A twin-win situation for Prep Charter

AFTER ALL these years of being joined at the hip, Marcus and Markieff Morris chose to join themselves at the head.

Standing in the middle of the court at Temple's Liacouras Center, immediately surrounded by delirious teammates and coaches and photographers, they kept tapping foreheads against each other as they cried and tried to make coherent conversation, but instead mostly babbled.

Can there be a better feeling for a high school kid than winning a championship?

Sure, sharing the incredibly exhilarating experience with your twin.

Prep Charter 49, Simon Gratz 48.

That was the final score in what, little by little, became a wonderful Public League final, one that will stand up for the ages.

At midcourt and later in a hallway outside the locker room, Markieff and Marcus were asked, independently, whether the experience was the best of his life.

"By far," both said.

For decades, they'll be telling the story of the final moments, when the Huskies won the title, then didn't win it, then, yeah, won it again.

Gratz had three shots at wresting away the victory. In between, the clock melted down to 0:00 and Prep Charter's contingent made a mad dash to the locker room.

"I knew we'd have to come back," Markieff said, laughing. "I saw the clock wasn't at 0:00 when the ball went out. I left with the hope that we would not have to come back, but . . . "

Said Marcus: "I knew we'd have to come back."

Notice the exact same comment again. Aren't twins amazing?

Gratz' first "final" possession began with 16.3 seconds remaining, following a timeout. Markieff had just followed his own miss for a 49-48 lead.

Near the end, guard Josh "Scrap" Martin capped a drive by throwing up a semiwild flip shot that was partially deflected by Markieff. Gratz' Alibaba Odd grabbed the rebound and attempted a close-in follow. Marcus punched it almost to the corner of Broad and Montgomery.

The buzzer sounded. The Huskies and their fans, many of whom stormed the court, started going berserk. "We Are the Champions" came pouring, loudly, through the sound system. But already, referee Pat Shanahan was shaking his head in "no-no-no" fashion and signaling to the scorers' table that the game wasn't over.

The Huskies were summoned. They came back out. The clock was reset to 1.3 seconds. With every person standing and/or screaming and/or biting fingernails and/or holding his/her breath, Martin inbounded from in front of Gratz' bench, not too far from the left corner. His pass went to Charles White, stationed nearby. He launched a trey. It came close, but hit metal instead of fabric.

This time the celebration would not be in vain.

"Tonight was our time," Marcus Morris said. "That shot wasn't going in."

Said Markieff: "After everything we've been through, I don't think that shot was allowed to go in."

Later, Gratz coach Leonard Poole noted: "I didn't like the way the game ended, but this night was good for the city. That's the loudest crowd I've heard in years and the best game in 5 years."

The Memphis-bound twins were doubly destructive to Gratz' chances. The 6-10 Markieff, who was named the game MVP, totaled 23 points, 18 rebounds and eight blocked shots. The 6-9 Marcus had 10 points, 10 boards and five assists.

And get this: Markieff, despite his defensive dominance, never incurred even one personal foul and Marcus did not pick up his first until 1:41 remained in the third quarter. He did finish with four and had to sit down briefly.

"To win with my twin, you don't know how cool this is," Markieff said. "He means the world to me. He's my best friend in life. I don't know where I'd be without him. Next we'll be going through college together. Maybe if we make it to the NBA we'll have to [separate], but that'd be different."

Said Marcus: "Having this happen for both of us, together, makes it so special."

PC, a sixth-year member, is the first charter school to win a Pub championship. Coach Dan Brinkley's Huskies fell in the '05 final to Central and last year exited the playoffs in the quarterfinals, though they did regroup and storm to the Class AA state title.

"It's a great thing to finally win it," Markieff said. "This is way bigger than the states. What good is the states if you can't win the Pub?"

With 5:40 left in the third quarter, PC earned itself a 33-25 lead as Marcus picked up a loose ball and deposited a layup. Somehow, all knew Gratz would find a way to mount a challenge and all were right.

In the fourth quarter, with 4:37 showing, Gratz finally nudged ahead, 42-41, as Ishmawiyl McFadden (10 points, six rebounds, three blocks) hit two free throws. PC notched the next six, with the big play a dunk/foul shot combo for Markieff on a nifty feed from Parrish Grant.

The Bulldogs answered emphatically, forcing three straight turnovers that led to six consecutive points. The go-ahead basket, at 48-47, came at 39.8 on White's layup off a pass from Martin; Tommie "T.J." Sykes (13 points) had knocked the ball loose.

"We had some shaky moments. Some bad turnovers," Markieff said. "I was telling the guys to just get it to me."

Tyree "Chuck" Harris did just that along the left baseline. But 'Kieff blew a gimme! He had the poise to stay with the play, grab the rebound and deposit the follow.

In the twins' first two PC seasons, Markieff was almost always the headliner. Marcus has made gigantic strides this season, with Markieff cheering him on.

"He finally came out of his shell, in school ball," Markieff said. "He's been doing plenty for us. Really, he's been real good in AAU ball all along."

PC and Gratz (in Class AAAA) next week will begin pursuit of state titles. For the Huskies, the warm-and-fuzzies will not diminish any time soon.

And last night, hopefully no one had a cold. One of the better visuals during the postgame demonstration of unabashed joy: the players, over and over, leaning in to plant kisses on kiss the trophy. *