Phil-Mont Christian uses balanced attack to get by Jenkintown
JENKINTOWN >> Over the last few years, whenever Jenkintown and Phil-Mont Christian have met on the basketball court, it’s been a game filled with back-and-forth scoring and tough hard nosed action.
Tuesday night’s meeting was no different, as the two sides battled it out. Eventually, Phil-Mont emerged on top on its way to a 63-49 victory to stay undefeated in Bicentennial Athletic League Constitution Division play.
Even thought they would eventually pull away to a double digit lead, it wasn’t a perfect effort from the Falcons.
“We looked inconsistent,” Phil-Mont head coach Glenn Dolton said. “We got a really good start to the third quarter and then it just got away from us a little. I was trying to mix up defenses and get some pressure to help us and keep them out of the lane, they still got there a little more than I would like but we’ll take it.”
It was that pressure that Dolton talked about that seemed to be the main difference on this night.
The Drakes’ guards struggled to get the ball into the hands of their shooters, turning the ball over at the top of the key often and allowing Phil-Mont to convert on easy transition buckets.
“We looked awful and rattled from the start, ”Jenkintown head coach Wes Emme said. “They do a really good job of switching defenses and it forced us to have to adjust. We had to execute a game plan and we didn’t. They went from box-and-one, to a matchup zone, to a 1-3-1, to a 3-2 and all of them were effective because they have great length and great athleticism and they use that defense to churn out offense.”
That rotation of defenses kept the Drakes (13-4, 7-2 BAL Constitution) off balance and uncomfortable for most of the night, constantly allowing their opponents to dictate the pace and style of the game.
“One of our goals was to limit their free points in turns of transition off turnovers,” Emme said. “and they got as many of them as they wanted.’
It wasn’t all bad for the Drakes. Early on they countered that pressure by driving the lane and kicking to wide open shooters, hitting 3 threes in the opening quarter and finding themselves down just two and gaining some momentum.
Unfortunately for the Drakes, the Phil-Mont defense was just too much, and wore them down as the game went on.
Phil-Mont (16-1, 10-0) also excelled on the offensive end of the floor. Four of the Falcons’ starters finished the game in double digits, led by 19 from forward Osaze Thornton.
In addition to Thornton, Sean Griffin, Noah Baldez, and David Giuliani also reached double figures for the Falcons.
Thornton used his size and speed to attack the heart of the Drakes’ defense, either finishing at the hoop or drawing the foul for one of his eight free-throw attempts.
“Tonight I felt good,” Thornton said. “I just wanted to come out and attack their defense. Coach always talks to us about victory lane and getting inside for our pull-up jumpers and trying to draw fouls so that’s what I was trying to do and it worked.”
What was just a two-point lead for Phil-Mont after the first quarter turned into a 10-point lead at the half, and eventually as much as a 16-point lead in the third quarter.
While the Drakes never quit, the other team was just too much for them at times and it showed in the final score.
This has been a great rivalry over the past few years for both the girls and boys basketball teams and the contests usually bring out the best from the payers, but there were some questionable moments in this one.
The hotly contested game reached a boiling point in the second half.
After senior Sean Griffin stole a ball at the top of the key, he was fouled dangerously by a Jenkintown player as he went up for the fast break dunk.
The player was ejected on a flagrant-2, but this was after the Drakes had already been whistled for two intentional fouls as well.
“We made a lot of stupid errors in terms of judgement,” Emme said. “From flagrant fouls to intentional fouls, that’s not what our program is about and that was disappointing to end it that way.”
The atmosphere in the gym was tense from that point on, with fans going back and forth and players for both sides looking visibly bothered.
While Emme was understandably disappointed in his team’s actions, Dolton acknowledged that chippy play is sometimes part of a rivalry.
“I mean it’s a big game and both teams knew it,” Dolton said. “They beat us at the end of last year and for some reason for both our boys and girls its just a battle when we play these guys. They’re well coached, they play basketball the right way, and its fun to go back and forth sometimes with the mental aspects of the game.”
The great play on the court as well as the extracurricular activity will surely set the stage for the final game of the year as both these teams will get ready to face-off in a highly anticipated rematch.
