POTTSTOWN >> Head coach Eric Burnett has had Phoenixville on the cusp of a Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division championship for years. In the last seven seasons, the Phantoms finished within one game of first place four times and within two games the other three times.
With 11 players returning from last year’s team, the Phantoms knew the 2023-24 season could be special. On Tuesday night, they took the next step.
Phoenixville beat Pottstown, 55-40, at Pottstown High School to clinch the PAC Frontier Division championship and earn a first-round bye in the league playoffs next week.
“The way we worked this offseason coming off of last year,” Phoenixville senior Max Lebisky said, “same team. We’ve had this goal since last year. To get it, it’s really nice. It’s a really rewarding feeling.”
“This is one of those moments,” Burnett said. “We’ve had a lot of good wins in our 10 years. This is definitely one of our moments that I’ll always remember, but what makes this special is this group. We’ve talked a lot, all year long, about our fabric and how tight we can be as a team. I thought tonight was a great example of sticking together through a little run that they went on… but we kept playing and kept playing defense and made some of the tough stops. I don’t know if we would have done that a couple weeks ago. We’re really tying it together and starting to play our best basketball.”
The 15-point margin of victory doesn’t indicate how close the game was for three-and-a-half quarters. Phoenixville led by one, 8-7, after the first quarter and Pottstown took a one-point lead, 19-18, into the half. Phoenixville built a six-point edge, 39-33, through three quarters but Pottstown opened the fourth with a 5-0 run to get within one, 39-38, with 6:30 to play.
That’s when Phoenixville (14-6, 8-3 PAC, 8-1 PAC Frontier) took control. The Phantoms forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter (22 in the game) and went on a 16-2 run to the final buzzer.
After DiMark Lyons’ layup and Jurrell Young’s three-pointer got Pottstown (13-6, 9-3 PAC, 7-2 PAC Frontier) within one, both teams were scoreless for more than two minutes. Phoenixville missed two breakaway layups after steals, but the second time Lebisky was there for the offensive rebound and put-back.
“(Christian) Cervino got the steal he’s such a smart player,” Lebisky, who finished with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, said. “Knowing the way he can read passes and stuff – he started that. I just got the put-back. It was a big bucket to get to stop their little run.”
Lebisky assisted on Phoenixville’s next two baskets – layups by Deacon Baratta and Dawson Brown – to make it a 45-38 lead with three minutes remaining.
Abdul Jackson, who led Pottstown with 16 points, scored the Trojans’ final basket of the night with 2:30 to go to trim the deficit to five, 45-40.
Phoenixville went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch while Brown made two layups and Cervino made one to put the finish touches on a 55-40 road win.
“Our goal tonight was to hold them under 55 points,” Burnett said. “We had some statistics stuff going on between yesterday and today just in preparation, but our guys just really locked in. We told them that we would continue to change defenses and when our defense is playing that way, we can be one of the tougher teams to beat, especially with our backside. I thought we did a good job identifying shooters. Sadeeq Jackson got going a bit there (8 points) but we limited him and forced him into some tougher shots after those two threes. Our guys were engaged on defense the whole time at the end of the stretch. Couldn’t be more proud of them.”
“I think we got a little desperate at times,” Pottstown coach Ken Ivory said of the fourth quarter, “jacking up threes, not committing to getting the ball inside… We had some looks, though. We had some open looks from three but it just didn’t fall… It’s hard to make a comeback when you’re not getting turnovers. We’re used to turning people over a lot and that didn’t happen. Credit to them – they took care of the ball, they were strong with the ball. Brown got going in transition, (Cervino) got loose on a few open layups when we were trying to press. It is what it is. We still have a lot of basketball to play.”
Brown scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half while Cervino had nine of his 15 points after the break.
In addition to the PAC Frontier championship and PAC playoff seeding, Tuesday’s result could have a significant impact on the District 1-5A playoffs. Pottstown entered the game as the No. 4 seed and Phoenixville No. 5. After the game, they swapped spots. The No. 4 seed earns a first-round bye and advances straight to the quarterfinal, which is a home game against the 5/12 winner for a spot in the state playoffs.
“We haven’t lost at home this year,” Lebisky said. “Our crowd’s great. Just knowing we’re going to be back at home is really good. That four seed gets us a bye. It’s a pretty big win.”
“Anybody would like that,” Burnett said, “to have that first-round bye and win that first game and punch that ticket to states, which we’ve never done in our 10 years. There’s definitely some goals here for our guys, but like I said, this is something that they’ve been itching for and hopefully we can get a home game. We love playing in our gym. I know those seniors want to get one more run in our gym.”
“If (we see Phoenixville again) we’ll be up for the challenge,” Ivory said. “We’ll come back to work (Wednesday) after school, lock in. Lick our wounds tonight, but it’s back to work. Our season isn’t over. We have a lot to play for. Our kids work hard. They deserve the opportunity to play for a championship and I want them to take advantage of that and not let this one game spoil this season.”
Phoenixville 55, Pottstown 40
Phoenixville 8 10 21 16 – 55
Pottstown 7 12 14 7 – 40
PH: Deacon Baratta 2 1 1-1 8, Dawson Brown 9 0 2-2 20, Christian Cervino 6 0 3-3 15, Max Lebisky 4 0 1-3 9, Aidan McClintock 0 0 1-2 1, Keron Booth 0 0 2-2 2, Brady O’Donnell 0 0 0-0 0. Total 21 1 9-15 55.
PT: Dillon Mayes 1 0 0-0 2, Abdul Jackson 6 1 1-2 16, Jurrell Young 2 2 0-0 10, Sadeeq Jackson 1 2 0-2 8, Nahzier Booker 1 0 0-0 2, DiMark Lyons 1 0 0-1 2. Total 12 5 1-5 40.
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