Hatboro-Horsham knocks off Norristown

WEST NORRITON >> Hatboro-Horsham topped Norristown, 55-42, in the opening round of the 42nd Annual Triangle Club Basketball Tournament Monday night at Norristown Area High School.

The Hatters will face Father Judge in the championship game Tuesday around 8:30 p.m. Norristown will face Pottsgrove in the third place game at 6:30 p.m.

In the fourth quarter, Darius McGowan gave Norristown its first lead since the first quarter, 36-35, with a layup with 5:40 left in the game.

Moments later, Hatboro-Horsham was ahead, 42-38, and the game quickly got away from Norristown.

The Hatters went 11-for-14 from the free throw line in the final four minutes to close out the 13-point win.

“We just unraveled at the end,” Norristown coach Mike Evans said. “We started making mental mistakes and they capitalized on our mistakes at the end of the game. We have to figure out how to finish games – we haven’t been doing that this year yet. We have to find a way, but we haven’t found the answer yet. We have to keep working hard and get better at closing out games.”

Clifton Moore led Hatboro-Horsham in scoring with 14 points, Joseph Russell added 13 and Jay Davis had 12.

Roy Green led Norristown in scoring with 15 points and Darryl Carr added 13.