of the core of our team unit this year were juniors, and we have to learn. Hopefully, this is just the beginning for these guys.
“I am proud of the seniors and the contributions they made. I wasn’t ready for this. I honestly thought – we all thought we were going to make a run.
“We should have won – we were ahead the whole game. We just didn’t take care of business.”
Abington closed out the season with a 19-10 record overall, a 7-3 mark in SOL play.
Abington 7-21-14-6-6 54
Delaware Valley 8-13-17-11-7 56
Abington (54) – Faison Garland 4 3-4 14; Xander Grasty 5 1-2 12; Malcom Lucas 6 0-0 12; Amare Stone 2 3-5 7; Elijah Cruickshank 3 0-0 9; TOTALS 20 7-11 54.
Delaware Valley (56) – Samuel Wood 1 3-3 6; Colin McGarvey 3 0-1 8; Trey Newton 10 5-8 30; James Dabney 1 1-1 3; Harrison Bixby 1 0-0 3; Tyler Lombardo 2 2-3 6; TOTALS 18 12-36 56.
3-point goals: A – Elijah Cruickshank 3, Faison Garland 3, Xander Grasty; DV – Trey Newton 5, Colin McGarvey 2, Samuel Wood.
#3-1 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 64, #1-10 PENNSBURY 45
A memorable postseason came to an end for the Falcons, who rode their 24 seed in the district tournament to a coveted state berth.
“I am really proud of my team for how they were able to get to this point,” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “We had a lot of goals on our check board every year. We missed the first couple and ultimately were able to achieve the state playoffs by some toughness and resilience after a really difficult end of the season.”
The Falcons, who fell behind 26-11, closed out the first half with a 12-2 run that made it a 28-23 game at the intermission. Central Dauphin upped its lead to 47-35 after three quarters on its way to the opening round
win.
Brayden Clark’s 13 points – 11 in the first half – led the Falcons. Sean Breslin added 10 points while Max Manga had nine and Pat Jajua, eight points.
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme:
--The game: That’s as good a team as we’ve played all year. I don’t know if there is a team that could match their talent level. It’s the kind of game you wish you had in the Elite Eight instead of the first round. I will die on the hill of – I don’t think you should ever have to play a state game on an opponent’s home floor. I think they should all be neutral sites, but ultimately, this is where we are.
“They really delivered a blow to us, and I think what we didn’t take into account in our preparation was how much the game was going to be - you have to go make a play. We weren’t able to execute plays, so to speak, because they were trapping the whole game, so that kind of caught us off guard, but we made a nice run in the third quarter.
“Sean Breslin got his fourth foul on a difficult call, and they went on a 12-2 run to end the quarter, and they took a 12-point lead into the fourth. We battled, but you can’t go down by that much and make a run on a team on their home floor that’s got a chance to win the whole thing.
“You want to play in great environments, and they had a great environment tonight. I’m not disappointed that you have a great crowd and a great environment. It’s just you wish you were able to play that team on a neutral court or later in the tournament, but ultimately, we didn’t do what we needed to do beforehand. We got it close and weren’t able to put it over the hump.”
--Tribute to the seniors: “I am going to miss my three seniors – Max Manga, Brendan Ryan and Owen Hogancamp, my first group that I’ve had all the way through since I came back to Pennsbury. So, that’s the first thing on my mind right now. Those three guys obviously mean a lot to me.
“You walk in the locker room after a state playoff game, especially with how many guys that are underclassmen, there’s more of a disappointment because you know there’s so much coming back and there’s such a bright future, but at the same time, you know it will never be the same team because of the void these guys will leave.
“They were not like your traditional vocal leaders, but they were guys that led in their own way. Brendan Ryan was the first guy to every practice, led as a coach on the bench. And the other guys swallowed their pride and allowed underclassmen to star. So that’s on my mind in regards to the game.”
Pennsbury 7-16-12-10 45
Central Dauphin 16-12-19-17 64
Pennsbury (45) – Brayden Clark 4 4-4 13; Sean Breslin 4 1-2 10; Brendan Ryan 1 0-0 3; Pat Jajua 2 3-4 8; Max Manga 4 1-4 9; Nick B 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 9-14 45.
Central Dauphin (64) – Jelani Easter 3 0-2 7; Jared Dolimpio 5 1-2 13; Kahlil Roberts 3 2-2 9; Shakur Starling 6 1-2 15; Shyheim Starling 4 3-4 12; Johnny Shiery 1 0-0 2; Kameron Devon 2 2-2 6; TOTALS 24 9-14 64.
3-point goals: P – Brayden Clark, Brendan Ryan, Sean Breslin, Pat Jajua; CD – Jared Dolimpio 2, Shakur Starling 2, Shyheim Starling, Jelani Easter, Kahlil Roberts.
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