Bennett, Plymouth Whitemarsh start fast, cruise past North Penn in District 1-6A quarterfinals
WHITEMARSH >> Qudire Bennett’s long-range shots keeping going down and the Plymouth Whitemarsh boy basketball team was quickly up big in Friday night’s District 1-6A quarterfinal matchup with visiting North Penn
“It was just a lock-in moment once it left my hands,” the Colonials senior said. “I’m not missing for a good minute cause once I start making ‘em I can’t get cold.”
Bennett knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in a 10-0 burst that put third-seeded ahead 15-3. By the end of the opening quarter, he had connected a total of four times from beyond the arc and collected 16 points as the Colonials sprinted out to a 26-5 lead over the No. 6 Knights.
“We don’t match up really well with them,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “They got three great pieces and the other two guys play their significant role for them. So, once they saw the ball going through they kind of got excited. We took some quick shots, quick possessions and we talked about it being a game of runs. And they started the game with a run and then made another one right on top of that.”
The Knights tried to fight their way back into the contest, cutting the margin down to nine twice in the third but the Colonials responded by ending the quarter with a 19-4 run, pulling away for a 83-53 victory to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2018.
“Playing last year we won two games –this year we got a bye – but came up short against Cheltenham in the quarterfinals and I just reminded myself of that,” Bennett said. “I was like we got to win this game, we’re trying to break the quarterfinal-losing curse and win go to semis, win semis go to Temple that’s been our team goal.”
Bennett collected 20 of his game-high 29 points in the first half and was one of four Colonials to score in double figures as PW (25-2) earned its 18th straight win and advances to visit No. 2 Lower Merion – the two-time defending district champs beat No. 10 Upper Darby 88-56 – Tuesday for a spot in the title game.
“It is two District 1, historically powerhouse programs if I can say that while staying humble,” Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio said. “But it is, the records are – they’re fun. If you’re a fan, to hear that Lower Merion-PW game is a good game.”
The last meeting between the Colonials and Aces came in the 2016 district semis, PW picking up a 53-42 on the way to winning their last District 1 title.
“Tuesday we just got to play hard like we did,” said Bennett, who finished with five 3-pointers. “Come out strong, whatever, we just can’t let up, we just got to come out strong.
Chase Coleman scored 11 of his 15 points before halftime while Lincoln Sharpe added 11 points and Jaden Colzie tallied 10 points as the Colonials matched a season-high in points – previously posting 83 in besting Quakertown Dec. 13.
It was PW’s second win over North Penn this year, having topped the Knights 75-57 in the Suburban One League Tournament semifinals Feb. 11.
“Psychologically, every game you go into is different,” Donofrio said. “We didn’t know each other the first game and we were coming off a Neshaminy game in which we were half asleep at the end of the game. And so we kind of almost went into that game a little bit flat because I got on ‘em hard and I liked how they responded but it took a while to wake up in that one. But this one is going to go one of two ways, either North Penn has a plan they learned from us first time or we’re going to get even better.
“And so you never know which way it’s going to go so when that first quarter went through I thought we’re really locked in. The guys convinced me tonight that we’re a really good basketball team.”
Norman Gee hit four 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 13 points while Ryan Zeltt chipped in 10 points for the Knights (19-7), who host Upper Darby in a district playback Tuesday.
“We’re going to stay the course and do what we do,” Conrad said. “I’d like to see us rebound, it’s disappointing but I’d like to see us rebound and compete definitely on Tuesday night.”
Ten of Gee’s points came during a 12-2 NP run to start the third quarter. After a Ryan Deininger basket to open scoring in the second half, Gee drained a three then buried another triple and was fouled – the junior converting the 4-point play to pull the Knights within 45-36 at 6:27.
A Sharpe foul shot then a Colzie jumper made it 48-36 before another Gee trey had NP’s deficit again at nine.
But a basket from Bennet put the Colonials back up double digits and was the start of 12 straight points from the hosts – six of those coming from Jimmy Flowers, who gave PW a 60-39 lead after scoring two and drawing a foul at 2:11.
“You just got to be perfect against them,” Conrad said. “They’re just so good, long and quick, athletic – I mean everything you just got to be perfect. I thought we made a little run to start the third and then they responded and it was like it was over.”
A Zeltt basket snapped the run but Bennett’s three followed by a Flowers putback and a Sharpe dunk pushed PW’s advantage to 67-41. Two Zeltt free throws at 14.5 seconds made it 67-43 entering the fourth.
“We just had to take a step back because we can’t be ‘Oh yeah, we up by like 20 or 30, whatever,’ in the first half and that can go back to like 15 in an instant,” Bennett said. “So we just got to keep our heads up and not get lazy on defense.
Eight straight points capped by a Coleman basket had the Colonials up 81-51.
In the first quarter, Teddy McAllister’s 3-pointer had North Penn down 5-3 but Coleman drove for a basket before Bennett scored the next eight to stretch the PW lead to 15-3.
Corey Meade’s bucket got the Knights within 10 but Bennett proceeded to hit his third trey of the quarter. After three straight points from Colzie, Bennett buried his fourth triple with Coleman’s steal and breakaway layup giving the Colonials a 26-5 lead at the end of the first eight minutes.
North Penn started the second quarter scoring seven of its first nine points – Deininger converting on a drive to make it 28-12. The Knights pulled to within 16 two more times before the break, the last time at 38-22 after a Mario Sgro 3-pointer.
A Sharpe dunk had PW up 43-24 before two Bennett foul shots at 35.0 seconds put the margin at 21. Ahmaar Godhania’s 3-pointer made it 45-27 at halftime.
District 1-6A Quarterfinals
(3) Plymouth Whitemarsh 83, (6) North Penn 53
North Penn 5 22 16 10 – 53
Plymouth Whitemarsh 26 19 22 16 – 83
North Penn: Norman Gee 4 1-1 13; Ryan Zeltt 3 4-4 10; Ahmaar Godhania 3 0-0 9; Teddy McAllister 2 0-0 6; Corey Meade 3 0-0 6; Ryan Deininger 2 0-2 4; Mario Sgro 1 0-0 3; Nicholas Hoffman 0 2-2 2; Totals 18 7-9 53.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Qudire Bennett 10 4-4 29; Chase Coleman 6 2-6 15; Lincoln Sharpe 5 1-2 11; Jaden Colzie 4 2-3 10; Jimmy Flowers 4 0-2 8; Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 2 2-2 8; Evan Ring 1 0-0 2; Totals 32 11-19 83.
3-pointers: NP-Gee 4, Godhania 3, McAllister 2, Sgro; PW-Bennett 5, Pendergrass-Sayles 2, Coleman.
