Photos: Bjorn Beck
By: Jeremy Goode
PHILADELPHIA - The Hill School has not won a PAISAA basketball championship since 2018. Consider them one game away.
After earning the three-seed in the PAISAA State Tournament, Hill ripped their way through the tournament, beating Episcopal by 16 and Haverford by 18. Both home wins sent them traveling to Penn Charter, to face the second-seeded Quakers on Fri., Feb. 28.
Penn Charter was riding an 11-game win streak going into their semifinal game against Hill. They finished their league schedule undefeated, a perfect 10-0. Hill, on the other hand, lost in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship to Blair. Entering the game, Hill had 24 wins on the season, the same as Penn Charter.
In essence, it was a fight for the 25th win, the most important win for either team this season. And as Hill has done all year, they found a way to win at Penn Charter, 61-59, to move onto the PAISAA championship game on Sun., March 2.
Hill will play The Phelps School for the PAISAA championship on Sun., March 2, 3 p.m. at Hagan Arena at Saint Joseph's University.
For senior point guard Jacob Meachem, who will be playing college basketball at Bucknell next year, winning a state championship is all he has ever wanted.
“It is everything I ever dreamed of,” Meachem said. “Being here as a freshman and always wanting to be in this situation, in these types of environments, I can’t thank my team, my coaches enough.”
It has been a strong four years of development for the 5-foot-9 Pottstown native. During his freshman year, he came off the bench as the seventh or eighth man off the bench. He scored 68 points. He got his feet wet.
Sophomore year, he was in deeper water. Meachem became the starting point guard, setting up his teammates as a facilitator. Junior year he was a captain, the only captain on the 2023-24 Hil team. Senior year, he essentially did it all. Score, shoot, pass… Meachem does it all at a high rate.
Penn Charter vs. Hill School - PAISAA Semifinal - Photos by Bjorn Beck
Jacob Meachem on Going to the PAISAA Championship game as a Senior Captain
For junior Ethan Johnston, the 6-foot-7 wing does a little bit of everything at a high level. He is athletic, he can dribble, he can score from many spots on the court, and he defends, including blocking shots. Back to that later.
His play has received a lot of attention too, earning basketball scholarships from Cal, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Villanova, among others.
Along with Meachem, Hill’s 6-foot-10 center from Nigeria and fellow senior Quadri Bashiru will be playing college basketball at Longwood.
There is a lot of talent on this Hill team. But traveling an hour plus to East Falls to face a packed house and a handful of future college athletes themselves? A challenge for sure.
Hill faced the challenge early on, needing an end of first quarter, near buzzer beater three-pointer by Johnston to trail by four. Penn Charter extended their lead to 35-29 at halftime.
Penn Charter’s Kai Shinholster (Minnesota commit) scored 12 of his 22 points in the first half and was phenomenal all game. Jake West (Northwestern commit) scored all 10 of his points in the first half and battled foul trouble for much of the second half, eventually fouling out with a few minutes left in the contest. Jamal Hicks (St. Thomas Aquinas College) scored eight of his 13 points in the first 16 minutes. Those three seniors combined for 30 of their 35 first half points.
Hill adjusted.
They took their first lead of the evening at 39-37, just over three minutes into the second half.
Game Highlights WPC vs. Hill School - by Jeremy Goode for PSD
Penn Charter senior Kai Shinholster #1 - Photo by Bjorn Beck
“We were not that surprised,” Meachem said. “We have been in games like this when we are down and just have to fight back.”
Hill School basketball head coach Seth Eilberg shared a similar sentiment.
“Our guys have been a resilient bunch all year,” Eilberg said. “They really keep bearing down as the game goes.”
Meachem finished with 18 points while Johnston added 17. Bashiru’s seven points all came in the first half and finished with six points on two three-pointers.
At the end of the third, Hill trailed 46-43, cutting Penn Charter’s lead in half.
In the final eight minutes of play, it was all Hill. They outscored Penn Charter 18-13, enough to steal a win on the road by two points.
The biggest difference between Hill and Penn Charter in the fourth quarter? As simple as you can break down the sport… Hill made shots and got stops.
“We have a system called Bridge, which is three stops in a row,” Johnston said. “We had none in the first half, and the second half we had like seven.”
Hill gave up 35 points to Penn Charter in the first half. In the second half, they only gave up 24.
What might have been the biggest play happened with a minute left, as Johnston blocked West going up for a lay-up, and Meachem dribbled full court to miss a contested layup, only for Filippo Galli to tip the miss in to give Hill a 58-56 lead. A last-chance three-pointer did not get off in time at the buzzer.
In the final four minutes of play Hill held Penn Charter to three points.
Ethan Johnston on Hill Locking Down on Defense in the Second Half
Final Play at the Buzzer
Because this represented a new height for this team, it was a new experience for Meachem to get to this point.
“We’re always looked as the underdog and we have not been in this situation since 2018,” Meachem said. “It is very different for us.”
It may be different for this cycle of Hill basketball players, but it is certainly a welcome change. Hill has produced good ball players and teams over the past seven years. They just were not able to get over the hump in terms of winning PAISAA’s.
Not the 2024-25 Hill basketball team. They rose to the occasion, something this unit has been wanting to do for all four years of their high school lives.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Johnston said. “That’s what big moments are all about. Big time players come through at big moments. We just embraced the challenge.”