The honeymoon phase is over for William Penn Charter’s boys’ basketball program.

No doubt, last season’s Quaker team was special.

They won the Inter-Ac for the second consecutive year outright, and the fourth year in a row after sharing the title with Malvern Prep from the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

They also won every game in the Inter-Ac, finishing a perfect 10-0 against conference teams. It was the first time an Inter-Ac team went undefeated in league since Malvern did so during the 2019-20 season.

Penn Charter glided through the PAISAA tournament until falling to the Hill School in the semifinals, 61-59.

Last year’s accolades are impressive, but the players really were the biggest reason for the historic season in East Falls.

Head coach Brandon Williams’ entire starting five were seniors, and went on to play at the collegiate level. Matt Gilhool, a 6’10 center, was the number one player from Pennsylvania and the 109th player in the country, according to 247 Sports. He chose LSU to continue his basketball career. Jake West, a 6’3 combo guard who could equally shoot and play above the rim, was the fifth best player in PA. He’s on Northwestern’s roster. And Kai Shinholster, the sixth best player in PA, is playing at Minnesota.

Additionally, Jamal Hicks is now a freshman on the St. Thomas Aquinas College team  in New York, while TJ Bryson is playing at Widener, in Chester, PA.

You can see a pattern here, and it is easy to connect the dots from Penn Charter’s success from last season. It was a special year, but that was last year.

“I feel like this year, I think we are deep,” Carter Smith said. “We have a lot of people who come off the bench and can score and play defense. We play more together, so that's been helping us a lot.”

And Penn Charter has revamped this year’s team and are looking to win their fifth consecutive league title, third outright.

On Tues., Jan. 13, they helped their efforts thanks to a fourth quarter comeback, winning on the road at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 56-49, to remain undefeated at 2-0 early in league play.

Williams was able to bring in some new talent, including George School senior transfer Casey Fleming, and Jackson Boyd from Princeton Day.

Several players have also stepped up from last year’s team in an increased role this season. Smith, a returning sophomore with an offer from Syracuse already, has emerged as one of the best scorers in the area and the leader of this new Penn Charter team.

“Last year, I had five people who were all leaders and great players that I could look up to,” Smith said. “So now, it’s my turn to give that back to all the players.”

Dom Comitale has embraced his leadership role as a senior, offering shooting beyond the arc and 93 feet worth of defense. Daniel Gilhool is starting as a sophomore in place of his brother and is able to provide needed height. Kingston Roundtree is seeing regular minutes, as well as Luke West, Larry Brown Jr., and Grahm Hamilton.

It’s this year’s depth that could push Penn Charter over the top. Their second team can hold their own.

For Penn Charter it was not about how they started, it was about how they finished. Because they did not start off well. Credit to Springside Chestnut Hill, they defended, and were rewarded at half time by being up 29-23, thanks to nine first half points from AJ Trufino and Alex Ormond and Owen Kelly combining for 11.

But it was Penn Charter’s shooting that did them in in the first half. They shot two for nine from three. Smith was held to six points.

That changed in the second half.

“We started off really slow and have to stop doing that,” Smith said. “But, we played together, everyone stepped up. Jackson stepped up. Luke… King (Kingston)... everyone played well.”

Smith took over scoring 15 points in the second half, most points coming under the basket. They also got stops. SCHA only scored nine points in the fourth quarter. Penn Charter pressed better, dove on the ground more for loose balls, and just defended at a higher level than they did in the first half.

It also helped that Boyd contributed off the bench, finishing with 12 points, seven coming in the fourth quarter.

“When I get in there, I try to be physical,” Boyd said. “When we’re warming up, just have to be ready.”

Smith has noticed Boyd’s immediate contributions, especially coming off the bench.

“He gives us the ability to sometimes go five guards to speed up the other team,” Smith said. “He does a lot coming off the bench to help us.”

Boyd prides himself on scoring, shooting, rebounding on both ends of the court, and defense.

It is a strong win for Penn Charter. SCHA matches up well, and they finished second in the Inter-Ac last year behind Penn Charter with a 7-3 record.

“They play really good defense as a team,” Smith said. “They hit a lot of shots and going against that is always hard.”

In the fourth quarter, Smith made all of his shots. So did Boyd. They extended their lead at the end of the game to nine, the highest all game.

Penn Charter travels to Haverford next in a big Inter-Ac test for both teams.