Fly Eagles Fly: Norristown knocks off Perkiomen Valley, earns place in PIAA tournament

WEST NORRITON >> In the wake of their heart-breaking overtime loss against Spring-Ford during the semifinal round of the Pioneer Athletic Conference playoffs earlier this month, Norristown needed some time to step back and shift focus.

“There was a lot of anger, some people weren’t talking on the team,” said junior guard Marcus Sanford. “It was a hard for a lot of us. We expected to win the PAC. We didn’t think there was a team that could beat us.

“That loss created a better relationship with us. It created a hunger in all of us.”

Eleven days after that loss, the Eagles satisfied that hunger.

Norristown got double-digit scoring efforts from four different players on the way to a 50-41 win over Perkiomen Valley during the second round of the District 1-6A playoffs Tuesday night.

With the win, the No. 7-seeded Eagles (17-7 overall) will face No. 2 Abington —a 54-25 winner over Neshaminy — Friday night in the quarterfinal round. The win also ensures Norristown a spot in next month’s PIAA-6A playoffs, their first trip since 2013.

Perk Valley (13-11 overall), falls into the district playback round as eight teams will be vying for the final two District 1 spots at states. They’ll open up playbacks against No. 18 Neshaminy. After opening up districts with a stunning win over PAC champion Methacton last Friday night, the No. 23-seeded Vikings couldn’t find any offensive rhythm in the early going against Norristown.

Much to the contradiction of his players, first-year Norristown head coach Dana ‘Binky’ Johnson embraced the time away from game action following his team’s loss in the PAC playoffs.

“It was one of those things where people kept asking me why I wasn’t so upset about the loss,” he recalled. “I was actually excited because I knew that we hadn’t had a good, quality practice in so long. This would benefit us, an inexperienced team and a team that’s growing.

“Our guys were excited … they were biting at the bit.”

It showed against Perk Valley.

Sanford and senior center Darius Hopewell scored 12 points apiece while junior guard Vernon Tubbs had 11 and junior forward Mikeel Allen added 10 for Norristown. The Eagles jumped out to a 12-3 lead by the end of the first quarter, but then got pulled back down to Earth with a two-point second quarter that gave them a 14-12 lead at the half.

Perk Valley led once on the night, junior wing Tyler Strechay opening up the second half with a 3-pointer to make it 15-14 before Norristown pulled away for good with a 10-2 run over the next four minutes.

Norristown extended it to as much as a 12-point advantage in the fourth quarter — Hopewell tapping in a put-back on a free-throw attempt with 1:37 to go to make it 40-28.

“It felt good to be back on the court,” said Sanford. “We put a lot of hard work in, watched a lot of film these last two weeks. They (Perk Valley) started to play more into our game in the fourth quarter. They started to get up and down rather than slow things down. We just brought the energy with us the whole game.”

For the night, Strechay scored a game-high 15 points while junior guard Zach Krause added 10, including the Vikings’ first six points on 3-pointers.

Looking back from where they started the season to where they are now, Johnson and the Eagles have made some pretty impressive strides.

“To embark on such an accomplishment this year is amazing,” said Johnson, who was part of the program’s state-playoff run his senior year in 1990. “The growth from Dec. 8 to Feb. 20 is like light years for this young club. We laughed at it this week in practice. Our first weekend, our guys didn’t know how to form a line during the (pregame) introductions because most of them had only played JV. That group is now going to states.

“It’s such an accomplishment — such dedication and hard work.”