When you’re not in a league and many area schools are either unwilling or unable to play you, you have to look elsewhere to play quality opponents.
Executive Education found a high-quality foe on Wednesday.
The Raptors brought two-time defending state champion Devon Prep to Allentown, and while Executive suffered its first loss of the season, 54-45, coach Ray Barbosa found the experience beneficial for his team.
“It was a good test for us,” Barbosa said. “Devon Prep is one of those teams that will get us better in the long run. They are young this year, but they’re smart, and the coach makes adjustments, so we have to adjust. It wasn’t bad. We just didn’t play our best. But we’re 4-1, and we’re happy with where we’re at.”
Devon Prep has three state championships in four seasons, taking the 3A gold in 2022 and 2024 and the 4A title last March. In the 2024 3A quarterfinals, they had a memorable game with Executive that went two overtimes before Devon Prep prevailed 62-57.
“We were talking about that; it was one of the greatest games I’ve coached in,” Devon Prep coach Jason Fisher said. “I wish neither team had lost that game. That was a really, really good game. So, it was nice to play Executive again. This was a really good game, too.”
It is a very different Devon Prep team. The Tide graduated its top six players from last year’s team, which went 24-4 and beat Berks Catholic 55-39 at Hershey’s Giant Center for the 4A gold.
“These guys we have are young; they’re babies, so it’s good for them to get this experience,” Fisher said. “They’ll be OK. It just takes time. We’re 1-4 now, but we’ve played good teams. We’ve lost to Scranton Prep and North Catholic, who will both be state-ranked in 4A, and we lost to Abington Heights and Middletown, Delaware. We played six guys last year, and actually the last two years, and with them 99% of our rebounding and scoring.”
Fisher said the goal is to use December as preparation for the Philadelphia Catholic League, which will begin for Devon Prep on Jan. 2 against Cardinal O’Hara.
“We have kids who are going to be really good, but they are just young,” Fisher said. “Our expectations are always the same, but you have to coach them differently because they’re still learning. We played a lot of different zones tonight and it’s the first time they have done that. You just to teach them and they’re going to make mistakes. They have to learn from their mistakes and these guys are doing it.”
Executive was outscored 19-12 in the fourth quarter, but was within striking distance until the final two minutes. They were within 46-40 with two minutes left and had the ball, but committed a costly turnover and Devon Prep got a 3-pointer from Jaden Craft at the other end and pulled away from there with good enough foul shooting.
The Tide was 9-for-13 at the line in the final period.
Executive, meanwhile, got to the line just 10 times. The Raptors made 10 3-pointers, but shot just 14-for-31 overall.
“With teams like Devon Prep, you can’t make too many mistakes, and we did tonight,” Barbosa said. “I’m not disappointed at all. We can learn a lot from this and just have to continue to work and get better. We lost to a PCL team that’s going to be pretty good by the end of the season. I’m still excited about our season.”
Junior guard Eshaan Tung led the Raptors with 15 points while sophomore Jaxon Loper added 11.
Devon Prep’s balanced attack was led John Doogan, who had 11 points, while Craft and Braeden Fisher had 10 apiece. The Tide has just two seniors on its roster.
“Since we joined the Philadelphia Catholic League, we don’t go anywhere over the holidays,” Fisher said. “We just try to work on things to get ready for the start of the league, although I don’t know if you’re ever ready. We play O’Hara on Friday [Jan. 2] and then have Neumann-Goretti on Sunday and Archbishop Ryan on Wednesday, and it’s just one tough team after the next.”
Executive is excited to be in the Easton Rotary tournament during Christmas, playing Pennridge on the first night and then either the Red Rovers or Phillipsburg in the championship or consolation game.
Before the holiday break, however, the Raptors will play Northeast High from Philadelphia on Saturday and Overbrook on Sunday.
“We just try to play the best teams possible,” Barbosa said. “That’s the best way to get better.”
Devon Prep 54, Executive 45
Devon Prep 14 – 14 – 7 – 19 — 54
Executive 11 – 11 – 11 – 12 — 45
DEVON PREP (54)
Owen Raymond 3 0-0 7, Braeden Fisher 3 3-4 10, James Kaune 2 1-2 6, John Doogan 5 1-4 11, Jaden Craft 3 2-3 10, Cooper Fairland 1 6-7 8, Caleb Tesfaye 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 13-20 54,
EXECUTIVE (45)
Jaxon Loper 3 2-2 11, Elijah Styles 1 0-0 2, Eshaan Tung 5 2-2 15, Ziyon Wilkins 1 2-4 4, Josh Amos 1 0-0 3. Matt Sancho 1 0-0 3, Noah Bass 0 1-2 1, Cameron Michael 2 0-0 6. Totals 14 7-10 45.
3-pointers: Devon Prep (5) Craft 2, Raymond, Fisher, Kaune. Executive (10) Loper 3, Tung 3, Michel 2, Amos, Sancho.
Other games
Wilson 35, Bangor 34: The Warriors (5-0 overall and league) stayed unbeaten thanks to 13 points by Lafayette Acree and 11 by Andrew Powell. Jason Marcantonis and Loren Gaines led the Slaters (3-3, 3-2) with 13 apiece.
Northwestern Lehigh 54, Saucon Valley 40: Mason Bollinger scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half when the Tigers built a 27-19 halftime lead, and the Tigers also remained one of the area’s few unbeatens. Malachi Coleman made three 3s for Northwestern (4-0), while Will Hastie led Saucon (3-4) with 10.
Salisbury 59, Northern Lehigh 43: The Bulldogs got 20 points from Kellen Bauer, but it wasn’t enough to stop Salisbury, which bounced back from Monday’s 51-43 loss to Bangor. Steve Lozada led the Falcons (6-1) with 18.
Catasauqua 72, Palmerton 42: Frankie Pujols came back from an ankle injury to score 17 points, and Reece Lopez added 15 as the Rough Riders improved to 2-1. Tate Buck led Palmerton (1-8) with 14.
Lehighton 76, Palisades 35: Cole Dietz scored 35 points, and Talin Fairchild added 14 as the Indians rolled to their fifth win in eight games. They made 13 3-pointers, seven by Dietz. Lincoln Cook led Palisades (0-5) with 15.
