This is arguably the biggest day in the world of William Penn athletics since that winter day in 1995 when the Bearcats lost to Cumberland Valley 62-52 in the District 3 Class AAAA championship game.
Fourteen years later, the Bearcats (28-0) are back. The opponent this time is CD East (25-3), which has won 18 straight games of their own.
I'm here courtside at Giant Center and I'll be giving updates throughout the game. Just click on this entry and keep refreshing for my attempt at insight and analysis. Reading this is the next best thing to being there in person. Or something.
Bearcats take the floor: The Trinity girls team just wrapped up its 46-34 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg in the Class AAA title game and the William Penn boys are on the court starting their warm-up. It's funny how the Shamrocks needed to move up a classification and avoid the York Catholic juggernaut to finally earn a district title after finishing runner up in Class AA the past two years. Anyway, Chemin Lambert led the Bearcats onto the court and they look fresh and energized for this early start, for what it's worth.
Free throw practice: The Bearcats are devoting several of their 15 minutes on the floor to practicing their foul shooting. It looks like most of the players have taken at least a couple -- I've seen Ryan Matthews and Rick Johnson spend the most time at the line. William Penn has shot well from the line down the stretch so far and made 21 of their 30 foul shots against Harrisburg. Don't be surprised if free throws make the difference late in this game. For some other keys to the contest, click here.
Starters: William Penn has gone with it's usual first five: Malachi Leonard and Malik Generett down low and Ryan Matthews, Chemin Lambert and Kelvin Parker up top. Matthews snagged the tip, passed it to Leonard for the layup and the game is underway with the Bearcats taking the early 2-0 lead.
Defensive assignments: Not surprisingly, Kelvin Parker has drawn the assignment of Jon Breeden, who is expected to play for Division I Sienna in college next season. Ryan Matthews is guarding Demond Bates, CD East's other top scorer. Breeden hasn't scored any points in the game's first four minutes, but the Panthers still hold a 7-4 lead.
Offensive struggles: William Penn has struggled putting the ball in the basket early on in this fast-paced game with few whistles (only one total foul called in the first half). The Bearcats missed their first shot on four straight possessions late in the fourth quarter. They pulled down the offesnive rebound each time, but only scored on two of those four possessions, allowing the Panthers to take a 16-8 lead. Late baskets from Jevaughn Murphy and Parker made the score 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Bates making baskets: The CD East guard already has 12 point, hitting a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to put the Panthers up by eight. Murphy answered with a 3-pointer of his own, but forward Terrence Kellum grabbed the rebound off a Bates miss and laid it in to make the score 25-18 in CD East's favor with 5:30 left in the first half. William Penn can't afford to give the Panthers many easy second-chance opportunities like that.
CD East up by double-digits: William Penn's struggles continue here in the first half, as the Bearcats keep missing shots and haven't been able to make up for it on the offensive boards. CD East's Amani Glenn scored points on consecutive possessions to give the Panthers a 29-18 lead and William Penn coach Troy Sowers has taken his second of five timeouts for the game with 3:16 left in the half and the Bearcats still down by 11.
Momentum starting to shift, albeit slowly: The good news for the Bearcats is they kept CD East off the scoreboard for the last three minutes and change of the first half. The bad news is they scored only three points themselves and still trail 29-21 after two quarters. All of those points came from Malik Generett who scored (you guessed it) on an offensive rebound and drew a foul on another possession before making one of two free throws. Bates had a good look at the basket from 3-point range just before the end of the half, but his shot hit the left side of the rim and William Penn grabbed the rebound.
Halftime thoughts: CD East is playing strong defense, locking the Bearcats down better than any other team I've seen William Penn play against this season. The Panthers have successfully limited William Penn's effectiveness in the paint, holding Leonard to only two points. Generett has been kept relatively quiet as well, scoring his only three points during the last couple minutes of the first half. Matthews leads the Bearcats with six points, but he and the rest of the guards haven't been able to knock down as many open looks as they usually do. Bates still has 12 points for CD East, which is a game-high thus far, but William Penn has done well enough on defense. The more important task for the Bearcats right now is figuring out how to get more points against this CD East defense.
Transition scoring: Leonard came through with a blocked shot on CD East's first possession of the second half, grabbed the ball, and threw a quick outlet to Paker, who converted an open layup to cut the CD East lead to six. That's one way to avoid dealing with the CD East defense.
Generett rejected: Not once. Twice. CD East's Brian Chatman blocked two of Generett's shots early in the third quarter. That's not something that has happened very often to Generett this season. More offensive struggles for the Bearcats help the Panthers pull ahead 36-23 with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter. Sowers just took his third timeout.
Matthews and Parker rejuvenate Bearcats: William Penn is fighting back once again. Ryan Matthews hit consecutive baskets -- one a jumper from about 15 feet and the other a 3-pointer and then grabbed a rebound on a CD East miss. Parker hit na 3-pointer from the left side and suddenly the Bearcats are only down 38-31 with just under three minutes left in the third. CD East calls a timeout to regroup.
More Parker: The Bearcats have made it a one-possession game. Generett came through with a basket in the paint and after Breeden and Matthews traded 3-pointers, Parker came through with an offensive rebound and a putback to make the score 41-38 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. CD East called another timeout. The Bearcats are currently on a 15-5 run.
William Penn has found its offense: And just in time. After 21 points in the first half, the Bearcats have scored 18 in half the time to keep this game close. Glenn scored on a layup off a drive to the basket just before the end of the quarter to make the score 43-38 in favor of CD East, but the Bearcats are playing well enough to feel good about their chances.
Big-time guard play from CD East: Bates dribbled behind his back to get past Murphy and scored a layup for the Panthers, then he came up with the steal on the next possession, drew a foul, and hit one of two free throws to put the Panthers up 49-42 with a little more than five minutes left in the game. Bates has scored 17 points so far.
This time it's Breeden: Chatman pulled down another offensive rebound for the Panthers, which led to a Breeden layup to put the Panthers up by eight points and cause William Penn to call another timeout. Breeden came up with a steal and a layup on the next possession and after another William Penn turnover, hit a pull-up jumper to make the score 55-43 with about three minutes left in the game.
Running out of time: William Penn cut the lead to 10 and then came up with a defensive stop, but Lambert missed an open look for a 3-pointer from the left baseline and CD East grabbed the rebound. Running out of time, the Bearcats needed to start fouling, and Breeden hit a pair of free throws to make he score 57-45 with 1:33 left in the game.
Hanging on: A couple missed free throws from CD East and a banked 3-pointer from Lambert has kept William Penn's slim hopes alive, cutting the CD East lead to 58-50 with 25 seconds remaining. Sowers just called William Penn's final timeout. It's going to take a couple of turnovers and quick baskets for the Bearcats to pull this one out.
Second place: William Penn kept CD East from pulling away, but couldn't pull any closer than seven points down the stretch with the Panthers holding on to the ball and making enough free throws to clinch the 63-54 victory. Malachi Leonard finished with only two points for the Bearcats, who were led by Ryan Matthews' 16 points. Bates finished with 21 points for the Panthers and Breeden had 20. The Bearcats are fighting off tears as they await their silver medals. It's definitely disappointing for this squad, but they still have a chance to play for the state tournament, which begins on Saturday. Now it's time for me to write something for the print edition. Be sure to check out tomorrow's Sunday News and www.gametimepa.com for complete coverage.
Bring it on!!!!
YORK DID NOT PLAY A GOOD GAME SAT.THEY DID HANG IN THERE BUT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH TO WIN AS I LOOK @ THIS PIC OF malik REBOUNDING THE BALL DID HE GET PUNCH IN THE STOMICH,,SURE LOOK LIKE IT
BRO:KING