Public League Playoff Recaps, 2005-06

PRELIMINARY PLAYOFFS
Class AAA
Comm. Tech 73, Swenson 39: The first-year PL entrant, a former Bartram annex with its former coach, Lou Biester, and many of its former players, cruised to the win by putting four players in double figures. Soph Andrew "Scootie" Randall (14) led the way. Swenson's Lorenzo Carter scored 17 points.
Straw. Mansion 100, Bok 58: Matthew "Moo" Johnson (28) lifted his career total to 1,012 and Eugene Moss (six treys) poured in 37 points in less than half the game. Gary Harris and Keith Williams scored 19 apiece for Bok, whose best player, James Jones, suffered a late-season broken ankle.
Class A
Prep Charter 81, Freire 48: Marcus Morris scored 17 points and his twin, Markieff, snagged 13 rebounds. La Salle signee Rodney Green added 16 points. Pierre Lewis (19) and Ramon Galloway (14) topped Freire.
Masterman 69, Bodine 52: Lehigh-bound Zahir Carrington totaled 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, Jordan Perkins mixed 15 points and 14 boards, Mike Mack dished 10 assists and Mickey McGuire hit three treys en route to 19 points. Tyree Griffin (15) and Lamar Jackson (13) paced Bodine.
ROUND OF 16
Class AAAA
Gratz 67, Dobbins 33: Malik Alvin (UTEP) scored eight of his 15 points in a 20-11 first quarter and Jamal Watson had 10 of his 17 as the Bulldogs claimed the second frame, 17-9. Justin Hayes (11) was the only Mustang in double figures.
Univ. City 62, Frankford 52: Robert Mosby packed 10 of his 12 points and four of his seven rebounds into a 25-16 final quarter while Aaron Stephens mixed 11 points, five assists, six steals. Charles McKissick (14 points, six boards) and Kenny Moore (10, seven) helped out. The Jaguars entered play with a 1-9 mark against outside competition. Frankford's Lewis Leonard, hindered late in the season by a hairline fracture to his left (shooting) wrist, went 7-for-25 en route to 17 points and finished his career with 1,304.
Edison 53, Central 48: The Owls celebrated their first playoff appearance since 1999 by advancing to the quarters for the first time since their '96 championship season. Soph George Baker popped three treys en route to 23 points while also claiming 15 rebounds. For Central, Kenny St. George (23) finished his career with 1,244 points, 15 short of the school record set in '04 by Scott Rodgers, and Rashiid Coleman (15) nailed four threebies.
Southern 72, Washington 57: A dominant performance by the frontcourt helped Southern claim this one, which was postponed one day due to transportation miseries. Ramone Moore (21, eight rebounds) and Jason Sabb (18, seven) were productive at the forward spots and 6-1 center Bryheem Charity collected 13 apiece. Alston Ross had (two treys) nine of his 13 points in the second quarter. Washington's Frank Peters (17) shot 8-for-10 from the floor.
Class AAA
Comm. Tech 75, Straw. Mansion 69: In a regular season game, CT's Ben Whitt missed a late double-bonus and Mansion's Eugene Moss hit a trey to win it. This time Moss again connected from distance in the waning moments, but Whitt (20, 4-for-8 on treys) was able to sandwich it with a 4-for-4 showing at the line. Andrew "Scootie" Randall added 18 points and 13 boards. Moss posted 25 points and 11 boards while Matthew "Moo" Johnson (18) finished his career with 1,030 points.
Class AA
Eng. and Science 61, Franklin LC 36: The Engineers claimed this road win in shockingly easy fashion. Guard Jaret Richardson (22 points) shot 11-for-14 at the line while Glenn Dickerson (14, 10 rebounds) and Darrell Mills (10, 13) handled the inside dirty work. FLC guard Malcolm Eleby had a rare off day (3-for-17, 10 points) and finished his junior season eight points short of 1,000.
Imhotep 68, Hope 34: Tamir Johnson grabbed eight rebounds and scored seven of his 11 points in a 29-4 second quarter. Jermaine Washington managed 10 points, five rebounds, seven assists. David Hill, who'd posted a school record 52 points a week earlier, had 13 for Hope.
Class A
Prep Charter 77, Masterman 54: Rodney Green pogo-sticked his way to 25 points and eight rebounds and tallied 12 points in a 24-11 third quarter. Markieff Morris added 18 points, five blocks. Masterman's Zahir Carrington (23) finished his career with 1,116 points.
QUARTERFINALS
Univ. City 58, Edison 43: The Jaguars rang up a 37-22 advantage on the boards and showed good teamwork by collecting assists on 15 of their 18 field goals. Kenny Moore led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds while Charles McKissick added 11 points, nine boards and five assists. George Baker paced Edison with 16 points (two treys), seven boards, four assists and six steals, but was uncommonly poor (6-for-17) from the floor.
Imhotep 33, Eng. and Science 27: This was not the halftime score. The 60-point total tied the mark for lowest in a Pub playoff in 60 years, matching King's 35-25 win over Frankford in a 2002 round-of-16 affair. Tamir Johnson finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Hanif Nixon (nine points, six boards) went 7-for-8 at the line down the stretch. For E&S, Jaret Richardson scored 10 points and Darrell Mills grabbed 11 rebounds. In 1946, a pre-playoff featured 59 total points (Central 30, West 29). The year before, in a semifinal, West comatosed Northeast, 26-22.
Comm. Tech 72, Prep Charter 69: Jernardo "Jay" Lucas shot 10-for-14 and 4-for-5 for 25 points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds (despite being a 5-9 point guard) and dished three assists to lead the Phoenix. He scored 16 points in a 38-26 first half, took no shots in the third quarter as Kevin Radford did a fine job defensively, and then scored seven points over the final 1:31. Andrew "Scootie" Randall added 11 points and six boards and Ben Whitt converted a double-bonus with 3.3 seconds left for a three-point lead. A PC heave did not come close. The Huskies were paced by Rodney Green (18, eight rebounds) and Marcus Morris (17, 11).|
Gratz 73, Southern 44: Malik Alvin scored 16 of his 24 points in an 18-8 second quarter. He added nine rebounds and eight assists. Velton Jones notched 18 points and Sean Gilbert grabbed 11 boards. Jason Sabb (14) topped Southern.
SEMIFINALS
At Phila. Community
Comm. Tech 65, Imhotep 61: Ben Whitt, the sixth man, sniped 7-for-14 on three-pointers for 21 points (he attempted no other shots) to lead a 30-point outburst for CT's subs. His seven treys tied a city postseason record and his attempts were one short for anything from the quarterfinal round on. The other Phoenix player in double figures was soph Andrew "Scootie" Randall, with 16 points (and seven rebounds). Tamir Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds for Imhotep and shot 10-for-15 en route to 22 points. Hanif Nixon (13) and Jermaine Washington (11) also scored in double figures. Imhotep cut an eight-point deficit to three in the last minute, but missed a layup and then two free throws after claiming an offensive rebound. The participants had just three years total of Pub experience --Imhotep two, CT one.
At Saint Joseph's Univ.
Gratz 66, Univ. City 45: The Bulldogs qualified for their 15th final in 18 years by winning the fourth quarter, 23-6, while holding UC to two field goals in 15 attempts. Malik Alvin (19) led four players in double figures while adding six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Velton Jones (13) and sub Tommy "T.J." Sykes (10) reached double digits in points and Sean Gilbert had 10 apiece of points and rebounds. Kenny Moore and Charles McKissick halved 32 points for UC and Robert Mosby gathered in eight rebounds.
FINAL
At La Salle Univ.
Gratz 62, Comm. Tech 36: The Bulldogs stormed to a 14-4 lead, basically maintained until halftime (25-16) and then scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to reduce the game to rubble. It was the biggest spread in PL finals history, surpassing the 24-point win Dobbins collected against Southern in 1985 (86-62). Game MVP Malik Alvin (21) shot 9-for-13 and Velton Jones was versatile with 12 points, five rebounds and three apiece of assists and steals. Brandon Combs notched seven boards and three blocks and scored all eight of his points while the Bulldogs were claiming their 14-4 pad. CT, a first-year Pub member and formerly a Bartram annex, shot 15-for-60 total and 2-for-28 on treys. Ben Whitt went 2-for-15 from distance after going 7-for-14 in the semifinal win over Imhotep. Andrew "Scootie" Randall totaled 10 points, seven rebounds, four blocks.