Adam Holland drives past Springside Chestnut Hill's Zuri Peyton in the first quarter in PC's 63-33 win. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

The Penn Charter and Springside Chestnut Hill boy's basketball teams came into the 2015-16 season on a pretty even level. 

Each had come off of difficult seasons the year before, as they tied with each other in the Inter-Ac cellar with one conference win apiece.

They were each young teams. Both squads only start one senior, and each feature a sophomore as perhaps their most talented scorer.

But now, nearly halfway through their conference schedule, they couldn't be in more different positions, especially after the Quakers dealt SCH a 63-33 beating last Tuesday evening.

“Our mantra has been to take care of business and close the first half (of the Inter-Ac season) 3-2,” PC coach Jim Phillips said. The Quakers currently sit at 2-2 in the conference, with their other win coming over Episcopal Academy in a 52-36 blowout. They were scheduled to play Haverford School Friday night, but Winter Storm Jonas had other plans.

Episcopal took down reigning league champ Germantown Academy on Tuesday as well (GA beat Penn Charter 64-48 in the teams' first tilt), and while you can't rely on the transitive property in sports, the fact that the Patriots are fallible (to a team that PC beat, no less), has to be encouraging.

“Now that everyone in the league has a loss, if you can get into the second half with just two then you're still in the mix,” Phillips said.

The game wasn't a laugher until late. The Quakers opened up a 13-8 first quarter lead, and SCH trailed by as little as six with less than thirty seconds on the clock in the second, but Ryan Holmes drilled a late three to extend the lead to nine heading into the game's latter half.

“He's a freshman who I think has got a chance to be a pretty good player for us,” Phillips said. Holmes netted eight in the quarter, and wound up with 12—none more nifty than a swift pickpocket and subsequent dunk late—in support of the Penn Charter win.

“He shows glimpes every single day in practice,” Phillips said. “I think it paid off for him tonight. It was good to be able to see him puff his chest a bit.”

That shot he made late in the second only put three on the scoreboard, but it might as well have been 10  in the minds of the Blue Devils. Springside Chestnut Hill came out flat in the third, scoring just nine points and falling into a 21-point hole by the frame's end.

SCH coach Jamie Chadwin made no bones about it.

“I think we came out timid,” Chadwin said. They'll hope to bounce back in their next game, against Malvern Prep, Tuesday.

“Once you get down three or four possessions,” Chadwin said, “you've got to come out of what you're used to doing.”

“We couldn't stop them,” he went on. “Half-court, full-court, not in that half at all.”

Penn Charter tacked on 15 more in the fourth to balloon the lead to 30 by the game's end. Mason Williams wound up leading the Quakers in scoring, and Harrison Williams chipped in with 13. Sean Simon and Zuri Peyton led the way for the Blue Devils, as each netted 10.

Offensively, Penn Charter was firing on all cylinders. Their ball movement was good, their shooting was good—if you can't already glean the pattern, just about everything went well on that side of the ball.

“We really passed the ball well,” said Phillips, whose Quakers were next slated to take on Episcopal Academy Tuesday night. “We kept it moving against their zone. I think we got back to who we are. We're a gritty, tough, man-to-man team.”

“It lets us play to our strengths,” he went on. “Sometimes I try to outthink myself and catch somebody by surprise by doing something different.”

It's also encouraging that they were able to get most of their offense from a pair of kids whose ages add up to around 30, between the freshman Holmes and sophomore Mason Williams.

“It's huge,” Phillips said. “Our guys say that our two most talented offensive players are Mason and Ryan. Having those two guys on the perimeter and not having other teams be able to load up on us is big.”

“Having two guys that can make plays like that,” Phillips went on, “it gives you more balance.”