Millheim, Jaworski power Perkiomen Valley’s rout of Upper Merion

 

UPPER MERION >> It was supposed to be a battle, the leaders of the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Frontier and Liberty divisions.

It was nothing of the kind.

Perkiomen Valley got a career-high 23 points from Hogan Millheim and another 22 from Justin Jaworski to lead the Vikings past Upper Merion, 66-39, in  a contest that was close for about a quarter and a half.

Millheim led the way inside,taking full advantage of the absence of Upper Merion’s injured Holy Cross-bound big man Matt Faw to batter the Vikings inside with his 23 points and nine rebounds as PV never trailed.

“We prepared really well,” Millheim said. “We’re hungry.

“Justin and I have played together for so long, we know where we’re going to be on the floor, and that really helps set up our offense.”

But PV head coach Mike Poysden said there’s a  third part of the PV success wagon.

“We really rely on Justin and Hogan, but there’s also (guard) Sean Owens.

“Sean’s another big reason we have success.”

PV jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, and there was nothing the home team could do to respond.

They missed a ton of shots inside early, then suffered the consequences as PV was going full bore, and never let up.

A 15-4 lead after one quarter became a 23-10 lead at the half.

Then Jaworski took over in the third quarter, scoring 13 points as the visitors blew it open.

“PV played  very disciplined, unselfish basketball,” said Upper Merion head coach Jason Quenzer. “We just couldn’t compete.

“I could fill a whole page with what went wrong.”

As for Millheim, he had 10 points at the half, added seven in the third quarter and six more in the fourth.

“I was using my assets, minus the ‘ets”” Millheim said with a wide smile. “I credit playing a lot of

AAU over the summer. That’s really helped me improve my offense.”

On this night, it was more than enough offense for PV to run away and hide”

“Hogan’s success is our success,” Poysden said. “This is his third year as a starter, and he keeps getting better.

“And we keep getting better.”

Perk Valley 66, Upper Merion 39
Perkiomen Valley 15 8 25 18 — 66
Upper Merion 4 6 13 16 — 39
Perkiomen Valley:  Justin Jaworski 7 5-5 22; Andrew Light 2 0-0 4; Tyler Stretchay 2 0-0 6 Sean Owens 4 0-0 9; Hogan Millheim 11 1-3 23; Joe Gorla 0 0-0 0; Dante Graves 0 0-0 0; Sevon Downing 0 0-0 0; Kevin Bernabe 0 0-0 0; Axel Lopez 0 2-2 2; Carson Parke 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 8-10  66.
Upper Merion: Aidan Newell 3 1-2 9; Andrew Persaud 3 0-3 8; Chris Cartia 1 0-0 2; Joe Breece 3 1-2 7; Ethan Miller 6 0-0 13; Timmy Bielgalski 0 0-0; Ty Chemelko 0 0-0 ; CJ Levy 0 0-0 0; Robbie McKernan 0 0-0 0; Brandan Higgins 0 0-0 0; Austin Moucer 0 0-0 0. Totals 16  2-7 39.
3-pointers: Jaworski 3; Stretchay 2; Owens; Newell 2; Persaud 2; Miller.