By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
CHERRY HILL — Ben Manns admitted he was a bundle of nervous energy during his final period math lab on Thursday afternoon. He wanted it to be game time, but he had to wait until 6 p.m. to lead his Cherry Hill West Lions to a dominating first-round state playoff win over Absegami.
Manns, a senior forward, scored 19 points — including hitting three 3-pointers in the third quarter — to lead No. 7 Cherry Hill West to a 59-40 win over No. 10 Absegami in the opening round of the South Jersey Group 3 tournament in Jones Gym. The Lions — a team that struggled in late January, losing 4-of-5 games — seems to have found their groove and they’ll travel with a bunch of confidence to second-seeded Ocean City (a 61-50 winner over No. 15 Pemberton in the opening round) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the tournament quarterfinals.
The Lions found themselves down early, 7-4, but then blitzed the Braves with a 19-0 run that at times looked like it was never going to end. Charles Jerkins finally scored late in the second quarter to stop the run and get Absegami to within 23-9, and by halftime the Braves had cut the deficit to 25-13. They made a little run to start the second half and get to within 26-17, but just as quickly West went on an 11-0 run to push the lead out to 20 points, 37-17. Manns nailed a pair of threes during that run and had 14 points in the third quarter — outscoring the entire Absegami team by two points.
“Every halftime we have a saying, ‘first four minutes.’ We think the first four minutes of the second half might tell the tide of the second half. We knew we were up and if we stepped on the gas pedal a little more we could pull away, and that’s what we did. I kind of wanted to set the tone and be a symbol of that,” Manns said. “This was all I could think about (on Wednesday). I went to one of the playoff games and I was like, ‘I wish our game was right now.’ I had to sit in class all day so I was happy to get to the game. I’m lucky to have a lighter schedule, but in the last period I had a math lab that I had to focus on. The game being at 6 p.m. allowed me to go get something to eat, reset, hang with the boys and get ready for this game.”
“Ben was amazing in that third quarter, he really took over. Quinn (Gibson) was in foul trouble and Ben played like a senior. He picked us up, carried us and got hot. It was fun to watch,” said West coach Fred Battee. “These guys love playing basketball with each other. When they see one guy get going it carries over to the next guy, and they want to keep it going. We kind of feed off those runs, feed off each other and that energy. We trust each other.”
Quinn Gibson — already a 1,000-point scorer as a junior — scored just two points in the third quarter because of foul trouble, but he finished with a game-high 22 points while also adding 10 rebounds and three assists. Manns and Gibson had 17 of the Lions’ 27 rebounds, and seven of their 11 assists.
“(Manns) really delivered. I was in foul trouble, so him stepping up was huge. I knew it was going to happen,” Gibson said. “It all started with our defense. We held them to multiple single-point quarters, and our rebounding. We really focused on that in practice. After playing good defense, we started making some shots. We just had to slow it down and execute our plays. We just slowed down, executed and the shots started to fall.”
Jerkins scored on a conventional 3-point play to get Absegami to within 17 points late in the third quarter, but Manns finished out the period with a jumper in the lane and another 3-pointer to push the Lions’ lead out to 46-25 and put the game on ice before the fourth quarter even started.
“We didn’t make our first jump shot, believe it or not, until Jay (Jermyis McIntyre-Burroughs) made one in the fourth quarter. That was the first jump shot we made all night, and that was emblematic of how we were shooting all night. And on the other side, (Gibson and Manns) were unbelievable. They lit us up. Give them all the credit in the world. I don’t know what else to say,” said Absegami coach John Arcidiacono. “This was a great atmosphere and we were playing a great team. Anyone would love to play in a game like this. It didn’t come out our way. I felt like our kids played hard, but things didn’t go our way. But that’s basketball. All the credit in the world to them, their coaching staff did a great job, and we wish them all the luck on Tuesday.”
Cherry Hill West now turns its attention to Ocean City, one of the top teams in the Cape-Atlantic League. The Red Raiders are 24-3, with two of their losses coming against Middle Township, the No. 7 team in the state.
“Going into (the Ocean City game) I know we can compete, we just have to do what we did this game, which is focus on defense,” Gibson said. “They have a good scorer on their team (Kori Segich), so if we just execute, slow it down and play our game, I think it will be a close game and maybe we can pull it out.”
Added Battee, “we’re excited just for one more game (at least) with these guys. I love this group, I love being around these guys every single day. They love playing together. We have higher expectations than just winning one playoff game though, so we’re excited and looking forward to what’s next.”
Manns said he knows each next game could be his last in a purple uniform, and he’s playing with the passion that comes along with that knowledge.
“It’s always in the back of my head and I don’t take any opponent lightly. I didn’t think this night would come out any other way than it did, though. I knew we were going to win, and I had that mindset,” he said. “A home playoff game is big, we had a nice crowd tonight and we were able to feed off that. Now we have a tough test to travel down to Ocean City, but we think we have the guys who can compete with any team in South Jersey. I think if we play the way we did tonight — and defend the way we did — we can compete anywhere.”
Absegami loses four seniors — including 1,000-point scorer Isiah Akpassa — but Arcidiacono is confident the Braves can keep building on what they’ve done during his tenure. In his first three seasons the Braves are 49-31, including 20-7 this season.
“It’s been unbelievable. We set pretty much every single-season record last year for Absegami, then we broke all the records again this year,” Arcidiacono said. “It’s pretty cool and we hope we can keep trending in that direction. We still have a good group of juniors and sophomores who we’re really excited about it. Now the offseason starts, and we’ll be ready to go.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 7 Cherry Hill West at No. 2 Ocean City on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinals. Absegami’s season is complete.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
