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SWIFTWATER — With the regular season and the first round of the district playoffs complete Pocono Mountain East is the last boys basketball team standing in the area.
The Cardinals pulled off a major upset in the District 11 6A quarterfinals, defeating top-seed Northampton 37-24 to not only advance to the semifinals, but punch their ticket to the state tournament as the four semfinial teams — East, Parkland, Liberty and Whitehall — will all move on.
Some coaches may opt to preach to their players that "no matter what happens, we're in the state playoffs" as a way to keep things loose, almost carefree in a way. That isn't the case with head coach Joe McManus, whose pushing the team to do something that East, formerly known as Pocono Mountain High School, has never accomplished in the school's history.
"Make no mistake, we want a district title," McManus said. ''Yes, going to states feels good. It's been a long time since the school did it, but our main goal is one game at a time and a district championship That's the immediate thing. We have to go and beat a good Parkland team, but that's our goal.
"We'll be in the state tournament, and that feels good. But you know, winning a district championship will feel even better."
East has relied on its leaders Dominic McManus and Aiden Pierre, but another player that's come on strong the last couple of weeks is senior forward Fred Allicock. Long and lanky, Allicock has shown flashes throughout his career, but he's recently put it together and playing consistent basketball, most notably a game-high 14 points in the quarterfinal win over the Koncrete Kids.
His ascencion couldn't come at a better time for the Cardinals, who now have legitimate size on the inside to tie everything together.
When asked about the reason behind his surge, Allicock said "I've just been listening to my coaches. They tell me what to do, and I do it."
"Because of him. We've actually won games. He's been a catalyst for us to win games, which we know he's capable of," McManus said. "I'm super proud of him, because we've seen all the flashes of what he could do. And for whatever reason, the last few weeks, he's really been putting it together."
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Allicock also mentioned how East is using a little transitive property as a part of it's message this week: East beat Northampton, and Northampton beat Parkland, East's semifinal opponent, during the regular season.
It's not an exact science, but that also supports the big picture that any team can beat anyone on any given day, especially among EPC teams. After all, the top-3 seeds, Northampton, Pocono Mountain West and Nazareth, all lost in the quarterfinal round to East, Whitehall, and Liberty, respectively.
"Some of the best talent in the state is in the EPC, and the league should get credit for how deep the schools are in basketball. So yes, you may have teams that are low seeds, but they're really good teams. Whitehall, really good team. We're a really good team," McManus said. "Sometimes it doesn't show in the wins and losses, but you could have a chance against any team in the state on any given night. So the EPC is very deep, and I'm not surprised some of the lower seeds were able to advance."
What helps East be successful is the constantly-evolving defense, which have frustrated teams and turned into offense for the Cardinals. While other teams may have more offensive firepower, East's ability to get stops is an equalizer.
"Our defense is one of the things I'm most confident in," Allicock said. "Even in practice, we're diving on loose balls, talking and doing everything that we could possibly do to make our defense better. The key to defense is communication at the end of the day, and we knew that very well."
More: Despite the changes, West girls basketball never gave up on the season
Very rarely is the next opponent arguably better than the No. 1 seed in the bracket, but East's reward for defeating Northampton is the 3-time defending 6A district champion Parkland Trojans.
Parkland is a program where when the team loses, it's a suprise: the Trojans are the favorite in almost every game they play, and that'll likely be the case Wednesday night at Easton Middle School.
While the respect has been earned, East shows no sign of backing down to the defending champs, and after what the team had to do to get to the semifinals, they've earned the right to be confident too.
"It is Parkland, but they bleed just like us," senior guard Scott Lockley said. "They may head to sleep the night before thinking, 'Oh it's just East,' but we did knock off Northampton, and it was a similar thing then. We've got five, seven, 10 guys who all want to win. We got the dogs, and I know we can get it done."
It was a pro-Northampton crowd during the quarterfinal, and East silenced the crowd in the end. The Cardinals will likely have to be the silencer once again if they want to reach the finals.
The District 11 6A semifinal between Pocono Mountain East and Parkland will be held at Easton Middle School on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The other semifinal game between Whitehall and Liberty will precede that, tipping off at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: After district quarter upset, can East boys basketball pull off another?
Continue reading...
The Cardinals pulled off a major upset in the District 11 6A quarterfinals, defeating top-seed Northampton 37-24 to not only advance to the semifinals, but punch their ticket to the state tournament as the four semfinial teams — East, Parkland, Liberty and Whitehall — will all move on.
Some coaches may opt to preach to their players that "no matter what happens, we're in the state playoffs" as a way to keep things loose, almost carefree in a way. That isn't the case with head coach Joe McManus, whose pushing the team to do something that East, formerly known as Pocono Mountain High School, has never accomplished in the school's history.
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"Make no mistake, we want a district title," McManus said. ''Yes, going to states feels good. It's been a long time since the school did it, but our main goal is one game at a time and a district championship That's the immediate thing. We have to go and beat a good Parkland team, but that's our goal.
"We'll be in the state tournament, and that feels good. But you know, winning a district championship will feel even better."
East has relied on its leaders Dominic McManus and Aiden Pierre, but another player that's come on strong the last couple of weeks is senior forward Fred Allicock. Long and lanky, Allicock has shown flashes throughout his career, but he's recently put it together and playing consistent basketball, most notably a game-high 14 points in the quarterfinal win over the Koncrete Kids.
His ascencion couldn't come at a better time for the Cardinals, who now have legitimate size on the inside to tie everything together.
When asked about the reason behind his surge, Allicock said "I've just been listening to my coaches. They tell me what to do, and I do it."
"Because of him. We've actually won games. He's been a catalyst for us to win games, which we know he's capable of," McManus said. "I'm super proud of him, because we've seen all the flashes of what he could do. And for whatever reason, the last few weeks, he's really been putting it together."
Swim in silence: Stroudsburg swimmer Alfred Zheng wants to build on record-breaking performances
Allicock also mentioned how East is using a little transitive property as a part of it's message this week: East beat Northampton, and Northampton beat Parkland, East's semifinal opponent, during the regular season.
It's not an exact science, but that also supports the big picture that any team can beat anyone on any given day, especially among EPC teams. After all, the top-3 seeds, Northampton, Pocono Mountain West and Nazareth, all lost in the quarterfinal round to East, Whitehall, and Liberty, respectively.
You must be registered for see images
"Some of the best talent in the state is in the EPC, and the league should get credit for how deep the schools are in basketball. So yes, you may have teams that are low seeds, but they're really good teams. Whitehall, really good team. We're a really good team," McManus said. "Sometimes it doesn't show in the wins and losses, but you could have a chance against any team in the state on any given night. So the EPC is very deep, and I'm not surprised some of the lower seeds were able to advance."
What helps East be successful is the constantly-evolving defense, which have frustrated teams and turned into offense for the Cardinals. While other teams may have more offensive firepower, East's ability to get stops is an equalizer.
"Our defense is one of the things I'm most confident in," Allicock said. "Even in practice, we're diving on loose balls, talking and doing everything that we could possibly do to make our defense better. The key to defense is communication at the end of the day, and we knew that very well."
More: Despite the changes, West girls basketball never gave up on the season
Very rarely is the next opponent arguably better than the No. 1 seed in the bracket, but East's reward for defeating Northampton is the 3-time defending 6A district champion Parkland Trojans.
Parkland is a program where when the team loses, it's a suprise: the Trojans are the favorite in almost every game they play, and that'll likely be the case Wednesday night at Easton Middle School.
While the respect has been earned, East shows no sign of backing down to the defending champs, and after what the team had to do to get to the semifinals, they've earned the right to be confident too.
"It is Parkland, but they bleed just like us," senior guard Scott Lockley said. "They may head to sleep the night before thinking, 'Oh it's just East,' but we did knock off Northampton, and it was a similar thing then. We've got five, seven, 10 guys who all want to win. We got the dogs, and I know we can get it done."
It was a pro-Northampton crowd during the quarterfinal, and East silenced the crowd in the end. The Cardinals will likely have to be the silencer once again if they want to reach the finals.
The District 11 6A semifinal between Pocono Mountain East and Parkland will be held at Easton Middle School on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The other semifinal game between Whitehall and Liberty will precede that, tipping off at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: After district quarter upset, can East boys basketball pull off another?
Continue reading...
