North Penn rallies past Council Rock North in opener (PHOTO GALLERY)

Council Rock North senior Eric Levine, left, is defended by Derek Heiserman in season-opener vs. North Penn Dec. 9, 2016 at Upper Moreland High School, Willow Grove, Pa. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media)

UPPER MORELAND >> Proving the point that it’s not how you start but rather, how you finish, North Penn outpaced Suburban One National League rival Council Rock North, 53-47, in a season opener for both teams Friday night at Upper Moreland.

While the Knights started slow with just eight points in the first period and were behind by double digits early on in the second quarter, North Penn closed the gap with an 8-0 run to close out the first half behind only one point, 25-24. The Knights did it with a field goal from sophomore A.J. Mitchell (7 points) and a pair of last minute 3-pointers from Mitchell and senior Paul Ford (7 points).

North Penn continued its scoring spurt in the third quarter with Ford starting things off with a field goal, leading scorer David Guiliani (14 points) hitting for three, senior Noah Kwortnik (4 points) canning a backdoor layup, junior Chris Coleman capping off and end-to-end drive to the basket with a layup and Guiliani capping off a 12-2 run with a layup and the and-one that put the Knights on top to stay, 36-27.

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Defensively, North Penn’s zone defense after the break stymied the Indians, who tallied their lowest point total in the game with just four field goals for eight points.

With the Rock trailing 38-33 heading into the final frame, North closed an ever-widening gap to 46-42 with a 5-0 run from junior Drew Burton (7 points), a recent transfer from Conwell-Egan Catholic.

Try as they might to get Burton open for yet another shot from the perimeter, the Indians missed with 1:30 to go and a putback basket by Coleman extended the Knights’ edge to six at 48-42.

North Penn eventually won the battle by six points and the game would not have been that close had not the Knights struggled from the foul line in the fourth quarter. North Penn shot just 7-of-15 from the charity stripe in the final period.

While the Knights made only half of their free throws in the contest, at least North Penn got to the foul line 22 times in the non-league opener, part of a double-header that also featured Upper Perkiomen vs. the home team Upper Moreland in the nightcap.

For its part, Council Rock North got to the foul line just seven times on the night.

In the second half of the double-header, the Bears fell behind 31-22 after three periods but roared back with a big 21-point fourth quarter in an eventual 46-43 loss to the Indians.

The action continues Saturday night with North Penn facing Upper Perk at 5 p.m. and Rock North taking on Upper Moreland at 6:30 p.m.

Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

North Penn 53, Council Rock North 47
CR NORTH         14 11 8 14 – 47
NORTH PENN   8 16 14 15 – 53
CR NORTH — Noah Ehlin 7, Eric Levine 6, Drew Burton 7, James Kosyla 9, Ryan Costello 16, Tyler Shields 2; TOTALS — 19 4-7 47.
NORTH PENN — Paul Ford 7, A.J. Mitchell 7, David Guiliani 14, Chris Coleman 9, Derek Heiserman 2, A.J. Catanzaro 10, Noah Kwortnik 4; TOTALS — 18 11-22 53.
3-POINT GOALS: CRN — Costello 4, Burton; NP — Ford, Mitchell, Guiliani, Coleman, Catanzaro 2.