Golden Panthers maul Methacton, stalk into final against Spring-Ford

It didn’t take long for Pope John Paul II head coach Jack Flanagan to realize that the team he and his staff had assembled to represent Pope John Paul II High School in its first year in the PAC-10 was going to be special.

“I knew early on it was going to be a great year,” said Flanagan. “We were in our second game and I watched Billy Malescio step in when a Monsignor Bonner player threw David Cotellese to the ground under the basket. Here were two kids who barely knew each other, from different schools, and one has the other’s back.”

On Friday night, that unity showed on the scoreboard as the Golden Panthers routed Methacton, 56-41, to advance to the PAC-10 final.  They will face neighborhood rival Spring-Ford for the trophy and for local bragging rights.

With two high-powered offenses squaring off, it was almost eerie that four minutes of playing time elapsed without a single point being scored by either team. Methacton’s Pat Dinan finally got the scoring going.

“Everybody talks about our outside shooting,” said senior guard Jeff Evans. “But we play good defense too. Tonight, we knew we would have to outwork them getting rebounds and play good defense to prevent second chances. I think we have really played well as a team the last month. The more we play together, the better we have gotten.”

Evans, who got off to an atypically poor start by shooting 1-of-7 from the floor in the first half, helped sparked the Golden Panthers in the second quarter. He staked them to their first lead at 12-10 by cranking up the pressure on the ball.

“I didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight,” said Evans. “But I just want to say that when Paul [Mills] or Mike [Mansur] and I get our points, it’s because of the work that Billy [Melescio] does that does not show up on the score sheet. He did a great job on Galloway tonight, who is a great player, that helped put us in the position to get the win.”

The Warriors' Evan Galloway, who averages almost 12 points a game, was held to nine points and just 3-of-11 from the field. It was clear that the Golden Panthers were focusing on stopping the lane penetration as far away from the basket as possible, thus eliminating second chance points.

“We have talked since back on November 19^th about guarding the ball, protecting the lane and guarding the basket,” added Flanagan. “Tonight, we did a great job of that.”

The Golden Panthers (15-6), led by David Cotellese with a game high 13 points, scored on four consecutive possession to take a 23-19 lead into the locker room.

“It’s great to be the first basketball team at a brand new school,” said sophomore Mike Mansur. “Our crowd was amazing tonight and we really feed off of them. To be in the final in our first year is great, but we had to dictate our game. They had really good players and we had to step it up.”

The Warriors (15-9) must have felt as if they were watching a train pull away from the station as Cotellese drove to the lane with 4:48 left in the third, widening the Golden Panthers' lead to eight points for the first time at 29-21, which is the closest Methacton would get for the rest of the tilt.

PJP2 shot 55 percent from the field in the second half and 10-of-14 from the line as they built a double-digit lead en route to their date with the Spring-Ford Rams on Tuesday night. Spring-Ford defeated Pottstown, 52-50, to return to the final for the second consecutive year.

On Tuesday night, the stands at Perkiomen Valley’s gym will no doubt be filled to capacity with the “Bleacher Creatures” of Spring-Ford and the white clad cheering section of more than 200 students screaming for PJP2 that were in attendance Friday night.

Pope John Paul II defeated Spring-Ford last Tuesday, 55-46, in the only regular season meeting between the teams.

Game time is set for 7:00pm.

“What sets us apart from any other school is our kids,” said Flanagan. “We have the best kids. They all come out and cheer us on. We having been saying all year that we don’t have to turn our backs on the past to move to the future. All of the students have bought into it. I am sure we will have the stands full again Tuesday when we try to bring home the championship.” 

“Right now, we have to focus on a way to beat Spring-Ford,” added Flanagan. “Some people consider them the best team in our area. To disprove that, we have to find away to match up. We have to ask ourselves, “What’s it going to take to beat Spring Ford?"

Methacton               10 9   6 16 – 41

Pope John Paul II      9 14 12 21 – 56

   Methacton (41) – Dinan 4 1-2 9, Handley 4 0-2 8, Galloway 3 2-4 8, Markle 2 0-0 4, Casper 2 0-0 4, Ahlberg 0 2-3 2, Hart 0 0-0 0, Herber 1 0-0 2, McKee 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 5-11 41.

Pope John Paul II (56) – Gribb 1 2-2 4, Mills 5 0-0 10, Malescio 4 0-2 8, Cotellese 4 3-5 13, Evans 2 3-4 8, Mahoney 1 0-0 2, Stinson 1 0-0 2, Mansur 3 2-2 9. Totals 21 10-15 56.

3-point field goals: Cotellese 2 (PJP), Evans(PJP), Mansur(PJP)