PIAA State Basketball Tournament 2nd Round Boys AAAA

District 1 AAAA continued to dominate as five District 1 teams advance to the state quarterfinals; Ridley throttled C.D. East to join Chester, Norristown, Penn Wood and Pennsbury
By Gorden Blain
NEW HOLLAND -- Is Ridley the surprise team among the final eight in the PIAA State AAAA quarterfinals?

Even the Green Raiders themselves may concede to those who would answer yes.

But after an up close encounter with Ridley in the second round of the state tournament, Central Dauphin East would disagree.

Ridley (25-6), the seventh-place team from District 1, trounced the Panthers, the District 3 runnerup, 71-42 Wednesday night at Garden Spot High School in New Holland. The Raiders now advance to the state quarterfinals along with four other District 1 teams.

On Saturday they get a rematch with Pennsbury (29-2), which defeated the Green Raiders 60-41 in the District 1 quarterfinals.

A six-seed in the District 1 tournament, Ridley upset Lower Merion 65-60 to end the regular season in a tie for first place with Conestoga in the Central League and then won its first two district playoff games to qualify for the state tournament.

But then Pennsbury bumped Ridley into the consolation round where it lost to Downingtown West before it defeated Souderton for seventh place.

That up-and-down week was rectified after it stomped District 12 champion Frankford 76-37 in its state tournament opener last Saturday. And it’s long forgotten after Ridley dominated the Panthers in every phase of the game Wednesday night in front of just 490 paid in a spacious new gym hidden off a Lancaster County country road.

Led by 6-2 senior point guard Steve Egee, a Division 1 recruit with scholarship offers from Columbia, William and Mary, Richmond and Monmouth, the Green Raiders grabbed the lead with two minutes gone in the first quarter and poured it on from there.

They led 17-10 after the first quarter and 28-17 at halftime. Getting all too few clean looks at the basket, East went 6:19 between baskets from late in the first quarter to late in the second quarter. The Raiders finished the job by outscoring East 23-5 in the third quarter to take a 51-22 lead.

“We took open shots and we made them,” said Ridley coach Keith Heinerichs. “I saw them play twice. I thought they were pretty good in a half-court game. Their scores were in the 40s so we wanted to get the game into the 60s. We weren’t trying to push it, just by working to get it inside and get easy ones.

“I’m not surprised how hard we played. If we play like we did in our Lower Merion game (65-60 win February 2), we can play with people,” said Heinerichs.

The Raiders made 61 percent of their shots (28 for 46). East made just 33 percent of its shots (17 for 51) and committed 17 turnovers. Ridley had 12 turnovers.

Egee had 23 points, center Dan Robinson had 20 and forward Shamar Harris had 18 points.

“We worked hard on defense,” said Egee. “We came out and executed especially well in the first half. It was a good team effort. We’re having fun. Playing hard. Playing together. It’s a lot of fun.”

No fun at all for the Panthers (24-6), whose largest margin of defeat this season was 12 points in their loss to Reading in the District 3 championship game.

“They are very good,” said Central Dauphin East coach Bruce Leib. “ We got a good ol’ fashion butt wuppin‘. We didn’t bring the intensity we’ve always brought. That’s got to be on me. Certainly they’re the better team but it’s hard for me to believe they’re 30 points better.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well. Defensing them was a different story. We had no answer for (Egee). We tried four different guys on him. We had no answer for (Robinson). And we had no answer for (Harris). Defense is where you win and lose these games.”

Amani Glenn led East with 11 points. Demond Bates had eight. Only one of two seniors in East’s nine-man rotation, 6-2 Quion Gunning had seven rebounds but scored just four as Ridley’s defense smothered any opportunities he had to receive entry passes from the Panthers’ guards.

“Our thing is to just stay in our stance and make people shoot over us,” said Heinerichs. “We had five guys doing that. Everybody on our team just played tough. We’ve got five seniors and that helps a lot this time of the year.

“(Shamar Harris) is the X factor,” said Heinerichs. “When he plays well that gives us the third guy.”

The loss meant the end of the road for Central Dauphin East, one of the three District 3 AAAA teams that advanced to the second round that were eliminated by District 1 teams Wednesday night. Heinerichs predicted that the Panthers, with a lineup dominated by underclassmen returning, would be back in the state playoff mix next season.

An amazing turnaround for East, which was 6-18 last season when it lost eight of its last nine games in Leib’s first season at East after a highly successful stint at Hazleton Area.

“It was a great year,” said Leib. “Someone told me that this was the most wins in school history (24). That’s something to be proud of.”

PIAA State AAAA Boys 2nd round scores

Chester 61, Harrisburg 51

Penn Wood 60, Pocono Mountain West 48

Pennsbury 69, Liberty 54

Ridley 71, Central Dauphin East 42

South Philadelphia 73, Souderton 54

Norristown 66, Mechanicsburg 50

Pittsburgh Central Catholic 49, McDowell 47

Moon 37, McKeesport 36