Bishop McDevitt holds off Cheltenham’s fourth quarter comeback
CHESTER >> Things are different for Bishop McDevitt boys’ basketball so far this season.
Last year, the Royal Lancers opened a lot of eyes with a PCL final four appearance at the Palestra and a PIAA 3A semifinal appearance. They didn’t have the luxury of sneaking up on anybody this winter and they’re still learning how to handle being the hunted instead of the hunter.
There was a sense of dejection as the Lancers left Widener on Saturday, as they knew they had made things much too close in a 61-59 win over Cheltenham as part of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-By-Play Classic.
“We have to work harder,” senior big man Jamil Manigo said. “We have to push ourselves harder at practice. We shouldn’t have let them come back, but our defense got lazy so we have to play better defense.”
The Lancers, who ended each of the first three quarters with a buzzer-beater, put together a good third quarter and early fourth before slogging to the finish. Cheltenham, which was again without senior point guard Zahree Harrison as he rehabs a knee injury, showed a lot of fight throughout.
Jaelen McGlone led the Panthers with 22 points and tried to carry the weight for his team in the second half while Justin Moore continued to play aggressively at point guard and was a key factor in McDevitt’s foul issues by taking 13 free throws.
“McDevitt is a good team, I think they’ll be a final four team in the Catholic League,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “We had opportunities at the end to win the game. Free throws were an issue for us, but it was a good test and we can definitely get better.”
Robert Smith authored two of McDevitt’s buzzer-beaters, the first a difficult leaning 3-pointer to end the first quarter with his team up 15-14. The senior guard added another on a midrange shot to wrap up the third quarter, sending the Lancers to the final frame up 47-39.
McDevitt got the lead to 51-44 after a technical foul called against Cheltenham with 6:17 to play, but a tech called against the Lancers about a minute later seemed to change the tone of the game. Not only did point guard Ahmir Harris foul out, but guard Shamir Mosely fouled out soon after and the Lancers seemed to lose a lot of jolt on both ends of the court.
“I just think we stopped being aggressive,” Lancers coach Will Chavis said. “We didn’t play well, bottom line, there’s no excuses, we didn’t play well and we have to get better.”
Chavis chalked up his team’s stretches of success to playing defense and playing together on offense, which Manigo echoed in his observations. The third-year Lancers coach built a tough schedule, which included a trip to Kentucky last week, as a means to show his guys what it takes to play with expectations.
McDevitt’s PCL opener saw them lose by three on the road at Archbishop Wood, a stark reminder nothing is coming easy this year if the Lancers want to get back to the Palestra and challenge for a state title.
“They know, and that’s the thing about it and why I chose to play games like this,” Chavis said. “They need to grow to learn how to play together. If you want to make a run, you have to play games like this against tough teams, scrappy teams and teams with high IQ like Cheltenham. You have to challenge yourself.”
Cheltenham jumped at McDevitt’s hesitation down the stretch, and got to the foul line a ton. The issue was making the most of those chances. For the game, the Panthers shot 17-of-30 at the stripe and were 10-of-16 in the fourth quarter.
“Our effort was good,” Fluery said. “We felt this is one we could have pulled out, but McDevitt made the plays to win. I respect Will Chavis a lot and I like what he’s done with the program over there.”
Manigo scored a key basket with 1:20 left in the game when Smith found him with a long pass and the senior used a pass fake to open enough space for a full-extension layup that made it 60-52. The bucket was critical as Moore converted a three-point play right after and the Panthers added four makes at the foul line to get within a point with 24 seconds left.
Again, it would be Manigo coming through as he split a pair of free throws with 22.8 to play and grabbing the final defensive rebound just before the horn as McDevitt survived a couple good looks by Cheltenham that would have tied the game.
“The last couple minutes, we weren’t executing as well as we should have been,” Manigo said. “We should have been playing better defense, they were just driving into the lane getting what they wanted or we fouled them. We had to keep them outside the paint, if we did that and walled up, a lot of that stuff that happened wouldn’t have happened.”
Both squads are heading back to Chester on Monday. Cheltenham will face a top District I 6A team in Coatesville while Bishop McDevitt will try to slow down Jordan Longino and Germantown Academy.
“When you play a lot of tough games, nothing comes easy, so that’s what I want our younger guys to get out of this,” Manigo said. “The biggest thing I can tell them is never relax. Once you relax, someone is coming to take you out, someone is always looking to take your spot.”
“That is the challenge, not only the challenge of people giving you their best shot but not understanding what it is to be in that situation,” Chavis said. “I think they’re starting to understand now we have to play together. You can’t just walk into the gym and expect to win a game, you have to play hard to win a game.”
BISHOP MCDEVITT 15 18 14 14 – 61
CHELTENHAM 14 15 10 20 – 59
BM: Glen Smith 1 2-4 4, Ahmir Harris 1 0-0 3, Robert Smith 5 3-5 14, Shamir Mosley 1 2-2 4, Jamil Manigo 12 2-4 26, Terrell Pitts 1 0-3 2, Jayvon Drayton 1 0-0 3, Trent Middleton 1 3-4 5. Totals: 23 12-22 61
C: Travis Coleman 0 3-4 3, Brandon Scott 4 0-5 8, Justin Moore 2 10-13 14, Jaelen McGlone 8 4-6 22, Sean Emfinger 2 0-0 4, Mike McClain 4 0-2 8. Totals: 20 17-30 59
3-pointers: BM – Harris, R Smith, Drayton; C – McGlone 2
