PHILADELPHIA — For a few fleeting moments, the impossible was feeling like anything but for Pottstown.
Back in the PIAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years, the Trojans had two-time Class 5A defending state champion Imhotep Charter on its heels in a tie ballgame late in the first half at West Philadelphia High School on Friday night. The Pottstown faithful that had made the 40-mile trip down to Philly were buzzing, and the players on the court were responding with belief.
But as fast as anyone in attendance could think “What if…?”, the dream quickly started to slip away as the Panthers, the top seed in District 12, ripped off eight straight points, secured a 12-point halftime lead and ultimately rode out a 64-46 first-round victory over the upset-minded Trojans. Imhotep advanced to face Exeter Township in Tuesday’s second round, while Pottstown’s season came to a sad conclusion.
There would be no miracles worked from District 1’s sixth seed after all, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
“I felt good,” said Pottstown senior Jurrell Young, who scored 13 points in the loss. “And then I felt like no matter how the first half finished, we were about to finish strong. But they finished stronger than us. We should’ve played more as a team and stopped settling for 3s. That’s what really messed us up, not passing the ball around.”
To Young’s point, the Trojans shot just 1-for-16 from downtown compared to an 8-for-25 mark from Imhotep. Even so, Pottstown matched the mighty Panthers punch-for-punch for much of the first half, even after Pottstown fell into an early 11-2 hole just over three minutes into the game behind nine quick points from Imhotep star guard Ahmad Nowell, who is bound for defending national champion UConn next season.
Pottstown (19-9) fanned the possible early blowout flames and got right back into the fight, even as Sadeeq Jackson, one of the team’s star players, picked up three first-quarter fouls. The Trojans trailed just 17-15 after one period, and the vocal visiting crowd got louder as the teams headed to their respective benches.
“We never go into a game, no matter who it is, and think, ‘Oh, we can’t win,'” said Abdul Jackson, Sadeeq’s twin brother, who scored a team-high 16 points. “Honestly, in my opinion, I feel like our offense can compete with any type of defense, and you saw that in the first half.”
Imhotep opened the second quarter with a 3, but Young responded with one of his own, and an Abdul Jackson steal and fast-break layup tied the score at 20. Nowell scored on a driving layup the next time down the floor only to have Young answer again to knot the score at 22.
Then, the magic in the air started to dissipate. Nowell buried his third triple of the half, R.J. Smith hit one of his own and Zaahir Muhammad-Gray scored at the rim, and suddenly a tie score turned into an eight-point Imhotep lead in the blink of an eye. The Trojans trailed 36-24 at the break and never got closer than eight the rest of the way as the Panthers (25-3) led by 16 after three, with the advantage swelling to as many as 23 in the fourth quarter.
“Sadly in the second half they got a couple calls and we got a couple turnovers,” Abdul Jackson said. “Stuff like that happens. That’s just part of basketball.”
Besides Nowell being an absolute game-changer in both scoring and facilitating, the Panthers’ size certainly caused a problem for Pottstown. Five of the eight Imhotep players that saw the court measured 6-4, 6-6, 6-6, 6-7 and 6-8, and the Trojans were turned aside nearly every time they attempted to attack the rim. It pushed Pottstown out to the perimeter, and that wasn’t a recipe for success on a night the outside shots were not dropping.
“It was hard to attack them because of how big they are,” Young said. “They were much longer and played great help defense. They played great all-around as a team — better than us as a team.”
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Trojans, who didn’t make it back to states for the first time in 16 years with the intention of going one-and-done. They received the toughest draw out of anyone in the bracket and played competitive basketball for a half, but over time it simply became too steep a hill to climb.
At the same time, there was much to celebrate for this group, one that got a buzzer-beating win over Upper Moreland in district playbacks just to make it to states in the first place. The result hurts now, but with time and reflection, this Pottstown team will be remembered for bringing the program back to the big stage. They got a taste of what that experience was like, and now it’ll be up to the remaining holdovers to keep it rolling.
“It’s great, because we’re showing the next students that are coming up that there is a chance to make states,” Young said. “Maybe they can win some more games here too. All you have to do is work hard and stay in the gym. I feel like we did that as seniors. We were able to step up and really give these kids the motivation to do what we did and work hard to get to states. If you want to get looks, you want to go to college, then this is a great place to be at. It was lovely to be at states, for sure.”
In addition to Young and Abdul Jackson’s contributions, Sadeeq Jackson had nine points in his final game, while fellow senior Nahzier Booker had four points and eight rebounds. Abdul Jackson mixed in six rebounds and three steals, and Young grabbed five boards.
Nowell led all scorers with 23, while Latief Lorenzano-White also reached double figures with 10 points. The six other Imhotep players who logged minutes all scored between three and eight points, as the Panthers’ size and depth just became too much to handle.
“Give a big clap to [head] Coach Kenneth Ivory,” Abdul Jackson said. “In his first year, we didn’t make playoffs, didn’t make nothing. His second year we made districts, and in his third year we came to states.”
“And,” Young added. “I just feel great about that.”
Imhotep Charter 64, Pottstown 46
Pottstown 15 9 11 11 – 46
Imhotep 17 19 15 13 – 64
Pottstown: A. Jackson 7 0 2-4 16, Young 4 1 2-3 13, Wood 2 0 0-2 4, S. Jackson 3 0 3-3 9, Booker 1 0 2-4 4, Lyons 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 1 9-16 46
Imhotep: Nowell 4 4 3-6 23, Smith 1 1 0-0 5, Lorenzano-White 2 1 3-4 10, Muhammad-Gray 3 0 0-0 6, J. White 4 0 0-0 8, Taylor 2 0 0-0 4, Colson 0 1 0-0 3, Green 1 1 0-0 5. Totals 17 8 6-10 64
