Plymouth-Whitemarsh Defeats Bensalem 63-54 in a PIAA District 1 Class 6A Seeding Game
Written by: Dell Jackson on February 28, 2024
Plymouth-Whitemarsh Defeats Bensalem 63-54 in a PIAA District 1 Class 6A Seeding Game
Article by David Kehler
In high school basketball, the effects of pressure defense are cumulative and comprehensive. This was illustrated on Tuesday evening in Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s 63 to 54 defeat of host Bensalem in a PIAA District 1 Class 6A seeding game. For years and years, pressure defense has been the cornerstone of Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s strategy. The effects of successful pressure defense on the opposition are some combination of more frequent turnovers, suboptimal shot selection, poor free throw accuracy, diminished defensive effectiveness, and less prolific rebounding. Bensalem suffered from all of the effects at various points in the game vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
However, Bensalem got off to a very good start in this contest. Superb rebounding in the first quarter and forceful attacks on the hoop by 6’ 1” senior Micah White put Bensalem up 13 to 6 after five minutes of play. P-W responded with a 3-pointer by 6’ 3’ sophomore Mani Sajid and a superlative acrobatic drive by 6’ senior Jaden Colzie to cut Bensalem’s margin to 13 to 11 later in the first frame.
Neither team had an advantage in the second quarter, although several themes emerged. Bensalem’s Jaidyn Moffitt, a powerful and versatile 6’ 2” junior, was close to unstoppable inside. On the other hand, Bensalem’s outside marksmen weren’t getting free nor having enough time to get off accurate shots. P-W displayed a balanced attack with two players—Colzie and 5’ 10” sophomore Eddie Hayes—scoring from beyond the arc, while Sajid scored slashing to the basket. Bensalem led 25 to 24 at halftime.
P-W won the game in the third quarter, which was played at a faster tempo than the first half. Ben Marsico, a 5’ 11” P-W senior, who hadn’t scored in the first half, was on fire from beyond the arc in the third frame, sinking four 3-pointers plus a layup in the quarter. Here’s how the third quarter ended: with P-W up 40 to 37, the visitors concluded the third frame with a 9 to 0 run on a Marsico 3-pointer, another Marsico 3-pointer, a free throw by Sajid, and two free throws by 6’ 7” sophomore Michael Pereira. That made it 49 to 37, Plymouth-Whitemarsh at the end of the third period.
P-W’s focus seemed to waver in the fourth quarter, as they committed six turnovers in the frame. Bensalem increased their defensive pressure in the final period and trapped whenever possible, but they had fallen too far behind to launch a successful rally.
The view from here is that Bensalem’s spacing in half court sets was too compressed, allowing P-W defenders lots of opportunities to hedge. Bensalem has accurate long range marksmen, but they need some assistance to be positioned to be effective. Perhaps it was P-W’s half court defensive pressure, but maybe it was also an underutilization of the powerful Moffitt as a screener that kept Bensalem’s normally formidable long guns relatively silent.
Both teams have qualified for the PIAA Class 6A state championship tournament.
For the game, Bensalem out-rebounded Plymouth-Whitemarsh 31 to 27, although P-W had a 15 to 11 rebounding advantage in the second half. Bensalem committed 14 turnovers, including six in the decisive third quarter, while P-W had 11 miscues. The free throw shooting in this game was poor. Bensalem was 18 of 32 from the line, and Plymouth-Whitemarsh was 12 of 19. P-W made seven 3-pointers, while Bensalem scored four times from beyond the arc. There were two ties and six lead changes.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh scoring: Mani Sajid 18, Ben Marsico 15, Jaden Colzie 12, Michael Pereira 9, Jack Hayes 4, Josh Harris 3, and Jahsir Sayles 2.
Bensalem scoring: Jaidyn Moffitt 21, Micah White 14, Noah Morris 9, Amir Drummond 5, Antonio Morris 2, Nate Cooper 2, and Jahmir Chatman 1.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 11 13 25 14 – 63
Bensalem 14 11 12 17 – 54
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