Yoder scores 31, Pennridge clinches share of SOL Continental with win over CB South

EAST ROCKHILL >> Sean Yoder and the Pennridge boys basketball team took over in the third quarter Monday night and in doing so took one step closer to claiming the outright Suburban One League Continental Conference title.

The Rams scored 10 straight points to flip a 35-32 deficit against visiting Central Bucks South into a 42-35 lead and went on to finish the third with a 17-4 run, entering the fourth up 49-39. Pennridge pushed the advantage to 15 before holding off a late charge by the Titans and pulling away for a 71-56 victory.

“We knew what was a stake coming into the game,” Yoder said. “Got cancelled last week so we prepared for it last week, so we knew what we had coming into this. They gave us everything we could handle, they made a couple runs at us, they were shooting the ball but I think after that second half we went on a little run, put us up maybe 10 or something, we held that lead.”

In a matchup of the Continental top two sides, Yoder scored a game-high 31 points — 14 coming in the first quarter — while three other Rams finished in double figures as Pennridge (18-2, 9-1 conference) won its 14th straight to clinch at least a share of the Continental title, its first since taking it outright in 2016.

The Rams, who made 10 3-pointers Monday — five by Yoder — can stand alone as conference champ with a win in either of its final two regular-season games. They host Central Bucks East 7 p.m. and finish at North Penn 7 p.m. Thursday.

“I think it’s right here, it’s right for us to grab,” Yoder said. “So we got to go get it.”

Pennridge’s Jon Post collected 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Jack Gillespie hit a trio of 3-pointers in adding 11 points while John Dominic recorded 10 points.

“They’re a good team, they’re going to score, they had a good output tonight but we liked the tempo the way it was,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “We wanted to play up tempo. And when you get Sean in the open floor, he’s tough.”

Alex Dietz had a team-high 22 points while Brady Prezelski hit four 3-pointers in the first half in scoring 12 points for CB South (15-5, 7-3), which was trying to tie Pennridge atop the Continental standings. Instead, the Titans had their three-game win streak snapped and while still alive for a share of the title, they need to win their next two games — home against North Penn 7 p.m. Tuesday, away vs. Central Bucks West 6:30 p.m. Friday — while also getting help from both East and North Penn.

“I guess mathematically you could win a conference championship but right now — and going into this game — and every game it’s just focus on the team that we’re playing and take one game at a time,” CB South coach Jason Campbell said. “Things happen for a reason, so if we don’t walk out of here being tied for first place, maybe somebody has different cards dealt for you for your future for the districts.”

Yoder’s four-point player at the buzzer had the teams level 19-19 after the first quarter with the first half ending up knotted at 32 after a free throw by South’s Cole Prezelski with 4.6 seconds left before the break.

Dietz’s 3-point play gave the Titans a 35-32 edge seven seconds into the third quarter. But the Rams began to up their defensive play, help them put together a 10-point burst to take the lead for good.

“Give them credit, they shot extremely well in that first half but I felt good going into halftime,” Behrens said. “So I thought defensively we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of but we’re still tied. It was a tie game. I said ‘Boys we got 16 minutes to try to at least be co-champs. Like right now we’re guaranteed co-champs.’ That was why I thought this game was so important.”

A Post jumper cut South lead to 35-34 while a Yoder putback had the Rams up 36-35. Post scored off an offensive rebound following a Trent Fisher steal with Luke Yoder’s 3-pointer making it 41-35. A John Dominic free throw at 2:52 had Pennridge leading 42-36.

A Dietz foul shot at 2:31 snapped the run but Sean Yoder drained a 3-pointer to make it 45-36. Dietz responded with a three but Sean Yoder scored inside then drove for two, putting the Rams up 10 entering the fourth.

“We were playing defense,” Sean Yoder said. “I know Trent Fisher had a couple blocks down there, huge for us. Jon Post was playing good D but that’s the name of the game — defense.”

A Sean Yoder 3-pointer and a Post basket had the Rams ahead 57-42 in the fourth before South ran off seven straight points to get within 57-49 after a Ian McCaw free throw at 3:50.

A Dietz 3-point play had the margin down to seven at 61-54 with 2:43 remaining but Dominic hit both ends of a 1-and-1 at 2:27 while a Sean Yoder layup had the Rams back up double digits at 65-54. Six more points gave Pennridge its biggest lead at 71-54.

“They shot the ball better than us, that’s really what it came down to,” Campbell said. “They were efficient, they handled the pressure well and they were able to find the open man. Credit to them, they had a good second half.”

In the first quarter, Sean Yoder found a groove from beyond the arc, hitting three 3-pointers in scoring 14 points in the period — the last four points coming as he was fouled draining a three from the wing as the buzzer sounded and made the free throw, tying the contest 19-19.

“I felt a little contact, threw it up there and it went in,” he said.

The Rams went up 26-21 after two Post free throws at 6:08 in the second quarter but the Titans stayed close and eventually took a 31-30 lead on Brady Prezelski’s fourth 3-pointer of the half. A Trent Fisher bucket had the Rams back up 32-31 before Cole Prezelski’s free throw made it 32-32 after the first 16 minutes.