Ingraham fuels Bonner & Prendergast as it rolls toward state title final

WHITEMARSH – Bonner & Prendergast’s talented cast went into the locker room at halftime of a PIAA Class 4A state semifinal with Lower Moreland up eight points and not exactly happy about it.

The District 1 champion Lions definitely had the Friars out of their comfort zone, so the Bonner & Prendie players had a little chat.

“We were talking about how this could be our last 16 minutes ever,” senior guard Mike Perretta said. “We just woke up and jumped on them from the start.”

The District 12 champions put together a third quarter for the ages to roll over the Lions, 83-47, and advance to their first state championship game in program history.

The Friars (22-5) tallied 31 points in the period, one more than they had in the first half, to take a 61-31 lead into the fourth quarter. As scrappy as the Lions (28-3) were, the 30-point deficit was too much for Lower Moreland to realize its dream of going to the state final for the first time.

The win extended Bonner & Prendie’s winning streak to five games, the last four have been by an average of 26.25 points.

“We knew it was going to be a war,” Lower Moreland guard Shane Cohen said. “They have a great team and in the first half they did what we wanted them to do. We wanted them to force quick shots, maybe run an offense they weren’t used to and get them moving a little bit.”

What the Lions did was keep the ball out of the hands of the Friars’ 6-foot-9 senior center Tariq Ingraham, and not allow Perretta to get clean looks from 3-point range. The Friars rectified that in the opening moments of the second half.

Bonner & Prendie went to Ingraham early and capitalized on his dramatic size over his smaller defenders and the big fellow delivered. He scored eight of his 12 points in the first 4:33 of the period, six on dunks, to help the Friars open a 50-27 lead.

“We started the second half like it was 0-0, like the game was starting over again,” said Ingraham, who said he is looking at Wake Forest among other schools. “Once we got the little lead, we started to relax. We made sure we came out hard in the second half. They were scrappy. They were better than I thought.”

“We got Tariq the ball and Tariq played like a man,” Bonner & Prendie coach Kevin Funston said. “That was the best I’ve ever seen him on the offensive end, being aggressive and just dominating. And the guys got him the ball. He’s a beast.”

Ingraham also made his presence felt on the defensive end. He clogged up the middle, blocked a couple of shots and generally made life miserable for the Lions.

“He was huge,” Perretta said of Ingraham. “He was playing defense and his energy was crazy. I never hear him yell that much during a game. We kept running the same play for him and he would jump over someone, catch it and dunk it. It was amazing.”

Lower Moreland could not stop Ingraham once he got the ball in the post and that opened up the rest of the floor for the shooters, especially Perretta. The lanky guard buried four 3-pointers and had 12 of his 14 points in the period. Malik Edwards provided 15 off the bench, including a pair of triples in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Wong pitched in with 10 points and three assists.

“The third quarter has been our MO on the plus side all season and I’ve been proud of the way we’ve been able to come out of halftime and lock teams down,” Lower Moreland coach Seth Baron said. “That’s just a very talented team.”

One with a decided size advantage over his lines.

“We go 6-1 to 5-8 across the board, but we don’t play that way,” Baron said. “My guys are gritty and they don’t fear anyone. They still don’t fear anyone, but the size advantage, they have a couple of D-I players who know how to use their body and get position. You have to give them credit, that third quarter especially … I would have loved to go (into the fourth quarter) down three or five because we were there and I thought we could have made them sweat a bit, but that third quarter, they took it up a notch.”

Now Bonner & Prendie prepares for a trip to Hershey, where it will take on a familiar foe for the state title. The Friars face Imhotep in the final Thursday (8 p.m.) at the Giant Center. Imhotep knocked off Hickory, 65-46, to set up an all-Philly final. The Friars defeated the Panthers, 59-57, in overtime to win the District 12 championship.

“It’s going to be fun,” Ingraham said.