From a barn to Hershey’s Giant Center, Devon Prep becomes three-time PIAA champ

HERSHEY — Jason Fisher stopped counting years ago. The Devon Prep coach had become so worn down from getting pounded by the Philadelphia Catholic League heavyweights when the Tide first joined the league in 2018-19 that he stopped keeping track of the team’s record.

He even stopped bringing it up to his players. Devon Prep is one of the smallest schools, population-wise, in the Catholic League. The Tide are an anachronism, playing in what essentially is a barn, where you feel like you walked into a 1920s gym with peach baskets at either end.

In time, the Catholic League’s Little Engine That Could did.

On Thursday night, at the Giant Center in Hershey, Devon Prep won its third PIAA state championship in four years, taking down District 3 champion Berks Catholic, 55-39, for the PIAA Class 4A state title, repeating as state champions after the Tide won the Class 3A state title last year and in 2022.

The Tide (23-4) beat West Catholic, Catholic League champion Father Judge, and District 12 5A champion Neumann Goretti and lost to Roman Catholic in overtime — the other Catholic League state finalists — this season.

Devon Prep also joined Roman Catholic and Neumann Goretti in the pantheon of programs with at least three state titles.

“This is a very special group with the pieces of a perfect team, with a big guy, great guards around him, a point guard who distributes that does play in a barn,” Fisher said. “This is a program made up of special people. It’s a group that believed in themselves and were unselfish.

“This team could go down as one of the best in school history.”

Mason Thear led all scorers with 19 points, Calvin Smith added 13, and Shane Doyle, Zane Conlon, and Reece Craft provided a strong defense, especially inside.

» READ MORE: The secret to Father Judge’s historic basketball season is the grandmom in the student section

This held special significance for Thear and Smith. Both had to sit and watch last year’s run because they transferred into Devon Prep their junior year. They were there last March celebrating the Class 3A state title with their teammates, but this carried much greater weight.

They played a large part in this championship.

“You could only do so much watching from the bench, so it does mean a lot,” Thear said. “We knew we could do this. We never played in the Palestra until this year. We beat great teams, like Judge and Neumann Goretti. It’s why I have no problem saying that we are the greatest team in Devon Prep history.”

Added Smith: “We are together all the time, and we probably could play blindfold because we know where we are on the court. We didn’t go crazy when we won because we wanted to act like we have been there before. And we have. This is ours. We didn’t play last year [in the postseason], but we contributed to this.”

Berks Catholic stayed with the Tide through three quarters and trailed, 38-36, entering the fourth. Devon Prep’s size caused problems for the Saints. Berks Catholic’s Kingston McKoy, a 6-3 junior guard, was exceptional, though every time he had the ball, Doyle, Smith, Conlon, or Thear steered McKoy into the middle, where the Swarthmore-bound 6-foot-7 Craft was waiting.

Berks Catholic’s inability to get to the rim caught up to the Saints. The Tide forced Berks Catholic to miss its first nine shots in the fourth quarter, while building a double-digit lead by mid-quarter.

Berks Catholic did not score its first point of the quarter until there was 2:03 left in the game, and its lone basket in the frame came with 1:01 to play. By then, Devon Prep was ahead, 54-39.

“We spoke about getting back here since the summer,” said Conlon, who joins Doyle as three-time state champions. “I know what it was like getting pounded by the Catholic League teams. We focused on what we could control.”

Sankofa’s bid for a second PIAA Class 1A state championship fell short Thursday afternoon, when Neighborhood Academy’s Shamar Simpson hit a dagger corner three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 56-51 lead.

It marked the first PIAA Class 1A state title for District 7 champion Neighborhood Academy (30-1), while Sankofa (19-12) was looking to claim its second, after taking the 2019 Class 1A crown.

Junior Nafis DuBose led Sankofa with a team-high 18 points, while Neighborhood Academy was led by Syncer Nicholson’s 18 points and Yale-bound senior guard Courtney Wallace’s 16.

Sankofa had drawn to within 53-51, scratching back from a 48-35 deficit with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

But the Warriors were 7-for-19 (36.8%) from the free-throw line, including 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter, and missed numerous layups. Sankofa bolted out to an 8-2 lead, which Neighborhood Academy countered with an 18-3 run to close the first quarter.

Trailing, 51-48, with 3:31 left, the Warriors committed costly turnovers on successive possessions. Wallace landed a turnaround jumper with 1:41 to play, giving the Bulldogs a 53-49 lead, which DuBose answered with a driving layup, putting Sankofa within striking range. But Simpson’s corner three clinched it for Neighborhood Academy.

» READ MORE: Isaiah Thomas, ‘the best-dressed coach,’ leads Sankofa Freedom Academy to PIAA boys’ basketball final

“I’m really proud of my kids, and I’m proud of what they overcame this year,” Warriors coach Isaiah Thomas said. “My kids played hard, and they played strong. Credit to Neighborhood Academy. They played well. The missed layups hurt us more than the missed free throws. I’ll remember the fun I had coaching this group, and we’re young. We have a good chance of getting back [to the state championship next year]. I didn’t feel bad for the seniors. They gave us everything.”