Pennridge rolls to Pennridge Tournament Final win over Audenried Charter

EAST ROCKHILL >> Sean Yoder calmly directed an attack that went seven deep and Nick Dunn spearheaded a defense that allowed just two first-quarter field goals.

By then, the Rams were firmly on their way to earning a tournament-final victory over visiting Audenried Charter.

“I thought our kids played very unselfish tonight,” said Pennridge coach Dean Behrens. “I thought that was key. I thought our help defense was excellent. We handled their pick and rolls very well.”

The Rams did a lot of things right in rolling to a 67-23 win over the Rockets in the 10th Annual Pennridge Tournament Classic Tip-Off Final Saturday night.

“It definitely feels good because coming into the season, we didn’t know what we were gonna get with some of the young guys,” said Yoder, who scored a game-high 14 points. “So it was really about getting the wrinkles out and coming together as a team.”

Pennridge (2-0) led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter and extended to a 25-point lead by the break.

The Rams connected eight times from three-point range, with seven of those threes coming in the first half.

“We have confidence in one another shooting the ball so if you have an open look, take the shot,” Yoder said. “John Dominic came up huge in that second quarter. He really did come up big.”

Dominic (11 points), sinking a trio of threes, came off the bench, as did Pat Gillespie, who added 10 points.

Said Behrens: “We got a lot of pop from our bench.”

With the game well in hand, Pennridge kept the crowd cheering into the fourth, when reserves like Anthony Phillips, Connor Pleibel and Christian Guldin contributed baskets.

When he wasn’t setting up his teammates, Yoder had his shot working.

“I’ll get my shots here and there but I’m point guard so I’m looking for my teammates, trying to get them open looks,” said the senior. “And if I have an open shot, I have full confidence in myself to knock it down.”

Pennridge had advanced to the tournament final by virtue of its win over Faith Christian on Friday, with Audenried (1-1) having advanced past Truman.

“Those kids were gentlemen — they played hard both games,” Behrens said of the Rockets. “They had a nice win (Friday) against Truman so overall I thought it was a really good tournament for us.”