Pennridge holds off North Penn for 3rd straight win

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EAST ROCKHILL >> A fourth quarter filled with free throws didn’t sit well with Dean Behrens.

“I don’t feel so good,” said the Pennridge boys basketball coach after a laugh.

But what alleviated Behrens’ discomfort with the last eight minutes was how the Rams finished it.

Despite junior Sean Yoder fouling out midway through the quarter, Pennridge did not fold against visiting North Penn late and held on for a 66-57 Suburban One League Continental Conference victory Tuesday night.

“I thought Brett Henofer and I thought Christian Guldin — who’s a sophomore — did heck of a job, OK, of handling their pressure. I thought they did a magnificent job,” Behrens said. “Ryan Warner stepped up and played point guard for us – senior leadership, amazing. That what I’m most excited about, just the way they finished that off.”

The Rams (10-4, 3-2 conference) led 52-39 before Yoder, who scored a team-high 18 points, picked up his fifth foul with 3:51 left. And while North Penn made a push, the Knights (6-7, 2-4) could only get as close as six – 57-51 at 1:31 – as Pennridge earned its third straight win.

“It was just some rough fouls, hate to have (Yoder) out, but Christian Guldin stepped in,” Rams junior Jon Post said. “Got the ball inbounds, got fouled and hit the free throws. That was big.”

The contest’s pace slowed to a crawl in the fourth as the teams shot a combined 36 free throws – the Rams going 13-of-23 and North Penn making 9-of-13.

“Like we told the boys, I don’t think understand the calls on the floor, I don’t think they understand the calls on the floor,” Behrens said. “And it was hard game for the boys to figure out, it was hard for the coaches to figure but I thought we handled it well enough.

Both sides had a player with double-digit attempts from the line in the final quarter – Pennridge’s Ryan Warner had 12 while North Penn’s AJ Mitchell shot 10.

“It’s hard to get anything going. Yeah, probably ugly basketball to watch I’m sure. Just a parade to the free throw line,” Knights coach John Conrad said.

Post scored nine of his 15 points in the second half while Warner chipped in 12 points for the Rams.

“I thought that Sean did a good job controlling the game, hitting the three, getting to the basket, pulling up for a mid-range shot, I thought he did a lot of really good things,” Behrens said. “I think he really controlled the game and then he obviously fouls out and then we played, we kind of scrambled.

“But that’s why it’s a team. That’s why we practice every day and it’s great to see a sophomore like Christian handle that situation. It’s great to see Jake Pestrak — a sophomore, No. 20 — handling that pressure.”

Mitchell had a game-high 19 points for the North Penn, which lost its third straight. David Robinson added 13 points before fouling out with 1:01 left in the game. Joey Lindsey hit a trio of three-pointers in scoring 11 points.

“For whatever reason we traditionally start poorly,” Conrad said. “We dig ourselves and then we play loose at that point and I don’t know what it is to get us to start the game that way.”

The Knights are back in action Friday at home against Central Bucks East at 7 p.m. Pennridge does not play again until Monday when it hosts Souderton.

North Penn trailed by as much as 12 in the second quarter Tuesday before cutting the margin to 33-24 at halftime. The Knights had it down to seven in the third but Pennridge pushed the lead to 14 in the quarter.

It was nine-point game again at the start of the fourth at 43-34 before the Rams scored seven of the next eight to make it 50-35 after a Post baseline jumper.

North Penn upped the defensive pressure and with Yoder on the bench began to chip away at the Rams’ lead.  A three-point play by Robinson at 3:10 followed by a Mitchell bucket made it 54-47.

“We were already in scramble mode at that point and that’s just what we continued to do,” Conrad said. “And unfortunately we weren’t able to turn them over as much as we’d hoped. And then they just made some free throws.”

Pennridge was up 10 after a Lewis basket but a Chris Coleman three and a Mitchell free throw had NP within 57-51 with 91 seconds remaining.

North Penn, however, could not get any closer. A Warner free throw had the Rams up 60-51 Rams at 1:13. Two Mitchell foul shots made it 60-53 at 1:10 but Pennridge had its lead up to 10 at 64-54 with 39.7 seconds after Pestrak hit two from the line.

“It comes down to teamwork,” Post said. “We all, at the end, contributed. Those little assists at the end when they’re playing press, hitting it, getting layups and getting fouled that’s really important. That kept us up.”

Pennridge jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter before the Knights knotted the game at 11 on a Lindsey three.  After the Rams scored the next six, Mitchell drove for a three-point play with 7.7 seconds left. But Yoder’s long pass found Henofer for a bucket and a 19-14 lead after a quarter.

Pennridge led by 12 twice in the second — the last time after two Yoder free throws made it 31-19 at 2:10.

A Coleman three and AJ Catanzaro jumper had NP within seven but in the final seconds Post grabbed an offensive rebound and his shot in the lane beat the buzzer for a 33-24 Rams lead at the break.

An 8-1 run gave Pennridge a 43-29 lead at 2:12 in the third after two Warner free throws but five straight points from Lindsey to end the quarter had the Knights within nine.

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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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