27127962
Prep Charter’s opening-round playoff win over Freire Charter, 81-48, wasn’t the story Tuesday afternoon. That was expected.
The biggest news came at halftime when Athletic Director Chuck Pearsall introduced the Husky, the school’s new mascot. The brown-and-white furry dog made his debut dancing at center court with the cheerleaders, who quickly took turns posing for pictures.
Senior Paris Griffin said the mascot is a welcome addition to the Prep Charter family.
"He brings more school spirit to the team," Griffin said. "Today was the first time everybody was seeing him."
The Huskies will keep the mascot busy this week with as many as three home games over four days.
"I am pretty sure he can handle it," Griffin said. "The whole team fights hard. He is part of the team, so without a doubt he can handle it."
Junior Marcus Morris, who led the Huskies offense with 17 points, said he was expecting the mascot to be more active.
"Maybe he was nervous," Morris said. "He probably didn’t know how the crowd would react to him."
The Prep Charter mascot still needs an official name.
"I would just call him The Husky," Morris said.
The unnamed mascot is expected to be on the sidelines during Prep Charter’s Public League championship journey. Yesterday afternoon, the Huskies hosted Masterman in the A championship game, which started after press time. The winner qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association AA state tournament – the Public League’s A winner plays up to AA level at states – and will advance to tomorrow’s Public League quarterfinals against the AAA champ.
WHAT IS THE one thing a team needs more than anything else for a first-round playoff game?
Uniforms and sneakers are a must, but even more important is a bus to get to the match-up.
Tuesday, the Southern boys’ basketball team was left stranded without a way to get to the game. Instead of opening the playoffs at Washington, the game, which began after press time, was postponed to Feb. 15. Read next week’s sports section to find out if the Rams’ bus ever showed up.
The winner of that rescheduled game qualifies for next month’s PIAA AAAA state tournament, along with other first-round winners Edison, Gratz, and University City, and will face Gratz in tomorrow’s AAAA semifinals. Gratz defeated Southern, 61-46, in their Jan. 3 regular-season meeting.
The lack of transportation was just the latest twist in this wild week.
Southern coach George Anderson was looking forward to holding a Monday afternoon practice to make final preparations for Tuesday’s Public League playoff game. One problem: The School District of Philadelphia closed the schools, leaving the Rams home for the snow day.
After 24 games, is practice really necessary the night before a big playoff game?
"It’s always good to have practice, but we are at the point now where it would be like studying the night before a test," Anderson said. "Either you are prepared or you’re not prepared. You’re not going to change the preparation the night before a test."
The Rams closed out the regular season riding a two-game losing streak, as they lost Feb. 7 to Martin Luther King, 49-46, and Feb. 9 to University City, 57-54. Suddenly, the South Philly squad went from hosting an opening-round game to boarding a bus to Washington High.
Heading into the game, Anderson was confident his team would come out victorious.
"If we play our game and play hard, we have an excellent chance to come out on top," he said.
IN OTHER PUBLIC League action, the Bok Wildcats opened the AAA playoffs Tuesday afternoon against Strawberry Mansion, the same team they upset in last year’s playoffs when they secured the city’s lone AAA state tournament spot.
This time around, Strawberry Mansion dominated the South Philly squad, 100-58, eliminating Bok from the postseason. Gary Harris and Keith Williams led Bok with 19 points apiece.
Public League boys’ basketball playoff schedule
Thanks to the weekend snowstorm, Philadelphia Public League playoff games were canceled Monday. League officials have reshuffled the schedule. Here are the updates, along with results from Tuesday’s opening-round matches:
Feb. 14
A semifinals
Prep Charter 81, Freire Charter 48
Masterman 69, Bodine 53
AAA semifinals
Strawberry Mansion 100, Bok 58
Communications Tech 73, Swenson 39
AAAA quarterfinals
Gratz 67, Dobbins 33
University City 62, Frankford 52
Edison 53, Central 48
Feb. 15
A championship
Masterman at Prep Charter
(started after press time)
AAAA quarterfinals
Southern at Washington
(started after press time)
Feb. 17
Public League AAAA quarterfinals
Southern-Washington winner at Gratz
Pubic League AAA-A quarterfinal
Strawberry Mansion-Communications Tech winner vs. Prep Charter-Masterman winner
Feb. 24
Public League semifinal at Community College of Philadelphia, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 25
Public League semifinal at St. Joe’s University, 7 p.m.
March 3
Public League championship game at La Salle University, 8 p.m.
