Xzavier Malone sends Plymouth Whitemarsh to states
WHITEMARSH >> It was like a game in the school yard. The two best players get put on different teams and go head-to-head against each other. In the second round of the District 1-AAAA playoffs, it was Xzavier Malone and Jawan Collins being separated.
Malone scored 26 points for the No. 2 seed Plymouth Whitemarsh and Collins dropped 29 for the No. 18 seed Academy Park.
After 32 minutes of diving for loose balls, driving to the lane and pulling up for jumpers, it was Malone’s Colonials that came out on top, 60-56, Tuesday night at Colonial Elementary School in Whitemarsh.
“Jawan, he’s a tough dude – a gritty guard,” Malone said of his counterpart. “I like the way he played and the heart he brings, he’s carrying that team over there and they’re doing a great job. But I feel like it’s my time to shine. I’m not going to let you come on my court and try to show me up. We came up with the W and that’s about it. I just had to show them – everything you heard about me is real.”
“You don’t really nitpick after a game like this,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “You just look at what Xzavier Malone did by raising his game, why he has the reputation he has – because of what he did tonight.”
The one-on-one matchup was evident throughout the game. Malone scored 20 in the first half to Collins’ 15 and the two put the game on a see-saw in the fourth quarter.
PW entered the fourth with a one-point lead, 45-44, but Collins erased that in less than 25 seconds by hitting a pair of free throws to put the Knights on top.
The two alternated the next eight points and Academy Park led by one, 50-49, with 5:05 left in the game.
Then Malone got some help. PW’s Ahmad Williams grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for a 51-50 lead and Kevin Ashenfelter went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to make it a three-point Colonial edge.
Collins responded by making a pair of free throws and going coast-to-coast after a steal – all in a 20-second span – to put Academy Park back on top, 54-53, with 3:40 on the clock.
“Jawan’s been doing that all year,” Academy Park coach Allen Brydges said. “He just makes plays. He won’t let us lose games. He’s been starting since he was a freshman. Since he’s been here we’ve been in every single game no matter who we play because he’s not going to let us fall behind by very much.”
PW’s Williams made a basket and was fouled on the next possession. He knocked down the free throw to give his side a two-point advantage.
Malone blocked a shot that would have tied the game with three minutes left and went to the free-throw line two minutes later. He made both to put PW up by two possessions, 58-54.
Academy Park’s Kyree Temple dunked the ball to make it a two-point game with 45 ticks remaining, but PW’s Oakley Spencer knocked down two foul shots to seal the victory.
“It’s just good to be home,” Donofrio said. “That’s why you work hard all year – for this crowd and the emotion of it, because doing it on the road like this is 10 times harder. There is something about this team – for all the things it does to make me nervous during the week with how we practice sometimes, man, do they feel like they deserve to win.”
Malone scored 11 points in the first quarter and he needed 11 to reach 1,000 for his career.
“I just wanted to get it out of the way,” Malone said. “I figured once I get it everything can just come natural. These last couple of games it has kind of been in the back of my head.”
Malone did not play much his first two years at Martin Luther King before transferring to PW. He estimated he scored around 130 points as a freshman and sophomore combined.
“Then I came here and just took flight. Coach believes in me and I thank him for that. I’m just so glad I had the opportunity to join the club with all the rest of the great 1,000-point scorers. It was a great night. And we secured a state berth. That’s my main focus – getting to that tournament.”
One stat that stands out is foul-shooting. PW went 16-for-20 from the free-throw line. Academy Park went 7-for-19.
“We’ve been a really good free-throw shooting team,” Brydges said. “We usually shoot free-throws pretty well … We’ll keep working on them. A lot of that has to do with our legs, too. The way we play – you lose your legs, you lose your concentration a little bit.”
Malone was the only Colonial in double figures and Ahmin Williams was the second leading scorer with eight points.
Temple was the only Knight other than Collins to score in double figures with 11.
The win secures Plymouth Whitemarsh a berth in the state playoffs and sends them to the quarterfinals of the district tournament Friday night against No. 7 seed Central Bucks West, a team it lost to earlier this month in the Suburban One League Tournament in overtime.
Academy Park will face No. 10 seed Phoenixville in a playback game, needing to win two times to earn a trip to the state playoffs.
