BOYS BASKETBALL: Cheltenham shuts down Plymouth Whitemarsh for 7th straight win

CHELTENHAM >>  Josiah Hutson made sure the Cheltenham boys basketball team ended Friday night’s first half with a bit of style.

After taking an inbounds in the backcourt with 9.3 seconds remaining, the junior guard eluded one Plymouth Whitemarsh defender with an in-and-out dribble, got by another with a crossover then drained a jumper near the right elbow before the buzzer.

“My coaches, they been telling me since I’ve been a freshman, stop shooting so many threes,” Hutson said. “And closing the half, so I got in the paint and just seen it open it, rise up and shoot the ball so that’s what I did.”

Hutson’s last-second bucket capped a six-point burst by the Panthers, putting them up 34-20 at halftime of the SOL crossover contest.

Cheltenham’s lead never dipped into single digits in the second half, the home side’s defensive pressure never letting the Colonials get comfortable on the offensive end as the Panthers claimed a 61-48 victory.

“Coming into the game it was just energy and effort,” Hutson said. “We a young team, we got to come in here with a lot of effort and show people from what happened last year, that’s really it.”

Hutson provided plenty of substance on both ends of the court to help Cheltenham extend its winning streak to seven. He spent time defending fellow All-SOL guard Jaden Colzie – the PW senior a Liberty Division second team pick last season, Hutson a first team Freedom selection – and finished his 13-point effort with a pair of three-point plays in the third quarter.

“Definitely motivate me to play hard and show the crowd that I can be one of them guards,” Hutson said. “It was a privilege to play at my school and be able to show the fans that I’m one of them.”

Along with Hutson, Cheltenham (8-1, 6-0 SOL Freedom) had four players score in double figures. Kevin Addison collected 10 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth. Osei Johnson hit a trio of 3-pointers in adding 12 points with Nile Tinsley posting 11 points.

“(Plymouth Whitemarsh) came in, I don’t know, top 10, they’ll finish top 10 in our district, maybe top five so for us it’s just very big that we do stay consistent with energy,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “All for one – obviously our biggest theme is togetherness, community, unity, things of that nature, then commitment to just to defend regardless of what the outcome is on offense is just to stay locked in and defend and then just share the ball.”

Colzie had 10 points before halftime and ended with a team-high 14 for Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-3, 4-2 SOL Liberty), which lost its second straight. The Colonials were held under 50 points for the first time since falling to Cheltenham 52-40 in the 2022 District 1-6A quarterfinals.

“Right now we are a really complex thousand piece puzzle that at times will look like you got the way to put it together and then next thing you know wrong pieces, wrong places,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “So the kids have to be patient with themselves while at the same time be honest with themselves cause they’re going also through the idea that this isn’t as easy people may have told ‘em it was.”

Tuesday at Wissahickon, the Colonials were shutout 12-0 in the first quarter and trailed 31-10 at halftime before mounting a second-half charge that came up short in a 61-53 defeat.

PW never led Friday, Cheltenham jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead after a Tinsley basket. Consecutive threes from Ben Marsico and Colzie made it 9-6 but that was the closest the Colonials got.

“The key was to get them uncomfortable, take shots that they normally don’t take,” Hutson said. “And that’s what we basically did.”

The Panthers led 19-11 after opening eight minutes. Colzie began the second quarter with four straight points to make it 19-15 but Cheltenham answered with a 9-0 run, Johnson draining a 3-pointer to push the margin to 28-15.

“You start off 4-1 with the potential of 5-0 and you don’t quite understand that, one, if you’re in our uniform and you’ve had a whole lot of success in Suburban One, you’re not sneaking up on anybody,” Donofrio said. “Everyone’s going to be very excited to play with confidence against you. We have to start to understand that a lot better. There’s a whole lot that the kids have to grow up with but I’ve been through these type of years before. Last year we were 27-2 and a 15-win team (Chambersburg) knocked us out of the state tournament.

“It’s funny how a sports season mimics life, that how do you maintain your edge whether you’re a multi-millionaire or struggling? How do you maintain your confidence, how do you maintain just a level of focus? So we’re going through all that now. Lot of mistakes, lot of mistakes that make no sense.”

PW finishes December with two games at the Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University – taking on West Chester Henderson 1:15 p.m. Thursday then facing Unionville 7:45 p.m. Saturday.

Cheltenham next plays Friday, Jan. 5 when it visits Abington.

“Going into the break now we got a lock in on the little things – turnovers, bad shots and watching the clock and fouls and making free throws, that’s a big thing,” Hutson said. “So I guess going into break there’s going to be a lot of work that we going to be doing and show the world that we one of them teams.”

After reaching the PIAA-6A quarterfinals in 2021-22, Cheltenham ended last season 12-11, falling to Upper Darby in the first round of districts. Hutson is set on helping guide the Panthers to another deep postseason run.

“This year it’s mainly being a leader,” he said. “My ninth grade year I had a bunch of leaders, last year I was sort of learning, I was real young and I went through a lot of things during the summer that taught me how to be a leader.”

A Colzie 3-pointer and Michael Pereira’s basket inside had the Colonials within 28-20 in the second quarter but Johnson hit a three then connect on the first of two free throws with 23.9 seconds left to make it 32-20.

A PW turnover gave Cheltenham another possession with 9.3 seconds and Hutson took advantage, connecting on his jumper for a 14-point edge at intermission.

“The biggest thing about him that we was most impressed about was just his commitment to stay poised during all the moments,” said Fleury of Hutson. “And then just being a presence on the glass to stop runs and close out possessions.”

Colzie started the third with a trey but Hutson collected a three-point play at 6:45 to put the Panthers back up 14 at 37-23.

A Tinsley triple had Cheltenham leading 40-24 before baskets from Pereira and Marsico had PW down 12. Hutson, however, converted a three-point play at 2:48, putting the Panthers ahead 43-28.

The Colonials’ Jah Pendergrass-Sayles was fouled on a three with 0.9 seconds left in the third and hit the first two free throws, cutting Cheltenham’s lead to 47-34.

But PW could only get its deficit down to 12 in the fourth – Mani Sajid’s 3-pointer making it 55-43 before the Panthers scored six straight for their biggest advantage of the night.

Cheltenham 61, Plymouth Whitemarsh 48
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11 9 14 14 – 48
Cheltenham 19 15 13 14 – 61
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Jaden Colzie 2 3 1-4 14; Michael Pereira 4 0 1-1 9; Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 2 0 3-5 7; Ben Marsico 1 1 0-0 5; Terron Davis 1 0 2-2 4; Mani Sajid 1 1 0-0 5; Josh DeJesus 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 13 5 7-12 48.
Cheltenham: Kevin Addison 8 1 0-0 19; Josiah Hutson 5 0 3-4 13; Osei Johnson 1 3 1-2 12; Nile Tinsley 4 1 0-0 11; Kamal Mason 2 0 0-3 4; Salim Kelly 1 0 0-0 2; Korey Wyatt 0 0 0-2 0; Totals 21 5 4-11 61.