Episcopal Academy 52, Penn Charter 50

Brian Taylor attended Penn Charter from third to seventh grade. A switch to Episcopal Academy came in high school, after disciplinary and grade issues forced him to look for a new academic home.

Taylor, now a senior, said he also has endured some rough patches at Episcopal, but has "straightened up" to become less of a class clown and more focused in the classroom. "I had to, or else I was going to get thrown out of here, too," he said.

Taylor is also showing increased attention to protecting the basketball. Yesterday, recording five assists against just one turnover, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound point guard helped the Churchmen fight past Penn Charter, his old school, 52-50, in overtime.

Taylor Wright, the son of Villanova men's basketball coach Jay Wright, followed home a missed shot with two-tenths of a second to go to give the visitors the victory. The Inter-Academic League clash included 14 lead changes over the final 28 minutes.

Taylor, a first-year starter, lives in Philadelphia's Frankford section. While he was at Penn Charter, varsity coach Jim Phillips helped out by occasionally giving him a ride home after a practice or a game.

"It would have been nice to play for Coach Phillips," the 18-year-old said, "but it just didn't work out. And I'm happy to be at Episcopal. Things have gone well here."

Isaiah Baker, a 6-7, 225-pound junior, paced the Churchmen (7-7 overall, 1-1 league) with 17 points. Wright and D.C. Gaitley each added 11 points.

After a back-and-forth duel through three quarters, Episcopal took a 41-35 advantage on a right-baseline three-pointer by Wright with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in regulation. With 36 seconds to go, Allen Heggs' two free throws made it 43-37.

In the last 17 seconds, the Quakers (5-7, 0-2) made three treys. After Heggs buried the second of two foul shots with 6.1 seconds to go for a 46-43 lead, sophomore point guard John Moderski (17 points, four treys) hurried up the court, and, with Wright draped on him, banked home a running right-wing trey to bring on an extra four minutes.

"I knew it was going to go in," said Taylor, who had a third-quarter bucket. "That's just the way the game was going."

At the 3:14 mark of OT, Penn Charter, which shot 1 for 11 from the field in the third quarter, lost Princeton-bound center Tom Noonan (17 points, three treys) when he was whistled for his fifth foul on an inside attempt by Baker.

"We certainly still had a chance to win the game with the players we had left on the floor," Phillips said.

The Churchmen moved ahead, 50-46, on Gaitley's left-wing shot beyond the arc. A pair of baskets by the Quakers' Jake Richards (11 points) evened things again. On the last possession, Wright pounced on Baker's missed six-footer in the lane and turned it into a winning layup.

"For Taylor Wright, that was about being at the right place at the right time," Episcopal coach Dan Dougherty said.

Baker joked: "That was a good assist on my part."

Taylor, a fullback and linebacker in football, missed much of the gridiron campaign after suffering a broken foot in Week 2. He ended on a high note, though, with three rushing touchdowns in a 26-19 loss to Haverford School in the finale.

Episcopal Academy 10 9 9 18 6 - 52

Penn Charter 10 12 5 19 4 - 50

EA: Brian Taylor 2, Taylor Wright 11, Isaiah Baker 17, Allen Heggs 8, D.C. Gaitley 11, Dan Mengel 3.

PC: John Moderski 17, Tom Noonan 17, Jake Richards 11, Mike Brown 2, Mike McGlinchey 3.