Photos: Colleen Claggett & Lou Rabito
BY: MARC NARDUCCI
Academy of The New Church's Milien tough right from the start in playoff opener
Isaiah Milien picked a pretty opportune time to have the best game of his high school career.
Normally a key reserve, Milien replaced injured teammate Deywilk Tavarez in the starting lineup in Friday’s 86-60 Friends League quarterfinal win over Abington Friends School.
What a start it was.
The 5-11 senior scored 30 points and played a strong all-around game.
So, ANC advances to Tuesday’s Friends League semifinals.
Here are the semifinal matchups
Tuesday
(5) Shipley at (1) Westtown
(3) George School at (2) Academy of the New Church
Here are the playoff scores.
8-9 game, (8) Germantown Friends, 79, (9) Moorestown Friends 42
Quarterfinals
(1) Westtown 71, (8) Germantown Friends 49
(2) ANC 86, (7) Abington Friends 60
(3) George School 70, (6) Friends Central 61
(5) Shipley 56, (4) Friends Select 35.
Milien not only scored 30 points, but he added nine rebounds and four assists.
“It felt good,” Milien said. “Coach needed me to step up with one of our guards getting hurt.”
This season Milien is averaging 8.9 points. He has given the Lions plenty of energy and production off the bench.
Milien has filled in his role adeptly of the bench, but he certainly wasn’t complaining about starting.
“Coming off the bench is sometimes awkward because it takes some time to get warm,” he said.”Starting definitely helps me and I felt really confident.”
It showed by his play.
Abington Friends used a triangle and two in an attempt to take out ANC’s two chief offensive threats, 6-4 senior Anthony McCall (20.2 ppg.) and 6-3 junior point guard Elmarko Jackson (17.9 ppg.).
Jackson scored 18 points and McCall added 11.
With all the defensive attention on the two, Milien took advantage of some open looks.
He shot 11 for 18 from the field, including 4 of 9 from three-point range.
“He probably played his best game of the year,” ANC coach Kevin Givens said. “Isaiah is very capable of scoring and he showed it.”
This is Milien’s second season at ANC. He began his career at famed New York City power Archbishop Malloy.
“It’s definitely an adjustment changing schools, but it has been good for he here,” Milien said.
And he hopes to continue his career at the next level.
Now he has some updated video to show college recruiters after Friday’s stellar performance.
ACADEMY OF THE NEW CHURCH VS. ABINGTON FRIENDS. (PHOTOS BY COLLEEN CLAGGETT FOR PSD)
ANC's Isaiah Milien in quarterfinal game vs. Abington Friends, (photo/ Colleen Claggett for PSD)
Academy of The New Church vs, Abington Friends (Quarterfinal Game highlights by Colleen Claggett for PSD)
“A game like that can’t hurt me,” he said.
He also hopes that his big game may loosen things up for his teammates.
“Teams might realize they can’t pay as much attention on Anthony and Elmarko,” he said. “It could open things up for everybody.”
The only thing that Milien hopes is for a quicker start by ANC. Against Abington Friends, the Lions quickly got down 6-0
“There might have been some nerves,” he said. “This is the playoffs, one and done and we started slow, but then picked it up.”
And it was Milien who did much of the heavy lifting.
Highly anticipated rematch.
In the regular season meeting between Academy of the New Church and the George School on Jan. 25, the ANC took a 72-69 win. McCall led the way for ANC with 19 points and 6-8 senior Gabe Harris added 16 points and five rebounds.
Milien was also a major threat with 14 points. He shot 3 of 5 from three-point range.
For the George School 6-4 sophomore Christian Bliss scored 26 points and 6-8 junior Kachi Nzeh added 15.
Academy of The New Church vs, George School 1/25. (photo/Colleen Claggett for PSD)
That was one of the best games of the Friends League season. There is no reason why the rematch shouldn’t be just as competitive.
The big two come up big in George School quarterfinal win
No surprise that Bliss and Nzeh led the way for George School’s 70-61 win over Friends Central on Friday.
Bliss had 26 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, while Nzeh added 25 points, 20 which came in the second half.
Kyle Anderson, a 6-4 senior, chipped in with nine points.
Reid Belcher, a 5-10 sophomore who has been playing extremely well down the stretch, led Friends Central with 19 points, while 6-6 senior Kahmai Clark added 12 points.
Westtown School continues to improve
Westtown took care of matters in a business-like fashion during Friday’s 71-49 quarterfinal win over Germantown Friends.
Quin Berger, the 6-2 senior combo guard who has had his best moments in the biggest games, had 21 points, four rebounds and three assists, while 6-5 Penn State commit Jameel Brown added 16 points and eight rebounds and three assists.
Dereck Lively, the 7-1 Duke commit and No. 1 player in the country had eight points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
So much publicity about high school players is due to their offensive skill, but Lively is a game-changer on the defensive end.
Despite being a solid favorite in its semifinal game with Shipley, Westtown coach Seth Berger is taking nothing for granted.
George School junior Chris Bliss. (PSD photo by Colleen Claggett)
Westtown vs. Germantown Friends. (Photos/ Lou Rabito for PSD)
“Our team is playing the best it has all year, but I’m still expecting a very tough game against Coach (Alvin) Williams and his Shipley squad,” Berger said. “They’ve got a really balanced group that can score in a lot of ways.”
Tuning up for the semifinals
The day after its quarterfinal win, Westtown was back on the court in an 84-78 win over the Phelps School on Saturday.
Seyphon Triplett, a 6-0 junior whose game continues to grow, had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Brown contributed 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Berger had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Lively added 13 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots and 6-5 junior swingman Matt Mayock scored 11 points.
This type of balance is what makes Westtown so difficult to defend. Opponents can’t just focus on stopping one player since there are many who can hurt any D.
Westtown junior Seyphon Triplett - PSD Photo by Lou Rabito
Shipley impressive in quarterfinal win
Shipley received a monster game from 6-8 junior Raijon Dispensa in its 56-35 quarterfinal win over Friends Select. Dispensa had 17 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists.
Dispensa came up big at the foul line, shooting 8 for 10. For the season he is averaging 10.9 points and 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots.
Two juniors, 6-3 Justin Powell and 6-1 Imanuel Jackson chipped in with nine points each for Shipley. Rocco Morabito, a 6-1 sophomore scored eight points and was 2 for 4 from three-point range.
Shipley’s leading scorer is 5-10 junior Darrien Grady (16.7 ppg.) Against Friends Select, Grady was held to seven points, but he was still a major factor. Grady also had five rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Leading 35-31 after three quarters, Shipley put the game away with a 21-4 fourth quarter.
The Championship game will be played 8 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 18) at La Salle University.