SO MUCH for the notion that nothing grows in wintertime.
How about camaraderie? Devotion? A sense of single-mindedness?
Before Strawberry Mansion High could wash away the bitter tastes left by
recent basketball seasons, which it did yesterday by dumping visiting Prep
Charter, 66-53, in a rollicking, intense-as-they-come Public League
round-of-16 playoff (as well as a District 12 Class AA semifinal), it had
to fix its present.
That happened in early January and Devon White, a 6-8, 215-pound senior
center, was among the witnesses. Among the punished, too.
"One day we came into practice and pretty much everybody was messing
around," he said. "Some guys didn't have their practice stuff on.
Others were lolly-gagging, just throwing the ball up from anywhere.
Others were sittin' in the
stands, not even doing anything. It
was crazy.
"Henny [coach Gerald Hendricks] blew his whistle and just started
snappin'. 'You think you're gonna go
anywhere with an
attitude like this?!' He was saying how this season would wind up
like the others. He told us we had to run suicides."
And then he never told them to stop, basically.
"It had to be 45 minutes to an hour," White said. "Up and down.
Back and forth. The only reason we stopped was because guys
started dropping. Couldn't take anymore. But that day led to
this day."
Just minutes earlier, with 13 seconds left, White had hammered
home a fastbreak dunk to not only send Mansion's extra-juiced
fans off the excitement deep end, but achieve a triple-double
in a one-for-the-archives performance.
The slam gave White his 10th and 11th points. He also posted
22 rebounds and 10 blocked shots and was quite the early
force, notching four of his rejections as the Knights roared
to a 15-4 lead.
In time, gone would be memories of 2005, when Edward Bok
Tech's Cory Moultrie hit a 25-foot bank shot at the buzzer
for a 58-57 win; and of 2006, when Communications Tech
prevailed, 75-69; and of 2007, when Imhotep Charter pulled
a better-than-Houdini escape, 80-75.
That last one, like the other two played in Mansion's
gym, was the worst. Dwayne Davis hit six consecutive
treys in the first quarter en route to 32 points. But
when he fouled out with 6:40 left, the Knights
collapsed. Imhotep won the fourth quarter, 31-7.
"A lot of guys were crying in the locker room," White
remembered. "I wasn't. I mean, it was a hurtful thing,
but I was thinking to myself, 'I can't
cry over
this.'
"But when I went home that night, I started thinking
about everything and I
did cry. We had so
many easy wins. And then we let Imhotep come in here
and end our season."
His final thought on the matter?
"All you can do is promise yourself to not look
back," he said.
Easier said than done. Despite White's
heroics, and the ever-present pointfest (30)
provided by Morehead signee Davis, a swingman,
and the reliable bounce-here, bounce-there
work of the steady Eddie Frazier (16 points,
14 rebounds), Mansion did not breeze home.
PC, which now will be unable to defend its
two consecutive state titles, kept chipping
away and showing resiliency and used a
quick, five-point burst - trey by Jesse
Morgan (15 points), steal and layup by Ameen
Tanksley - to charge within 52-49 with 4:36
left.
"When we called that timeout," White said,
"we had to stay calm and get it back
together.
As it was ending we all put our hands
together and shouted, 'Y'all wanna
win!!??' Everybody said, 'Yeah!!!'
"Just how that happened, it gave me that
feeling. We were going to be OK."
Davis provided assurance by sniping
13-for-14 at the line in the last
quarter.
In retrospect, youth and immaturity
hindered the seniorless Huskies. Two
players received techs, one for
growling at a Knight and one for
jawing right in referee Don
McGettigan's face a good 5 seconds
after a timeout had been called.
Often this season, people watching
Mansion have been amazed how
seldom White, who could wind up at
Drexel [although others are
pushing hard], receives entry
passes.
"It's OK," he said. "Points are
the thing I worry about the
least. We have Dwayne and Eddie
for that. I've never been a
shooter anyway. Like I've always
been taught, if I don't get the
ball on post-ups, go get it off
the glass."
Of his shot-blocking, he said:
"It's a timing thing. If I see
a shot going up, I've got to
go get it. If you can't be an
offensive player, be a
defensive player. I love when
guys think they have an easy
layup, then I stick it against
the backboard like flypaper.
Now, that gets me
real
excited.
"I try to get every block I
can. And rebound."
Now, for the first time,
he's headed for not only a
Pub quarterfinal (versus
Imhotep tomorrow, noon, at
Saint Joseph's University
for Class AA honors), but
down the road the state
tournament.
Excitement can grow in
wintertime, too.
"This feels so
good," White said. *