Devon Prep starts fast, advances past Dock Mennonite in PIAA-3A first round

TOWAMENCIN >> In a packed house and a charged atmosphere worthy of a state-playoff game, Devon Prep brought out its best basketball of the season.

“Coming over here, coming to play in this environment, it was awesome,” said the Tide’s Allen Cieslak after Wednesday night’s matchup at Dock. “It all starts with the defense. We picked up full-court, man-to-man. We blow things up. And then we just push it in transition and get layups. We share the ball – we’re all very unselfish players.”

The Tide was dominant on both ends, jumping out early and rolling to an impressive 71-48 victory over the Pioneers in the PIAA-3A First Round.

“That’s a good team. They played very well. They shot it well,” Dock coach Mike Fergus said. “We just couldn’t make a shot in the first half. We played better in the second half, but you can’t get behind like that to a team like that.”

A tremendous season for the Pioneers came to a close, but Dock will be returning four of its five starters next season.

Devon Prep advances to Saturday’s second round against Columbia.

“We wanna have two good days of practice, be mentally tuned in and get that second-round win,” said Cieslak.

The Tide led 24-9 by the end of the first quarter, scoring off turnovers and holding the Pioneers to just two field goals in the period.

In that first quarter, IV Pettit buried a pair of threes for the Tide, Ty Mishock also hit two, and the points were flowing for Devon Prep.

“Mainly, it was just moving the ball and just cutting through,” said Cieslak, who scored 15 points in the victory. “We didn’t really call any set plays. It was just lots of movement – wide-open threes, layups. That’s our style of play.”

Jacen Holloway, who scored a game-high 21 points, had eight in the second quarter, as the Tide built a 46-19 advantage by the break.

Devon Prep would have four players in double figures: Pettit and Mishock each finished with 13.

The Tide know who is also lurking in their its of the bracket.

“We’re looking forward to advancing further in the state playoffs,” said Cieslak. “We had a tough loss against West Catholic in the Philadelphia Catholic League Playoffs but we’re looking to get another shot at them. Onto the next one.”

Devon Prep and West Catholic could meet in the quarterfinals Wednesday if they are to advance.

Nathan Lapp led the Pioneers with 18 points, Tomir Johnson added 14 and Hoyt Bultje added 10. Dock, which went a perfect 14-0 in the Bicentennial Athletic League, returns the bulk of its roster next year.

“We have such a good nucleus coming back,” Fergus said. “This is the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at Dock. I loved our crowd this year. They were awesome. And we had great seniors. Shayne Farmer, Tomir Johnson and Marob Willis are three outstanding young men.”

PIAA-3A First Round

Devon Prep 71, Dock 48

Devon Prep 24 22 14 11 – 71

Dock 9 10 14 15 – 48

Devon: IV Pettit 4 2-2 13, Allen Cieslak 6 1-1 15, Ty Mishock 3 5-11 13, Lucas Orchard 1 3-4 5, Jacen Holloway 9 3-4 21, Ben Costello 1 0-1 2, Daniel Harrer 0 0-2 0, Tyler Scarpulla 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 14-25 71.

Dock: Nathan Lapp 5 6-10 18, Tomir Johnson 5 2-2 14, Hoyt Bultje 5 0-0 10, Tony Martin 1 2-2 4, Vaughan Martin 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 10-14 48.

3-pointers: DP-Pettit 3, Cieslak 2, Mishock 2; D-Lapp 2, Johnson 2.