WEST NORRITON — Penncrest coach Mike Doyle knew that having to face Plymouth Whitemarsh in the district playoffs would not be a walk in the park.
But what about a walk downtown? Saturday, the Lions played the part of the pedestrians — and PW represented the skyscrapers.
“It definitely felt like that at times, yeah,” said Andrew Radomicki, who led Penncrest in scoring during its 39-22 loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh in a District One Class AAAA quarterfinal at Norristown High School. “Coach Doyle told us there were going to be passing lanes that you think you see that aren’t actually there. He told us they’re a long team with long arms and legs, and they can disrupt what we normally do.
“...Hey, we hung with the No. 17 team in the country for almost 32 minutes. It’s a story I can tell down the road one day.”
Radomicki and the eighth-seeded Lions (23-4) did what they could against the top-seeded Colonials (24-1), whose tallest player (6-9 senior C.J. Aiken, a Saint Joseph’s commit) has the Lions’ Chris Sell beat by two inches. But Sell played fewer than 10 minutes, which made that moot.
So Doyle asked something absurd of his smallish lineup. He wanted the most deliberately slow team in Delaware County to move at an even slower pace against Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
How slow?
The Lions chewed two minutes off the clock before launching their first shot, and managed only three field-goal attempts in the first quarter.
2/20/10, District One Boys' BB Wrap: Opening Round
FRANCONIA - There was two minutes left in the second
period, and host Souderton (21-2) trailed
visiting Glen Mills – 20-19 – in a first round PIAA
District One – Quad-A contest.
The
Big Red smelled blood in the water and outscored the
Bulls 29-1 – yes 29-1 - in the next 8 ½ minutes and
cruised to a 60-33 victory.
 “I
told the kids at the half that we needed to be like
sharks in the water,” said Souderton head coach Perry
Engard. “We had a huge surge in momentum and we needed
that burst to put the game away.
“We
felt that we needed to turn up the pressure when we
fell behind,” added Engard. “We settled for too many
jump shots early, and I thought we did a good job of
going to the rim in the second half.
“We
are not afraid of running with anyone,” continued
Engard. “We like to play at an up-tempo.”
Souderton was led in scoring by senior A.J. Picard who
scored a game-high 17 points.
“We
play at our best when we can force turnovers,” said
Picard as the Indians forced no less than 14 turnovers
over that 8 ½ minute stretch. “The coaches reminded us
at halftime that we had to continue to attack the
rim.”
Nathan Moyer scored in double figures for Souderton
with 13 points, while Jeff Bishop pounded the
offensive glass and scored 12 points.
The
Big Red will host Central Bucks South next
Tuesday. Souderton split its games with the Titans in
Suburban One League Continental Conference play.
South won at South – 56-49 – while the Indians won at
home – 32-28.
Souderton – Glen Mills Box Score
Glen Mills 6 14 3 10 - 33
Souderton 14 14 20 10 - 60
Glen Mills: (33) Kyrell Tyler 7; John Helem 2; Chris
Dickerson 5; Leonard Singleton 4; Kadeem Coates 2;
Gabriel Yuile 5; Ronald Nesmith 4; Antonio Jones 4.
Souderton: (60) A.J, Picard 17; Nathan Moyer 13; Nate
Lewis 6; Kyle Connolly 4; Jeffrey Bishop 12; Mark
Wonderling 6.
Central Bucks South (15-8) advanced to its second
round date with Souderton with a 41-32 home court
victory over Ridley.
“It
was a very strange ending to the game,” said Central
Bucks South head coach Jason Campbell. “We were up by
nine with three minutes left in the game, and we
spread the offense out to take some time off the
clock.
“We
were surprised that they didn’t foul us to get the
ball back,” added Campbell. “And we pretty much played
keep away for the rest of the game.”
CB
South scored just three points in the fourth
period. Ridley matched the Titans with a three-point
quarter.
Mike Pincus and Nick Joerger led South with 10 points
each, while Joe Maher scored eight points and Steve
Schneider added seven points.
And
now the Titans ready for their third meeting of the
season with Souderton in the second round.
“I’m sure Perry (Engard – Souderton head coach) would
rather see Ridley than us,” said Campbell. “We have
already scouted each other pretty well, and there
shouldn’t be any real surprises.
“They have a great basketball team,” added
Campbell. “And so far in that new gym, they haven’t
lost.”
Council Rock North (19-4) jettisoned to a 19-4
first period lead that led to a 64-47 first round
District One Playoff victory over Quakertown
(10-13).
“We
did a great job at the beginning of the game setting
the tone defensively,” said Council Rock head coach
Derek Wright. “We made the extra pass and got everyone
into the game.”
The
Indians – who had beaten the Panthers 76-43 just two
weeks ago – had four players score in double
figures. John Raymon led Rock North with 15 points,
while Aaron Morgan and Arron Goodman scored 14 points
each. Charlie Anastasi added 10 points for the
winners.
“Quakertown can really shoot the basketball, and they
made a run in the second half,” said Wright. “They got
it down to 12, but we made plays at the end of the
game when we had to.”
Donnie Thomas led the Panthers –who saw their season
come to and end with the loss – with 20 points. Kenny
Gula scored in twin digits for Quakertown with 11
points.
CR
North will now host Chester in a second round
game. The Clippers defeated Conestoga – 57-39 – in
their first round contest. Erikk Wright led Chester
with 21 points, while Akeem Watkins added 14 points
for the Clippers.
Wissahickon (18-5) had to hold off a determined
Central Bucks West (13-10) – 47-44.
“CB
West did a good job of taking the air out of the
basketball,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle
Wilson. “They have five guys that can all handle the
ball, and they tried to draw us out the whole game.
“We
were up nine or ten points for most of the second
half, so we didn’t chase too much,” added Wilson. “But
they made some three’s at the end of the game and made
it interesting.”
Central
Bucks West was led in scoring by Ryan Dyer with 13
points. Ryan Fiore added 12 and Derrick Dyer added
nine in the Bucks’ season finale.
Wissahickon was led in scoring by Jordan Reed with 13
points. Jack O’Neill scored 12 points for the Trojans,
while Tom Sweeney added 11 points for the winners –
seven in the pivotal fourth quarter after being
saddled with two early fouls.
Wissahickon will be on the road for its second round
game. The Trojans will travel to Neshaminy to meet the
Redskins.
Neshaminy (17-6) won its first round game over
Abington (11-12) – 59-41. Ryan Arcidiacono led
Neshaminy with 26 points, while Jaymes Miller led the
Ghosts with a game-high 27points.
Bensalem (14-8) played one of its best games of
the season as the Owls flew by West Chester Henderson,
66-44.
“Nick Christian came out and did a lot of good things
for us,” said Bensalem head coach John Mullin. “And
Calvin Brown also had an outstanding game for us.”
Christian scored a game-high 23 points, collected
eight rebounds, and passed out eight assists for the
winners. Brown – the 6-foot, 8-inch center – scored 12
points and dominated inside the paint with eight
blocked shots.
“Now we get Penn Wood in the second round,” said
Mullin of the #2 seed in the district. “And they are
one of the better teams in the entire state.”
Penn Wood (20-3) crushed Oxford – 80-36 – to advance
to the second round. DeQuan Pelzer scored 20 points to
lead the winners, while Aaron Brown added 17 points.
Norristown (15-7) survived a nightmarish 7-of-24
night on the foul line to defeat visiting Boyertown –
50-41.
“We
have to shoot better on the foul line if we want to go
to states,” said Norristown coach Michael Evans. “We
actually stayed on the court after the game to shoot
free throws.
“We
got off to a good start,” added Evans in reference to
the 18-6 first period Eagle lead. “And I thought we
did some good things defensively.”
The
Norristown offense was led by Aaron Webb who scored a
game-high 15 points. Senior guards Chris Davis and
Sheldon Mayer each scored nine points of the Eagles.
Norristown will now face West Chester Rustin in its
second round game at Rustin. The Eagles defeated WCR
on December 26th – 67-62.
“We
know what we’re getting into,” said Evans. “But so do
they.”
West Chester Rustin advanced to the Norristown date
with a 53-41 victory over Cheltenham (11-12).
The
season finale for the Panthers saw Rob Mansell scored
a team-high 17 points. Malcom Weston scored eight
points for CHS.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh (22-1) destroyed West Chester
East – 70-28. The Colonials will meet the winner of
the Spring-Ford-Upper Dublin game, which will
be played Saturday at Spring-Ford.
C.
J. Aiken registered a triple-double for PW with 20
points, 11 blocked shots, and 10 rebounds. Jaylen
Bond scored 16 points, while Brandon Dixon dished out
10 assists.
Hatboro-Horsham (10-13) saw its season end with a
70-51 loss to host Coatesville in the first round of
the District One Playoffs.
The
Hatters had three players reach twin digits in the
setback. Pete Williams led with a team-high 15 points,
while Connor Poston (13) and Mike Marvin (12) also
scored in double figures.
Pennsbury used a suffocating defense to down
North Penn 40-28, bringing an end to the Knights’
season.
Sophomore Kieran Bolger led the Falcons with 13
points, which included three three’s. Zach Kumor and
Dante Devine each added eight points and Jesse Krasna,
seven points.
North Penn was led by the nine-point effort of Matt
Possanza.
In
other first round games, #8 Penncrest downed #25 Owen
J. Roberts 44-39. Downingtown West, the tournament's
24th seed, upset ninth-seeded Lower Merion 56-54.
On
Saturday night, #17 Upper Dublin will face #16
Spring-Ford.
|
2/23/10, District-One "AAAA" HS Basketball Tournament 2nd Round Final Scores
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 58, Upper Dublin 51
Penn Wood 56, Bensalem 55
