Council Rock North boys basketball powers past CR South (VIDEO)

NEWTOWN – Coming into their bi-seasonal matchup with visiting Council Rock South, North knew all about the Golden Hawks’ ability to hit from beyond the 3-point arc.

When the Indians guarded that line the first period, South tagged them with five made layups by junior forward Ryan Boyd (24 pts.). When North dropped back on defense, the Hawks hit them with a trio of 3-pointers in the second period.

Caught up in a shootout at the half, the Indians made a few more defensive adjustments during the intermission and pulled away in the fourth quarter to a 71-57 triumph, North’s second win of the season over its sister school in Holland.

“It’s tough because they shoot the ball well so you want to guard the 3-point line,” said Indians long-time head coach Derek Wright. “But when you do that, you’re going to give up the lane a little bit.

“We had to give up some twos instead of giving up threes. You have to pick your poison with them.”

Offensively, North got out of the gate quickly, using a red hot hand on 6-of 10 shooting to launch 21-15 edge by the end of the first period. The Indians were led by seniors Riley Thompson and Will Desautelle, who scored 28 and 18 points, respectively.

After scoring six points in the initial frame, Thompson lit up the scoreboard in the second quarter, tagging the Hawks for 12 points in the period, a performance that included a pair of 3-pointers. After the break, Desautelle (18P, 9R, 4A) dominated, hitting three field goals in the third period and scoring 14 points in the last two quarters, combined.

Together, the dynamic duo for the Indians combined on 15 of North’s 20 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Thirteen of North’s points in the final frame came at the foul line with Thompson and Desautelle combining on 11-of-15 free throw shooting in the fourth period.

After a 5-7 start, the Indians (11-8, 9-3: SOL) have won six of their last seven, their only loss in that stretch a double overtime affair Jan. 16 vs. non-league rival Souderton.

A portion of the credit for North’s recent success is due to Thompson’s re-emergence on the court. The senior shooting guard for the Indians was nursing a broken finger suffered during football season and needed time to find his range to the rim.

“Over the break, we only had two games in a 10-day stretch and that allowed me time in the gym to work on my jump shot, which is really how my game is predicated,” explained Thompson. “Early on, I didn’t have that and it made it tough to get other things going.”

Thompson had all aspects of his game going in this one, offensively and defensively. With less than two minutes remaining and his team on top by double digits, he went sprawling in front of the scorer’s table trying to get to a loose ball.

“We have to close it out. There’s only so many times you get to play basketball. As a senior, I’m realizing that it’s coming to an end. This is the game we all look forward to – the home game, the white-out – against South.

“We wanted to make sure we left it all out on the floor; no regrets, and we definitely did that tonight.”

Yes, but win number 11 did not come easy, thanks to the efforts of the Golden Hawks (7-11, 5-7 SOL). In the opening moments of the second quarter, it took South less than 30 seconds to tie the score on back-to-back 3-pointers by juniors Austin Thomas (7 pts.) and Michael Krepich (6).

South shot 50 percent from the floor (6-for-12) in the second period and closed a 6-point deficit down to a 1-point gap on the second trey in the quarter by Krepich.

North closed the first half however with an 8-4 run, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Thompson and a baseline jumper by Riley with time winding down. The Hawks countered with a jumper by junior Ryan McNamee and another that beat the buzzer by Thomas.

Coming back from the break, the Hawks opened with a 9-3 run that gave them their only lead in the game, albeit by the slimmest of margins. The scoring spurt that put South on top 41-40 was highlighted by three shots from the floor by Boyd and another by Thomas.

North answered with an 11-4 run however to close out the quarter. The spurt by the Indians was sparked by three field goals and a free throw by Desautelle, who had to sit in the second period in foul trouble.

“We need Will; he’s a key cog in our offense,” said Thompson. “The second half, he didn’t let what happened in the first half affect him. He came out attacking the rim, getting to the line and making his foul shots.

“That definitely helped put South away.”

The Indians sealed the win opening the fourth quarter up with a an 8-2 scoring run, a spurt that was highlighted by a backdoor layup by Desaultelle off a quick inbounds pass from senior Elliot Spicer and a 3-pointer by sophomore Matt McAlister, his second in the contest.

With just three games remaining including Monday’s makeup at Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) rival New Hope-Solebury, North needs to close the season out strong.

“We knew that when we dropped to 5-7 a few weeks ago, it was pretty much playoff time already,” said Thompson. “But we’re 6-1 in our last seven and we have three more games left. We have to try to win them all and we definitely feel like we can the way we’re playing right now.”

Despite the fact that their 9-3 league record sits them in second place in the Suburban One National Conference, the Indians’ chances of making the District-1-AAAA playoff field, according to Coach Wright, are on the bubble.

North’s power-point ranking was harmed not only by some of those early season losses, but also the fact that some of the Indians’ non-league wins were against teams that did not have the best of seasons.

NOTES: North won the first Indians-Hawks match-up this season by the slimmest of margins, emerging with a 60-59 victory Jan. 5 at South.

Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Council Rock North 71, Council Rock South 57

(Jan. 29 at CR North)

Council Rock South 15 17 13 12 – 57

Council Rock North 21 16 14 20 – 71

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH — Ryan Boyd 9 4-6 24, Alex Nordenholt 3 1-2 8, Austin Thomas 3 0-0 7, Mike Stock 2 2-3 6, Michael Krepich 2 0-0 6, Kevin Newbert 1 1-2 3, Ryan McNamee 1 0-0 2, Kenny Brightcliffe 0 1-2 1. TOTALS — 22 9-16 57.

COUNCIL ROCK NORTH — Riley Thompson 8 9-12 28, Will Desautelle 6 6-10 18, Matt McAlister 2 2-2 8, Tyler Nowmos 2 0-0 6, Noah Ehlin 2 1-2 5, Elliot Spicer 0 2-2 2, Matt Baniewicz 0 2-3 2, Eric Levine 0 1-2 1, Tommy Boyle 0 0-2 0, Tyler Shields 0 1-2 1. TOTALS — 20 24-37 71.

3-POINT GOALS: CRS — Krepich 2, Thomas, Nordenholt; CRN — Thompson 3, McAlister 2, Nowmos 2.