They kind of had a feeling that they would get this far. They had an idea who they would see, too. But the
Council Rock North (Newtown, Pa.) boys basketball team doesn't care. The Indians are on the brink of school history — never having won a PIAA District 1 Class AAAA championship.
Regrettably standing in Council Rock North's way is
Chester (Pa.) — formidable, state powerhouse Chester High, which has won two of the last six state titles and appeared in three of those six state title games.
The Clippers are 26-1 overall and without question the best team in the state. Council Rock North is 25-1 and arguably the second-best team in Pennsylvania. Which team is actually the best will come down to Friday, when Chester and Council Rock North meet at Villanova's Pavilion at 8 p.m.
The winner stays east, to play out the state tournament, while the losing team goes to the Western part of the state. District 1 gets nine state qualifiers, more than any area in the state, since the district has produced five of the last six state champions and nine of the last 12 state finalists.
Here's the ironic part: The last two state champions lost in the District 1 finals (Penn Wood in 2009; Plymouth-Whitemarsh in 2010) and came back to win the state title.
But again, the Indians aren't thinking ahead. They're thinking of Chester — after reaching the district championship by knocking off the defending state champions Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 58-50, in the district semifinals.
Council Rock North has already established a school record for victories in a season. The Indians are looking to become the first team in school history to win a district championship.
"I like our attitude and I like our makeup mentally going into this game," said Indians' coach Derek Wright, the younger brother of Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "Our competitiveness and toughness has really been consistent, even when we haven't played well. I liked what we did Tuesday night against Plymouth-Whitemarsh. We put it together and it was our best overall game since the playoffs started. We turned the ball over a little more than we wanted to, but our guys played really tough and physical. They were really focused throughout the game."
The Indians will need to do two things well against Chester: take care of the ball and rebound. The Clippers prey on teams coming apart under the vaunted Chester press. It's what happened to the Indians last year when they met Chester in the second round of the playoffs.
"If we take care of the ball enough and hold them to a couple of runs, we can give ourselves a chance at the end," Wright said. "Our guys are looking forward to this. We know what the perception is, that we're supposed to come apart. But we don't take the attitude that we're the underdog. We're pretty confident in who we are and we know we have to play a certain way to win.
"But our guys don't use that as motivation. They've been in enough big games and they expected to be here. They know what their potential is and they deserve to be here. They won't come in here with a chip on the shoulder, but we know we'll have to play great to win."
Look for Charlie Anastasi, the Indians' 6-6 senior center, to play a major role, as will 5-10 junior guard Aaron Morgan and 6-4 junior forward Arron Goodman.
"We know when you start talking about Council Rock North that we're supposed to be a bunch of big, slow, unathletic guys," said Anastasi, who's scored a 1,570 on the 1,600 SAT. "It doesn't matter. We've been focusing on ourselves the whole year and what we do well. We know that Chester is a great team. We know we have to handle their pressure and make sure that we're solid with the ball.
"There is no fear there. I think last year, there was when we played them. We were a little freaked out; they knocked us out in the second round last year. Most of our team is back and we've all developed a lot more in terms of maturity on the court and in confidence. Their press did get to us last year. At the same time, looking forward a year, we're different, more confident and poised."
Chester may not think so, though.
"I'm not concerned at all; we played them and beat them last year pretty good," said Chester's 6-4 star junior forward Erikk Wright. "We've played and beat teams much tougher than them. We watched them against Plymouth-Whitemarsh. I just think we're a better team. We're not too over confident, and I don't we've accomplished anything yet until we win the states. We didn't have a typical Chester team last year. We're Chester and we're back again. We are back — and hey, Council Rock is good, I don't want to take anything away from them. This should be a good game — it should be. We'll see."
Joseph Santoliquito can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
