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Shortly after advancing to the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals Sunday, Nanticoke Area boys basketball coach John Beggs compared his team to the next opponent, Imhotep Charter.
“I know they have a guy going to Rhode Island and a guy going to South Carolina, and both those teams are playing in the NCAA tournament today,” Beggs said. “That tells you the kind of firepower they have. We have some guys who in a couple weeks will probably be playing at West Side Park and Quality Hill Playground because they love basketball.
“So we’re a little bit different caliber team, but I wouldn’t count us out. We have heart, we play together, we’re excited. We’re going to show up Tuesday wherever the game is, give it our best effort and let the chips fall where they may.”
The game site will be familiar to District 2 third seed Nanticoke (21-7). The Trojans will be playing at Bethlehem Freedom High School for a third time in the state tournament as they meet D12 champion Imhotep (29-2) at 6 p.m. In the nightcap at Freedom, D2-5A champion Abington Heights (25-3) plays D12 champ Archbishop Wood (26-3) at 7:30 p.m.
The Nanticoke-Imhotep winner plays in the 3A state championship game against the winner of the game between D7 runner-up Quaker Valley (25-3) and D10 champ Erie Strong Vincent (26-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Imhotep has been a state power since the Philadelphia public and private schools joined the PIAA in 2005. The Panthers have won three 2A state championships (2009, 2011, 2012) and another at 3A in 2013. They won at least 20 games every season since joining the PIAA.
This Imhotep team could be the best yet. It’s ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today. Daron Russell, a 5-foot-10 guard, is the school’s all-time leading scorer and will play at Rhode Island. David Beatty, a 6-3 guard, is in his first season at Imhotep after a couple stops at other Philly schools. He’ll be off to South Carolina where his versatility will be an asset to the Gamecocks.
Imhotep has rolled its first two state opponents, D3 fourth seed Bishop McDevitt 74-41 and D2 champion Scranton Prep 81-52. The Panthers found themselves in a tussle in Sunday’s 70-51 semifinal win over D12 third seed Universal Audenried. They led just 37-34 at halftime before Russell (24 points) and Beatty (19) proved to be too much to handle.
Imhotep also got 15 points from 6-7 Donta Scott, part of a trio of tall sophomores. The others are 6-6 Jamil Riggins and 6-5 Chareef Knox. Dahmir Bishop, a 6-4 sophomore, and Elijah Taylor, a 6-8 freshman, are also part of the rotation.
The Panthers’ only losses were to Neumann-Goretti, 87-73 on Dec. 14, and a forfeit to Consitution on Jan. 10, a game that was halted in the second quarter because of a fight.
Speaking of fighting, that’s how Nanticoke Area ended up in the semifinals. The Trojans had a 72-66 double-overtime loss to Scranton Prep in the D2 semifinals and then defeated Meyers 57-46 without senior Luke Butczynski, who suffered a knee injury against Prep when he slipped on a wet floor due to a leaky roof at Lackawanna College.
The Trojans then rallied from a 12-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to defeat D11 champ Bethlehem Catholic 58-56. They followed by knocking off two District 12 teams — Conwell-Egan 62-54 and West Philadelphia 78-62.
Butczynski lit up West Philly with five 3-pointers in the first quarter. Guard Cody Piestrak had another big fourth quarter in state play, scoring 11 of his 20 as Nanticoke Area distanced itself from West Philly. Guard Nate Kreitzer also scored 20 and helped close out the victory.
“We know they’re a great team. They beat Scranton Prep pretty well,” Butczynski said. “But right now, we think we can beat anyone in our heads, so we’re going to go out and give it our all.”
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