Norristown controls Wissahickon

LOWER GWYNEDD >> What’s that about desperate times?

Oh yeah, they need to be met with desperate measures.

And the Norristown High basketball team is certainly in desperation mode.

By their count, they need five victories to qualify for the upcoming District One playoffs, so the Eagles are willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even if logic says they have no chance.

Friday night, missing some players because of team violations and with head coach Mike Evans present, but not on the bench due to illness, the Eagles let out all the stops to pull out a 53-46 win over host Wissahickon.

With Roy Green and Darryl Carr leading the way, and with assistant Chris Podsobinski on the bench in place of Evans, the Eagles led all the way in earning the victory.

Green and Carr scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, and Norristown controlled tempo and the Trojans 3-point shooting in gaining what can only be termed a must win.

“We had to do it,” Green said. “We need five wins to get in, that’s the plan, and we have to get them any way we can.”

The any way the Eagles used Friday was a zone that slowed down tempo, and which benefitted from the Trojans’ reluctance to get into the paint.

“We played more of their game than they played ours,” said Trojans head coach Kyle Wilson. “They were willing to stay in that zone, and we were content to shoot threes.

“Outside of Zach (Reiner, who led the Trojans with 19 points), no one wanted to go to the basket.”

The Eagles broke out on top, snatching a 13-5 lead after one quarter, then got a scare when the Trojans whittled their deficit to four (21-17) by halftime.

But with balanced scoring in the third quarter, the Eagles got their lead to double digits heading into the final stanza.

“We had to dictate tempo,” Podsobinski said. “We had to play our way. And overall, we stayed disciplined and we were able to pull it out.”

Norristown then pulled away in the fourth quarter, stretching the lead to 48-35 on a Carr three-ball with 2:42 left.
The Trojans huffed and puffed, but could only get as close as seven points the rest of the way.

“We wanted to slow the game down and play at our pace,” Green said. “And that’s what we need to do for the rest of the season.”