Rally can’t save ANC’s flat start in PAISAA 1st round loss to Penn Charter

BRYN ATHYN >> Five good minutes couldn’t cover for 27 poor ones.
The Academy of the New Church boys’ basketball team came out flat for three-and-a-half quarters against Penn Charter Friday and fell behind by double-digit points. In the last five minutes of the game, the Lions charged back and got within a missed free throw of tying the game.
While the foul shot didn’t go, that was far from the reason ANC dropped a 53-52 decision to the Quakers in the first round of the PAISAA tournament.
“We got beat by a team that wanted it more than us, played harder than we did and was much more aggressive,” ANC coach Kevin Givens said. “They were very proactive, hit their shots when they needed to and we didn’t play any defense, we didn’t rebound, we just didn’t get it done.”
The two teams were supposed to play last Tuesday as a way to get a game before the state tournament started, but that was cancelled when the pairings were locked in. Givens said it had been about a week-plus since his team last played and expected a bit of a flat start.
What he didn’t expect was for it to carry through three quarters of play. ANC’s defense was slow to react to Penn Charter, despite the Quakers using a relatively simple offensive plan. Harrison and Mason Williams especially burned ANC, with Mason hitting four 3-pointers on his way to 20 points and Harrison hitting a trio of treys in his 12 points.
PC knew it was at a massive disadvantage in terms of size. ANC boasts an imposing and long lineup, anchored by 6-foot-8 Marcus Littles. Holding the big man in check was the Quakers’ focus on defense.
“Littles isn’t their guy but he’s the guy we had no answer for,” PC coach Jim Phillips said. “Everything we did, we catered towards Littles then it was pick your poison and our poison was going to be someone other than (Matt) Cotton and tried to devote two guys to Littles in the post.”
Littles ended with 12 points, but 10 of those came in the fourth, mostly during ANC’s surge. Otherwise, the big man was left frustrated and had his touches severely limited. ANC’s inability to play off the double teams was also a source of frustration.
But mostly, it was the defensive lapses that cost the Lions. At the end of the first half, a blocked shot left PC 1.2 seconds to get a shot off and somehow, Mason Williams was left wide open and canned a corner trey to beat the buzzer. Harrison Williams hurt ANC in the third while Mason came back to life early in the fourth. In total, Penn Charter sank 10 3-point shots but gave up eight makes to ANC.
With 4:59 left in the game, Mason William hit a triple to make it 47-34 in favor of PC. That was the moment that ANC woke up and started to storm back. The Lions scored the next eight points, six of them coming from Littles as they sliced the lead to 47-42 with 1:57 to play.
“They spread the floor and Marcus was sticking a guy that was a 3-point shooter so it made it difficult for him,” Givens said. “The frustration fueled us. We pressed and got a couple of steals and we were able to capitalize on those steals. I told the guys we had a chance to tie up but that’s not why we lost the game.”
PC did run into foul trouble late, with Harrison Williams and Dylan Burnett fouling out in the fourth. Phillips said that put some players in uncomfortable situations and in turn, led to some big mistakes and turnovers that allowed ANC to stay hot.
After Littles had cut it to five, Mason Williams splashed a short jumper then reserve Ryan Holmes jumped a pass and took the ball for a fastbreak dunk to make it 51-42. ANC countered with the next eight points, taking advantage of two bad PC turnovers to get within 51-50.
Two clutch free throws by Adam Holland made it a three-point game with 15.7 seconds left, but after Littles rebounded a missed 3-pointer, he was fouled and scored, putting a potential tie in play. The big sophomore missed the foul shot and as two PC players fell on it and slid out of bounds, the final horn sounded, leaving ANC to walk dejectedly off the floor.
“We played flat for almost four quarters until the last five minutes of the game,” Givens said. “They’re young, they have to mature, they have to grow up, they have to figure these things out. Penn Charter wanted it more.”