Plymouth Whitemarsh starts fast, holds off Norristown
WHITEMARSH >> Plymouth Whitemarsh picked up its first win of the season Tuesday night when it defeated Norristown, 69-59, at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
The Colonials (1-1) led the entire game. They jumped out to a 10-0 start and when the Eagles (1-2) got within six at 13-7, they scored 17 straight to take a commanding 30-7 lead in the second quarter. They forced 14 turnovers in the first half and held a 41-21 advantage at the break.
“That’s what our brand is known for at PW basketball,” Colonials senior Qudire Bennett said. “Go for that pressure, cause turnovers.
“In this game I felt like we had all the advantages – height, quickness, talent, IQ. I feel like that’s why we had 41 at the end of the first half.”
In the first quarter, PW was getting easy baskets in transition. Bennett had four assists in the eight-minute stretch and the team assisted on six of their nine made baskets. Chase Coleman scored nine points in the first quarter, Jaden Colzie five, Bennett and Rodney Willis four and Lincoln Sharpe two as they built a 24-7 lead.
“Very tough start,” Norristown coach Rick Bell said. “It was just execution. Live-ball turnovers killed us, like they always do in basketball. You do something that you’re not supposed to on one end, it goes in the basket for the other team on the other end. It’s just basketball.”
After a back-and-forth third quarter saw Norristown trim its deficit from 20 to 18, 56-38, the Eagles came out on fire in the fourth. Andre Young hit two three-pointers, Miles Daniel hit another and Jonathan Brooks finished a three-point play to get Norristown within 58-50 with six minutes left in the game.
The Colonials scored five straight – a Willis put-back and a Bennett three after a Sharpe offensive rebound – to get the lead back to 13, but Norristown kept coming. A 7-2 run got the Eagles back within eight, 65-57, with 2:25 remaining.
“We got it down to eight,” Bell said. “We just had to make it ugly. Second half defensively, just scramble and get after it a little bit and we executed a little better, also. Guys were a little more patient and that’s the goal – to get guys to slow down. We talk about our three p’s – patience, poise and pace – and we just have to get there. We’ll get there.”
Bennett made a basket to get the lead back to 10 and Coleman followed with a steal and breakaway layup to extend the difference to 12, 69-57, before PW closed out the win in its home opener.
“What I’ve been told is basketball is a game of runs,” Bennett said, “but against a team like this, a rivalry game, they’re never going to give up. So we have to come out punching first, as we did, but we have to keep that same momentum. We can’t get lazy, can’t get tired, because they had a five three(-pointer) stretch cutting it down to (eight). We have to keep hanging in, keep our heads up, not drop our chins. I feel that’s what made us get the win – keeping our heads up and pushing through.”
Bennett and Coleman led PW with 20 points apiece while Colzie chipped in 13 and Willis eight. Sharpe grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while Bennett dished out a game-high five assists.
“You love the 41-point half,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “Hopefully we can develop into the kind of teams we’ve had that really just fall in love with a lot longer focus on the court, 32 minutes of focus on the court, which is discipline defensively, being able to change gears, being able to change defenses, being able to know when to slow down. We just like to go. If we’re going to be one of those teams, that comes down to making a lot of shots and I haven’t seen many teams win titles doing that.
“You decide to relax just a little bit and play defense incorrectly just a couple of times and next thing you know 25 (point lead) goes to 15… That’s more of a mindset than it is any drill. You don’t want to lose one or two (games) because of it. Trying to get them to our 2018 team mentality, ’17, ’16, ’11, ’10. Those type of guys who were so sophisticated, yet played so hard and confident, but also knew how to enjoy themselves. There was a unique button they hit. We haven’t seen that in a couple years. Hopefully these guys get mad at themselves for not being a little more perfect, a little more consistently better.”
Myon Kirlew led Norristown with 15 points while Brooks added 14 and Young 10. Kirlew, Brooks and Jaden Wise each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and Wise led the the Eagles with four assists.
Both teams are back in action Friday night. Norristown travels to Penn Wood while Plymouth Whitemarsh opens its Suburban One League Liberty Division schedule at home against Abington.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 69, Norristown 59
Norristown 7 14 17 21 – 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh 24 17 15 13 – 69
Norristown: Jonathan Brooks 6 2-3 14, Miles Daniel 4 0-0 9, Roddy Gaymon 0 0-0 0, Andre Gordon 2 2-2 6, Myon Kirlew 7 0-0 15, Jaden Wise 2 1-2 5, Andre Young 4 0-0 10. Total 25 5-7 59.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Jaden Colzie 5 2-3 13, Jimmy Flowers 0 0-0 0, Chase Coleman 8 2-5 20, Josh Harris 0 0-0 0, Qudire Bennett 8 2-2 20, Jahseir Sayles 1 0-2 2, Lincoln Sharpe 2 2-2 6, Rodney Willis 4 0-0 8. Total 28 8-14 69.
3-point goals: N: Myon Kirlew, Miles Daniel, Andre Young 2. PW: Jaden Colzie, Chase Coleman 2, Qudire Bennett 2.
