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Facing another early deficit - this time it was a nine-point, first-quarter hole - the Bearcats recovered sufficiently enough to beat Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 64-56, in Wednesday's PIAA Class AAAA semifinals and earn a trip to the state title game for the first time in 60 years.
If the Bearcats (32-1) win on Saturday night against Penn Wood (27-4) at Penn State University, they will bring home the first state basketball title in school history.
"These guys bounced back," William Penn coach Troy Sowers said. "They're on a mission, and I'm proud of them."
Kelvin Parker led the Bearcats on offense for the fourth straight game with 19 points, and Malachi Leonard had his best performance of the PIAA tournament, controlling the post with teammate Malik Generett and chipping in with 16 points.
"Our game plan was to play inside out," Sowers said. "Although early their bigs really defended the low post well, I thought we just continued and continued with our game plan, and it really worked well with Malik and Malachi dominating inside."
William Penn committed eight turnovers during the first eight minutes and trailed by five at the end of the first quarter but was able to take a 20-19 lead on a Parker 3-pointer and grab a 27-26 advantage heading into halftime thanks to a runner in the lane from Jevaughn Murphy with five seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The lead changed hands five more times early in the third quarter before Chemin Lambert's layup put the Bearcats ahead for good at 35-34.
The Colonials (25-6) came within three points of William Penn on a pull-up jumper from Sam Pygatt (14 points) with five minutes left in the game, but the Bearcats answered with an 8-0 run.
With their team up by nine points with 44 seconds left in the game, the William Penn fans started chanting: "Here we come Penn State, here we come."
"Now we just have to step up and win it all," said Ryan Matthews, who scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Bearcats finish the game with a 33-25 advantage on the boards. "One more game. Thirty-two minutes."
The sixth-place finisher in the District 1 tournament, Plymouth-Whitemarsh features only one senior in its starting lineup but boasts intimidating size with 6-foot-9 junior C.J. Aiken and 6-foot-6 sophomore Jaylen Bond on its front line. They each threw down an alley-oop dunk on the Colonials' first two possessions.
"Honestly, we never saw competition with big men like that all year," Generett said. "It was kind of new for us. But once we got the ball, we just had
After looking tentative in the early going, the senior forwards claimed the low post for William Penn. Generett pulled down 12 rebounds and scored eight points to go along with Leonard's 16.
In Saturday's quarterfinal victory, the 6-foot-6 Leonard fouled out with four points early in the fourth quarter.
"I challenged him at the beginning of this game to play like the man and the leader he has been all season," Sowers said of Leonard. "I thought he played angry for most of the game, and that's what he has to do. I thought he did a nice job being really physical in the second half."
Aiken and Bond netted eight points apiece for the Colonials, despite averaging 12.8 and 11.9 points per game this season, respectively.
It will likely take another strong performance against another team from suburban Philadelphia to claim the state crown.
The Patriots - who advanced by beating Mount Lebanon, 79-58, in Wednesday's other semifinal - finished second in the District 1 tournament. Five of the last nine state champions have come from that district.
The last time William Penn was in a state title game, the Bearcats suffered a 63-51 defeat against Aliquippa in 1949.
"We're trying to make history now," Parker said. "We're trying to come back to York with a state title in our hands."
Ticket information: Tickets to the state championship game will be available in the William Penn athletic office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Friday. Adult tickets cost $8. Student tickets are $4.
Fan buses: William Penn will organize four fan buses to drive to the state championship game. For details and for pricing, call Joe Chiodi at 600-6384.
Barry Freeland is organizing a charter bus for the state title game. The trip will cost $21. For details, call 825-8117.
smclernon@ydr.com; 880-1501
