Pottstown opens PAC Frontier play with revenge win over rival Pottsgrove

The two annual meetings between crosstown rivals Pottstown and Pottsgrove hold a special importance in earning bragging rights against the school just a few minutes down the road.

Last season showed how important they can be to either team’s postseason future too as the Falcons’ two wins over the Trojans were the tiebreaker that sent Pottsgrove to the Pioneer Athletic Conference playoffs over Pottstown.

That fact was not lost on the Trojans on Tuesday night at Pottsgrove as they defeated the Falcons, 78-63, to break a three-game skid in the rivalry game and get their first win of the 2019-20 season. Seniors Donovan Towson and Tre’ Bass led the way with 22 points apiece.

“It’s a big one,” Towson said. “Across the street rivalry, it’s been going on for years. They got us two times last year, so we had to come and get one… It was definitely motivation. They beat us two times last year, knocked us out, so we had to go get one this year.”

.@PottstownTrojan senior tied for a game-high 22 points. Here he is on the team’s big rivalry win Tuesday night to open league play. pic.twitter.com/MMTQeDYv44

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) December 11, 2019

 

Pottsgrove (0-3) and Pottstown (1-2) both dropped contests to Academy Park and Holy Ghost Prep, perennial District 1-5A qualifiers, to open their season in the Pottsgrove Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend. A rivalry win to open up Pioneer Athletic Conference play would be an easy way to quickly put those losses in the rear view.

Photo Gallery: Pottstown-Pottsgrove Boys Basketball 12.10.19

The Falcons entered Tuesday night having won five of the last six games in the series, including two wins over the Trojans last year that gave Pottsgrove a tiebreaker for the PAC postseason when the two teams ended the regular season with identical records.

“It was crazy last year losing to them, them knocking us out of the PAC playoffs,” senior forward Wilchon Seward said. “This year (we focused on) just coming out and beating them so that can’t even be a factor this year.”

After a late run to end the first half up 35-22, Pottstown continued to add onto its lead after half, building a 55-37 advantage after three quarters and leading by as many as 22 points early in the fourth. Along with Bass and Towson, Seward added 12 points off the bench, 10 of which came in the second half as the Trojans pulled away.

Pottsgrove took an early 8-4 lead and climbed back ahead 16-15 early in the second quarter on a bucket by junior guard Zion Dyches, who led the Falcons with 14 points. Pottstown ended the first half on a 14-4 run and the Falcons never got within eight points the rest of the game.

The Falcons graduated most of their scoring from last year’s team that went to the District 1-5A semifinals and state playoffs, including Manny Clark (Gwynedd Mercy), Khaliym Smith and Justin Robinson, who combined to average more than 44 points per game.

Junior forward Luke Kaiser, who finished with 13 points, senior forward Evan White and junior forward Nick Stringer are back from last year’s team, but they played complementary roles last season and the Falcons are relying on a lot of new faces without much varsity experience.

“It’s definitely tough,” Kaiser said. “We lost a lot of good guys. I think it was nine seniors that left us, but it’s next-man-up mentality … We’re just working with some new guys. I think we’re still just finding our groove a little bit. We’ve got some guys with a lack of varsity experience, but three games into the season, we’re looking to get back on track.”

Towson opened the season with 21 points against Academy Park and scored 17 points in Saturday’s loss to Holy Ghost Prep. The 6-foot-3 senior guard was as second team All-PAC Frontier selection last year, when he averaged 12.5 points per game, and looks like he may have taken a step forward this season, averaging 20 points per game through three contests. However, Towson emphasized postgame that the Trojans will have to rely on a number of different players to score the basketball this season.

All eight Pottstown players to enter the game scored Tuesday. Robert Burress added seven points, including two early fastbreak dunks to set the tone early for Pottstown. Junior point guard Corey Cottman finished with seven points. Gage Sibilly added two points and handled the ball well with Cottman picking up a few early fouls. Darius Smallwood scored two big buckets as the Trojans went on their run to end the first half, and Jamal Britton chipped in with ball handling duties and added a bucket to round out the team’s scoring.

“Me and Tre’ did good today, but it’s not about us, it’s a team game,” Towson said. “We’re going to start sharing the ball. It was just our night. We were on, so the team just kept getting us the ball, feeding us. We were on, and we got the green light, but during the season it’s going to be a team game.”

Dyches was Pottsgrove’s leading scorer in the opening weekend, scoring eight points against Holy Ghost Prep and 17 against Academy Park, but five others have reached double figures already in three games.

White and sophomore guard James Thompson led Pottsgrove in scoring in the opener, and Stringer joined Dyches in double figures Saturday. Senior Tyvese Livers scored 11 points on Tuesday night, while senior forward Messiah Smythe added eight.

“We’ll definitely be patient,” Kaiser said. “We just gotta keep working. We’ve really gotta get better in practice every day. We’ve gotta make sure we don’t take any days off. We’ve gotta make sure we work hard and get better. … I think once we put it together we’re going to be looking good. We just gotta keep working hard.”

Pottstown dropped its first two Frontier Division contests last season. They went 6-2 in the division the rest of the season, but it wasn’t quite enough to dig out of the hole and end a PAC playoff drought that extends to the 2011-12 campaign.

Getting a win in their league opener, especially after back-to-back losses to start their year, was a step in the right direction.

“This weekend it was two tough losses, but we had to come back and win this one for the PAC,” Seward said.