Plymouth Whitemarsh hangs on to beat Wissahickon

WHITEMARSH >> Plymouth Whitemarsh head basketball coach Jim Donofrio likens his young team to a new puppy.

“You put him out in the yard, and he’s just running around feeling good about himself,” the coach said. “He’s just happy to be running and having a good time.

“But there comes a time when he needs some training.”

The Colonials got some training the hard way Friday night when they hosted Wissahickon in a Suburban One League American Conference contest that saw PW fall behind by 12 points after one quarter, build a four-point lead by halftime and ultimately go up by double digits in the second half before having to hang on for a 67-60 win that presented just as many questions about the young team as it did answers.

“It came down to two things — this is a neighborhood rivalry and we’re very young,” Donofrio said. “Right now, I couldn’t tell you where we’ll be by the end of the year.”

Ish Horn scored 18 points off the bench and Kevini Tilghman added 17 as the Colonials prevailed. But not without a scare or two or three.

Meanwhile, the Trojans saw an excellent chance at a major upset slip away.

“We just had too many self-inflicted wounds,” said Trojans head coach Kyle Wilson. “We wound up standing around a little bit at the end.”

The Trojans led, 17-5, after one quarter, but the Colonials, behind a strong second quarter paced by Horn’s 10 points, seized the lead and wound up leading by double digits in the second half.

Wissahickon, however, made a late run and got within two points late in the fourth quarter before the Colonials clinched the victory at the free-throw line.

Shane Ford led Wissahickon with 14 points while Chaz Owens added 13.

Owens led the way in the first quarter as the Trojans blew out to a double-digit lead.

But soon, the Colonials gained their composure and roared into the lead by intermission.

Horn’s 10 second-quarter points led the way, but PW was also 12-for-15 from the free-throw line in the quarter.

PW extended that lead to as many as 12 points in the second half before the Trojans made their run.

“We got back in the game,” Wilson said. “But we kept taking two steps backward for every step we took forward.

“We have to play a little smarter than we did.”

Wissahickon got within 62-60 in the closing seconds before Horn, Kevin Tilghman and Ahmin Williams put the game away from the free-throw line.

Donofrio’s puppies face a bigger test Saturday afternoon when they travel to Archbishop Wood to face Constitution at 4.

By then, Donofrio is hoping his pups have a little more bite than bark.