Vince, Natale spark Souderton in win over North Penn
TOWAMENCIN >> In Dom Natale’s family, there’s always plenty of room at the table.
In this case, Natale’s family is the rest of the Souderton boys basketball team and through four games, nobody is going hungry. Thursday night, Natale quelled his hunger with a strong double-double, Andrew Vince found the zone early and the Indians made things tough on host North Penn.
A well-balanced effort on both ends spurred the Indians to a 52-39 win over the Knights in their SOL Continental opener.
“We’ve been playing together a long time, especially our seniors, I think we’ve been playing together since we were eight years old so our whole team has that family connection,” Natale said. “We’re just moving the ball looking for that best shot every time, the best opportunity to score and trying to win games.”
Natale, who is off to a terrific start, posted a game-high 18 points and a game-best 15 rebounds plus a couple assists, two steals and a block while all but setting and cleaning up the family table.
The Indians knew they’d have to be strong on the defensive end between the Knights’ (1-3, 0-1 SOL Continental) sharpshooting guards and size on the interior. Not only did they defend well, but they used a good flow on offense early to help the defensive effort.
Senior Andrew Vince nailed a shot 10 seconds into the game and wouldn’t miss an attempt until the fourth quarter. The Souderton (4-0, 1-0 SOL Continental) forward hit six straight shots in the first half and seven overall on his way to 15 points.
“We kept moving the ball around, kept finding the open shots and guys were making their open shots in those opening quarters and we were able to get out to a quick lead and keep it at the half,” Vince said. “It was huge, guys were moving around well, we were playing good defense and getting it up in transition and were just able to get buckets.”
The first quarter was played at a high pace with Souderton using an 8-0 run to turn an 8-4 hole into a 12-8 lead. After taking a 14-12 lead into the second quarter, a Vince-led run in the second quarter helped open up some crucial space.
No sooner had North Penn cut the lead to 22-17, the senior scored inside, splashed a 3-pointer and jumped a pass at the top of the arc, going all the way for a layup and a 12-point lead. Up 13 at the break, Souderton opened the third quarter with another Vince score before Natale hit a cutting Brian Reiner for a reverse layup.
“They’re a good basketball team, strong, athletic, quick and they’re a tough matchup,” Knights coach Jon Conrad said. “Vince and Natale can take you outside or inside, depending how you play them. Give them credit, I felt like we got some good looks but couldn’t put it in the hole.”
Natale scored 10 of his 18 after halftime but just as large was his impact on the glass. Knowing his team couldn’t afford to let the Knights shooters get into rhythm, the senior was aggressive going up against North Penn’s front line including 6-foot-6 Rob Carangi and 6-foot-5 Matt Swanson to end possessions with just one shot.
Souderton doesn’t lean on one guy offensively and is equally good about defending as a group.
“We know they have guards who are really good shooters, against LC their first 21 points were from three so we knew going in we had to take away their 3-point game and I think we did that well,” Vince said. “We wanted to stop them and get it out in transition.”
Once they built their lead, the Indians were also very good about keeping it. That’s been another focus so far this season and Natale thinks the Indians have done a good job of forcing their opponents into mistakes and taking advantage.
“We’re a family, we don’t care who’s eating, we just want to win,” Natale said. “Whoever has the hot hand is who we’re going to get the ball to.”
North Penn is still figuring out its rotation and waiting for a couple injured players to come back but Conrad sees potential in the group. While they’ve lost three in a row, the Knights did some good things on Thursday but an off night from deep didn’t help their cause.
North Penn bridged a 9-2 run between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter and cut the Indians’ lead down to eight points with 5:35 to play.
Souderton found Jack Towsen, who hadn’t scored all game, for a massive 3-pointer to end the Knights’ run and start a 7-0 Indians response. Natale had the other two buckets, one assisted by Vince and the other by Towsen to restore a 15-point edge.
“It’s going to be a big key in the games we have coming up in the conference,” Vince said. “Dom’s going to keep it up, he’s going to keep grabbing rebounds for us. We’re just playing really well as a team, we’re moving the ball and we’re scrappy.”
SOUDERTON 52, NORTH PENN 39
SOUDERTON 14 19 10 9 – 52
NORTH PENN 12 8 11 8 – 39
Souderton: Andrew Vince 7 0-0 15, Dom Natale 8 2-3 18, Jack Towsen 1 0-0 3, Brian Reiner 5 1-2 11, Jason Price 2 0-0 4, Ben Murawski 0 1-2 1. Nonscoring: Dylan Hollick, Sami Chouriaf, Evan Kutzler. Totals: 23 4-6 52.
North Penn: Joey Larkins 0 1-2 1, Mike Chaffee 1 2-2 5, Billy Coley 3 0-0 7, Rob Carangi 2 1-1 5, Matt Swanson 5 1-5 11, Milind Pulugura 2 0-0 6, John Dolan 1 2-2 4. Totals: 14 7-12 39.
3-pointers: S – Vince, Towsen; NP – Chaffee, Coley, Pulugura 2.
