Central Bucks West slows down North Penn, wins 4th straight

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DOYLESTOWN >> The defense was there from the start for the Central Bucks West boys basketball team Tuesday night. The offense came a little later.

The Bucks made visiting North Penn work for every point and in the second half West took control of the Suburban One League Continental Conference contest with a 12-0 run as it claimed a fourth straight victory by besting the Knights 58-43.

“Defensively we were solid,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said. “I thought we struggled to shoot the ball well. We didn’t shoot free throws well down the line but we found a way to win.”

Jake Reichwein and Collin MacAdams proved the bulk of the scoring for the Bucks (12-4, 6-2 conference), Reichwein finishing with a game-high 22 points while MacAdams added 18 points — seven coming as West collected a dozen straight points to push their 32-28 advantage in the third quarter to its largest of the game, 44-28 at 4:27 in the fourth.

“We kept getting our looks, the one we practice in practice, so we just stick to the game plan,” Reichwein said. “Maybe we won’t make a couple shots, but overall I feel like we stick to the game plan we are in a good spot.”

North Penn (8-8, 3-5) cut the deficit down to seven twice late but after missing four straight free throws, CB West hit the next 10 in the final 68 seconds to seal the win. The Bucks shot 33 free throws Tuesday and made 26 — Reichwein going 9-of-10 with Jack Mulhearn a perfect 8-for-8.

“Honestly, I think they were just a little tougher than we were,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “I think they were — cleanly — but more physical and they were tough. And they created some matchup problems for us.”

David Robinson paced the Knights with 20 points — 14 coming after halftime — with AJ Mitchell scoring 10 points as North Penn had its two-game win streak stopped.

“We had very little patience and (Sherman) was mixing defenses well, matching up and every once in a while he’d double,” Conrad said. “We just didn’t have any patience. We took the first easy quick shot.”

For West, the win — its sixth in the last seven games — was dampened by guard Shane McCusker injuring his ankle, the senior leaving the game with 5:36 in the fourth and did not return.

“It’s concerning,” Sherman said. “He’s got a sprained ankle. It’s definitely concerning.”

The Bucks visit Central Bucks South 8 p.m. Thursday with the chance to pull even with the Titans for first in the SOL Continental. CB South — which topped West 46-40 Jan. 3 — dropped its first game in conference place Tuesday, falling to Pennridge in overtime 63-56.

“We’re just trying to get better each day. Thursday’s a big day for us playing CB South,” Sherman said. “Guys were not real happy with they way they played so the chance to redeem themselves is huge.”

North Penn, meanwhile, has six games left to secure a spot in the District 1-6A tournament. After Tuesday’s loss, the Knights stand 21st in the rankings — 24 teams qualify — heading into their game at William Tennent 7 p.m. Friday.

“We don’t have any cushion here,” Conrad said. “But I mean our goal always is to win them all, so what the heck. We’ll just keep fighting, keep playing, it’s a good group, a good locker room, so we’ll see.”

Central Bucks West led 20-15 at halftime and in the third six straight points — a pair of Reichwein baskets sandwiching two MacAdams free throws — had the Bucks up 30-20.  But after West was called for a personal foul at 4:21, Sherman was hit with a technical foul. Mitchell connected on all four free throws then cut inside for two to make it 30-26.

“There was something I was addressing to them over and over again. They give me a tech for being demonstrative,” Sherman said. “But three techs in 19 years or whatever is not that bad.”

The Knights cut the Bucks’ lead to four again at 32-28 after a Robinson bucket but McCusker hit a 3-pointer and West finished the quarter with a 7-0 run. MacAdams scored inside for a 38-28 lead while his free throw with 0.8 seconds had the margin at 11 heading to the fourth.

“They’re been playing pretty good, they were the hot team and we played really good team D and we moved the ball really well which helped a lot,” Reichwein said.

The Bucks posted the first five points of the fourth — MacAdams collecting their only field goal of the period — and got the lead out to 44-28 as Mulhearn hit both ends of a 1-and-1 at 4:27.

North Penn sliced the lead in half with an 8-0 run, Robinson’s triple putting the visitors within 44-36. After the Bucks missed four straight free throws, a Joey Lindsay three made it 50-41. The Knights had the margin at seven again after a Mitchell basket but the Bucks did not miss again from the line.

A Reichwein corner 3-pointer had the Bucks up 9-6 before a Robinson’s basket made it 9-8 after a quarter.

West’s largest lead of the first half came at 18-12 after Jack Neri’s three-point play with 41.9 seconds left in the second quarter. Chris Coleman’s 3-pointer had NP within 18-15 but two Reichwein free throws at 1.5 seconds gave the Bucks a 20-15 edge at halftime.

CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 58, NORTH PENN 43
North Penn 8   7 13 15 — 43
Central Bucks West 9 11 19 19 — 58
North Penn: David Robinson 8 2-2 20; AJ Mitchell 3 4-4 10; Chris Coleman 3 0-0 7; AJ Catanzaro 1 0-1 3; Joey Lindsay 1 0-0 3; Totals 16 6-7 43.
Central Bucks West: Jake Reichwein 6 9-10 22; Collin MacAdams 6 6-10 18; Jack Mulhearn 0 8-8 8; Jack Neri 1 3-3 5; Shane McCusker 1 0-0 3; Mika Munari 1 0-0 2; Chase Heller 0 0-2 0; Totals 15 26-33 58.
Three-pointers: NP-Robinson 2, Catanzaro, Coleman, Lindsay; CBW-McCusker, Reichwein.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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