Wagner’s work helps Pennridge top Hatboro-Horsham

HORSHAM >> Teams that have or are about to face Hatboro-Horsham this season have all talked about one common theme.

Teams recognize just how athletic and rangy the Hatters, and especially their bigs, are and the problems they present. Pennridge was the latest team to take that into account.

Luckily for the Rams, they brought big Max Wagner on the road trip with them.

The senior, in his first season with the high school team, had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks as he matched the Hatter forwards and the Rams took a 52-39 win to seize second place in the Suburban One League Continental Conference Friday night.

“I knew I had to rely on my team defense,” Wagner said. “If I did that and boxed out, they’d A. try to jump over me or B. I’d go up strong and that’s what I needed to do. We did that pretty well, not just me but everybody.”

Wagner spent the last three years at New Hope-Solebury after growing up in the Pennridge School District through eighth grade. After a family move, he was back in the district for his senior year and the Perkasie native didn’t need long to reconnect with some of his oldest friends. Guards Danny Long and Stephen Lowry have been friends and teammates with Wagner for a long time and now he’s giving them a little size to fill in their back line.

The Hatters were coming off a loss to CB West, the top team in the conference, but had a chance to stay right in the title hunt. However, the game didn’t start off great for Hatboro-Horsham after Jay Davis scored the first hoop of the game. Long retorted with a straight-away 3-pointer and the Hatters then started to turn the ball over.

“Give them credit, they caused us to play the way we did,” Hatters coach Ed Enoch said. “We turned the ball over too much and we didn’t shoot it well either.”

Click here to view the PHOTO GALLERY from this game.

Rams coach Dean Behrens said he likes the potential of several Hatters, including long-limbed junior Clifton Moore, Davis and senior Brian McEachern, who is working back into the lineup after an injury. Davis led the Hatters with 10 points while Moore dropped in nine.

Pennridge zipped out to an 11-4 lead when Wagner handed Long the ball and the guard dribbled with purpose up the floor, stopped on a dime and swished a 14-foot pull-up jumper. Forward Stephen Lowry was the catalyst to the fast start with four points and four assists in the first quarter, most of his damage coming from the high post.

“It was a good challenge for us, because it’s hard to get shots off against these guys,” Behrens said.

Hatboro-Horshams trio of Davis, Moore and Joe Russell had their fair share of rebounds and blocks, but Wagner was able to match them, which was vital for Pennridge to keep building on its lead. Wagner had a quiet first half of scoring, but he helped the Rams take a 27-14 lead into the locker room.

Behrens knew Wagner, but even he was surprised when he saw more up-to date film before Wagner returned to Pennridge. The short guard he remembered had shot up in size. Wagner said he measures at about 6-foot-7 and he played wide receiver for two years as well as hoops at New Hope.

“He wasn’t that tall then,” Behrens said. “He went to my camp, he was a nice player but he wasn’t this huge kid. We don’t run into New Hope that much, but I saw a video and went ‘Whoa!’ He probably grew six or seven inches in three years.”

Wagner is also regaining his shooting touch after a wrist injury sustained in practice before the team’s loss at Central Bucks West. The forward, who is drawing interest from several PSAC schools, projects as a stretch four and capped his night with a corner 3-pointer, a callback to his guard days.

Despite a rough first half, the Hatters did manage to cut the lead to 10 then single digits twice in the second half.

“I can’t wait to see the film, I guarantee you we turned the ball over two or three times right after that,” Enoch said. “We had a possession and probably got nothing out of it.”

Long led the Rams with 17 points and had nine boards of his own while Ryan Cuthbert scored 10 and Yoder finished with eight points, six rebounds and four helpers. Brandon Crews had seven for the Hatters while Russell had two points, four blocks and five rebounds.

Wagner asserted that the Hatters were “probably the most athletic team we’ve played this year,” and said it was Pennridge’s fundamental basketball that allowed it to win. The Rams played a straight man-to-man defense, but showed their ability to switch, which Cuthbert said has helped him as a defender.

“Coach teaches us well and it helps me,” Wagner said. “If I’m guarding a smaller man, it teaches me how to guard a small guy and it translates into the games.”

Wagner kept in touch with his friends while at New Hope and now that he’s back, he give them a big piece in trying to build off last year’s great season. Despite losing three starters from last year, Behrens said it was far from an empty cupboard.

“I told the kids we have to understand how important this is and every game is a one-game playoff,” Behrens said. “It was a great atmosphere in here tonight. I don’t give many pep talks, the kids don’t need to get fired up, if anything, I get worried they’ll be too jacked up.”