District 1 Madness Recaps: 

Rollercoaster.  That’s one word that could describe the battle between Pottstown and Great Valley that came down to the final seconds.  With two dueling sections holding hundreds of students, this game had a big time atmosphere, and big time stakes.  Pottstown started strong, getting out to a 14-2 lead and finishing the first quarter up 16-4.  This was due to their incredible speed and sharp shooting.  The second quarter saw the roles reverse; the Trojan's shooting went cold, and Great Valley started the period with a 12-2 run.  Pottstown’s lead was cut to 24-20 by the end of the first half.    The second half saw the two teams battle back and forth, with athletes stepping up their game and leaving it all on the floor.  Lamont Walton (10 points, 3 assists) stepped up the pace of the game with dashes and darts away from his defenders, which opened the door for his teammates to score.  One of those teammmates was Jourdan Wilkerson (8 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks), who came up big with key baskets and tough rebounds throughout the game.   Great Valley stayed in the game however, thanks to the play of Zach Oas inside (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Mike Donatoni outside, as he hit 4 three pointers in the second half and finished with 15 points. 

The game remained neck and neck as the clock ticked down in the 4^th quarter.  With Great Valley down by 2 with 4.8 seconds left to go and with possession, Oas received a pass in the paint and was fouled in the act of shooting. Now with only .3 seconds left, Oas found himself in one of the biggest pressure situations a basketball player could find himself in - shooting needed free throws to end the game.  Oas was able to make the first free throw, but missed the second, and Pottstown grabbed the rebound to end the emotional contest.  Oas was upset after the missed free throw, but Pottstown's coach John Iswalt gives him credit.  "When he made the first one, I was like 'Man, he can make free throws'," he said after the game.  “That’s a tough situation to be in at all levels.” 

As cliché as it is, this was one of those games you really didn’t want either team to lose.  But when the buzzer sounded, it was Pottstown that got the win and got to hoist the District 1-AAA trophy in a season that had a lot of questions.  “Our guys didn’t know what we had,” Iswalt said.  “We had some new guys.  [Once] we started gelling, we knew we could be successful if we played our roles.” 

Pottstown’s next role?  Perhaps ride the rollercoaster right to a state championship.