Plymouth Whitemarsh handles CB West in District 1-6 semifinals

PHILADELPHIA >> It was time to put the game away.

As Central Bucks West point guard Jack Mulhearn tried to advance the ball up the floor, Plymouth Whitemarsh senior Ahmad Williams wasn’t going to allow it. Williams poked the ball free and Mulhearn and the rest of the Bucks could only watch as the guard sped into the lane, rose up and thundered down a one-handed dunk in front of PW’s student section.

A couple minutes later, Williams fed Naheem McLeod for an alley-oop and it became a matter of time. Top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh led wire to wire in a 68-46 win over No. 4 CB West on Tuesday in the District 1-6A boys basketball semifinals at Temple’s Liacouras Center.

“I was just trying to get over this hump,” Williams said. “Last year we lost by four to Abington in the semifinals so I just wanted to get past the semifinals. As long as we got past this game, you just play whoever is in front of you.”

PW’s victory sets up a district final against No. 2 Abington, a 72-61 winner over No. 3 Lower Merion, in Saturday’s final which is set for 6 p.m. back at Temple. It’s the third trip to the district final in four seasons for PW (27-0), which lost to Abington in the district semis last year.

McLeod dominated early, scoring 11 first quarter points as he completely flipped the script from the teams’ first meeting in the SOL tournament title game. While PW won that game, watching the tape was not fun for the Colonials, who felt they did not play well at all.

What needed to change on Tuesday was who controlled the pace. For PW, that meant being more active rebounding the ball.

“It was major, the first time we didn’t get many offensive boards when we played them,” PW forward Alan Glover said. “Tonight we focused on getting second chance points, getting to the foul line and things like that.”

McLeod finished with 21 points, Ahmad Williams had 16, Ish Horn 10 and Glover 10 to pace PW. Glover also ripped down 13 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive ends as he and his teammates rose to the challenge.

Defensively, the Colonials were also stout. Jake Reichwein led CB West (21-6) with 10 points, the tough and strong future college football player presenting the most formidable challenge to PW on the glass. Mike Munari had nine for the Bucks while senior Collin MacAdams, who missed the first game with illness, scored eight.

MacAdams didn’t get an easy shot and the Colonials held West’s second-leading scorer, Shane McCusker, without a point.

“Like Lower Merion, they’re very good at deciding to control the pace their way and we’re the complete opposite of that,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “If they’re given vision, if they’re given time to see and run their sets, it’s a major homework assignment to figure all that stuff. We have to be what we are, it’s a 90-foot game and it becomes about moving Naheem where he’s not picking up a guy 60-70 feet out.”

Up 4-3 early, the Colonials ripped off the next 11 points and ended the first quarter ahead 19-5. CB West managed to hold serve in the middle two quarters, out-scoring PW 25-24, but that large early lead was never threatened.

The Colonials, who at one point led 24-5, are undefeated for a reason and when it was time to turn it on again in the fourth, they were ready. Williams’ steal and slam followed a ridiculous play by Horn, who twisted his body around MacAdams while being fouled and dropping in a layup before the and-1.

It was the same on McLeod’s monstrous alley-oop, as him punished the rim on a two-handed finish while being hit. The free throw put PW up 54-37. A layup by Williams with 2:50 left put PW ahead by 20 and on to the matchup with Abington.

“The first West game, we were limited to one (shot) and done almost the entire game,” Donofrio said. “That was a big thing on Alan, a big thing on Naheem and a big thing on Ish and Ahmad, they were sitting back and watching the game and accepting box outs. They’re so tuned in right now, you say here’s your three challenges, now do it, they accomplished it tonight.”

Glover said Temple is “kind of our home court” given the number of games PW has played there in recent years and their comfort with the arena helped them jump on CB West early.

Abington has owned the series with PW recently, beating the Colonials twice last year and in the district title game back in 2015. While the PW players spoke a little about a chance at redemption, Williams said they were so focused on the moment he didn’t care who the Colonials got on Saturday.

“We’re trying to win titles, we care about winning but we don’t care about the record because that doesn’t get us anything,” Williams said. “We want banners, we want trophies, we want rings. That’s what we really want. We put in a lot of time, like a lot of time, we put in the work so we just want what we worked for.”

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 68, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 46
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 19 10 14 25 – 68
CB WEST 5 12 13 16 – 46
PW: Naheem McLeod 8 5-7 21, Ish Horn 4 2-3 10, Ahmin Williams 1 0-1 2, Ahmad Williams 8 0-1 16, Alan Glover 4 2-3 10, Danny Cooper 1 0-0 2, Caelin Peters 1 1-2 3, Kyree Pendelton 0 1-2 1, Anthony Straface 1 1-2 3. Totals: 28 12-21 68.
CBW: Mika Munari 2 1-1 9, Jack Mulhearn 2 0-0 6, Collin MacAdams 4 0-4 8, Jake Reichwein 3 3-4 10, Jack Neri 2 2-2 6, Stephen DeLash 1 2-3 4, Davis Zerweck 0 0-3 0, Connor Briece 0 4-4 4. Totals: 15 12-21 46.
3-pointers: CBW – Munari 2, Mulhearn 2, Reichwein.