Philipsburg-Osceola boys basketball tops Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy 71-33
Philipsburg-Osceola boys basketball continued to push the pace on their hot start to the 2021-22 season with a 71-33 victory over Saint Joseph’s Catholic.
Leading the way for the Mountaineers was point guard Oliver Harpster, who finished with a game-high 19 points. He was one of four Philipsburg-Osceola scorers in double figures on the night. The key was ball distribution for the Mounties — getting each and every one of their starters involved in the offense from the opening tip to the end of the game.
“We have really good team chemistry,” Harpster said. “We practice and we’ve been playing together since we were young. So, we just trust everyone with the ball. I can call pretty much any play, and I’m comfortable with getting a bucket.”
The Mounties worked together in the offseason with their AAU program – the Central PA Lions. Each of Philipsburg-Osceola’s players got involved in the summer to further their skills under head coach TJ Anderson. Their cohesion was evident on Friday night with few turnovers and the ability to pick up their teammates’ defenders from end to end of the court.
They out-rebounded the Wolves, and that is something that Anderson preaches every chance he gets in practice.
“[Rebounding] is a part of the basketball game that we took advantage of with our size, strength and speed,” Anderson said. “We work on a lot of those things. It’s one of the things we impart on our team when coaching.”
One of the key components of Philipsburg-Osceola’s size was forward Jeremy Whitehead. Whitehead’s 6-foot-4 frame gave him ample opportunities to crash the boards and get second-chance scoring opportunities. If he didn’t shoot the ball himself, he was able to kick it out to his teammates for open shots. He finished with 13 points.
“I think that the offseason work really helps,” Whitehead said. “We’ve been lifting a lot. We’ve been in the weight room a lot this year, and that really helped. Everyone has gotten a lot stronger. So it’s a lot easier to crash the boards when it’s more than me or just the other big guys. It’s way easier when we have three or four guys crashing. It gives us better matchups across the board.”
Philipsburg-Osceola took a 25-12 lead in the first quarter with Harpster scoring nine points and Whitehead six. Tim Peters had four points and Jayden Capparelle had six points on two 3-pointers in the first quarter for Saint Joseph’s Catholic.
Harpster continued his scoring push in the second quarter with six more points, and Jacob Desimone had four additional points to finish the half with eight points. Whitehead had two more points to end with eight. Chris Warner had a team-high six points in the second quarter for Saint Joseph’s Catholic, which trailed 39-20 at the half.
Philipsburg-Osceola continued to pour on the scoring effort with four more points from Harpster and Doyle in the third quarter. Desimone had six points, and Whitehead added five additional for the Mounties, who led 63-30 after three quarters.
Philipsburg-Osceola coasted through the fourth quarter, adding eight more points in capping off the 71-33 victory.
Saint Joseph’s Catholic head coach Richard Ciambotti’s team is young and started off the season 1-4. But Saint Joseph’s Catholic flipped the script with a 4-1 record in their past five games.
While the result against Philipsburg-Osceola wasn’t ideal, it was a learning experience.
“We had three games on the schedule this week that we looked at as an opportunity for us,” Ciambotti said. “We got two [wins] Monday and Wednesday. Tonight, we’re just honest with ourselves — that’s a more polished, more refined team right there. They imposed their will, and our guys are going to learn a lot from this game. So, we’re not hanging our heads or anything, we just have to get better next time out, and I think it’s going to help us.”
Philipsburg-Osceola 71, Saint Joseph’s Catholic 33
P-O (6-2): Harpster 19, Desimone 16, Doyle 14, Whitehead 13, Johnson 4, Snyder 3, Hahn 2
SJCA (5-6): Capparelle 11, C. Warner 6, Yartz 5, Peters 4, Duckworth 3, N. Warner 2, Gigante 2
First Half: 39-20, Philipsburg-Osceola
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 11:47 PM.
