WHITEMARSH >> Jaden Colzie’s only ever known league championships. A rare freshman starter at Plymouth Whitemarsh, Colzie helped the Colonials win Suburban One League Liberty Division championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
On Tuesday night at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School’s Gym West, Colzie and the defending District 1-6A champions took a big step towards a fourth straight league title.
Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Abington, 67-45, to move into sole possession of second place in the SOL Liberty standings and remain one loss behind first-place Upper Dublin. The Colonials visit the Cardinals next Thursday in what could be a league championship game.
“I want to go 4-for-4,” Colzie said. “Championships mean a lot to me. Championships mean a lot to our team and our program. You see on our banner we have a ton. I want to go 4-for-4. That would be great. I love it.
“(Upper Dublin) is the game. I can’t wait for that game. They’re a really good team, really well-coached. It’s going to be a really tough game, over there especially, but I think we’re ready for the challenge.”
The Colonials (10-6, 8-2 SOL Liberty) have league games against William Tennent, Quakertown, Lower Moreland and Hatboro-Horsham before facing Upper Dublin on Feb. 1. After that highly-anticipated matchup, they close the regular season against Wissahickon.
PW coach Jim Donofrio was more interested in how his team played against Abington than its spot in the league standings. He felt the team reached the right combination of aggressiveness and discipline to implement a new zone defense and it paid off. They forced 25 turnovers.
“Abington was a major concern, but most of my concern was on us getting right,” Donofrio said. “We lost Saturday down in Townson, Maryland to a Balitmore team – a tough, tough team. At some point it’s going to pay off playing these teams. At some point – what are you going to see that’s any faster than what you saw on Saturday. You played (West Chester) Henderson, you played Sanford Delaware, you played different styles. If you’re going to go through that, if it doesn’t kill you it’s got to make you stronger at some point.
“We went to one of our more unique defenses because it took until now for them to be ready to do it properly. There’s a lot of learning curve going on. The real challenge in the learning curve has been on effort consistently… Tonight with that defense – we did it. Jah (Pendergrass-Sayles) probably did 17 to 20 closeouts in the second half alone. Earlier in the season that’s a bump foul, that’s a lunge, it’s a get-beat baseline, it’s a foul. Tonight was almost 17-for-17 if they couldn’t get a lift to get a look and that was all the way around. You can say it was a big win for the season. It’s a big win for the program if you know what to do with it.”
One of the bigger defensive plays was near the end of the third quarter. With an eight-point lead, Colzie grabbed a steal and had a clear path to the basket. He was grabbed from behind and got two shots and possession for an intentional foul. He made both free throws and Ben Marsico got fouled and hit both shots to make it a four-point possession and extend the Colonials lead to 12. They took a 10-point lead, 48-38, to the fourth quarter.
“That was a great momentum changer,” Colzie said. “I thought I had the layup but he intentionally fouled me. That was a huge swing in the game. I’m glad after that we kept on going. We didn’t stop.”
The difference was trimmed to eight in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as it would get. PW’s Mani Sajid scored seven of his game-high 23 points in the fourth and Colzie added five of his 19 while the defense forced eight turnovers to build a 20-point lead and close out the win, 67-45.
“(Sajid) killed us,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “Every time we got it close he would hit a big shot or make a big play or a steal. We’ve got to re-group and figure out how to attack a zone better because it’s our achilles heel. When we make shots, it’s fine, but we have to attack it better. We played right into their hands. We did what they wanted us to do. We have to learn from that.”
Khalid Jenkins led Abington with 12 points while Jeremiah Lee and Kamari Brasher each added 10 and Aaron Jones had nine.
The Ghosts (12-4, 7-3 SOL Liberty) face an up-hill battle to claim a league championship, needing to make up two games on Upper Dublin and one on Plymouth Whitemarsh over the final six. They’ve got their eyes on securing the best seed possible in the District 1-6A playoffs.
“We can’t worry about (the league) now,” Marsh, who’s team entered Tuesday as the No. 7 seed, said. “We have to go and get ready for districts and get better at executing in the half-court.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 67, Abington 45
Abington 13 6 19 7 – 45
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16 15 17 19 – 67
A: Aaron Jones 4 0 1-1 9, Jeremiah Lee 2 1 3-4 10, Kamari Brasher 5 0 0-2 10, Khalid Jenkins 4 0 4-5 12, Paul Glants 0 0 0-0 0, Jacob Manigault 0 0 0-0 0, Kellen Ingram 0 0 0-0 0, Lathan Miller 0 1 0-0 3, Xander Grasty 0 0 0-0 0, Jon Roberts 0 0 0-0 0, Jayden Flournoy 0 0 0-0 0, David Phillips 0 0 1-2 1. Total 15 2 9-14 45.
PW: Jaden Colzie 8 0 3-4 19, Ben Marsico 1 1 2-2 7, Mani Sajid 7 3 0-2 23, Michael Pereira 2 0 3-5 7, Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 1 0 0-3 2, Terron Davis 1 0 0-0 2, Jack Hayes 2 0 1-2 5, Josh DeJesus 0 0 0-0 0, Ehab Ahmed 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Harris 1 0 0-1 2, Caleb Bridgeman 0 0 0-0 0. Total 23 4 9-19 67.
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