Penn Charter Defeats George 86-71: Kehler on Hoops
Written by: Dell Jackson on January 6, 2024
Penn Charter Defeats George 86-71: Kehler on Hoops
Article by David Kehler
Hot shooting Penn Charter defeated home-standing George 86 to 71 on a snowy Saturday afternoon in a contest between two of the top non-PIAA teams in Pennsylvania. Penn Charter, located in Philadelphia, is a member of the Inter-Academic League, the oldest high school sports loop in the country. George, located in Newtown, Bucks County, is a member of the Friends Schools League.
Penn Charter’s very accurate shooters were on fire from the outset of the contest, which was played at a fast tempo. Five different Penn Charter players scored from beyond the arc in the first quarter. However, George was able to keep it close with strong inside play by 6’ 9” 5th year senior Tristan Guillouette and outside shooting by junior Kasey Fleming and freshman Tyler Sutton. There were three ties and eight lead changes in the first quarter, but Penn Charter took the lead for good with a couple of minutes left in the first frame when a drive by 6’ 11” Matt Gilhool put his squad up 19-17.
Gilhool previously played in the Lancaster-Lebanon League while a student at Elizabethtown. Last season, he played at Westtown, and now he’s now a reclassified junior at Penn Charter. He had an outstanding game on Saturday vs. George and has attracted the recruiting interest of a slew of major college basketball teams.
Penn Charter pulled away from George in the second quarter, paced by the outside shooting of 6’ 2” junior Jake West and the all around play of 6’ 2” 8th grader Carter Smith. A 12-3 run by Penn Charter, spanning the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second frame put the game out of George’s reach. Penn Charter’s scoring blitz during that run consisted of a 3-pointer by Gilhool, two free throws by West, two free throws by Gilhool, a drive by Smith, a floater by Smith, and a free throw by 6’ 2” junior Jamal Hicks. That made it 36-25, Penn Charter, and George never recovered.
Although facing George’s man-to-man defense, Penn Charter was able to score from outside throughout the game. When Gilhool went to the bench with a bloody nose in the third quarter, George consistently got the ball inside to Guillouette, who has very nice low post moves. With 3:46 left in the game, George’s Sutton hit a 3-pointer to cut Penn Charter’s lead to 74-64. Penn Charter had committed nine turnovers in the second half of the game, enabling George to close the gap. However, Penn Charter responded with an 8-0 run, putting the game out of reach, on a floater by Hicks, a putback by Hicks, a fast break layup by 6’ 3” junior T.J. Bryson, and a layup by Hicks.
These teams have outstanding coaches and plenty of talent. One of George’s key players, 6’ 11” senior Luke Bevilacqua did not play due to an infirmity. For Penn Charter, only one senior saw the floor, 6’ 4” Kevin Cotton; everyone else is an underclassman. Both teams are contenders for the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship this season, a title which is contested by private schools that are not PIAA members.
This game was played with a 30 second shot clock. There were no shot clock violations, and only twice did a team have to hurry to beat the clock.
For the game, Penn Charter out-rebounded George 29 to 25. Penn Charter had 10 turnovers, and George had nine miscues. Penn Charter was 18 of 28 from the free throw line, and George was 21 of 29 from the stripe. Penn Charter made 10 3-pointers, and George scored seven times from beyond the arc.
Penn Charter scoring: Jake West 20, Jamal Hicks 18, Matt Gilhool 17, Carter Smith 10, Kai Shinholster 9, T.J. Bryson 8, and Kevin Cotton 4.
George scoring: Tristan Guillouette 23, Kasey Fleming 18, Tyler Sutton 18, Luke Melniczak 9, Fallou Diouf 2, and Ziyi Xiong 1.
Penn Charter’s Gilhool and George’s Guillouette each had 11 rebounds.
Penn Charter 29 25 14 18-86
George 22 17 15 17-71
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