Qudire Bennett leads Plymouth Whitemarsh past Cheltenham
WHITEMARSH >> When Plymouth Whitemarsh needed offense Tuesday night against Cheltenham, Qudire Bennett was there.
Bennett scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Colonials to a 74-58 win over the Panthers at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
The senior wing scored eight points in the first quarter, four in the second, eight in the third and 10 in the fourth. He scored eight of the Colonials first 10 points in the fourth, including a one-hand dunk and a highlight-reel layup, to help maintain a comfortable lead, 57-44, with less than five minutes left in the game.
When coach Jim Donofrio called timeout after Cheltenham got within 57-46, the message was about improving defensively to close out the win.
“He wants to be happy, but take the happiness on defense,” Bennett said, “because then they get open layups. He has a right to be mad at me about that dunk even though I made it. I was a little too happy and they scored. I had to lock in, discipline on defense. That’s how Coach D’s always been over the years. That dunk was a little redemption after the Norristown game when I tried I didn’t make it. I was mad at myself. New year – 2023, new year new me, I had to come back off the break with something new.”
After the Panthers got within nine, 57-48, PW rattled off a 17-7 run to build a 74-55 lead and close out the win. Chase Coleman scored seven of his 21 points during the game-sealing stretch while Jaden Colzie and Jimmy Flowers each had four points and Bennett hit a pair of free throws.
“They sometimes think I’m being too hard on them but it’s not pickup ball,” Donofrio said. “Discipline has to be learned here that you have a 10-point lead, not 27. I’m glad you got the dunk, but turn right around and lock in on defense… When we did that, when we stopped lunging and going for steals and being risky, you make them work, you box out… Every time we got a stop in the second half of the fourth, by being in right position, working, making them shoot hard shots – now you got your run-outs. Now it’s easy. We’re a little young with that, still.”
The Colonials jumped out early when they scored seven points without Cheltenham touching the ball. Coleman broke a 4-4 tie with a three-point play and the Panthers were called for a technical foul. Bennett split the technical free throws before drilling a deep three-pointer to make it 11-4.
“I don’t think the tech had anything to do with (the momentum),” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “I think our kid responded, but we have to do a better job of pinpointing when it starts and moving from there. We needed this. For us, it’s just a matter of getting back to who we are and what we are and playing for our common goal and we’ll be fine.”
PW maintained a multi-possession advantage the rest of the first half, leading 15-9 after the first quarter and 30-20 at the break. Cheltenham had 15 turnovers in the first half compared to two made-baskets.
“Coach D said before this game they’re a north and south transition team,” Bennett said, “and all their points come from transition. We were like if they’re on a break, just step up, they’re going to want to make the pass. They did and there were a lot of bobbles, turnovers, steals, everything. It played a big part in our favor in the first half.”
“What we went through tonight,” Fleury said, “we’re big on respect. I think they were a little over-zealous. Today’s game was the first time we’ve lost to them since I’ve been here (five years). I know it was very important for them for the win. The physicality that we were met with early, you see throughout the game, we have to do a better job of just getting calls, going to the basket harder and just finishing.”
The margin remained 10 after three quarters with PW ahead, 47-37.
Cheltenham’s Josiah Hutson, who scored a team-high 13 points, opened the fourth quarter with a basket and three-pointer sandwiched around a Bennett layup to get the Panthers within seven, 49-42, but that’s as close as they’d get.
PW improved to 8-2 with the win while Cheltenham fell to 5-4.
Despite the loss, Cheltenham has high expectations for this season and knows it may see PW.
“You count the missed layups we had,” Fleury said. “Fifteen that were uncontested right now? We’re going to work on that and we’re going to do better with that. For them to be as animated as they are in the regular season let’s us know this was a game they circled. It wasn’t for us, but it was a game they circled and we were perfectly fine with it. We’ll go back, go to work, watch it, see where it was, clip it and then just move on. I think that’s it – and defensively we weren’t ourselves. That’s on me. Moving forward we’ll collect that, finish that and get back to the basics of what we want, which is a playoff run and then a state run.”
500 WINS
Donofrio was honored prior to the game for winning 500 games. He reached the accomplishment Thursday, Dec. 22.
“It means you chose to do it for a lifetime,” Donofrio said. “You chose to do it for those reasons that some people believe in and others don’t. Some people coach a year or two and say, ‘This is crazy, I’m getting out of this.’ Other people see in it the most important classroom in the world, it’s the most attentive students you’ll ever have… The reason why you return to it every year is because you say to yourself, ‘It’s still probably the best thing I can be doing to be doing some good’ you hope.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 74, Cheltenham 58
Cheltenham 9 11 17 21 – 58
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15 15 17 27 – 74
C: Josiah Hutson 4 3-4 13, Yakeen Respes 1 2-2 4, Kamani Healey 1 7-8 9, Kevin Addison-Anderson 2 2-4 6, Malik Hughes 6 0-0 12, Craig Metcalfe 3 0-0 7, Nile Tinsley 1 1-2 3, Xavier Thompson 1 2-2 4. Total 19 17-22 58.
PW: Jaden Colzie 4 2-2 10, Jimmy Flowers 3 0-0 6, Chase Coleman 9 3-8 21, Mani Sajid 0 0-0 0, Evan Ring 0 0-0 0, Ben Marsico 0 0-0 0, Qudire Bennett 11 5-6 30, Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 0 0-0 0, Lincoln Sharpe 1 3-3 5, Rodney Willis 1 0-0 2. Total 29 13-19 74.
3-point goals: C: Josiah Hutson 2, Craig Metcalfe. PW: Qudire Bennett 3.
