From high school teammates to Ivy rivals — Penn's Betley and Cornell's Warren ready to square off

When Penn men's basketball (17-7, 7-1 Ivy) takes on Cornell (9-12, 3-5) on Saturday, the history between the two teams will go back much further than the Quakers' win over the Big Red earlier this season.

That's because Penn's Ryan Betley and Cornell's Josh Warren go all the way back to their days as teammates in high school.

At Downingtown High School West, in Downingtown, Pa., the future college rivals were instrumental in turning around a program that went 11-11 the year before their arrival, won a league championship their junior season, and ended with a 23-5 record their senior year.

“It’s kind of similar how my high school career played out as to how it’s happening right now at [Penn],” Betley said. “Trying to take a program that hasn’t been doing too well and trying to make it a league championship type team, it feels kind of the same.”

Betley and Warren’s impact on the Downingtown West basketball program was best summarized by their high school coach Jason Ritter.

“Josh and Ryan were my program. Ryan is the all-time leading scorer for boys in Downingtown West history and Josh is second behind him, so they meant the world to the program.”

Still, prior history and sentiments are thrown out the window once the two teams square off.

As Warren put it, “If I get on Ryan I’ll do as best as I can. I don’t like when he scores on me.”

Penn is looking to rebound after suffering its first Ivy league loss at the hands of Harvard last weekend. With Penn fighting for sole possession of first place and a number one seed in the upcoming Ivy League Tournament, every game is amplified just that much more.

Cornell is currently tied for fifth in the conference, a position Penn saw themselves in for much of last year. 

The Big Red feature two of the best scorers in the league in Matt Morgan and Stone Gettings, who put up 22.8 and 17.0 points per game respectively. 

“Those two are as good a combination that I can remember in this league in terms of scoring,” coach Steve Donahue said. “We are going to try and play our team defense, which we’ve done really well this year.”

Besides great output in terms of volume, Gettings and Morgan also pace the Ivy league in player efficiency rating at one and two, respectivly.

In the last meeting, Penn largely held Morgan in check, only surrendering 13 points on 25% shooting from the field. However, Gettings exploded for 20 points and 17 rebounds. Still, largely as a result of stopping one of the two Cornell bigs, the Quakers held a comfortable lead against the Big Red for most of the game.

Besides the Cornell game on Saturday, Penn also faces Columbia (6-15, 3-5), another team tied for fifth in the Ivy league and desperate for a win this weekend.

The Lions largely rely on Mike Smith, a 5-foot-10 guard who puts up 17.3 points per game and leads the Ivy league in assists per game with 4.6. In their last matchup, Smith torched the Quakers for 27 points and 6 assists.

Given his ability to pass and score, Donahue stated how imperative it is to not only key on Smith but also try and neutralize his ability as a playmaker.

This weekend will provide Penn with a chance to rebound after its first Ivy League loss and a shaky performance against Dartmouth. 

By continuing its outstanding defensive play from the season and by improving scoring from the outside, Donahue is confident the Quakers will fare well in an always difficult road trip.