Public League basketball championships preview: Imhotep boys and girls will defend titles Saturday

The Imhotep basketball juggernaut is set to make its latest stop at Temple’s Liacouras Center on Saturday when the boys’ team takes on Constitution in the Public League championship game, and the girls go up against Audenried in their title game.

The girls are set to tip off at 5 p.m., and the boys are to follow at 7.

“We’re going to treat it like it’s any other game,” Constitution coach Rob Moore said. “I want the kids to come out and just play basketball.”

The Imhotep boys have yet to be tested in this season’s playoffs, winning their four games by an average of 33 points. The Panthers beat Math, Civics and Sciences, 84-64, in the league semifinals.

Imhotep, undefeated in the Public League, has three seniors committed to Division I schools. Donta Scott, a 6-foot-7 swingman, will be attending Maryland. Dahmir Bishop, a 6-4 guard, has committed to Xavier, and Jamil Riggins, a 6-6 forward, has committed to Binghamton. Chereef Knox, a 6-6 senior swingman, has offers from George Mason, Old Dominion, and Hofstra, according to verbalcommits.com.

The Panthers have won the last two Public League crowns and are going for their eighth since 2009.

The Constitution Generals are led by junior Keshaun Hammonds, who averages 20.3 points per game. The 6-foot guard has scholarship offers from Rider and Bryant, according to verbalcommits.com. Jabari Merritt, a 6-5 senior swingman, is second on the team in scoring averaging at 14.8 points per game. He also averages nine rebounds.

Constitution lost to Imhotep, 77-58, on Dec. 11. However, the Generals are playing their best basketball of the year, posting a 15-3 record in their last 18 games, including a 72-67 triumph over Mastery North in the league semifinals.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Moore said. “If we play our best game of the season, we’ll be fine.”

For the girls, Taliyah Rahman scored a game-high 23 points, and Alanis Hill added 21 Thursday as Audenried beat Mastery North, 72-60, in the semifinals to advance to its first championship game. The Rockets, winners of their last five straight games, beat GAMP and Girls High to get to the semifinals.

Imhotep, which beat Mastery North in the final last year, was led Thursday by Janai Smith’s 16 points and Alana Swift’s 12 in a 76-33 victory over Palumbo in the semifinal. Like the boys, the Imhotep girls have dominated this season. They defeated Motivation, Constitution, and Palumbo by an average of 35 points on their way to the final. The Panthers also beat Audenried twice this season, 77-63, on Dec. 19 and 66-50 on Jan. 25.