Coatesville’s pace too much for Plymouth Whitemarsh in District 1-6A 2nd round
CALN >> Plymouth Whitemarsh has struggled with fast teams all season.
Even when the Colonials hit their stride, winning eight of their final 11 regular season games and their playoff opener against Boyertown, they still struggled when teams pushed the pace. Two of their losses during that stretch came against Cheltenham and Abington, a pair of Suburban One League American Conference rivals that get up and down the floor in a hurry.
The problem reared its ugly head again in the second round of the District 1-6A playoffs.
No. 22 Plymouth Whitemarsh got knocked out of the tournament by No. 6 Coatesville, 77-60, Tuesday night at Coatesville Area High School.
“When it comes to up-tempo teams this year I’m a little dumbfounded by it,” PW head coach Jim Donofrio said.
“Maybe there’s just a certain collection of guys on our team as far as starters go that cannot adjust to a fast-paced game. We just panic. We don’t knockdown shots.
“The kids work so hard. They put so much time in and they’re so tightly-knit. All that stuff is terrific and they played terrifically Friday night (against Boyertown). For some reason if it’s a fast up-tempo team, all that goes out the door. In 29 years I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never had a team that can do so many good things against most teams, but as soon as it’s a team that can really pace it, it’s not even in the game. That’s fascinating to me. I don’t know how to fix it. I’ll take the blame anywhere I can.”
The Red Raiders converted turnovers into easy points and even managed more than a handful of breakaway layups when inbounding from under their own basket.
“If you talk about the top three rules for this game,” Donofrio said, “number one was recover to defense and two days of drilling that. The disconnect in this particular group of retention – it takes a while. There are things you have to repeat from November. It’s fascinating … You beat me one time sprinting, OK. I’m going to adjust my speed. Too many of our guys don’t adjust. They’re sinking in. The lightbulbs simply do not turn on.
“Recover to defense, limit their offensive rebounds and be strong with the ball when it matters. Those are the core things against any fast teams. It doesn’t matter – Imhotep, Coatesville, Norristown, Chester – those three rules, lay them out the first day. Recover to defense constantly. Only two guys crash, three back. That was the rule, just no adjustment.”
The Colonials were able to keep it competitive for a quarter thanks to 11 early points from Luke DiCianno. The junior wing’s strong start helped PW erase a 7-0 deficit and get within one, 21-20, through eight minutes.
The second quarter started the same as the first – with seven Coatesville points. After PW’s Zende Hubbard made a basket, the Red Raiders scored another seven unanswered, building their lead to 35-22. DiCianno hit a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game, but the Colonials never got within single digits again.
The lead grew to 48-29 at halftime and 65-37 after three quarters. The Colonials starters left the game early in the fourth as their deficit hovered just below 30 points.
Coatesville’s five starters did all its scoring. Jhamir Brickus scored 30 points, including the first seven of the game in the opening 50 seconds. Jaeden Brickus added 16 thanks to four three-pointers, Donovan Brickus 14, Dapree Bryant nine and John Proctor eight.
DiCianno led PW with 17 points – all in the first half. David Harris joined him in double figures with 12 points on four second-half threes.
While Coatesville clinched a state playoff berth and faces Cheltenham in the District 1 quarterfinals Friday night, Plymouth Whitemarsh will enter the playback bracket. The Colonials will need to win two playback games to earn a spot in the state tournament. The first game will be Friday night at Upper Darby at 7 p.m.
“We’re not dead yet,” Donofrio said. “If at one point in time that light bulb goes on … We’re playing again (Friday). Maybe then.”
