Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Conestoga vies for semifinal berth
The last remaining area Class AAAA boys basketball team with a chance to bring home the District 1 Class AAAA championship, Conestoga, gets back into action tonight as the they travel to tangle with fellow Central League foe, Lower Merion in the quarterfinal.
Conestoga, the seventh seed, defeated Downingtown West, 57-51, in the second round Tuesday, qualifying for the PIAA playoffs for the third straight season. But, now, Conestoga wants more, and Lower Merion stands in the way of a trip to the Liacouras Center on Tuesday night for the semifinals against the Plymouth Whitemarsh-Central Bucks West winner. The No. 11 Aces reached the quarters after routing Upper Dublin, 64-48.
Conestoga (19-7) defeated Lower Merion (18-7) twice in the regular season, 66-56 at Conestoga and 63-57 on the Aces’ home floor.
“Lower Merion is a very well
coached team that plays very good defense and they run their offensive sets very well,” Conestoga coach Mike Troy said. “The fact that we defeated them twice in the regular season does not mean anything to us. We are looking to the future not the past. We are playing well right now and the key to our success this season is that we have a very unselfish team. The kids do not care who scores the points, they just want to win and they do a great job of sharing the basketball.
“Their big guys are Jeremy Horn and Terrell Jones, they both do a real nice job for them. And that is why we need both Angus Mayock and Jack Baker to keep playing well. Both those kids have been outstanding and they have accepted the challenge of us graduating our big guys from last year. They are both unsung heroes on this team. The kids know that if they defeat Lower Merion the reward is a trip to Temple to play on the big stage. It should be a packed house and a great atmosphere for a high school basketball game.”
The Skinny: Lower Merion defeated Penn Wood in overtime in the first round and then blew out Upper Dublin. Horn is a 6-foot-9 senior who averages 15.4 points a game and 10 rebounds per contest. Jones, a sophomore swingman, is averaging 10.2 a game. Other players who have contributed for the Aces are junior Dion Harris and senior KJ Helton, who is a very good shooter.
Conestoga features senior point guard Daryl Caldwell, who averages 18.1 points a game. The Pioneers have plenty of good 3-point shooters. Andrew Larkin (12.5 ppg), MJ Lezanic and Charlie Martin all have to be respected from the outside. Both Mayock and Baker have had good seasons and they held Downingtown West big man Josh Warren to just seven points in the second-round triumph.
Conestoga Starters: Daryl Caldwell, Sr., G; M.J. Lezanic, Sr., G; Charlie Martin, Sr., F; Andrew Larkin, Sr., G; Angus Mayock, Sr., C.
Lower Merion Starters: K.J. Helton, Sr., G; Terrell Jones, Soph., F; Diaon Harris, Jr., G; Jeremy Horn, Sr., C; Najia Walker, Jr., F.
The Pick: It is real tough to beat a good team three times in a season and Lower Merion is a very good team. But Caldwell can penetrate the Aces defense and score in the lane or dish off for easy baskets. And Conestoga is playing this Lower Merion team, not the ghosts of eight past PIAA championship teams. The Pioneers have beaten the Aces twice already, so let’s go for three. Conestoga 53, Lower Merion 48.