BENSALEM – The Dock Mennonite boys basketball team had a hard time making free throws in the final moments of the game on Wednesday night.
During the PIAA-2A second round match against Sankofa Freedom, the Pioneers attempted nineteen foul shots in the fourth quarter but only managed to make eight.
Dock coach Mike Fergus commented, “We practice shooting them in every way possible. We just need to step up and make them, that's all.”
Despite the missed free throws, the Pioneers remained determined and held on to win 48-45 at Bensalem High School, securing their spot in the state quarterfinals.
Fergus praised his team, saying, “Our kids deserve credit because many high school kids tend to lose focus defensively when they miss free throws. Our players don't do that. They consistently give their best, and that gives us a chance to win even when we're missing free throws.”
Ethan Parr scored the most points with 12 for Dock Mennonite (25-4), while both Tony Martin and Michael John added 10 points each. The team made a strong comeback in the third quarter with a 14-5 run, entering the fourth quarter with a 38-32 lead.
Martin remarked, “We got into the flow, and we understood the team's strategy better. At the start, we were uncertain about what they would do, but as we got into the rhythm and increased our pace, we started to figure them out. By halftime, I felt confident about the third quarter.”
This was the Pioneers' second consecutive victory over Sankofa Freedom in the state second round, having won 60-44 last season on the same court. The District 1 champions are set for a rematch in the quarterfinals against District 2 champ Holy Cross on a date and location to be announced.
Holy Cross, who defeated Claysburg Kimmel 72-24, previously bested Dock in last year's round of eight meeting with a score of 64-57.
Fergus expressed his happiness, stating, “I'm thrilled. It's a great achievement for our program and our kids. I hate this time of year if you're not playing basketball. I took them outside yesterday to appreciate the surroundings, the sunshine, and said, ‘If you're playing basketball in Pennsylvania and it's nice outside, you're having a fantastic year.’”
Nafise Dubose led Sankofa Freedom (13-14) with 10 points, while Jasir Henderson contributed nine points.
Dock concluded Wednesday's game shooting 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from the free-throw line, following a 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) performance in last Saturday's first-round win over Halifax.
Martin expressed, “The pressure is getting to some of us, and we're getting a bit nervous. When I last went to the line, I made sure to focus and made both shots. But I think some of my teammates got rattled, though we all bounced back in the end.”
A Jameel Brown 3-point play just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, followed by a Nasir Williams basket after a backcourt steal, quickly reduced the Warriors' deficit to 38-37. Ethan Parr responded with a 3-point play at 7:14, and two foul shots from John at 4:14 had Dock leading 44-37.
Jasir Henderson scored inside and drew a foul – he missed the free throw – at 4:05 while Nafise Dubose’s basket on a drive had the Warriors within 44-41.
Dock missed the target twice at the line while a Sankofa try from three rimmed out. With 59.6 seconds, Tony Martin made his pair of free throws to put Dock up five.
After Brown made two foul shots at 53.5 seconds, Dock missed a shot but Sankofa Freedom could not connect on a three. The Pioneers hit the second from the stripe at 26.6 seconds while Dubose’s bucket made it 47-45 with 16.3 seconds remaining.
With 11.5 seconds, Dock could only get the first of two free throws to fall to keep it a one-possession game but Sankofa missed a three, Dock getting the rebound and went to the line with 1.2 seconds.
The Pioneers, however, went 0-for-2 at the stripe then fouled Sankofa at 0.5 seconds. But the Warriors’ first free throw did not fall and then could not get a shot off after intentionally missing the second.
“We have practiced free throws, up until the last two games we have so almost 70 percent from the line,” Fergus said. “So I don’t know what it was or what it is but we got to get it fixed there’s no doubt about that. I mean, that was a glaring weakness of our game and it wasn’t just one guy so we got to work on that.”
Dock trailed 27-24 in the third before Martin made a 3-pointer then got a basket to give Dock its first lead of the game at 29-27. Williams scored to tie things at 29 but Parr connected on a three with Vaughan Martin’s basket putting the Pioneers up 34-29.
“I just told ‘em to settle down and play our game,” Fergus said. “We were playing so out of sync, their defense was really good, really handsy, they were grabbing our cutters and hand-checking us – which is fine, we’re just not used to that from that kind of athletic player, it’s good defense as far as I’m concerned.
“But we didn’t handle it real well at first and the second half we relaxed and had a few deeper possessions but I mean, it was an ugly game except for the fact that we won.”
A Parr jumper had Dock leading 36-30 before Asim Hardy scored to get Sankofa within four. Vaughan Martin’s two free throws at 27.9 seconds made it 38-32 Pioneers after three quarters.
In the second quarter, Williams’ baseline drive had Sankofa Freedom up 15-10 but consecutive AJ Washington baskets and a Michael John free throw pulled the Pioneers level at 15 with 3:06 left in the half.
The Warriors responded by scoring six of the next seven to lead 21-16 after a Dubose jumper. Parr posted a basket to cut the margin to 21-18 at the break.
Dock Mennonite 48, Sankofa Freedom 45
Dock Mennonite 8 10 20 10 – 48
Sankofa Freedom 9 12 11 13 – 45
Dock Mennonite: Ethan Parr 4 1 1-1 12; Michael John 3 0 4- 10 10; Tony Martin 2 1 3-4 10; AJ Washington 4 0 1-5 9; Vaughan Martin 2 0 2-4 6; Koby Rollerson 0 0 1-2 1; Totals 15 2 12-26 48.
Sankofa Freedom: Nafise Dubose 5 0 0-0 10; Jasir Henderson 2 1 2-5 9; Asim Hardy 3 0 2-6 8; Jameel Brown 1 0 5-5 7; Nasir Williams 3 0 1-2 7; Terrence Fortson 2 0 0-0 4; Totals 16 1 10-18 45.
