PHILADELPHIA – If athletic results could be measured simply by overall effort, standings would look a whole lot different.
Winners, however, are determined by who outscores whom. In a Wednesday afternoon Inter-Academic League contest between Penn Charter and visiting Episcopal Academy, the host Quakers received significant grades for effort, but it wasn’t enough to secure a victory.
Despite being held well below their normal average, the Churchmen (13-5 overall, 4-1 league) notched a 47-39 win and remained one-half game behind Germantown Academy for first place in the Inter-Ac. In defeat, the Quakers (9-6, 2-3) guaranteed themselves that the best they can hope for is to play the spoiler role since they still must face Germantown Academy (5:30 on February 2) and second-place Malvern Prep (7:30 tomorrow).
“We wanted more, but it is what it is,” said Penn Charter junior guard Adam Holland, who scored a team-best 10 points. “We will continue to work hard and still try to win every game. We will try to make it hard for the teams in front of us to win the championship. In this league, any team can beat any team on a given day.”
EA's Conner Delaney shoots a free-throw
PC's Adam Holland drives to the basket.
Cutting to the chase, there was nothing wrong with Penn Charter’s effort. Any team that holds Episcopal to a season-low 28 points heading into the fourth quarter is doing something spectacularly on defense.
It’s just the other part – the offense – that has prevented the Quakers from enjoying a special season.
“We are challenged offensively, and there’s no other way to put it,” said Penn Charter coach Jim Phillips. “We played hard as heck. We played defense, and we played it hard.”
Penn Charter also shot the ball well – 17 for 34.
“The problem isn’t shooting 50 percent,” said Phillips. “The problem is the number 34 . . . we need to take more shots than 34. We didn’t get enough second shots, and we turned the ball over too much.
“If you had told me before the game that we would shoot 50 percent and hold them inside the 40’s, I would have felt great. I’d have taken that.”
Episcopal, which received 14 points from junior Nick Alikakas, 10 from junior Conner Delaney, and nine from senior Matt Woods, maintained a precarious lead deep into the fourth quarter and then pulled away because of near-perfect free-throw shooting (10 for 11), with Delaney (6 for 6) and Woods (4 for 4) the highlighters.
PC & EA shake hands after the game.
The win avenged a 52-36 loss to Penn Charter in the league opener.
“It’s a luxury to have guys like that shooting foul shots,” said Episcopal coach Craig Conlin. “They knocked down some big shots. They’re clutch performers.”
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)