In states return, Academy Park unfazed by Roman Catholic challenge
It’s been 17 years since Academy Park last qualified for the PIAA Tournament, long enough that a significant portion of its roster wasn’t yet born.
But anyone expecting jitters from the Knights when they take on District 12 champion Roman Catholic in Saturday’s states opener (5:30 p.m., St. Joseph’s Prep) will be sorely disappointed.
The ninth seed from District One faces a daunting challenge against the reigning Class AAAA champs, fresh off a Catholic League title. But what else is new for Academy Park (20-7)?
Consider their road through districts: A two-point first-round victory at Upper Merion; a four-point loss to No. 2 seed and eventual champ Plymouth Whitemarsh; a win at No. 10 Phoenixville in playbacks; a win at No. 3 Downingtown West, a team many had tabbed as a title contender, to get to states; a two-point win over Hatboro-Horsham in a seeding game that propagates the wave of momentum through three straight wins.
While none of the Knights have played in a state tournament on the hardwood, members of the team are familiar with states-level intensity from the gridiron. Four contributors – guards Jawan Collins and DeAndray Covert, forwards Devoughnte Brown and Teddy Wright – helped the Knights win a District One Class AAA football title last fall. As the basketball season began with a loss to Strath Haven Dec. 4, those four suited up for Jason Vosheski’s team in a loss to state champ Imhotep.
That know-how translates to the court.
“I think it’s helped them enormously,” coach Allen Brydges said this week. “Their will to win is amazing. That’s why they made it so far in football. … Their will to win is the best I’ve ever seen, and they raise their level every week.”
Brydges singled out Wright for particular praise. Mostly a defensive presence with his length in the press, the undersized forward was marginalized with the blockbuster midseason arrival of Khyree Temple from Neumann-Goretti. Wright, though, has adjusted. He’s averaging 9.4 points per game in the postseason, compared to 5.6 for the entire season. He scored a career-high 18 points vs. Phoenixville and added eight points and 10 rebounds in stunning Downingtown West’s highly-regarded front line.
Such giant-slaying won’t be so easy against the Cahillites (22-4), who have what many large teams lack – in Brydges’s words, “height that can move.” Lamar Stevens (a 6-foot-7 forward and All-Delco last year at Haverford School), Paul Newman (6-foot-7) and Mikeal Jones (6-foot-6) blend deterrence in the lane, ruggedness on the boards and the ability to run the floor.
Tony Carr and Nazeer Bostick, both of whom will join Stevens at Penn State next year, form a potent backcourt pair, while D’Andre Vilmar can punish teams that devote too much attention to that duo.
Where some tall teams are uncomfortable being sped up, Roman has the ballhandlers and length to cope with Academy Park’s press and turn around the tempo battle. That makes them a tough out for the Knights, no matter how undaunted they may be at the prospect.
