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BOYS' BASKETBALL: Thrilling Game Between Episcopal Academy and Springside Chestnut Hill Leave Spectators Wanting More

By Ed Morrone (video by Ed Morrone), 01/14/20, 1:30AM EST

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By: Ed Morrone

NEWTOWN SQUARE — Andrew Alikakos was exhausted, and although the game itself was an instant classic, Alikakos and his Episcopal Academy teammates wanted absolutely no part of overtime.

The fans in attendance at Friday night’s Inter-Ac clash between Episcopal and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy would have all signed up for an extra period; heck, the game was so thrilling that the spectators likely would have stayed all night to watch these two teams keep battling.

The last minute of regulation alone featured more drama than an episode of The Young and the Restless. A clutch corner three-pointer from EA’s Will Delaney, followed by a free throw from Sam Malloy on the next possession put the Churchmen up 65-60 with just over 20 seconds remaining. The game appeared to be on ice before Blue Devils reserve guard Bobby Markey drilled his fifth three-pointer of the night to pull his team back within two.

Then, Malloy missed the front end of a one-in-one at the line, allowing the Blue Devils’ Ke’Shawn Williams to race down the court and draw a foul, giving the visitors a chance to tie the score with 2.2 seconds remaining and send the contest to overtime. However, Williams missed the first attempt, setting up a scenario in which he had to miss the second on purpose in hopes of a quick rebound and put back.

The difficult play was executed nearly to perfection, but SCH senior forward David Robinson missed a layup in traffic, in large part due to Alikakos being glued to him defensively.

There would be no overtime on this night; final score: Episcopal 65, SCH 63.

Whew.

“My mindset was, ‘I’m way too tired to go into overtime,’” said Alikakos, who had 16 points in the game. “Let’s shut this down now and get a stop, and then we’re done right here.”

The players on both teams left everything they had out there on the floor, and it was one of those games that was so enthralling that it was a shame that somebody had to lose.

There were Herculean efforts on each side.

Ea's Will Delaney and Sam Malloy score with 20 seconds left; SCH's Bobby Markey drills 3 pointer to make it a 2 point game.

SCHA's Ke'Shawn Williams draws foul with 2.2 seconds left in the game

Markey, whose disheveled red hair drew taunts of “Ed Sheer-an!” from EA’s student section all night, connected on 5 of 8 three-pointers for 15 points off the bench; Robinson’s only miss of the game was his final shot, and he went 8-for-9 for a team-high 20 points on a night when leading scorers Ke’Shawn Williams and Delonce Hines had off nights; in addition to Alikakos’ heroics on both ends of the court, senior guard Alex Capitano showed why he is one of the best players in the league by pouring in a game-high 21 points; Colin Chambers drained several big treys en route to 11 points, and Delaney’s only field goal of the night proved to be the biggest shot of the game.

While it remains to be seen if either of these teams will be contenders for a league title a month from now (both head coaches, EA’s Brian Shanahan and SCH’s Julian McFadden tabbed Malvern Prep as the favorites), the performances on each side did wonders for both club’s confidence levels moving forward.

“It was a great game, one of those games you dream to be a player or coach in,” McFadden said. “You can’t have a better experience for your kids. I felt blessed to even be there. It was one of those games where, even though we lost, our kids learned a lot of things about themselves.”

There were similar sentiments echoed on both sides.

EA's seniors (l to r) Andrew Alikakos & Alex Capitano talk about the significance of this win.

“It’s so much fun playing in this league,” Markey said. “The atmosphere makes it ten times better, and their student section was awesome. Every Inter-Ac game feels like a playoff game or the Super Bowl. You’ve got to win as many as you can.”

“Oh, it’s huge,” Capitano added. “We’ve said a million times how we didn’t want to fall to 0-2 in this league. Games like this, we need to win them to be in contention for the league. It was a great Friday night atmosphere. Everyone was really into it, and we were hungry for a win.”

When the dust settled on this thriller, EA (7-10 overall) and SCH (7-7) each had 1-1 league records, tied with Haverford and Germantown Academy and one game behind first-place Malvern. It was an especially encouraging performance from the Churchmen, who dropped their league opener at GA last week in a game where nobody, but Capitano could do anything offensively. Friday was a different story altogether, and Episcopal showed it can be a dangerous team when its best player gets sufficient help from his supporting cast.

“First of all, this guy standing next to me (Alikakos) is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever played with,” Capitano said. “When he’s crashing the boards and keeping possessions alive, there isn’t a big in this league who can stop him. Colin and Will are both knockdown shooters, and Sam is one of the best defenders in the Inter-Ac. We came out flat against GA, but in this game, everyone contributed. It’s great to have kids like that around me.”

For the Blue Devils, it was a gut-wrenching result, but the dominant inside presence of Robinson and Markey’s sharpshooting left the team encouraged. If those two can remain consistent, it will only add to SCH’s arsenal, especially if players like Williams (seven points), Hines (five points) and Scott Bandura (eight points) rediscover their grooves offensively.

Above all else, this game showcased the best of the best when it comes to the fierce competition between the six teams that make up the Inter-Ac. There were multiple ties and lead changes, and neither team ever had an advantage of more than six points on the scoreboard.

Game Highlights: Episcopal Academy vs. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy

With eight games still to go in the regular season, the gritty clash between the Churchmen and Blue Devils left everyone in attendance excited for what’s still to come.

“It validates our kids’ efforts,” Shanahan said. “We’re not in that 0-2 gap, and at 1-1 we feel we have a chance if we keep playing like we did tonight. Just great high school basketball, and this kind of competition is what makes our league so special. There’s such tradition, and with no playoffs, every game matters. These Friday night games create lifetime memories for these kids, especially after a game like that.”

“This is huge, and we knew that going in,” Alikakos added. “We needed this win. It was pretty much make or break for our season, and this game changed all of us.”

As for the Blue Devils, they will remember this feeling and try to carry it forward into Tuesday’s road game at front-running Malvern.

“We can’t forget about this,” Markey said. “Myself and my teammates, we hate this feeling of losing. We were expecting to win this game, but it’s just one loss. It doesn’t set us back too much. We’ll put it behind us right away, and we can build off this.”