January 24, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Chestnut Hill College coaches return to roots
by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill College’s Brandon Williams scored 10 points against Philadelphia Uiversity. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Both Chestnut Hill College women’s coach Jackie deMarteleire and men’s coach Jesse Balcer are products of the basketball program at Philadelphia University, and they returned to their alma mater last Tuesday evening as the visiting Griffins played a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader against the Rams.

They each faced their former mentors, deMarteliere working across the scoring table from Tom Shirley (who is also Director of Athletics at  Phila. U.), while Balcer was matched up against area coaching legend Herb Magee, who is approaching his 850th career victory.

With the Rams being longstanding members of NCAA Division II, and Chestnut Hill just moving up to that level and joining the CACC this year, the results were predictable. The Griffin women (2-11 overall, 0-5 CACC) stayed reasonably close to the Lady Rams throughout the game before succumbing, 68-56, but in the men’s contest the home team buried CHC (1-12, 1-4) with a flurry of three-pointers in the middle of the first half, and went on to win, 90-52.

Philly U. saw its women’s franchise improve to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in-conference, while the men raised their record to 8-10 against all opponents, and 5-0 in the CACC.

Chestnut Hill resident Ashley Webster, a senior starter who can play either guard or forward, pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds while recording 13 points, four assists, and two blocked shots for the Lady Rams, who received 16 points from Plymouth Whitemarsh grad Taylor Magnus, a sophomore guard. Webster came away from the contest needing just 27 points to reach the 1000-point milestone for her career.

Led by forwards Jenna Beck (with nine rebounds and a game-high 17 points) and Tara Walsh (14 points and 10 rebounds), Chestnut Hill kept the Lady Rams from becoming completely comfortable in the leader’s role. Penetrating to the basket or pulling up for the short jumper, Walsh, Beck, and Lindsay Formica had the Griffins ahead, 15-13, after about eight minutes.

Collecting themselves during a time-out, the hosts went in front for good with a 10-0 surge. With Webster producing in the paint and sisters Amanda and Kate Brennan dropping three’s from the perimeter, Philly U. was up by a dozen (34-22) near the close of the first period. Netting the final points of the half on a pair of free throws and posting the initial two points of the second stanza on a lay-up, Webster extended the lead to 16 points, 38-22.

CHC’s Beck and Formica attacked the basket and Jessica Pruiti tossed in a trey to pull the Griffins back within six points (38-32), but the Lady Rams answered with an 8-0 resurgence. Chestnut Hill got no closer than eight points (52-44 and 54-46) the rest of the way, and the hosts wound up winning by a dozen.

Amanda and Kate Brennan scored 10 and eight points respectively, and teammate Steph Agger hit 10 of her 11 points during the second half. CHC received nine points from Lindsay Formica and six apiece from Pruiti and Katelin Formica.

Philly U. men’s coach Herb Magee realized that Balcer and his Chestnut Hill squad were taking their lumps in their first Division II season.

“The difference between our teams right now,” he said, “is that we have bigger and stronger athletes and we have much more experience. Jesse had a better team last year because he had those good seniors. Now he’s working in all these new kids, but still they’ve hung in with almost everybody.”

Early in the men’s game, the Griffins’ Brandon Williams (10 points total) knocked down a three-pointer, and he and Kevin Whaley completed old-time three-point plays (field goal plus free throw) to keep the visitors competitive. About 10 minutes in, they only trailed the Rams 17-12. Philly U. guard Mike Dunn, who’d hit one “three” already, now dropped in four more in succession. When Marcus Lemon stepped back for a trey of his own from the right wing, the Rams’ lead had ballooned to 20 points (32-12) in a little more than four minutes.

CHC never recovered from this bombardment. Whaley (seven points total), Bryant Lennon (eight), Julian McFadden (five) and Trenton Davidheiser (four) trimmed the Rams’ lead a little bit, but the hosts were still up 15 at halftime.

Philly U. pulled away smartly in the second half, and ended up making over 57-percent of its shots from the floor, while the Griffins had no hope of getting back in contention on a night when they converted on just 15 of their 54 field goal attempts (27.8-percent).

In the second period, forward Malcolm Ingram (12 rebounds) rang up 18 of his 26 total points for the Rams, whose lead reached 41 points (86-45) with a little over two minutes remaining in the game. Dunn finished up with 20 points and the winners also got double-digit offense from Lemon (11 points) and Maurice Martin (12).

Rams mentor Magee feels that in the future, Chestnut Hill won’t be as easy to handle.

“Jesse knows what he’s doing, and if he can add a couple more guys to this group he has now, he’s going to have a nice team,” Magee said.

UPDATE: Each of the Griffin hoops teams picked up a conference win later in the week. The CHC men claimed their second victory of the season on Thursday night, beating University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, 72-66 (McFadden – 25 pts.; Willaims – 20). On Saturday, the women went on the road to defeat Post University, 75-63 (Walsh – 18; Pruiti – 15).