State Playoff Recaps, 2016-17

Philadelphia High School

Basketball State Playoff Recaps, 2016-17 (Catholic Teams Only)

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CLASS 3A First Round At Southern Neumann-Goretti 71, York Catholic 48: As the Saints rolled to

a 31-16 halftime lead, Dhamir "DaDa" Cosby-Roundtree racked up 20 of his 27

points and Quade Green dished six of his nine assists. Noah Warren finished with

15 points. At Garden Spot Lancaster Mennonite 93, West Catholic 72: No one hit a

three-pointer prior to intermission, which finished with LC ahead by just three

points at 35-32, but Isaac Beers drained four in the opening minutes of the

third quarter and LC was on its way. Calvin Pressley (27, 13 regular field

goals) and Imere Harris (20) topped West, which finished the season with a 5-19

overall record. Second Round At Bethlehem Liberty Neumann-Goretti 72, Holy Redeemer 27: Quade Green (11) and

Dhamir "DaDa" Cosby-Roundtree (10) lifted their combined career point total to

3,020 as N-G cruised. Green dished 11 assists, Mike Millsip mixed 14 points with

five blocks and Marcus Littles seized 12 rebounds. The combo's first points were

scored by Cosby-Roundtree on an awkward semi-dunk off a feed from Green. Quarterfinal At Reading's Santander Center Neumann-Goretti 69, Lancaster Mennonite 56: Thanks to Mike

Millsip (16), Quade Green (14), Dhamir "DaDa" Cosby-Roundtree, Christian Ings

(13 apiece) and Marcus Littles (12), N-G became the third CL team in the 2017

state playoffs to end a game with five guys in double figures. Also, the Saints

boasted three with triple doubles as Green dealt 11 assists and Cosby-Roundtree/Littles

claimed 11 and 10 boards, respectively. C-R added five rejections and his dunk

on a feed from Green ended the third quarter at 51-49. Millsip then netted two

treys to help the Saints reel off 10 more consecutive points. Semifinal At Temple's Liacouras Center Neumann-Goretti 76, Del-Val 47: Two and a half weeks earlier,

these same teams met for the City Title and N-G triumphed by only seven points.

Not exactly a rerun, folks. The Saints won every quarter in comfortable fashion

as subs Christian Ings (14) and Dymir Montague (10) provided extra juice.

Starters Quade Green (17) and Marcus Littles (10) reached double figures and N-G

sniped 30-for-51 from the floor. FINAL At Hershey's Giant Center Neumann-Goretti 89, Lincoln Park 58: Quade Green a McDonald's All-American, shot 6-for-7 (three treys) and 7-for-9

for 22 points and added eight assists while steering coach Carl Arrigale's

Saints to their fourth consecutive state title and seventh in eight seasons.

Just two teams in PIAA history had won four straight (Carlisle, 1985- 19 88;

Kennedy Christian, 1998-2001 ) and only one coach (Ed McCluskey,

Farrell, over 21 seasons from 1952 through '72) had captured seven. Dhamir "DaDa"

Cosby-Roundtree added 15 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks , sub Christian Ings (13) and Mike Millsip also scored in double figures and Noah

Warren (nine) just missed. An 18-0 run provided a 31-9 lead. Right before all rotation guys turned into spectators, Warren

notched an assist to Emil Moody with an over-the-shoulder

pass, the 6- 8 Cosby-Roundtree grabbed a rebound and dribbled

end to end for a layup, and the 5-10 Ings, a lefty, accepted a

lengthy , flip-ahead pass from Dante V a nn i cola and soared for a shocking right-handed dunk. The crown was Arrigale's 25th in 37

chances (CL/City/State) over 19 seasons.

CLASS 4A First Round At Carroll Conwell-Egan 81, Saucon Valley 59: Who would have thought? The Eagles entered this one with a seven-game losing streak, counting a CL

playoff and City Title, yet stormed to a 22-point victory two days after coach

Eric Kindler's 25th birthday. Eric Esposito (21) and James Leible (17, 13

rebounds) scored eight points apiece in a 20-13 first quarter and the second

stanza began with a 12-2 run. Patrick Robinson finished the game with 24 points. Second Round At Parkland Nanticoke 62, Conwell-Egan 54: The Eagles claimed 19 fewer

rebounds and scored 13 fewer points at the line. Patrick Robinson (25) and

Darien Simmons (13) topped their scoring list.

CLASS 5A First Round At Phila. Univ. Wood 92, New Oxford 62: Collin Gillespie (six) and Matt

Cerruti (four) combined for 10 treys while pacing this romp. They finished with

31 and 18 points, respectively, and Tyree Pickron (14) wasn't far behind.

Gillespie, who packed 15 points into the third quarter, added eight assists

overall. Cerruti's output enabled him to raise his career total to 1,010 points,

counting his time at Lower Moreland through sophomore year. The Vikings stormed to 16 of the next 19 points after NO advanced

within 36-30. At Spring-Ford Carroll 61, Great Valley 48: Frosh point guard AJ Hoggard

notched all 16 of his points beyond the first quarter. Colin Daly, Khari

Williams (11 apiece) and Justin Anderson (10) also scored in double figures. Second Round At Pottstown Wood 80, Mechanicsburg 56: The Vikings stormed to 60 of the

game's first 90 points while claiming another easy win. Collin Gillespie (24),

Tyree Pickron, Karrington Wallace (12 apiece), Matt Cerruti (11) and Andrew Funk

(10) all scored in double figures. This was the fifth time a CL team had that

many double-figure scorers in a state playoff; Neumann-Goretti had posted the

first four efforts. At Reading High's Geigle Complex Carroll 78, Palmyra 41: AJ Hoggard contributed 17 points, four

assists and six steals. The Patriots won the rebounds war, 41-21, and jumped to

advantages of 9-0 to start the first quarter and 8-1 to open the third. Colin

Daly (five of his 13) fueled that first run. Jesse McPherson finished with 14

points and 10 boards. Quarterfinal At Garden Spot Northeastern 86, Carroll 84 (2 OTs): Carroll seized a 45-35

lead in the third quarter thanks to two treys by Khari Williams and a dunk by

Jesse McPherson, but the fourth quarter finished at 65-65 thanks to the Bobcats'

15-4 run. A buzzer-beating layup, which followed a dead-ball turnover, forced

the first extra session. Colin Daly (19, 14 in first half), AJ Hoggard, Justin

Anderson (16 apiece), McPherson (14) and Williams (12) all scored in double

figures for Carroll. Hoggard notched eight assists while McPherson had 13

boards. At Reading's Santander Center Wood 71, Spring Grove 46: Wood junior Tyree Pickron entered

this Sunday evening tilt needing 14 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He

didn't mess around. Thanks to four treys, he rang up 13 points in the first

quarter and a regular early in the second session gave him 1,001. He finished

with 32 and 1,018. Collin Gillespie (14) and Matt Cerruti (11) also helped with

scoring and Seth Pinkney sent 10 shots , or beyond. Semifinal At Bethlehem Freedom Wood 68, Abington Heights 57: Every team likes to receive a

boost from its sixth man. Andrew Funk provided one, big time. The junior guard

racked up 11 points (three treys were the highlight) in the first quarter and

tied his career high with 17 points overall as Wood captured its 21st

consecutive win. Collin Gillespie mixed 18 points with eight assists while Tyree

Pickron (16) and Matt Cerruti (11) reached double figures in points and Pickron

(seven)/Karrington Wallace combined for 13 rebounds. Final At Hershey's Giant Center Wood 73, Meadville 40: A 17-2 start removed all starch and

Wood easily turned its first state playoffs appearance into a 5-0 sweep with an

average victory margin of 24.6 points. Four Vikings reached double figures. For

Meadville, which entered with one loss all season, only three guys scored.

Collin Gillespie sniffed a triple double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight

assists before sitting down with three minutes left. Tyree Pickron sniped

5-for-7 from beyond the arc while contributing 18 points. Seth Pinkney added 11

apiece of points/boards along with four swats. Andrew Funk had 10 points. Three

months earlier, the football Vikings had also won a state championship. Other schools with such an accomplishment in the same school year: Steelton in

1926-27, General McLane in 2006-07, Steelton-Highspire in 2007-08 and Jeannette

in that same school year.

CLASS 6A First Round At SJ Prep Perkiomen Valley 57, Roman 55: After a week of sketchy

practice attendance due to illness/injury, coach Matt Griffin started lesser

lights. The Cahillites, two-time defending state champs, trailed by 12-8 after

the first quarter and stayed behind until 3 1/2 minutes remained in the game. PV

closed with an 11-8 edge and Roman's last bucket came just before the buzzer.

Allen Betrand (21) and Jon-Paul Sanders (12) scored in double figures. At Bethlehem Freedom Ryan 79, Parkland 55: Sniping 3-for-3 on treys helped the

Raiders zip to a 10-0 lead. They also scored the first eight points of the

second quarter. Matiss Kulackovskis (25) and Izaiah Brockington (22) dominated

the scoring column while Amin Bryant sniffed a triple double with nine apiece of

points/rebounds and 11 assists. Brockington added seven boards and four apiece

of assists/steals. Second Round At Garden Spot Ryan 71, Central Dauphin East 66: Izaiah Brockington (27) and

Matiss Kulackovskis (20, 17 in first half) led the way as Ryan, in its 50th

season of varsity basketball, assured it would finish the season with its best

record in terms of winning percentage. The 2012 squad went 18-5 for .783. These

guys ended the night at 22-5 for .815; they could finish no lower than .786.

Fred Taylor snagged 15 rebounds and Amin Bryant dished five assists. Facing a

69-66 deficit, CD East missed a corner trey. Quarterfinal At Reading High's Geigle Complex Ryan 60, Hempfield 50: Izaiah Brockington and Matiss

Kulakovskis halved 40 points for the Raiders, who earned a 28-19 halftime lead

when the latter beat the buzzer with a shot from halfcourt. Brockington packed

15 points into the final 16 minutes and Kulackovskis saved 13 for the fourth

quarter. Ryan forced 18 turnovers in all. Semifinal At Temple's Liacouras Center Reading 57, Ryan 51: Lonnie Walker, a Miami commit and

McDonald's All-American, thrilled Reading's outrageously large rooting section

(it dwarfed Ryan's despite the locale) by exploding for 35 points. He first

imposed his will in the latter half of the second quarter, scoring 11 points in

a 13-2 run that provided a 29-27 lead. Izaiah Brockington (16) and Matiss

Kulackovskis (13) topped Ryan in points. Fred Taylor totaled 10 boards and seven

get-that-outta-heres.