Holy Ghost Prep boys basketball secures Chapman’s 800th career win (VIDEOS)
BENSALEM – In its Jack Schott Memorial Tournament championship battle at Holy Ghost Prep, visiting Abraham Lincoln closed a 14-point third-quarter deficit down to eight points heading into the final frame.
With head coach Tony Chapman’s 800th career coaching victory on the line, the Firebirds (8-2) came through, outpacing the Philly Public League Railsplitters (4-6) by 10 points in the fourth quarter to win 74-56 Wednesday, Dec. 30 at Chapman Gym.
Afterward, HGP basketball boosters handed out piles of t-shirts commemorating Chapman’s milestone win. Numerous former players from both recent Firebird teams and those from long ago attended the historic event.
“To me, it’s a special place; that’s why I’ve stayed here,” said Chapman, afterward. “With all these people coming back, it’s humbling.”
While the win wasn’t one typical of Holy Ghost basketball – the Firebirds committed 20 turnovers and missed 15 of 35 free throws including nine in the fourth quarter, the home team’s stars stood out.
“(Lincoln is) very active on defense but we held ourselves together enough to keep the lead,” stated Chapman.
“I think we learned from two losses to Church Farm and Pennsbury where we committed a lot of turnovers but we didn’t respond, offensively.
“In this game, we responded offensively and got really good shots when we didn’t turn the ball over.”
With help from a breakaway layup by senior captain Jack Coolahan (12 pts.) and a pair of free throws by Tournament MVP Mike McFadden (23), Ghost began the final frame with a 5-0 run that stretched the lead to 13 at 56-43.
“We realized that we really didn’t have to depend on our jumpers,” said McFadden, who led the ‘birds with 23 points and 47 in two Schott Tournament wins, combined. “We could get the ball to the middle and get up the court very easily and get some easy layups and that really helped us out.”
When the Railsplitters closed the gap to 10 points midway through the fourth period on a pair free throws by junior Marlon Sharpton (10 pts.), Coolahan, who’d been held to a single field goal in the first three quarters, struck for three shots from the floor in the final frame.
“Jack always comes up big in the clutch,” said McFadden. “He can have an off game but he’ll always make shots when it counts.”
Coolahan had help from classmate Julian Turner, who also hit a pair of layups down the stretch and was the ‘birds second leading scorer with 14 points.
“He helps us so much with the offensive rebounds,” stated McFadden, of Turner. “And even when he doesn’t grab it, he’s tipping it out to our players and getting tip-ins so it makes it difficult for the defense.
“He gets in positions where he can make the block and he’s very good from that area.”
Defensively, Ghost put the clamps on All-Tournament Lincoln senior Blair Bowes, who hit for 15 points before the intermission and only four after the break.
“At the beginning, we were trying to run a box-and-one (defense) and we were trying to help on (Bowes),” explained McFadden.
“Then at the end, we just decided to get two guys on him. Any time he drove either side, the other guy stepped in. So we really decided to shut him down. Let the other guys try and beat us.”
While Lincoln scored the first five points in the game and held an 8-5 lead on a 3-pointer by Bowes, his second in the first period, the Firebirds responded with a 10-0 run, a scoring spurt sparked by three field goals registered by McFadden. The Tournament MVP struck for 11 of HGP’s 17 points in the first quarter.
“He played very, very well, especially in the first half,” stated Chapman. “It looked like it was going back and forth but he was the reason why we got the lead and kept it.”
A 17-13 score at the end of the first period turned into a 23-15 Holy Ghost lead on a spurt that was sparked by a pair of shots by Turner, the first off the glass and the second off a feed from Ryan Wade, who hit a pair from the foul line.
A putback by freshman Ryan Starapoli kept the ‘birds lead at seven midway through the second period but back-to-back steals by Bowes followed by a pair of layups by the same player cut HGP’s margin down to four.
“We are a lot better at a slow-paced game so when the game gets fast, we try to control it by slowing it down,” explained McFadden. “On a night like tonight, that’s not going to happen as much so we really did have a problem with turnovers.”
Ghost turned it over a few more times in the third period, though they mounted a 13-6 scoring run to extend their lead to a dozen points with 2:45 remaining in the quarter. The scoring spurt was sparked by three shots from the floor by McFadden including a 3-point play that put the birds on top, 42-32. A one-handed jumper by Bauer and an open layup by Starapoli –one of two by him in the period – put Ghost up, 46-32.
“When we got the ball to the middle, our freshman, Ryan Starapoli, did a great job. We told him ‘we don’t care about the turnovers. You gotta face to the other side every time. You got open guys and you have to hit them.’
“When he turns around and fully faces, he’s dynamite with that. He passes long outlets or he gets layups from it.”
Ghost turned it over a few more times in the final frame but poured it on strong, offensively, with McFadden, Coolahan and Turner combining on 16 of the birds’ 23 fourth-quarter points.
“They were really gambling and it seemed like they were getting steals and scoring off of them or we were getting layups,” explained Chapman. “It seemed pretty simple – they were extending on the perimeter and when we could effectively hit the middle, Julian, Jack and Mike got to the basket.”
While achieving the 800th win might have seemed simple to the coach, it sure looked complicated to anyone who witnessed the milestone victory.
NOTES: Tim Gallagher (Class of 1980) was a member of Holy Ghost basketball team when Chapman recorded his first win in 1979. He was among the alumni who attended the Schott Championship battle to witness the coach’s 800th triumph. Bauer (HGP), Danell Snelling (Truman), Chris Moore (McDevitt), Nassir Coleman (Lincoln) and Bowes (Lincoln) were named to the All-Tournament team. Truman lost the consolation matchup 82-75 to Bishop McDevitt in overtime when they were outpaced by the Lancers 10-3 in the extra session. McDevitt bounced back from a double-digit deficit with less than three minutes to go in regulation to tie the score at 72-all.
Contact the author at ssherman@buckslocalnews.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Holy Ghost 74, Abraham Lincoln 56
(Dec. 30 at HGP)
Lincoln 13 13 17 13 – 56
Holy Ghost 17 16 18 23 – 74
LINCOLN — Blair Bowes 19, Nassir Coleman 11, Marlon Sharpton 10, Saheer Robinson 9, Darrion Childs 6, Daquan Ross 1; TOTALS— 20 12-16 56.
HOLY GHOST PREP — Mike McFadden 23; Julian Turner 14; Jack Coolahan 12; Aidan Bauer 8; Ryan Starapoli 7; John McCrane 6; Ryan Wade 4; TOTALS — 26 20-35 74.
3-POINT GOALS: HGP — Coolahan, McCrane; L — Bowes 4.
