Simon Gratz ends its underdog run with a 17-11 record, while P-W continues onto the state semifinals with a highly-anticipated matchup with Roman Catholic.

by Si Affron

Cinderella-runs at all levels of basketball are what makes the playoff system so thrilling. Everyone loves to see how far an underdog can go, knocking off heavyweights and disrupting the expectations. But the thing about every Cinderella team is that, 99% of the time, the clock strikes midnight sometime before the title game. And for the Simon Gratz Bulldogs, midnight came on Saturday in the PIAA AAAA state quarterfinals at Archbishop Ryan High School.

Gratz, an upstart team from Hunting Park making their deepest run in many years, knocked off AAAA titans Lower Merion (in overtime) and J.P. McCaskey in the state playoffs, and entered Saturday as the undisputed underdog. The other bench featured the Plymouth-Whitemarsh Colonials, the Suburban One champions with nearly as many coaches as players and an ego that befitted one of the best teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania. On the line was a trip to the state semifinals to square off with Roman Catholic, the strongest team in the state.

Jim Donofrio’s Colonials, led by Rider-commit senior guard Xzavier Malone, dominated the Suburban One behind a star, savvy guard play, and formidable size for a high school team. Lynard Stewart’s Bulldogs had none of P-W’s polish, but sported a gritty unit with the requisite toughness to play bigger and more athletic teams. Led by guard Tyriq Meredith, who turned in an impressive and well-rounded performance with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 steals, they stayed in a tightly-contested and scrappy contest with hustle and aggressive driving to the basket, though they ultimately fell 52-43.

As are many high school games, the contest was a game of runs. P-W got their turn first, as they won the first quarter 17-8, out-rebounding Gratz badly thanks to 6’6’’ senior captain Mike Lotito. But the tide began to shift back in Gratz’s favor as the P-W shooters went cold. The Bulldogs continued to chip at the lead in a low-scoring contest, bringing the score to 24-23 with 1:52 left in the third quarter with a chance to take the lead. Suddently, the momentum swung back hard to P-W thanks to the tensest moment of the game.

After a steal by P-W senior guard and captain Oakley Spencer, Gratz’s Rashon Johnson fouled him hard at the rim, taking him down to the floor with a bang and bringing the heavily pro-Colonials crowd to their feet. A technical foul was rightly assessed, and Spencer made the extra shots, but the game was marred by the crowd’s ugly comments. Shouts of “cripple him!” and other unprintable comments wafted from the P-W section, and the game threatened to become chippy. P-W stretched the lead all the way to 32-22, but Meredith’s inspired play continued for the Bulldogs, and he emphatically hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to end the quarter.

The Bulldogs benefitted from an uncharacteristically cold-shooting night from Malone, who finished with 21 points, but shot 4-16 from the field, including 3-9 from 3-point range. This factor combined with continued aggressive play from Meredith and Gratz junior guard Johnny Eden brought the Bulldogs to within 3 points 3 separate times in the fourth quarter. But Malone turned it on to respond each time. He scored 11 of his 21 in the fourth quarter, including making 6 of his 8 free throws to ice the game. Finally, the last Gratz run had been quelled, and the P-W faithful began chanting “We want Roman!”

Simon Gratz ends its underdog run with a 17-11 record, while P-W continues onto the state semifinals with a highly-anticipated matchup with Roman Catholic. Tipoff is at 7:30 Tuesday at Council Rock South High School.