Yoder, Fisher help Pennridge hold off CB South for 5th straight win

WARRINGTON >> It maybe early January but Dean Behrens knew the Pennridge boys basketball team could not afford to cede any more ground to Central Bucks South in the Suburban One League Continental Conference race.

“We thought this was a big game because they could be 4-0 (in the Continental),” the Rams coach said. “They win tonight, they’re 4-0 in the league, they’re really – everyone’s in their rear view mirror. We thought if we could get to 2-1, cause we had a bye the first week, we now have equal losses.”

Pennridge earned that level footing with the Titans Friday night, getting its offense going after halftime to build an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding off host South for a 53-49 victory.

“Once we started shooting down by our side we seem to be knocking down a lot more shots,” Rams junior Trent Fisher said. “Then we got more in a rhythm and playing more defense in the third opened it up.”

Sean Yoder scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half while Fisher added 11 points as Pennridge (9-2, 2-1 conference) shook off a slow start – it trailed 9-6 after a quarter – then denied a late CB South rally fuled by Ian McCaw to claim a fifth consecutive win.

“It was a big one in the league,” Yoder said. “They were undefeated, we had one loss to Quakertown so it was big to bounce back and get ourselves going in the league.”

The Rams had a difficult time slowing down McCaw inside, the 6-foot-5 senior getting to the foul line 15 times – converting 10 – and collected 12 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth as Central Bucks South (7-3, 3-1) had its seven-game win streak snapped.

“Ian, he brought the fire all game,” CB South coach Jason Campbell said. “He had his mind set that he was going to work the paint and get his scores. He was crashing the boards. He was the only guy really for us the first half that was getting in there for offensive rebounds and I’m asking my other guys, ‘Four in, one out, let’s go,’ Ian gave us second chances and kept it close for us.”

Pennridge took a 43-32 lead on two Yoder free throws with 4:40 left in the fourth but McCaw scored all nine of South’s point during a 9-2 run to cut the margin to 45-41 with 1:44 to go.

The Titans proceeded to get within four three more times but could only get within a single possession when Tommy Kuypers – who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half – knocked down a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds to make it 51-49. Yoder was fouled with 2.5 seconds and hit both free throws to seal the Rams’ victory.

“We had a little lull in the third and early in the fourth quarter,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t ‘til one of my time outs in the fourth quarter, I just said to my guys, ‘Where’s the team that fights every second. That won seven games in a row.’ And then they responded from that and wound up cutting that lead down, making it a one-possession game. I think that was the difference.

“Yoder did a great job as usual. We said 25 or less and we held him to 25. We wanted to hold Post under 10, we reached our goal there. But the one difference was Fisher.”

CB South was the last unbeaten team in SOL Continental play and now the Titans, Rams and North Penn – a 66-60 winner over Quakertown Friday — all stand with one conference loss. South hosts Downingtown East in a non-conference game 1 p.m. Saturday while Pennridge is back in action Tuesday at home against Souderton.

After Pennridge held a 19-18 lead at halftime, Yoder and Post began the third with consecutive baskets as the Rams opened the quarter with an 8-2 run, going up 27-20 when Post scored inside.

“We talked about running our little stack play, trying to get the ball inside,” Behrens said. “The first possession, Sean did a great job curling it cause the kid was trailing him cause they’re overplaying him and hit like a little eight-footer right there. And then we’re getting the ball into Jon Post and into Trent Fisher.”

South responded with five straight points to get to make it 27-25 after a Cole Prezelski 3-pointer. The Titans were within two again at 29-27 but the Rams ended the quarter with an 8-1 run, Sean Yoder and Luke Yoder connecting on back-to-back triples – Luke Yoder’s coming just before the buzzer – to lead 37-28 entering the fourth.

Fisher’s three-point play off an inbounds made it 41-32 Rams with 5:01 remaining while Yoder’s two free throws 21 seconds later push the advantage to 11.

McCaw, however, took over, posting nine of the next 11 points. His 3-point play off a putback made it 45-39 at 2:41 while his two free throws at 1:44 put the Rams’ lead at four.

“I played him in summer league a lot and I got used to him there but he played real good tonight,” said Fisher of McCaw.

Sean Yoder answered by scoring off a long inbounds for a 47-41 edge then after a Kuypers basket Sean Yoder made two from the line at 1:06 for a 49-43 lead. The senior Navy commit attempted 10 free throws in the fourth, connecting on eight – the last two with 2.5 seconds to put the game out of reach.

“As a senior I know what it’s like, the pressure,” Sean Yoder said. “But, you know, it’s an everyday kind of thing, going to the free throw line, knocking them down kind of zoning everything out.”

Central Bucks South led by five points three times in the first quarter, the last time at 9-4 before a Sean Yoder jumper made it 9-6 after eight minutes of play.

The Rams began the second quarter with a 7-1 run capped by Sean Yoder basket for a 13-10 advantage. South regained the lead 18-17 after a Brady Prezelski 3-pointer but a Sean Yoder jumper put Pennridge up 19-18 and the Rams never trailed from there.