Plymouth Whitemarsh comes up short in championship chase
The Plymouth Whitemarsh boys basketball team only lost two games this season and was undefeated heading into the District 1 Class-6A championship game.
A two-point loss to Abington and a four-point loss to Roman Catholic sandwiched a win over Dallastown and the Colonials season was over at 28-2.
Throughout the entire season — the double-digit wins over the best teams in the area, top 25 national rankings and closing out Colonial Gym with 51 straight victories — there was one thing the team talked about.
Championships.
The Colonials had high expectations after reaching the District 1 semifinals and state quarterfinals in 2017 and returning its five most important players.
It was a team capable of winning multiple championships and that’s what they set out to do.
They went a perfect 14-0 to win the Suburban One League American Conference and wins over Pennridge and Central Bucks West gave them their first SOL Tournament title, but they came up short in the district and the state.
“There’s two things,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “There’s the journey and there’s the destination. You talk about the journey — you look back down the road you’re going to say that’s personal. You never want to go through life not enjoying the moment. There’s camaraderie, there’s friendship, there’s relationships that are formed. Those become really important things, but it’s also a great lesson to learn. In a way, sports is like working in the corporate world. It’s bottom-line results. As far as destination goes, you’re going to analyze that like any corporation and say we did not achieve what — if you look on paper, you have to first ask yourself as a team are we worthy of saying we can win a district? Is that a legitimate goal? Is that a realistic goal? … This is a team that could easily on any given night win the district and the state — those games. So, yeah, as far as that’s concerned, we did not achieve a goal and you can be frustrated about that and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be.
“Do I love the guys? I love them. They give you everything. Are we going to sugarcoat that it was great no matter what? No. It was not. We did not achieve.”
“Not a disappointment,” senior guard Ahmad Williams said of the season as a whole. “A little bit because you had two goals in mind that you didn’t get accomplished, but it’s life. What are you going to do? Pout about it or do something else? It’s a disappointment and a bad taste, but it was a fun ride.”
PW won its first three district playoff games by nearly 22 points per game before running into Abington. The Robbie Heath-led Ghosts beat the Colonials in the 2015 district championship game, 2017 SOL Tournament championship game and 2017 district semifinals. They made it four straight with a 75-73 win in the 2018 district title game at Temple’s Liacouras Center.
After bouncing back and beating Dallastown by 24 points in the first round of states, PW ran into another familiar foe — the Philadelphia Catholic League champions Roman Catholic.
The Cahillites, who went on to win the state championship, ended the Colonials season for the second time in three years, 75-71, in the second round. PW was without starting senior forward Alan Glover, who suffered a concussion against Dallastown. In 2016, Roman beat PW in the state semifinals.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Williams said of the two losses coming by a total of six points. “You have to take your wins with your losses.”
Seniors Ahmad and Ahmin Williams and junior Naheem McLeod started playing in the 2015-16 season. That year they won the district and lost in states to eventual champion Roman. In 2017, they lost to Abington in districts and Reading in states, both of which went on to win their respective titles. This year, both of their losses were to teams that won championships.
The Colonials will be back ready to make noise next year with McLeod as a senior, but will have to deal with Abington moving into the SOL American Conference.
