Colonials add a win to their total

Plymouth Whitemarsh thought it had 999 boys' basketball wins going into last night's game against Upper Dublin.

But it turned out the Colonials had won the 1,000th game in school history eight days ago. The victory total had been miscalculated.

Unfortunately for the visiting Cardinals, Plymouth Whitemarsh still played as if a milestone were at stake.

PW defeated Upper Dublin, 63-39, in the Suburban One American game at the Colonial Elementary School gym.

With the win, Plymouth Whitemarsh improved to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in the league. This season's records, however, were far from the Colonials' mind.

"To be honest with you, [1,000 wins] is humbling," said Colonials coach Jim Donofrio, who - like his players - was stunned to learn that the milestone had been achieved before last night. "I just happened to be the custodian of it for the last 11 years. It's very humbling."

Plymouth Whitemarsh now has 1,002 wins and 387 losses. The Colonials program, which started 54 seasons ago, averages 18.5 wins a season.

"We are talking an average of close to 20 wins a year for your history," said Donofrio, who also played at Plymouth Whitemarsh. "When you think about that, that's a little crazy."

But 18-win seasons also are expected of the Colonials.

Anyone who's ever played at Plymouth Whitemarsh knows the preseason speech by heart.

While the head coaches have changed, the words have remained the same over half a century: "The goals at Plymouth Whitemarsh have never changed. The goals are to win the league, district and state titles."

Plymouth Whitemarsh started as an independent in the 1954-55 season. The Colonials joined the Suburban One League for the 1958-59 season.

Over the years, Plymouth Whitemarsh has been one of Southeastern Pennsylvania's renowned programs. PW won state titles in 1963 and 1997. The Colonials, who have made 22 state-tournament appearances, were the state runners-up in 1964. They reached the state semifinals five times.

The Colonials also own five PIAA District 1 championships and 19 league crowns.

They accomplished this with five head coaches in the history of the program.

Walt Peters started the Plymouth Whitemarsh program and had a 3-14 record in that first season (1954-55). He was followed by legendary coach Hank Stofko, who compiled a 603-241 record and a state title in 35 seasons. Dave McEvoy served an interim coach for one season. McEvoy had an 8-16 record for the 1986-87 campaign while Stofko took a year's sabbatical.

Al Angelos replaced Stofko in 1991. Angelos boasted a 185-48 record and a state title before being replaced by Donofrio in 1999. Donofrio's record stands at 203-68.

"What Coach Stofko was known for was being very direct with players," said Donofrio, who played for Stokfo and coached under Angelos. "Albert was very businesslike, very calm and very rational with the kids in a caring way."

Donofrio took the best from both coaches and fused his personality into it. Aggressively positive is a good way to describe his coaching style.

"I think you have to be direct and honest," Donofrio said. "You have to call kids on the carpet. And in the end, you look at them in the eyes and say this matters."

The game was all but over by the end of the first quarter, when the Colonials were up by 22-4. C.J. Aikens' three-pointer extended the PW lead to 35-8 with 4 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the first half.

Swingman Jaylen Bond finished with a game-high 20 points.

Senior guard Will Mascio was the Colonials' other double-figure scorer with 16 points.

Junior forward Jamil Brown scored 18 points for the Cardinals (6-10 and 6-5).

Upper Dublin 4 14 9 12 - 39

Plymouth Whitemarsh 22 15 10 16 - 63

UD: Anquil Bailey 2, Jamil Brown 18, Andrew Derr 5, Kaleel Nash 10, James Newman 4.

PW: C.J. Aiken 9, Marcus Badger 4, Whis Grant 2, Jaylen Bond 20, Will Mascio 16, Damien Williams 6, Sam Pygatt 6.