Perkiomen School wins 77-67 vs. The Phelps School to win the 2024 PAISAA Championship - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
Photos: Kathy Leister
By: Rich Flanagan
PHILADELPHIA – Thomas Baudinet celebrated like it was the first championship he had ever won.
He embraced every player and coach in the same way a family member embraces one of their own after a long layoff between visits. It was more than an embrace; it was a connection that will bind a head coach and each member of this group, no matter how minimal or monumental their contributions were, when looking back on how they all arrived here.
Perkiomen School head coach Thomas Baudinet - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
As he looks around Hagan Arena on the campus of St. Joseph’s University, Baudinet allows himself a short window to let the emotion overtake him and reality sink in as he has led Perkiomen School, which is approximately an hour north of City Avenue, to consecutive Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) state titles on this very floor. Baudinet was brought in to lead the National Team prior to the 2016 season in an effort to boost the reach and acclaim of the Perkiomen School program and during his tenure, the status and appeal of donning the black with purple trim uniform has grown exponentially.
When putting everything into perspective following the 77-67 victory over The Phelps School to win the 2024 PAISAA title, Baudinet had only one phrase to describe what this team, like so many he had engineered, just accomplished.
“That was Perkiomen basketball.”
Baudinet was a star at Saint Anselm College, finishing his career with 1,957 points – fourth-most in program history with the all-time spot belonging to former Germantown Academy standout Time Guers – and 274 three-pointers made. He was a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-American as a senior then played professionally, first in the NBA G-League and later overseas, including with the Kumamoto Volters in the B.League, which is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League, where he once scored 42 points in a game.
After also spending time in China and Germany, he got his first crack at coaching joining the staff at University of New Hampshire before a 185-acre boarding school in Pennsburg with an enrollment of less than 400 students wanted him to lead its program to heights it had only heard about. Baudinet took that mission to heart and has gradually turned Perkiomen School into one of the best preparatory programs, both in Pa. and nationally.
Perkiomen School vs. Phelps School 2024 PAISAA Championship Highlights by PSD's Rich Flanagan
Start with starting point guard Gabe Tanner. The 6-foot-4 junior led the way in last year’s PAISAA title victory, a 79-77 overtime triumph over upstart George School, with 19 points then all he did was score 15 of his team-leading 19 points in the second half of this year’s state final against Phelps. It’s no coincidence that Billy Lange and the Hawks staff are high on Tanner, who holds an offer from St. Joe’s, after two straight, incredible performances in their home arena.
“I was talking to Coach Lange after the game and he said, ‘You must really like playing here.’ I’ve played well here in back-to-back years, and it has given me some ideas,” according to Tanner.
More than that, Tanner missed the previous five games before the PAISAA title game with a back injury that limited his mobility, and yet he shined when his team needed him most, something that has been instilled in him and his teammates during their careers.
“Coming back two years in a row, I was definitely more comfortable the second time,” Tanner said. “I was already acclimated, and the pressure didn’t really get to me. I played my game and let it come to me.”
Perkiomen School junior Gabe Tanner #2 - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
Tanner teamed with Alex Zakheim and Macon Emory in that state title victory, and each of those players experienced new facets to their game this season. Zakheim, the 6-2 senior guard committed to Brandeis University, had a breakout performance with four three-pointers and 18 points. After joining the Panthers program from The Frisch School (N.J.), Zakheim has seen firsthand the difference in one level of basketball to the current one he was part of throughout the year at Perkiomen School and how it has benefited his development.
“It has definitely had its ups and downs as we play a 30-plus game season,” Zakheim said. “Coming in, I didn’t play much high-level ball last year so coming here I had the coaches and players pushing me.”
Emory, the 6-8 senior forward bound for Delaware, won four state championships during his prep career after securing a pair with Blue Ridge (Va.). He was a role player there on a team led by his brother and current Blue Hens forward, Houston Emory then morphed into a viable Division I prospect under Baudinet with a versatile style of playmaking around the high post combined with a smooth shot from the perimeter and impressive athletic ability to play above the rim.
He had 13 points and six rebounds and shared that, as the victories have morphed into championships for the Panthers program, the unflappable drive to remain in that position vaulted to top of each player’s agenda and that trickle-down effect kept Perkiomen School exactly where it expected to be.
“It’s been a mission from day one,” Emory said. “The mindset in defending it was we took it last year and now these guys are trying to take it from us. We weren’t going to let that happen. There’s been a target on our backs and teams want to come after us. It’s about defending our title while showing we’re a championship caliber team.”
Perkiomen School Post Game Interviews - PSD Video by Rich Flanagan
Post Game interview with Phelps School head coach Trey Morin - PSD Video by Rich Flanagan
Winning back-to-back state titles doesn’t come as a surprise now but the road to becoming only the fourth team ever to win two straight PAISAA titles, joining the likes of the Academy of the New Church, Friends’ Central School and Westtown School, took years of disappointment and letdown. The Panthers lost in the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed in 2017 then fell to Haverford School in the semifinals the following year. It failed to reach the PAISAA final in 2019 then Jalen Warley (Florida State), Noah Collier, Dallas Mavericks big man Dereck Lively II and Westtown got the better of the Panthers in 2020. There was no PAISAA Tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the immediate year after, the Moose beat the Panthers at Tom Gola Arena in the state final in 2022.
The hardship and accumulation of close losses hardened Baudinet and his team that not only did something need to change, but once that first state title was secured, the release of years of frustration would be well worth it. Coincidentally, it has also set in motion a dominant run at the same time.
“This is the one that we were talking about at the beginning of the year,” Baudinet said. “Winning a state championship means a lot for us, especially locally.”
Change included how Baudinet not only recruited players but how he developed them simultaneously. Names like Josh Odunowo (Columbia University), Honor Huff (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga), Chris Arcidiacono (Villanova), Xaivian Lee (Princeton), Keeshawn Kellman (Florida Gulf Coast) and Ryan Dunn (University of Virginia) laid the groundwork and paved the way for two straight PAISAA titles.
Huff averaged 22.5 points per game as a senior and helped Perkiomen School finish No. 25 nationally. Arcidiacono scored 1,494 points at Neshaminy then avg. 20.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 4.7 apg during his prep year with the Panthers. Lee is one of the best guards in the Ivy League, avg. 17.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 5.2 apg while shooting 53.3% from the floor for the Tigers, who are looking for a return to the NCAA Tournament after reaching the Sweet 16 last year. Kellman was the starting center on last season’s Princeton Tigers team that beat No. 2 Arizona in the opening round of March Madness. Dunn is avg. 8.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 2.4 bpg in his first season as a starter for the Cavaliers who are looking for a return to the tournament as well.
Lee and Dunn were teammates together and pairing Division I caliber players helped elevate the program to its current status.
Last season, it was Thomas Haugh (University of Florida) and Bobby Rosenberger (St. Francis (Pa.)) alongside Tanner and Emory who helped claim that elusive first PAISAA title. This year, it was Tanner, Emory, and KJ Cochran – the former West Chester East standout in his first year at Perkiomen School – at the forefront of the success but indispensable pieces such as Zakheim, 6-10 forward Alfredo Addesa, 6-5 junior Hayden Johns and even senior Torin Bosch, who scored 10 points in the state title, helped close the season at 27-9 overall with a spot in the National Prep Championship, where the program won its second-ever game in the illustrious event.
2024 PAISAA Championship Gallery - Perkiomen School vs. Phelps School - PSD Photos by Kathy Leister
The road to another title at Hagan Arena was the culmination of several years with several more required to get to the level Baudinet and his players expect the program to be every year.
“Over the course of the season, you’re going to have key guys out and that’s the whole point of having great depth,” Baudinet said. “That’s something we’ve built here over the last four or five years is that when guys are out, you need to find a way to win games without them.”
This is what Perkiomen School has been and will be with Baudinet at the helm and depth is how this program has prospered. He had an image for its growth and the latest PAISAA title is only the beginning. This is not a finished product, regardless of the number of Division I players and championships accrued, and the Panthers will be a contender both locally and nationally for years to come if they stay the course.