Church Farm stuns top-seeded Dock Mennonite in District 1-2A semifinals
TOWAMENCIN >> The sneak attack included five first-half threes.
Church Farm built a nine-point lead by the break and held together late despite several fierce rallies by top-seeded Dock. The Griffins hit nine 3-pointers in all. They were also able to pound it inside with 6-foot-6 freshman Demetrius Lilley.
In the end, the balanced Griffins had produced a 70-63 upset victory in the semifinal round of the District 1-2A Semifinals.
“I thought the guys were very resilient,” Church Farm coach Marc Turner said. “On the road, in a tough environment, in (Dock’s) house…We had a lot of frustration, not ending the season the way we wanted to. And I think we were able to let it out a little bit tonight.”
The fourth-seeded Griffins ran off the court in celebration and they’ll run all the way to the district final on Saturday against No. 2 Delco Christian, at Harriton at 3 p.m. The win also secured a state-playoff spot for Church Farm.
“They’re hungry to get our seventh district championship,” Turner said, “and they showed it tonight.”
Max Scott hit a trio of threes and tied for the game high with 19 points. Lilley scored down low, also mixing in a mid-range jumper for 14 points. Shifty N.J. Mahama scored 11 points and Reggie Phifer hit a pair of threes, adding 10.
“I think we had eight guys with six points or more,” Turner pointed out, “and that’s exactly the way we would have drawn it up. We shared the ball, and that’s one of the things we were trying to do.”
A three by Dock’s Nolan Bolton brought the crowd to full throat and drew the Pioneers within 48-46.
But a Lilley jumper, a drive by Mahama and another basket by Lilley worked the Church Farm lead back up to eight heading into the fourth.
Dock got within six twice and even cut it down to five when Darius Ellis (16 points) scored off a rebound, making it 66-61 with a minute left.
Mahama hit a pair of foul shots at the other end to widen the margin to seven. Saint-Fleur (19 points) drove for Dock, again bringing the Pioneers within five — 68-63 — with 37 seconds to go.
But Church Farm closed it out, a bucket by Phifer locking it up in the final seconds.
A terrific season came to an end for Dock.
“They made shots tonight,” said Dock’s Jackson Scialanca, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer this season. “They made nine threes, and that’s not what we were expecting.
“They came out, made shots, played hard and scored a lot. I don’t think our defense was where it should have been in the first half. In the second half, we put the lock down and made a few runs, but it just wasn’t enough.”
The Griffins went up by nine early and never let go of the lead.
“They caught us on our heels in that first quarter,” Dock coach Mike Fergus said, “hitting threes and getting back-door layups — stuff that we usually do.
“They shot the ball extremely well. And they held tight when we made our runs.”
