Standing Tall: Jonassen’s interior performance leads Perk Valley over Spring-Ford

COLLEGEVILLE >> Spring-Ford managed to slow down Perkiomen Valley star KT Armstrong in the first half, but the Rams never were able to sustain their usual high-speed offensive pace Friday night.

PV’s defense, usually featuring a 3-2 look with the 6-2 Armstrong playing the middle top, was exceptional all evening, and the result was a 53-43 Vikings victory that solidified them in the PAC-10 Final Four, continuing a terrific season.

PV improved to 10-1 in the conference (17-2 overall) tied for first with Liberty Division rival Boyertown, while Spring-Ford remained in third in the Liberty at 8-3 (11-8 overall). The Vikings had to grind this one in a very intense contest that started with a low-scoring first half — 18-14, Perkiomen Valley leading.

Armstrong would come on strong with nine of her 15 points coming in the second half, but without a great interior performance from Megan Jonassen — 22 points — and a big bench lift from Bridgette Bonjo — nine of her 11 coming in the fourth quarter — this win wouldn’t have happened.

Defense was the biggest key. The Vikings use their length very well.

“We have so much length, and when we have our bigs out there, we do stretch everybody out,” PV coach John Strawoet said. “You have to throw over the top of us, which is not an easy thing to do.

“That’s a good team,” he added of Spring-Ford. “(Coach) Mickey (McDaniel) does a great job with that team. They give it everything they have for the entire game, and to match that intensity and defensive aggressiveness is really big for us.”

Spring-Ford is a long shot to make the PAC-10 Final Four now, but everyone knows this is a very dangerous district team along with the Liberty’s Boyertown and PV — the latter two ranked No. 2 and 4 in District One, respectively.

“We knew it would be an emotional and intense game,” McDaniel said. “We’re fighting for our lives, and they did a nice job. Their zone and size caused us to slow down.

“I’m very proud of the girls for the way they battled.”

Spring-Ford guard Sydney Wagner scored 19 of her 21 in the second half, but the usually very deep Rams couldn’t connect enough, and that also affected their defense ultimately, because the Rams love to press and didn’t have many opportunities to set it up due to the misses.

Spring-Ford’s half-court man defense, however, kept PV bottled for the most part the first 24 minutes. The Vikings went scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the second quarter. Armstrong had only one field goal the first half.

“I just needed to calm myself down. Their defense is always great,” Armstrong said. “They get up in your face and they’re very disciplined. They forced me into some bad decisions early in the game. I just needed to slow down and look for my teammates.”

Wagner went on a tear in the third quarter, but so did Jonassen and Armstrong. PV maintained small margins of three to seven points heading for the fourth. That’s when Bonjo came up big-time, scoring a variety of inside baskets to help push PV up by 11, 43-32.

“She gave us a great boost of energy,” Strawoet said.

As did the overall Viking defense. Spring-Ford went the first 5:26 of the fourth quarter without a point. The Rams wouldn’t get closer than seven in the last three minutes.

The Vikings are in that one-game-at-a-time/don’t-look-too-far-ahead mentality, but they admit it was a sweet win and the body of work thus far is building confidence.

“It feels amazing, to go through this with your team through the season,” a smiling Jonassen said.

“I think every game, every practice we’re getting better,” Armstrong said. “I think the chemistry is getting better every game.”

“I’m extremely proud of them,” Strawoet said. “Every player on this team has contributed in one way or another. To be where we are right now is a great feeling for them and the coaching staff as well.”