Plymouth-Whitemarsh starts slow, finishes strong against Norristown

WEST NORRITON >> The Plymouth Whitemarsh boys basketball team got off to a slow start Tuesday night against Norristown at Norristown Area High School in a Suburban One League American Conference macthup.

The unbeaten Colonials scored just two points in the first four minutes of the game and allowed the Eagles hang around until just before the half. Then, PW separated itself en route to a 20-point win, 68-48.

“I’m still trying to figure us out after half a season,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “We figured out how to win games – which is good – and we seem to take a while to find our sweet spot and I have to learn to be patient with that. The starting five was a tale of two cities tonight. The first half was ‘eh.’ Then the third quarter was terrific.”

With two minutes remaining in the half, PW held a six-point lead and Norristown had possession. The teams traded sloppy turnovers and, when the dust settled, the Colonials’ Cheo Houston buried a three-pointer to extend the lead to nine and the game went into the half with a 10-point differential.

“Cheo is one of the four or five guys on the bench who has an ability to be an absolute rocket-booster shot for us of adrenaline,” Donofrio said.

“He has a lot of confidence as a pure scorer … He was a real spark in the last three-minute run (before half).”

PW dominated the third quarter, 20-14, and reserves for both sides entered the game not long into the fourth.

Whenever the Colonials (13-0, 7-0) had the ball, all eyes were on senior Xzavier Malone. The swingman scored a game-high 26 points and made three three-pointers – all in the first quarter.

“I would say my jump shot,” Malone, who still doesn’t feel 100 percent recovered from a hip injury, said was working for him. “My three-ball was really falling tonight and that really contributed a lot to the 26 points. I feel like I shot the ball really well today … but I haven’t really felt myself – explosive, athleticism. I’ve really been relying on my jump shot and it worked out for me. My teammates had my back and we just pulled together for a great team win.”

Mike Lotito added nine points for PW and Kevin Ashenfelter tallied eight.

Tyrique Lyons led the Eagles (5-8, 3-4) in scoring with 14 points – including a vicious one-hand slam that woke up the crowd during the fourth quarter. Darryl Carr added nine points and Amir Carter scored eight.

Even at 13-0, the Colonials don’t feel content with where they are at.

“I think our defensive intensity and precision on defense could improve,” Malone said. “Especially me individually. Defense wins games. There is always room to improve in every aspect of the game, but I feel like defense is the most important part.”