Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10
1. Penn Wood (Lansdowne) (Record: 20-3. Weeks rated: 8.)
2. Sts. Neumann & Goretti (Philadelphia) (Record: 22-1. Weeks rated: 8.)
3. Plymouth Whitemarsh (Plymouth Meeting) (Record: 23-1. Weeks rated: 8.)
4. Carroll (Philadelphia) (Record: 20-3. Weeks rated: 7.)
5. Friends' Central (Wynnewoode) (Record: 23-2. Weeks rated: 5.)
6. Germantown Academy (Fort Washington) (Record: 20-8. Weeks rated: 1)
7. Chestnut Hill Academy (Philadelphia) (Record: 22-4. Weeks rated: 6.)
8. Holy Ghost Prep (Bensalem) (Record: 20-3. Weeks rated: 4)
9. Souderton (Record: 22-2. Weeks rated: 2)
10. Chester (Record: 16-7. Weeks rated: 1)
Now comes the hard part, when each step is treacherous, and room for error evaporates in an instant. Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones stressed since the beginning of the season — and makes sure to continue stressing — "This team hasn’t won anything yet." 
Tyree Johnson, Penn Wood
File photo by Lonnie Webb
No, the Patriots haven’t.
But they are the defending Pennsylvania Class AAAA (large-school) state basketball champions, winning the title for the first time in school history last year. They have a strong nucleus back from last season, led by senior point guard Tyree Johnson, junior guard Aaron Brown, who could arguably be the best player in basketball-hotbed Southeastern Pennsylvania, and 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior forward Shawn Oakman.
The Pats are 20-3, with their three losses coming by a combined margin of five points. Penn Wood hasn’t lost to a Pennsylvania team in almost a year, losing 52-49 to Norristown on Feb. 27, 2009, in the District 1 championship game last season — before getting hot and going 5-0 en route to the state title.
Since last year’s district championship loss, Penn Wood has gone 25-3 overall and 21-0 against Pennsylvania teams. Since then, Penn Wood is averaging 68.3 points a game and surrendering a mere 48.6, having outscored their opponents by an average of almost 20 points a game. This season alone the point differential is 68.7-47.8, excluding last year’s five playoff games.
Until the second round of the district playoffs, no team had come within 11 points of the Pats since they beat Maryland powerhouse St. Francis, 67-56, on Jan. 24 in a nonleague game, avenging one of their three losses.
But they got a scare by an upstart Bensalem team Tuesday night in the second round of the districts, needing a Jeff Kyem free throw with less than 20 seconds to advance, after a 56-55 victory. Penn Wood had to overcome a 55-45 deficit with around two minutes left before going on an 11-0 tear down the stretch.
"I think it’s something we’ll definitely learn from," said Oakman. "We know now we can’t take anyone at this stage lightly. Everyone is coming after us, and we know it. Maybe we needed to get scared a little bit before we start playing the way we can."
Much of that could come down to Johnson. He hasn’t the kind of year he had last year, but then again, he might not have needed to put his game into high drive until now. It was Johnson who led the way late last season, picking up the entire team with his leadership on and off the court, and it was Johnson who radiantly shined in the state title game.
He scored 14 points, shooting 5-for-11, and had six steals and five rebounds. York couldn’t do anything against him, in Penn Wood’s runaway 72-53 victory in the state finals. Now it’s up to Johnson again to lead — the way he can.
"I would say Tyree is their hub, he’s who Penn Wood revolves around, and he hasn’t had the kind of season he had last year, but I know he’s a lot, lot better than how he’s played this season," said an opposing coach who asked not to be identified, because his team could see Penn Wood down the line.
"One thing I don’t want to do is piss Tyree off. It’s why he’s such a scary player to oppose. He can dominate a game when he wants to. But those are the big questions: When will he find that extra gear? Can he just turn it on like he did last year in the districts and the state playoffs?"
If not the 5-8 Johnson, watch closely for 6-5 junior Brown, who leads Penn Wood with a 19.5 scoring average and will undoubtedly be next year’s leader. Brown has added a new dimension this season, a perimeter game to go along with his strong driving ability to the basket.
If Penn Wood reaches the district finals next Friday, March 5, the other challenge that awaits is how will Penn Wood’s Oakman and 6-8 Darian Barnes hold up against the vaunted Plymouth Whitemarsh duo of St. Joseph’s-bound C.J. Aiken, a talented 6-10 center who many college recruiters may have whiffed on by mistakenly labeling him "soft," and 6-7 junior forward Jaylen Bond?
"We know the challenges are out, and believe me, we know we have a target on our backs," Johnson said. "But I think this team likes that. We like being challenged; we like the talk around here in this area that a lot of people, and I mean a lot of people, don’t think we can beat Plymouth Whitemarsh. We won the state championship and still some people out there don't think we're that good. Yeah, you can say we have a chip on our shoulders. But we have to get there to the district finals to play PW. We have to do our part. We can’t get caught looking ahead."
Something that almost happened against Bensalem in the second round.
"We got it out of our system now," Oakman said. "I’d say we’re ready to go. Now is the hard part, and this team is used to it. Believe me, coach Jones let us know we can’t take anyone for granted."
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
