Plymouth Whitemarsh clinches outright SOL Liberty title with win over Upper Dublin

WHITEMARSH >> Last year, Plymouth Whitemarsh and Upper Dublin shared the Suburban One League Liberty Division championship.

This year, the Colonials clinched at least a share of the title when they beat Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday night. They entered Thursday’s game against Upper Dublin with a two-game lead over the Cardinals with two games to play.

Plymouth Whitemarsh made sure they’ll be the only ones hanging “2023” in their gym. The Colonials scored the first seven points of the game and led the entire way, beating Upper Dublin 66-39 at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

“We don’t like sharing,” PW senior Qudire Bennett said. “This year when we came in, Senior Night or not, we’re not sharing this year. Upper Dublin was talking all this mess, talking, ‘We’re going to beat P-Dub, we’re going on a 15-game winning streak’  and we just killed that momentum they had going into this game. It was a very great win for us.”

“This is great,” junior Jaden Colzie said. “I feel amazing. Our team feels amazing, but we’re not done. We want 16-0 (in SOL Liberty), we want undefeated for sure. We have bigger goals than just this league championship. We have district championship and state championship – that’s what we’re looking for.”

Colzie scored 10 points in the second quarter to help the Colonials (19-2, 15-0 SOL Liberty) take full control of the game. He hit three floaters and turned a pair of steals into transition layups in the quarter as PW took a 28-17 lead into halftime.

“The floater is when I’m not looking to get my jumpshot,” Colzie said. “I’m trying to go downhill. That’s when I get going. The floater – I always worked on that, me and my dad, always going to attack moves and getting the floater up. That’s what the point guard does – floaters and then you look for a three. That was just to get me going.”

The Cardinals (16-5, 12-3 SOL Liberty) scored the first four points of the third quarter to get within seven, 28-21, but that’s when PW responded with the game-sealing stretch.

The Colonials rattled off a 19-5 run in the third quarter to take a 47-26 lead before heading to the fourth ahead, 51-29. Chase Coleman scored 10 points in the quarter while Bennett had eight and Colzie five.

“Our issue tonight was handling pressure,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said. “We got sped up, which caused two things – turnovers, which you obviously can’t have, and then the inability to get into our sets and run them and even get us opportunities to get shots. I give (PW) a ton of credit, they played awesome. They played extremely hard and they came ready to go.”

Coleman added seven more in the fourth quarter to help PW close out its 66-39 win and clinch the outright league title.

“This is a really good (win) because of the meaning,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “You get a chance to be at your place on Senior Night with the league title on the line. If you don’t pull it out, you have to go to Wissahickon to hope to pull it out without sharing anything. The (district) seeding is important, you’ve got that thing, a jumbled mess moving all over the place. This win with (Upper Dublin’s)16 wins helps you.

“I want them to appreciate league titles. I just told them so many teams win league titles and they’re so excited to cut down the nets. Sometimes, we don’t want to sound like we’re being arrogant, but we say great job and move on. I want to appreciate it. That puts a date on the wall.”

The Colonials, who are ranked No. 4 in District 1-6A, close out the regular season at Wissahickon Tuesday night.

Coleman led PW with 23 points. Colzie added 18 and Bennett had 15. Lincoln Sharpe dominated the glass, grabbing 15 rebounds – eight offensive.

“One can be off and we still have two other elite scorers,” Bennett said of the benefits of playing alongside Coleman and Colzie. “Me, J and Chase being in double figures, it’s a great thing. What team can stop that, really. I was talking to myself in my room like, ‘Man, what if we played Roman (Catholic) now.’ We’re actually gelling together. We can beat Roman. That’s what I always think.”

PW lost to Roman in the season opener, 76-52, on Dec. 2.

Upper Dublin finishes its regular season at home against Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday. The Cardinals are ranked No. 5 in District 1-5A.

“We have two ways to handle this,” Brooks said. “We can either get down about it or we can pick ourselves back up and learn from it and get better. We’ve won 13 in a row, probably needed some adversity, a setback like this. Us as a coaching staff, us as players – the season’s not over. We might see these guys in the playoffs in a week in the Suburban One tournament. We can’t show up and be timid and think we have no chance in that game. We have to learn from it.”

Ryan Mulroy and Chris Kohlbrenner led Upper Dublin with eight points apiece.

BENNETT CELEBRATES 1,000

Before the game, Plymouth Whitemarsh honored its seniors for Senior Night. Bennett also received a ball commemorating his 1,000th point, which he scored in a 56-35 win against Lower Moreland on Jan. 10.

“I worked too hard all four years of being here to get it,” Bennett, who reached the milestone with a three-pointer, said. “It was a very happy moment for me.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh 66, Upper Dublin 39
Upper Dublin 7 10 12 10 — 39
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9 19 23 15 — 66
Upper Dublin: DJ Cerisier 2 0-0 4, Ryan Mulroy 4 0-1 8, Mason Pensabene 0 0-0 0, Seaton Kukla 1 0-0 2, Brady Fogle 1 2-2 4, Chris Kohlbrenner 3 0-0 6, Griffin Pensabene 3 0-0 8, Terrell Turner 2 0-0 4, Colin O’Sullivan 1 0-0 3. Total 17 2-2 39.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Jaden Colzie 7 3-5 18, Chase Coleman 10 2-2 23, Qudire Bennett 6 3-3 15, Jahseir Sayles 2 0-0 6, Lincoln Sharpe 1 0-0 2, Jimmy Flowers 1 0-0 2, Mani Sajid 0 0-0 0, Evan Ring 0 0-0 0, Ben Marsico 0 0-0 0, Josh Harris 0 0-0 0, Shawn Wyatt 0 0-0 0, Rodney Willis 0 0-0 0. Total 27 8-10 66.
3-point goals: UD: Colin O’Sullivan, Griffin Pensabene 2. PW: Jaden Colzie, Chase Coleman, Jahseir Sayles 2.