Phil-Mont Christian seniors leave successful legacy

PHILADELPHIA >> Slowly, the Phil-Mont Christian Academy boys basketball team filtered out of its locker room in the bowls of Philadelphia University.

One of the first out was David Giuliani, the junior forward who had authored an impressive breakout season. Mixed in the middle where seniors and guys coming back next year. Among the last to leave was the dynamic senior duo of Noah Baldez and Sean Griffin.

This was their last time together as a team, having just lost a heartbreaking 73-68 loss to Math, Civics and Sciences in a PIAA Class A quarterfinal. These Falcons wouldn’t play together again, but they had more than enough wins, highlights and memories to look back on.

“I’m really proud of what they’ve done here this year,” Phil-Mont coach Glenn Dolton said. “You can’t let one game define what they’ve done with the championships and the way they’ve played.”

Friday night’s loss was just Phil-Mont’s second all season. The Falcons finished the year at 30-2, District I Class A champs, BAL tournament champs and regular season league champions. Last year, they went 20-6 but didn’t have the trophies to show for it.

This season, Phil-Mont played with a mission all year. Led by longtime teammates and friends Baldez and Griffin, they ran over almost everyone in their way, playing an aggressive and high-octane style.

Griffin, a 6-foot-8 forward attracting plenty of Division II college attention and Baldez, a 6-foot-2 blur with excellent passing vision, have been with Phil-Mont their entire careers. They provided plenty of highlights, especially on the break with Griffin dunking plenty of Baldez lobs.

“They done a lot to move our program forward,” Dolton said. “Guys are going to be looking to try and follow in their footsteps.

“They’ve been with us for four years as we’ve gone through a lot of success. They’re a huge part of that. I’m extremely proud of them and what they’ve done is set a standard I hope our guys are going to be able to move forward on.”

Those two, combined with the bruising Giuliani and athletic senior Osaze Thornton, gave Phil-Mont a power four uncommon in the Class A ranks. The rest of the seniors didn’t have the scoring acumen of the starting trio, but guys like Ethan and Matt Steiger bought into their roles and played team ball.

Friday, the senior trio delivered. Griffin and Thornton scored 21 points each while Baldez had 18 after taking an inadvertent shot to the face in the second quarter. Giuliani had six points in a foul-plagued game, but the Falcons were better with him on the floor.

With plenty of natural talent, it would have been easy for Phil-Mont’s top guys to coast. But they never did and came to the gym every day looking to get better and bring the best out of their teammates.

“There was never an issue with them coming into practice and not being ready to play,” Dolton said. “We were great all the way up through (Thursday). We knew what we had to do.”

Giuliani will likely anchor next year’s team while the Falcons rebuild around him. Dolton said his current and incoming freshman classes have a lot of potential. For the guys currently on the roster, they have the little things down, but it will come down to how they improve in the offseason.

The outgoing class never settled and the remaining Falcons will have to do the same if they want to keep pushing the program to new heights.

“We’ll need to work offensively,” Dolton said. “The guys coming back will work hard, there’s no worry about that, they’re all on board with whatever we’re doing.

“We’re going to have to be tougher with the ball and making sure we can play at a quicker pace.”