Perkiomen Valley makes easy work of Pennridge in District 1-AAAA opener

GRATERFORD >> Perkiomen Valley isn’t taking anyone by surprise this year; having a No. 2 district ranking will do that. 

The Vikings, however, don’t seem to mind.

KT Armstrong and Megan Jonassen turned in sensational games, both figuring in double digits, as Perkiomen Valley controlled the paint and the boards in a resounding 63-38 victory over Pennridge in the District 1-AAAA opening round Saturday afternoon.

Jonassen finished with a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Vikings, who will play the winner of Great Valley and Abington in the second round Wednesday night at Perkiomen Valley. Taylor Hamm added 10 points for PV, which led by at least 10 throughout the last three quarters after building a 25-11 lead courtesy of a 10-2 run to start the second quarter.

“We rely on the two of them to do that for us,” Perkiomen Valley head coach John Strawoet said. “We rely on Megan and Taylor Hamm to control the boards for us, which they did, and we rely on KT and Megan to do the scoring for us.”

Armstrong rebounded from a 2-for-14 shooting performance in the PAC-10 title game to come away with 17 points. Her touch from beyond the arc was significantly better than her 2-for-9 effort against Boyertown as the senior finished 3-for-5 from long range before becoming more of a facilitator on offense in the late stages.

“The championship game I wasn’t knocking down my threes so it was nice to start knocking some shots down,” Armstrong said. “The second half I focused on contributing more and getting everyone more involved in our offense.” 

Pennridge sees its season end in the first round of the district playoffs for the second consecutive season. Devon Rimmer finished with a team-high 16 points in the loss including two 3-pointers in the first quarter that kept the Rams within six (15-9) after one.

However, the undersized Rams faced an uphill climb the remainder of the game as PV switched to a man defense, clogged the lanes and dominated the glass on both ends of the court.

“We were a little flat when we first started, but once we get in our man that picks us up all the time,” Strawoet said. “We were going to try and stay in our zone, but our staff looked at each other and said ‘maybe we better play man.’ Once we do that, it wakes us up.”

The Vikings never led by less than 10 after Jonassen sprung for six points in the second quarter off putbacks while Armstrong added six off two 3-pointers to build the advantage to 33-17 at the half. Jonassen then took control again in the third, scoring another six points before Hamm contributed eight of her 10 points in the fourth as the Vikings used a 20-point fourth quarter to put the bow on a 25-point victory.

“It was all about getting the rebounds and making good passes,” Jonassen said. “Everyone on the team, especially KT, was making good passes and she was knocking down her shots all game. Taylor and I just tried to do our job and get the rebounds when they came.”