PHILADELPHIA — The way Friday night’s contest had gone for about three-and-a-half quarters, nobody would have been surprised to hear the chants of Start the bus-es! emanating from the visiting Germantown Academy students who had made the trip to Chestnut Hill from Fort Washington.
However, a furious fourth-quarter rally from host Springside Chestnut Hill Academy stunned the visiting Patriots, and with just a couple of seconds to play, those jeers to start the buses cascaded down on to the GA faithful, all of whom were shell shocked that this one had improbably slipped away.
This night, which ended in a stunning 61-56 victory for the Blue Devils, belonged to their seniors, all of whom had huge moments in the 18-point second-half comeback.
There was senior guard Delonce Hines, who poured in 12 of his team-high 18 points in the decisive fourth frame in which SCH outscored GA 27-10. There was also Ke’Shawn Williams, Hines’ backcourt mate who is headed to Wake Forest on a football scholarship, who scored 14 in the game, none bigger than the two free throws he sunk to ice the game with less than 10 seconds left. And then there was Dave Robinson, the senior forward who had transferred from North Penn and was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career points, who tallied 15 points and kept the Blue Devils in the game while the rest of his teammates slumbered offensively. Late in the third with SCH still trailing by double digits, Robinson threw down a dunk and also scored on a driving layup against three defenders, igniting a raucous home crowd that never gave up on the team it came out in droves to support.
And these were just the main offensive headliners. Fellow seniors Jared Sprague-Lott and Scott Bandura, known most for their leadership abilities, had huge moments of their own in the fourth. Sprague-Lott scored half of his eight points in the final period, including a put back attempt that tied the score at 54 and sent the crowd into a frenzy; Bandura, meanwhile, drew an offensive foul in the final seconds with his team up three, stepping in front of a driving Jake Hsu in the lane. Hsu’s shot fell and he could have gone to the line with a chance to tie the game, but the whistle blew in Bandura’s favor. Seconds later, Williams was at the line to put the finishing touches on a rally that will still have the SCH campus buzzing on Tuesday morning.
SCH senior Dave Robinson is honored before the game for joining the 1,000-point club: Video by Ed Morrone
SCH vs. GA Game Highlights by Ed Morrone:
“All of these seniors have been playing varsity since freshman year, even Dave, who came here from another school,” Hines said afterward. “So, we have the chemistry and we have the experience. As soon as we come together as one, we feel like we can win any game against any team.”
The Blue Devils needed this win in the worst way. The team had lost its previous two games, one in heartbreaking fashion to Episcopal that came down to the final possession (a Robinson missed layup in traffic), the other to a favored Malvern Prep squad that ran SCH out of the gym. To remain in contention, the Blue Devils couldn’t drop to 1-3 in the league standings, especially with how dominant Malvern has been playing.
“We had to get our focus back,” Hines said. “When we walked in to play Episcopal, we thought it was going to be an easy game, and as you saw, it wasn’t. Then Malvern kind of took us by surprise, so to win this game, we knew we’d still be in contention. I could tell we were sinking a little bit, and we needed to get everyone back on board.”
The Blue Devils appeared to be sunken for good. GA star junior guard Jordan Longino was a spectator for the entire first quarter (in what head coach Matt Dolan called “a team decision” after the game) and the Patriots, behind four three-pointers, led 20-9 after one. Longino returned for the second and tallied nine points in the quarter (he posted a game-high 23), giving the Patriots a 33-21 lead at halftime.
SCH was unable to get any offensive rhythm going for three quarters and trailed by as many as 18 in the third before cutting it to 12 heading into the final eight minutes.
“We just stayed positive and optimistic,” Williams maintained afterward. “Everyone kept their heads up and we knew what we had to do. We’ve been in situations like this before where we’ve come back. We just believed in ourselves and got the job done.”
With GA still holding a 50-38 advantage and time ticking away, Hines completely took over. He scored in every which way possible: three-pointers, drives to the rim and six trips to the foul line, the deficit dwindling all the while. Hines hit a pair of free throws to pull his team within 54-52, then Sprague-Lott tied the game on a putback. On the next possession, Williams drew contact, sunk a bucket and completed the three-point play.
SCH vs. GA Photos by Ed Morrone:
The Blue Devils never trailed again.
“The seniors kept us calm,” Robinson said. “We pulled the guys aside before the fourth started and said we needed to get this going somehow, some way. We brought that energy, picked up our defense and did what had to be done.”
Robinson, noticing GA had eight team fouls after three, said he specifically told Hines before the fourth began to run downhill and attack the Patriots’ defense. Hines himself went 5-for-6 at the foul line in the final period, with the Blue Devils as a team shooting 10-for-11 in those last eight minutes.
When all was said and done, the Blue Devils sat at 2-2, same as GA, a game behind Episcopal and two behind Malvern with six left to play.
For SCH, the result was monumental. A season with so much veteran talent was teetering on the brink of extinction until Hines and company brought them back to life.
“I’m not a big talker, but I do play a leadership role,” Hines said. “We were down throughout the whole game, but I felt like if I picked my energy up then that was going to flow through the whole team. Our confidence was down a little after the last two, but after this one we feel like we can compete with anybody. Our confidence isn’t at 100 … it’s 200.”
Meanwhile, the Patriots were left licking their wounds, wondering how they could have let this one possibly slip away.
“Offensively, they were very aggressive driving at us,” Dolan said. “If they weren’t making those layups, they were getting to the foul line or getting offensive rebounding opportunities. They had momentum, and when you have that you play more confidently. Their defensive pressure was terrific, and we got caught scoreboard watching. The whole group will learn from it and keep our heads high. We made some mistakes, but we’ll watch the film and continue to get better.”
Momentum is a powerful tool in this league, especially on Friday nights, when anything can happen. For three-plus quarters, the Blue Devils were dead in the water; however, GA left the door cracked long enough, and ultimately, the slumbering opponent woke up and shocked everyone in attendance.
“Most of us are seniors,” Williams said. “A lot of us won’t be playing basketball anymore after this, so this was the time to do it. We just believed in each other, and we went out with a bang.”