CB West bounces back with win over Hatboro-Horsham

HORSHAM >> The Central Bucks West boys basketball team’s timing was on the mark Friday night

After struggling with the clock late in a loss to North Penn three days prior, the Bucks handled last-second situations in the first three quarters with more precision against Hatboro-Horsham.

West knocked down 3-pointers to cap the Suburban One League Continental Conference contest’s first and second periods, then in the third Erich Hohenleitner made all three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc with just 0.2 seconds left.

“They were great. Sometimes those are a little bit of luck here and there, but again it’s all learning from North Penn,” West senior guard Bill Power said. “At the end of the game, we didn’t run the clock down to 15 seconds left, ended up biting us at the end. So we ran it down all three times, and ended up working.”

Hohenleitner’s foul shots gave visiting West just a one-point edge entering the fourth, but the Bucks took time out the equation by starting the quarter with a 12-2 run to pull away for a 46-34 victory over the Hatters.

“Great win, especially after that loss to North Penn,” Power said. “We needed to bounce back, especially without Cal (Reichwein), every one of us played our best tonight and were key to the win tonight.”

 

Connor Lynch made a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 15 points while Power chipped in 10 points for CB West (16-4, 10-2 conference), which counteracted Hatboro-Horsham’s size inside with a patient spread offense.

BOYS #BASKETBALL: @__bpow__ finds @lukeirons11 for a last-second 3 1Q vs. Hatboro-Horsham. pic.twitter.com/MT6KT8IJ7h

— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) January 30, 2016

“I was real happy with the kids. The kids played with a great tempo, they made great decisions,” Bucks coach Adam Sherman said. “Our biggest concern coming here was the rebounding. As anyone (can) see, they’re a very large team, I think we held them to only three offensive rebounds, I think one was in our hands and fumbled out. So, we’ll say two-and-a-half o-boards. So, I was just very happy with the way we played.”

Power collected the first three points of the fourth quarter then after two Clifton Moore free throws got the Hatters (10-9, 7-5) within 33-31 at 5:24, Power answered by scoring off a drive while Lynch connected on a corner 3 for a 38-31 advantage.

Four points from the foul line put West up 11 before Ryan Black 3-pointer made it 42-34 with 1:05 remaining. The triple, however, was Hatboro-Horsham’s only field goal of the quarter and the Bucks push it lead to a dozen in the last minute.

“Give them credit, they made a couple defensive plays, we turned the ball over and they got a couple runouts. Then, we said going in when we’ve got the two-point lead, that we had to keep the lead,” Hatters coach Erich Enoch said. “You get behind this team, and they just spread you out and they’re a hard team to come back from that.”

Brian McEachern and Jay Davis paced Hatboro-Horsham with eight points while Black added seven points.

“We did a good job in the third quarter and I thought we had them,” Enoch said. “We made too many bad basketball plays in the fourth period.”

BOYS #BASKETBALL: CB West's Connor Lynch knocks down a 3 to put the Bucks up 38-31 4Q vs. Hatboro-Horsham. pic.twitter.com/S7TMgxNuks

— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) January 30, 2016

Hatboro-Horsham is back on the court 1 p.m. Saturday at Perkiomen Valley in a non-league matchup. CB West next plays Tuesday on the road against Central Bucks East.

The Bucks enter the final week of SOL Continental play a game back in the loss column to first-place Pennridge, which stand on top by beating North Penn Friday.

Hatboro-Horsham trailed 21-14 at halftime but bettered its first-half offensive output by a point in the third as a few off-target West shots helped HH get into the open floor and increase the pace of the game.

“They got us before we were set a couple times. And they hit a couple tough shots, too,” Sherman said. “And also I think the opportunities came because we missed a couple shots. When you miss a couple shots, it gives them opportunities to get into transition. I think they took advantage of that in the third quarter.”

A Lynch 3 had West leading 24-18 before a 5-1 spurt had the Hatters down two after a Moore turnaround jumper. Power drove down the lane for two to make it 27-23, but Black hit a three and was fouled, converting the four-point play to tie the contest at 2:17 in the third.

BOYS #BASKETBALL: Hatboro-Horsham's Ryan Black hits a 3 & is fouled 3Q vs. CB West. His made FT tied the game 27-27 pic.twitter.com/DxdjEzhasM

— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) January 30, 2016

McEachern finished a drive from the left wing with a bucket to put the home side up 29-27. The Hatters almost went to the fourth ahead only for Hohenleitner to draw a foul on his 3 attempt with 0.2 seconds. He made all three from the charity stripe, putting West up for good.

“He was mad, I think he missed one or two (free throws) in the beginning of the game and he was mad at himself. He got it back there,” said Power of Hohenleitner.

West ended the first quarter with a 9-2 run, as Power found Luke Irons in the corner for a 3 before the buzzer for a 13-6 lead.

Hatboro-Horsham scored six of the first eight points in the second quarter to slice the Bucks’ advantage to 15-12 on Ezekiel Sloan’s jumper. A Lynch 3 put West up six before Moore’s just made it 18-14, but in the half’s final seconds Lynch dished to Ben Riegel for a trey and a seven-point edge at the break.

“To come off the bench, and on his first real shot to be a three and hit it, I think that’s huge, that was huge for us,” Sherman said. “I was real proud of him.”