Springfield-Montco takes Christopher Dock Holiday Tournament title

TOWAMENCIN >> Springfield Montco was patient with its offense, big underneath with 6-foot-4 Quentin Johnson clutching several key rebounds, and plenty deserving of the Christopher Dock Holiday Tournament Championship, as the Spartans fended off the host Pioneers for a 44-30 victory Wednesday night.

Larry Clark, who led the Spartans’ balanced attack along with Ryan Daley with 10 points each, battled under the basket for a pivotal three-point play, extending the Springfield lead to 38-30 with 2 minutes and 28 seconds to go.

The Spartans shut the Pioneers out the rest of the way, claiming their second Dock Holiday Tourney title and first since 2012.

Johnson, the backbone of Springfield’s defense down the stretch, finished off a fast break with a dunk that capped the scoring with seconds to go.

Things got off to a good start for Dock early on when Jackson Scialanca sank a three pointer in the opening minutes, but that shot would produce the Pioneers’ only points of the first quarter.

Baskets by Mike Goodson, Justin Hill and Johnson gave the Spartans a 6-3 lead at the end of the first.

Forcing turnovers and scoring in transition, Springfield stretched its lead to 11-3 when Daley finished off a fast break, and the margin would soon grow to 12-3 on 1-of-2 free throws by Justin Hill.

The Pioneers started to get going when a layup by Misrahim Nyagwegwe tightened the margin and a three by reserve Jackson Scialanca sliced the deficit to 13-8.

But the Spartans closed out the first half with a 6-0 run, with Clark scoring five points in the quarter to bring the Springfield lead to 19-8 at the break.

The Pioneers got hot in the third quarter, with Justin Burkholder and Scialanca hitting back-to-back threes, but Daley, doing a good job handling the ball and also exploding to the basket, scored key baskets in the third to keep the Spartans in front.

Scialanca hit four threes in the contest, with he and Burkholder scoring 12 each to lead Dock, and a three by Scialanca brought the Pioneers within 33-29 midway through the fourth.

However, that’s as close as Dock would get, with Clark and Johnson taking over in the final minutes.

In the consolation game, Sankofa Freedom prevailed 71-63 over Roxborough.

Both Dock and Springfield-Montco will be off until Tuesday — the Pioneers will travel to Valley Forge Military Academy while the Spartans will be at Plymouth Whitemarsh.