Plymouth Whitemarsh stays unbeaten with win over Upper Moreland

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH >> It’s hard to knit pick at a team when they’re undefeated, but slow starts and a lack of team focus have been the one downfall for Plymouth Whitemarsh this season.
Friday night they didn’t show any signs of either of those, as they beat SOL American foe Upper Moreland 64-36 to stay in first place in the conference and continue they’re undefeated run.
The win propelled the Colonials to a 14-0 record and while they’ve won some games, they haven’t always looked impressive doing so.
“I liked our focus tonight I really did,” said PW head coach Jim Donofrio. “We’ve been winning basketball games and there has been a lot of talk about rank this and rank that but it’s really irrelevant. Up to this point I don’t think we’ve been playing great and winning is great but it does stuff to you so I thought tonight we were able to come out and show pretty good concentration out there.”
Upper Moreland, known for their excellent three-point shooting, didn’t disappoint in that department but it was all they had on the offensive side.
Nine of the teams eleven field goals made came from beyond the arc as they struggled to penetrate the bigger Colonials’ defense.
“Their defense made us one dimensional offensively,” said Upper Moreland head coach Matt Heiland. “We run a lot of different stuff where we hit the middle, hit the wings, and hit the trailers and they did a nice job of only allowing us to hit the middle and simplifying our offense and that’s a great credit to them and their defense and their pressure.”
Any signs of a slow start in this game for PW were erased by a 13-2 run to open up the game. An early three-pointer got the team into it but it was a thunderous slam from point guard Xzavier Malone in the opening quarter that really got the team going in the right direction.
Malone beat his defender off the dribble with a smooth crossover, took two steps and rose up above another Upper Moreland player in the lane to set the tone for the Colonials with a move that only a handful of guards in the state could match.
“He’s a top-level guy,” said Donofrio of Malone “He’s a really special player and we’re just trying to get him to evolve every game and put him in spots that are good for the team and also help him develop, but he’s a high level guy. Period.”
Malone finished with a game-high 18 points and was able to control the tempo from the point all night.
It wasn’t just Malone that was firing on all cylinders for the Colonials. Senior captain Mike Lotito and guard Grady Minick added 11 points each of their own, allowing the team to really pick their spots and not force the ball to their talented point guard.
After only scoring two points in the opening quarter the Bears were able to put together a much better second quarter and get some momentum going into the half, but they couldn’t sustain it against the overpowering PW defensive unit.
Even after this convincing win, Donofrio has been here before and says that it’s important to not let the winning go to his young team’s head.
“They’re kids, a lot of them young kids, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have been through this a couple of times,” said Donofrio. “Handling losing is tough but handling winning is tough too. It’s a lot of psychology with this team now and we need to always strive to get better because this is sports, it can break your heart at any moment.”