Chandler eager to lead McDevitt to playoff win

MARKEISE Chandler has relaunched the shot 100-plus times and the outcome has remained consistent.

"It always swishes," he said.

Unfortunately, his mind has done some editing.

Chandler, a 6-1, 170-pound senior, stars at guard (mostly on the wing) for Bishop McDevitt High's basketball team and the aforementioned shot came Saturday at St. Joseph's Prep as the Lancers battled Communications Tech for the Class AA City Title.

After starting the have-to-go-end-to-end inbound play stationed near the west basket, Chandler scurried eastward and accepted a baseball toss from Carl Garner at roughly midcourt. By the time he landed, halted his momentum, turned and uncorked his push-shot heave, he was slightly on the long side of the halfcourt line.

Result? Not bad, all things considered. The ball did hit the rim. Not good enough, however. McDevitt fell, 55-53, thus failing to equal its all-time postseason win total as a Catholic League member.

Let's run that past you again, with exact details: After going 18-0 in the 1962-63 season to win the ol' Suburban Catholic League, then falling to Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, 47-46, in a Catholic state semifinal, McDevitt joined the Philadelphia Catholic League for 1963-64. It's 1-11 in postseason action since then and the lone win, 75-63 over now-defunct Cardinal Dougherty in a quarterfinal, occurred in 1989.

"That's surprising," Chandler said yesterday amid the sound of bouncing balls in the Lancers' gym. Nearby, teammates were preparing for practice by shooting jumpers and free throws. "I guess that shows, McDevitt isn't known for winning too much."

Saturday's inbound play began with 1.9 seconds remaining.

"We practice that a lot. That's usually what we run in that situation," Chandler said. "I usually turn and pass it to the wing, so somebody can take a jumper. But with so little time left, I had to take it myself.

"Even with more time, I probably would have taken it. I had confidence. Having the chance for a couple more dribbles, so I could be closer, that would have helped. I was prayin' it would go in. Prayin'! It looked good to me. Just couldn't get it."

The circumstances of the Lancers' City Title appearance were quite weird. After all, they'd gone 3-10 during the CL regular season and had not even earned one of the 14-team league's 10 available playoff spots. They had bested West Catholic (also 3-10), however, and that gave them the tiebreaker advantage among AA squads.

As sad as Chandler was Saturday, his mood never dipped to depression. He knew the Lancers had performed well without co-franchise Brahieme Jackson, serving a one-game suspension for violating a team rule. Even better, he knew the season wasn't over.

That brings us to this Saturday. McDevitt will meet District 11's Shenandoah Valley - 3:30 p.m. at Archbishop Ryan - in a first-round playoff.

"Honestly," Chandler said, "I see us winning this game by double digits. I say that off how we've been practicing. There hasn't been the same look. We usually have a couple guys slouching. Not this week. Everybody's going hard, bringing their 'A' game.

"It's like we're getting ready for a championship game."

Aside from Chandler, Jackson and Garner, coach Jack Rutter's rotation includes Kenyatta and Tyrell Long (no relation), Mike Newns, Tymere Wilder, Jordan Watson, Diamir Williams and Miguel Genabat, depending on assorted factors.

Chandler is averaging 17.4 points. He shows good lateral quickness, along with late, explosive leaps on hard drives, not to mention feathery jumpers.

McDevitt is school No. 3 for him. He spent his freshman year at Dougherty, less than two blocks from his home on the 100 block of West Roselyn Street, then chased the basketball dream and transferred to Imhotep Charter for 10th grade. He made it to the semester break before deciding he preferred not to wait forever to be a factor.

"I didn't let him play for the rest of that season," Rutter said. "I wanted him to get used to our school."

Said Chander: "It was complicated going from Catholic school to a charter and then back to Catholic school."

Now, Chandler is receiving interest from the likes of Shippensburg and Bloomsburg at the Division II level and Rutgers-Camden at D-III, along with Manor and Burlington County junior colleges. He plans to major in sports management or nursing; several relatives are involved in the latter.

In basketball, Chandler said he most likes . . .

"The environment. I like making the fans happy."

Will the students show up on Saturday?

"They've been saying they'll be there to show us love," he said. "They've been asking me about tickets. I've been sending them to coach Rutter. I hope they follow through. Fans can mean a lot."

Plus, they could witness history.

"We've had a lot of tough losses this season," Markeise Chandler said. "Time to turn things around."

Contact Ted Silary at silaryt@phillynews.com. Online high school coverage at philly.com/rally.