Floyd Dashiell helps Pottstown come from behind in win over Boyertown

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BOYERTOWN >> Floyd Dashiell walked into the visitor’s locker room for halftime at Boyertown High School on Thursday night with just two points next to his name in the scoring book and his team in a five-point hole.

When the Pottstown senior point guard exited the locker room after the Trojans’ Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover game, he had a grin stretching the length of his face and a stat sheet filled to the brim.

Dashiell scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Trojans to a 65-60 come-from-behind win over Boyertown on Thursday night.

“We were kind of struggling a little bit in the zone,” Dashiell said. “I came out, had a few open looks, and I knocked them down. It tied the game, and after that we were able to go on a run and it kind of put the game away.”

Boyertown (1-8 PAC Liberty, 8-12 overall) trailed 19-17 at the end of the first quarter, but pulled ahead 30-25 at halftime behind senior Hunter Borgmann’s 10 first-half points.

The Bears dominated Pottstown (5-4 PAC Frontier, 9-11 overall) on the offensive glass in the latter minutes of the second quarter. Junior forward Kameron Metcalf scored all six of his points in the period to help put his team in front.

“We got some transition stuff in the first half, and we also got some offensive rebounds and putbacks,” Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig said. “They kind of cleaned that up in the second half and unfortunately we turned the ball over a little more in the second half than we did in the first half, and I think that kind of affected us too.”

Boyertown’s Kameron Metcalf, center, is surrounded by Pottstown’s, from left to right, Wilchon Seward, Darrius Smallwood and Jusaun Jones. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)

Dashiell scored 12 of Pottstown’s 19 points in the third quarter. His three with three minutes, 34 seconds left in the period tied the game, and his layup soon after put the Trojans in front. After Boyertown tied the game again, Dashiell put the Trojans up for good with 1:40 left in the quarter.

Junior guard Donovan Towson, who finished with 10 points, knocked down a triple to send Pottstown into the fourth quarter with a 43-38 lead.

“To come out in that third quarter and take control of the game, that’s big for us,” Palladino said. “We had some trouble the other night against Upper Merion finishing the game and closing it out. Tonight we made just enough free throws and got contributions from a lot of guys, and the kids just stuck with it. They’re fighting every night.”


Boyertown senior forward Matt Martin helped give the Bears some life early in the fourth quarter with two monster blocks that turned into baskets on the other end. The Bears came within one, 43-42, when one of Martin’s blocks led to a layup by senior guard Dawson Smith on the other end.

Thursday’s game marked the last home game for Borgmann, Smith and Martin. The Bears are eliminated from PAC playoff contention and came into Thursday ranked No. 29 in the District 1 power rankings, five spots out of the 24-team district playoff field.

Borgmann led the Bears with 17 points, Smith added 10 points, and Martin added seven points.

“I think this group just works really hard,” Ludwig said. “I think the three guys that are here are kind of leaving a legacy of ‘come in, play hard, do your job and fight for the team.’ I’m proud of what they did tonight and how hard they played.”

Boyertown’s Aarick Salata, right, goes up for a layup as Pottstown’s Floyd Dashiell watches. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)

Pottstown senior forward Robert Burress, who scored 10 points, converted an and-one with 6:36 left in the game to halt Boyertown’s mini run. Dashiell made back-to-back buckets and junior guard Tre Bass, who added 10 points of his own, scored a basket to cap a 9-2 run and extend the Trojans’ lead to 52-44 with 4:38 left.

Roman Marinello knocked down a three for Boyertown with just a few ticks on the clock, cutting the Trojans’ lead to three, but Dashiell came down and knocked down two free throws to ice the game.

Pottstown’s Floyd Dashiell (3) goes for a layup as Boyertown’s Matt Martin defends Thursday. (Owen McCue – MediaNews Group)

“I feel like everyone was involved,” Dashiell said. “I knocked down a couple shots, hit a couple floaters, got going in the third quarter that really put us up, then everybody else. We played really good defense, forced a lot of turnovers, got a lot of fastbreaks.”

The Trojans looked on the outskirts of the playoff picture last week after an overtime loss to Pope John Paul II, which clinched the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier division with a win over Upper Merion on Thursday.

After a loss to Methacton, Pottstown responded with a victory over Upper Merion on Saturday to keep its playoff hopes alive.


Pottstown rounds up its Frontier slate against Upper Perk on Friday before finishing off the regular season against Hempfield on Saturday.

The Trojans still have an outside shot to sneak into the PAC playoffs with a win over Upper Perk and some help elsewhere on Friday with the potential of finishing level with Pottsgrove and Phoenixville.

“With all the tiebreakers and mumbo jumbo, we’re hoping we can get in and keep playing,” Dashiell said.

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Owen McCue

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