Hatboro-Horsham uses late 3rd quarter surge to beat North Penn

TOWAMENCIN >> It has not been a good start to 2016 for the Hatboro-Horsham boys basketball team. But with a surge late in the third quarter Tuesday night, the Hatters put an end to that.

Holding a two-point edge on host North Penn, Hatboro-Horsham scored eight straight to go into the fourth up double digits. From there, the Hatters rebuffed any of the Knights’ comeback efforts and end a three-game skid with a 61-50 Suburban One League Continental Conference victory.

“They missed a couple shots, we got a couple runouts. Easy baskets are valuable,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Ed Enoch said. “You get a runout, it’s nice. You don’t have to set up your offense and work real hard to get a score.”

Jay Davis had a game-high 21 points, while Joe Russell and Clifton Moore each chipped in 12 points the Hatboro-Horsham (7-6, 5-2 conference),  which took the lead for good as Davis broke a 27-27 tie with four straight points on a breakaway dunk then a steal and layup.

“We all wanted to win. We all wanted it more,” Davis said. “We got Brian (McEachern) back, he’s like the heart of the team. We felt like we needed him.”

The Knights (5-8, 2-5) struggled to get shots to drop – especially from long range until the fourth – but still battled to stay close until the Hatter’s burst to cap the third.

“I think they wore us down. They ended up with 21 offensive rebounds, which is just too many,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “They had a ton of second chances.”

Noah Kwortnik paced the Knights with 15 points, nine coming in the second quarter as NP rallied to pull even at 22 after a Kwortnik putback. Moore, however, was fouled with 0.3 seconds left and hit both free throws to give Hatboro-Horsham a 24-22 advantage at the break.

Matt Pickford added 14 points while Lance Lindsay Ford finished with 12 points. Both Pickford and Lindsay-Ford made three 3-pointers.

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“I thought we played hard, I thought we competed. Our effort was there. We didn’t shoot particularly well. I lot of that’s due with their length and their quickness. And then they killed us on the offensive glass.”

Hatboro-Horsham ended 2015 with a loss to Father Judge in the Triangle Club Tournament final, then began January with Central Bucks West and Pennridge handing the Hatters their first two SOL Continental defeats.

Tuesday’s victory ends the slide and has HH sitting third in the conference – West leads a 7-0, Pennridge second at 6-1 – halfway through the Continental schedule.

“I feel Hatboro-Horsham got something to prove this year,” Davis said. “I don’t what everybody to look at us like we’re the underdog every time. I want people to be scared of us, so I think we came out with that type of mindset.”

Both teams are back on the hardwood Friday for conference road games. Hatboro-Horsham is at Souderton while North Penn visits Central Bucks South.

“I think we need to be more consistent in our effort both on offense and defense,” Conrad said. “And we got to shoot the ball better. We’re 18-of-57 tonight. We had a ton of open looks tonight and we just didn’t convert a lot of them.”

Down 35-30 in the third, North Penn got within two after a Kwortnik bucket and a Lindsay-Ford free throw.  A Russell putback had the Hatters up four, while Moore was intentionally fouled with 1:21 left in the quarter and made both foul shots.

Hatboro-Horsham turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, but the Knights’ giveaway moments later led to a McEachern basket. Moore’s putback slam excited the Hatter bench and put the visitors up 43-33 entering the fourth.

“Our size was a factor tonight,” Enoch said. “I thought we rebounded the ball very, very well at times, which they didn’t shoot it great and when you’re giving just one opportunity it’s a big factor.

Russell got a soft hook to drop, putting the Hatters up 47-35 before a Lindsay-Ford basket and a Pickford transition 3-pointer sliced the margin to 47-40. But Hatboro-Horsham responded with six straight points – four by Davis – to lead 55-43.

A J.J. Melchior trey got North Penn back within single digits before HH collected six of the next seven points to have its biggest advantage at 61-47 in the in the final minute.

After leading 4-0, North Penn scored just one more point in the first quarter with Davis collected six straight points to put the Hatters up 13-5 going to the second.

A Moore three had Hatboro-Horsham ahead 20-12 but the Kwortnik scored seven points during a 10-2 run that got North Penn level 22-22. Moore’s free throws with less than a second left had the visitors leading at the break.