Wong, Bonner & Prendergast clear their first state hurdle
PHILADELPHIA >> Bonner & Prendergast coach Jack Concannon didn’t want to look at how teams were seeded before the Friars’ game against District 3’s New Oxford Friday night in the PIAA Class 5A tournament.
“Any team that gets this far is a good team,” Concannon said of the No. 9 seed opponent. “They must have won something. What did they make, 10 3s? And we only made one.”
As the Friars showed, games aren’t won only by 3-point shooting. Bonner & Prendergast (23-4), the District 12 champion, did enough other things to earn a 56-45 decision over the Colonials (20-9) to earn the chance to play in a second-round game Tuesday night. It’s the Friars’ first PIAA tournament win in program history, the Catholic League only joining the state tournament proceedings in 2008-09.
The Friars missed six shots and turned the ball over six times in the opening period and fell behind, 15-10. The used a better defensive effort to outscore New Oxford in the second period, 20-8. Junior Isaiah Wong, who filled up the statistics sheets with 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and a pair of assists, was 4-for-4 from the floor — one from deep range — and added three free throws to get 12 of his points in that second period.
“We might have underestimated them a little and they picked that up at the start,” Wong said. “We needed a better defensive tempo (in the second eight minutes) and that’s what we got. We saw they couldn’t handle the pressure.”
New Oxford shot 3-for-10 from the floor and had nine turnovers in the second period after going 6-for-10 at the start. Bonner’s lead at halftime was seven points.
“They’re a good team,” Concannon said. “We knew we’d have to get the ball and get out and score points in transition, and we started doing that.
“When you get to states, you expect to come up against teams like that. It’s a good win, and we’ll move on from here.”
Wong didn’t make a field goal in the third period but hit three in a row in the fourth period. Michael Perretta, who was 0-for-4 from the floor, went 4-for-4 at the foul line down the stretch as Bonner & Prendie wouldn’t allow New Oxford to get closer than six points.
“(Perretta’s) foul shots were big, and James Welde did a nice job for a freshman coming off the bench, getting us two baskets (in the third period),” Concannon said.
Senior Ajiri Johnson distributed his points, getting four in the first half and six in the second half. He also had 11 rebounds, swatted away three Colonials shots, and made a pair of steals. Sophomore Mahir Sharif chipped in with five assists for the Friars, who take on District 3 runner-up William Penn of York in Tuesday’s second round. The Bearcats outlasted Holy Ghost Prep, 63-59 Friday.
“I’ve always been the defensive guy,” Johnson said. “That’s what I do when we need it.
“(New Oxford) came out hot, but we knew they couldn’t shoot like that all night. We had to play our defense and we knew that could stop them.”
Seniors Deriq Brown, who shot 5-for-9 from behind the arc, and John Wessel, who hit three 3s, scored 15 points to pace New Oxford.
“It’s a game we can learn from as we get ready for the next one,” Concannon said.
