Boys Basketball: Painful loss for Penncrest in tourney final
MIDDLETOWN – With ice on his ankle and a slight stoop in his shoulders, Branden Hemphill saw both sides of it Thursday night.
There is progress from a young Penncrest team, of which the senior guard is one of a select few returning contributors from last season, since four consecutive losses to begin the 2022-23 season.
But there remains a nagging disappointment, centered on the fact that three possessions separate the Lions from a winning record. And on a night like Thursday, when more than mediocre end-game execution was required to top Science Leadership Academy Beeber in a 53-52 loss in the final of the Penncrest Holiday Tournament, the sting sets in particularly deep.
“We were really on a roll,” Hemphill said, “and it really hurts to lose this game.”
Hurts because the Lions (3-6) had fought back from a deficit that stretched as large as 11 points in the second quarter. Hurts because the Lions got 21 points and eight rebounds from fab freshman Mikey Mita. Hurts because Penncrest weathered seven ties and nine lead changes, the last on Amadou Dia’s two free throws with 14.4 seconds left, after the Rockets (8-2) had missed not two but four free throws at a 52-51 deficit to go ahead.
Beeber only got so many chances in a chaotic final 26.5 seconds because Penncrest missed the front-end of a one-and-one (after Maki Pettigrew missed two at the line), then an (albeit iffy) loose-ball foul when Pettigrew missed another two with 16.4 seconds left, allowing Dia to hit two at the stripe with 14.4 ticks left. Penncrest took 10 seconds to get upcourt for a timeout, drawing up a futile Hemphill heave at the horn.
With it came a third loss by two points or fewer, halting a run of three wins in four outings.
Beyond the late-game situations, turnovers proved the difference. The teams both made 19 baskets, both shot inauspiciously from 3-point range (4-for-13 for Penncrest, 4-for-14 for Beeber) and were equally indifferent at the line (10-for-17 vs. 11-for-18). But 15 turnovers, including Dia picking a pocket with 40 seconds left, spelled the difference. Beeber committed just six turnovers.
That didn’t overshadow the promise the Lions possess in the 6-5 figure of Mita. The freshman was outstanding, with 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He has the mobility and passing vision that demands the offense run through him, even at such a young age. He hit a silky turnaround jumper with 2:29 to play to put Penncrest up 48-46, then stretched the lead to three a possession later when Patrick Garrison found him with a bounce pass.
“We run a lot of plays for him,” Hemphill said. “Me and him are kind of like a duo. I love how he plays, and he’s only a freshman. We try to get him the ball as much as possible, but sometimes when defenders double down on him, he’ll kick out and we’ll get a nice 3.”
Mita blocked two shots and provided textbook defense in the lane twice to alter shots on the same trip with less than two minutes to play, Penncrest’s defense momentarily repelling the threat.
But Beeber had more to offer. Jahad Marable scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter. The tournament MVP found space off the weak side time and again, and his teammates – Michael Brady had five assists, and Pettigrew hit him with a couple of laser-fine passes in the fourth – got him the ball.
“I just try to find it,” Marable said. “I’m good on my right side. I can score on the pick-and-roll on either side. But the pick-and-roll, they dump it to me and I get an easy bucket every time.”
All seven Rockets who played hit a basket. Pettigrew finished with 10 points and a team-high three steals. Dia had seven points. Sa’d Jamaladdin scored all seven of his points in the first half to go with nine rebounds. Brady and Noah Briggs added six points each.
Contributors were too scarce for the Lions. Brett Hemphill hit 3-pointer at the buzzer in the third, caroming high off back iron before getting the fortuitous home bounce softly through the rim. He slithered into the lane for a pair of buckets in the fourth on the way to nine points. Branden Hemphill paired 11 points – albeit on 3-for-12 shooting – with five rebounds. But Garrison (four points, seven rebounds) came up empty on five looks from deep, and the support scoring was absence.
It’s on the list of things of things to solve to avoid those pesky end-game issues.
“Throughout the whole game, there’s a lot mistakes that go on,” Branden Hemphill said. “So we can’t just pin it on how we perform on the very last play because there’s a ton of things that we need to improve on – defensively, with fouling, they got to the line a lot, and offensively, with 3-point shooting.”
In the consolation game:
Chester Charter Scholars Academy 60, Olney 51 >> Azarhis Smith landed on the all-tournament team thanks to 15 points and 15 rebounds in a meeting of teams that had entered the tournament unbeaten on the season.
Jayden Williams added seven points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals. Kevin Miller added 12 points, and Calvin Lewis had all nine of his points on three 3-pointers as the Sabres (9-1) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit.
In other nonleague action:
Radnor 59, Archbishop Rummel 44 >> Charlie Thornton poured home 16 points and took home tournament MVP honors as the Raptors beat their opposition from Louisiana to claim the title at the KSA Tournament in Orlando.
Thornton added five assists and three blocks. Jackson Hicke paired 18 points with nine rebounds and five assists. Cooper Mueller tallied eight points and six rebounds for Radnor.
Upper Darby 68, Whitehall 55 >> Nadir Myers hit five 3-pointers on the way to 28 points and tournament MVP honors as the Royals (5-3) won the championships game of the Zephyr Holiday Classic.
Niymire Brown added 20 points, and Yassir Joyner tallied 15 for UD. Brown was also named to the all-tournament team.
Marple Newtown 55, W.C. Rustin 51 >> Matt Gardler canned three 3-pointers in the third quarter to open up a lead that lead the Tigers to the win at their holiday tournament. Gardler was named tournament MVP.
Ryan Keating added 13 points, PJ Esposito did enough at the line in the fourth quarter to get to 11 points and Corrado Fischetti chipped in eight. Bryan Bogan added five of his six points to make the all-tournament team.
Interboro fell to Palumbo, 92-50, in the consolation game.
Chester 69, Coatesville 64 >> Kyree Womack tallied 24 points as the Clippers (4-3) picked up the win late Wednesday night.
Terrence Cobb scored 14 points, and Dominic Toy added 11.
Garnet Valley 62, Archmere Academy 42 >> Maz Sayed scored 11 of his 15 points in the first quarter as the Eagles ran out to a 17-3 lead and never looked back in the final of the Garnet Valley holiday tournament.
Vince Wildrick buried two 3-pointers in the opening quarter on the way to 13 points. Akhir Keys tallied a pair of big triples in the second quarter, scoring a game-high 20.
