Hutson, Dearry help Cheltenham hold off Perk Valley, advance to District 1-6A quarterfinals
CHELTENHAM >> Josiah Hutson has developed his game through the pressure of being the starting freshman point guard on the Cheltenham boys basketball team.
“My coach, coach Pat (Fleury), he put me through a lot – he told me before I even came here I’m a have a lot on my shoulders,” Hutson said. “We bump heads every day but I still love him at the end of the day. He just put me in the right places to be able to be successful.”
So when the District 1-6A second-round contest with visiting Perkiomen Valley got a bit tighter heading to the fourth quarter, Hutson was not fazed.
After the No. 19 Vikings cut a 14-point deficit down to 38-33 at the end of the third, Hutson started the final quarter by knocking down a 3-pointer.
When PV again pulled within five, Hutson collected consecutive baskets to cap a 6-0 burst, extending the advantage to 11 and third-seeded Cheltenham held off Perkiomen Valley from there and reached the quarterfinals with a 63-53 victory.
“It’s playoffs, it’s going to be games of runs,” Hutson said. “But I felt like we are a way better team than them and our coaches are way better coaches than them and they put us in a right position to win and still to make mistakes and come back and be able to win.”
Hutson scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth while Rasheem Dearry finished with a game-high 20 points – eight of those in the second quarter as Cheltenham bested PV 14-4 to take a 22-13 lead into halftime.
“Needed that,” said Dearry of Hutson’s offense in the fourth. “I was a little tired, I’m not going to lie, little tired so I’m glad he stepped up. I’m glad he did what he had to do.”
Brandon Bush added 11 points as the Panthers (26-0) clinched a PIAA berth and advanced to host No. 22 Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarters Friday. PW knocked off No. 6 Downingtown West 63-58.
Cheltenham faced Plymouth Whitemarsh on the road Jan. 7 and came away with a 72-56 victory.
“It’s going to be a great matchup Friday,” Dearry said. “Not going to expect nothing too crazy but just still remain humble, we’re going to do what we got to do to win – defense, offense, coaching. Just listen to our coaches and play together.”
Dawson Debebe was 8-of-8 from the foul line and scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half while Julian Sadler had 16 points for Perk Valley (16-9), which visits Downingtown West in the 9th-12th place playbacks Friday. Winner qualifies for states while the loser has its season come to an end.
“The game could of gotten ugly early and I was really proud of the way that we kind of stuck to it, stayed within ourselves and just kind of let the game come to us,” Perk Valley coach Mike Poysden said. “Obviously not the result we wanted but I thought we battled a little bit there, at least made it interesting, at time had it down I think as low as five or six – somewhere in there, I think it was six – but it’s tough with a team like that, it’s tough to string consecutive possession that go your way.”
Cheltenham took a 34-20 lead in the third after a Justin Savage basket but the Vikings ended the quarter with a 13-4 run. A Debebe 3-point play then a Vance Sadler corner three made it 34-26. A bucket by Dearry had the Panthers up 10 only for PV to cut the margin in half with five straight points from Julian Sadler.
After two from Bush had the Panthers up 38-31, Ethan Kohler collected a loose ball, scored inside and drew a foul with 1.1 seconds, pulling the visitors to within five at the start of the fourth.
“We have to screen against teams like that and I thought that in the first half we kind of stood around and watched to see if my teammate was going to do anything,” Poysden said. “But in our motion offense, you got to keep moving, keep screening. I thought we got back to that a little bit better.”
A Hutson three from the left wing had Cheltenham leading 41-33 but the Vikings were down just five again at 42-37 after Debebe hit two from the line with 6:28 remaining.
Dearry ripped a pass inside to Nasir Edens for two while Hutson provided the next four. The freshman scored off a give-and-go with Bush then on a fast back started by a Savage block made it 48-37 with a layup off a bounce pass from Edens.
“It comes from our teammates, our teammates looking and us cutting,” Hutson said. “And us getting wide open.”
A Debebe basket had PV down 48-39 but Dearry drained a three then made a foul shot at 3:19 to put the Panthers up 13. Perk Valley could only get as close as 10 the rest of the contest.
“There was nothing we did wrong on our end so it was just like we just had to answer for everything they did,” Dearry said. “They score, we score back, they got a stop, we got a stop.”
In the opening quarter, Cheltenham took an 6-0 lead – Bush scoring the first four points – but Perk Valley capped the period with a 7-0 run, five from Debebe including a late jumper to give the Vikings a 9-8 lead.
“Just trying to mix everything up but in doing so I don’t think we ever settled into our own comfort zone defensively,” Poysden said.
A Dearry 3-pointer had Cheltenham up 11-9 before Julian Sadler knotted things at 11. PV, however, collected just two more points before halftime – Kohler scoring and drawing a foul at 2:12 to cut the Panthers’ lead to 15-13.
Hutson connected on a three with a Bush free throw at 1:20 making it 19-13. Dearry’s trey in the half’s final seconds had the hosts ahead by nine.
“We started off very slow and our defense was just a little lackadaisical,” Hutson said. “And I feel like if we come out powerful and our offense is going to come to us and I just feel like if we do that, I don’t think nobody can stop us.”
A Bush 3-pointer gave Cheltenham its first double-digit lead at 25-15 with a Dearry basket increasing the margin to 12.
Perk Valley got within nine twice before a Bush 3-point play at 4:59 and a Savage bucket had the Panthers’ lead at 34-20.
Cheltenham 63, Perkiomen Valley 53
Perkiomen Valley 9 4 20 20 – 53
Cheltenham 8 14 16 25 – 63
Perkiomen Valley: Dawson Debebe 5 8-8 18; Julian Sadler 6 3-3 16; Vance Sadler 1 4-4 7; Joshua Pelzer 2 0-0 5; Ethan Kohler 2 0-2 4; JT Brady 1 0-0 3; Totals 17 15-17 53.
Cheltenham: Rasheem Dearry 8 1-3 20; Josiah Hutson 5 2-2 14; Brandon Bush 5 2-3 13; Nasir Eden’s 3 1-2 7; Justin Savage 2 2-2 6; Elias Walker 1 1-2 3; Totals 24 9-14 63.
3-pointers: PV-Brady, Pelzer, J. Sadler, V. Sadler; C-Dearry 3, Hutson 2, Bush.
