West Philadelphia High School has been in this situation before.
The Speedboys cruised their way to the Public League championship during the 2022-23 season before suffering an 18-point loss to Imhotep Charter in the final. Now three years later, head coach Adrian Burke and his team are back in the title game, following a 68-47 win over Dobbins Technical High School in Tuesday’s semifinal.
When Burke walked into the locker room at La Salle’s John Glaser Arena following the win, he was bombarded by his team, who dumped water on him to celebrate its championship appearance. Now, the Speedboys will look to knock off Imhotep, the defending champions, on Sunday.
As for Burke, he feels a sense of pride for his team and coaches that West Philly got there.
“It feels great,” Burke said. “You put in a lot of work with these kids, and you never know what’s going to happen. From day in to day out, but these kids, they stayed the path. They stayed straight. We just kept fighting. I tell them, ‘Continue working hard, good things will happen for you.’”
Senior guard Khabir Washington led the Speedboys with 18 points and sophomore forward Isaiah Powell-Smith added 17.
The Speedboys have six seniors who were on the 2022-23 team and lost in the Public League championship. Now, they’ll get a second chance.
“They’ve been playing hard,” Powell-Smith said. “They’ve been here since freshman year, but I feel like we should just give them another chance.”
A game of runs
Despite trailing, 32-25, at halftime, Washington and senior guard Xavier Howard helped propel West Philly through its rut. Though they let an early lead slip away, the Speedboys remained calm heading into the locker room.
“Never get too high, never get too low,” Washington said. “Whether we [are] winning or we [are] down. Basketball is a game of runs, and as long as we make the final run, we always believe we’re going to be good.”
Washington was the catalyst. He had four points in the first half, but drilled a three from deep as Howard knocked down another to power a 14-0 run.
Dobbins didn’t score until the three-minute mark of the third quarter and had just 15 second-points as the Speedboys erupted.
“I said, ‘Look, we ain’t going to zone no more gimmicks. We going straight man-to-man. We’re going to put our will against their will, and let’s see what happens,’” Burke said. “That’s what happened.”
Dobbins mounted a comeback behind three-pointers from guards Zahmir Green and Kyyir Roberts-Moore to cut the score to 42-39, but it wasn’t enough.
Powell-Smith’s eight fourth-quarter points helped put Dobbins away.
“He had a rocky start,” Burke said. “Halfway through the season, he just bought into everything we were doing. Everything changed.”
‘Make it worthwhile’
As West Philly prepares to face Imhotep in another Pub final, Burke noted that many of the players from that team that lost to the Panthers in 2023 are no longer with the program. The seniors sticking with him throughout all four seasons meant a lot.
“These guys stuck with me when other guys left,” Burke said. “They told me, ‘We’re going to work as hard as we possibly can and get back.’ I said, ‘We’re going to get back. We just gotta keep working hard.’”
The team feels the same way about Burke, and they hope to return the favor on Sunday.
“I was here my freshman year, it took a lot to get back to this place,” Washington said. “Guys left. Guys stayed. I’m just happy for my head coach. We get an opportunity to play [for] a championship, and we’re going to make it worthwhile this year.”
