Harrison powers Cheltenham past North Penn in District 1-6A 1st round

CHELTENHAM >> At the end of the first quarter, Zahree Harrison gave the Cheltenham boys basketball team a fresh start.

Seven straight points gave North Penn an early 13-9 lead in Friday night’s District 1-6A first round contest with the Knights almost adding to the advantage if not for a 3-pointer rimming out in the final minute.

But give the opening, to cut into the margin, Harrison pushed the ball up the court off a Kyin Healey rebound, got to the left wing and after a pump fake let fly a 3-pointer that swished through the net just before the buzzer.

“Saved us, right, cause it was 13-9 and we were stagnant, which is something that we will address,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “End of the quarter, I’m not a fool, I don’t take credit for that, right, like I don’t credit for that. End of the quarter he walks the guy down, he’s gets to his spot and he lets it go.”

The Panthers’ junior guard kept connecting from long range and North Penn did not have the offensive output to keep up. Harrison knocked a total of six 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 27 points, No. 9 Cheltenham pushed its lead to as large as 21 after halftime as it advance to the second round with a 60-49 victory over the No. 24 Knights.

“He just played with a lot of poise. I think he’s playing with a different comfort level,” said Fleury of Harrison. “At 11^th grade, what we asked him to do is think as 11^th grade as your senior year cause you never know what will happen with what the team will be like. So for us, he’s just played with a different point, not a different but a great poise today. He set the pace.”

Down 13-12 after the first eight minutes, the Panthers (16-7) ran off six straight points to go ahead 18-13 on a Harrison triple. North Penn (9-14) closed to 20-18 after Joe Larkins’ three but Cheltenham finished the half on a 9-0 run – seven from Healey, including the last six – to lead 29-18 at the break.

“We got a lot of good looks we just didn’t make anything,” Knights coach John Conrad said. “Their size was a problem for us, so when we got in we were trying to get in and dump it down or get in and kick it out. I thought we got good looks, we just didn’t make anything.”

Healey added 13 points – nine in the first half – as the Panthers snapped a two-game losing streak to earn a spot in the district second round for the second time in three seasons. Cheltenham visits No. 8 Perkiomen Valley Tuesday with the winner clinching a PIAA berth.

“They’re very good. There’s a reason that they didn’t play tonight,” said Fleury of PV, which upset Cheltenham in the 1-4A first round in 2016. “So for us coming in as quote-unquote the underdogs by seed, the good thing is we’re all 0-0 every night that we play so that’ll be the main focus for us and just pushing to try to get the same type of effort.”

“Basically, when we first started, we (were) hyper-active, we pushed the tempo, we were excited .Then,  I say going into the third, we just did a lot of mistakes, a lot of shots weren’t falling, long distance rebounds which got them a lot of fast breaks.

Tali McIver hit four 3-pointers to pace North Penn with 18 points while A.J. Mitchell and Matt Swanson both chipped in eight points.

“Basically, when we first started, we (were) hyper-active, we pushed the tempo, we were excited,” McIver said. “Then, I say going into the third, we just did a lot of mistakes, a lot of shots weren’t falling, long distance rebounds which got them a lot of fast breaks.”

The loss was the second straight in the district first round for the Knights, who had a tough finish to the year – dropping five straight and 11 of its last 11 after starting the year 8-3.

“It’s really hard to put in perspective and we’re racking our brains trying to figure out what’s different,” Conrad said. “But we were 8-3 and feeling like a pretty good basketball team and we’ve obviously struggled the second half of the year. Hard to put a finger on it. I think Solomon (Robinson) going down really hurt us, probably more than we thought.”

The Panthers began the third with a 7-1 run, a Harrison three followed by a Healey basket extending Cheltenham’s lead to 37-19. North Penn slice its deficit to 14 after a McIver trey made it 41-27 but Harrison answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 47-27 advantage. Rob Carangi’s buzzer-beating jumper made it 47-29 entering the fourth.

“We were hanging tough and then every time they scored, they pressed us and I thought we handled it pretty well, but we had some turnovers at some pretty bad moments,” Conrad said. “And yeah it went from two to four, four to 10 and before you knew it they were running away with it.”

Harrison’s sixth and final three gave Cheltenham its biggest lead at 52-31. The Panthers were up 57-38 after a Jalen Mickens dunk before North Penn finish the game with an 11-3 run.

McIver hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Knights their first lead 6-3 in the opening quarter. Cheltenham answered with six straight points to go up 9-6, but McIver found Swanson inside for two then went coast-to-coast off a steal and got a shot in the lane to fall for a 10-9 NP edge.

“Once I knew my teammates shots wasn’t falling I just said all right, everyone’s not doing this, making every shot, so it’s up to me to push up the tempo,” McIver said. And once I get to going, my teammates get to going – they see me up the tempo, get the excitement.”

A Chris Caputo 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run to make it 13-9 before Harrison’s three at the buzzer slice the margin to 13-12.

Brandon Scott’s free throw at 7:19 in the second knotted the game at 13 with a Mickens basket and Harrison 3-pointer giving Cheltenham an 18-13 lead.

After Larkins’ three had NP down 20-18, Healey provided seven points as the Panthers posted the  next nine points in the half’s final 2:51 – Healey’s putback of his own miss giving Cheltenham a 29-18 lead.