Souderton rallies past Academy Park, gets to 6-0

FRANCONIA >> Happy but not satisfied.

Souderton Area’s 6-0 start has Big Red pleased with its hard-earned results, but wanting more.

“Definitely a good start,” said the Indians’ Dominic Natale. “We’ve been working a long time for this so it’s good to see that our hard work pays off, but we’re onto the next game.”

Big Red’s latest victory, a rousing, come-from-behind 68-65 win over Academy Park, saw the Indians battle through a fourth quarter with multiple lead changes and go ahead for good with a minute to play, then survive one final push by the visitors.

“We had been letting up a lot of points, more than we would typically like,” Natale said. “So that was our main focus – defense and get the stops. And work off of that offensively.”

Emotional Night

Prior to the game, Souderton unveiled the baseball team’s 2019 State Championship Banner.

“We definitely got some more support than was typical,” Natale said of the fans. “It was good to see because when we were making shots, the whole crowd was into it and it was awesome to see. It brought us back into it and it definitely swung the game back in our favor.”

Getting It Done

Natalie scored a team-high 18 points for the Indians, helping Souderton to rally back. His two free throws with 22 seconds left helped lock it up.

Andrew Vince added 15 for the Indians.

“The guys stayed tough and stayed with what we do,” Souderton coach Tim Brown said. “They embraced the pressure and handled it in the fourth.”

“They pressured the heck out of us,” Natale said. “We worked on trying to not turn the ball over and kind of slow the pace of the game and play our game.”

Tahriq Marrero’s 26 points was a game high for Academy Park, but Souderton buckled down in the final eight minutes.

“We told them to take it personal,” Brown said of the defensive effort. “They absolutely did that and I think it showed. Great energy, great job helping, great job crashing the boards. And then getting going and getting some buckets on the other end because of it.

“The guys are still hungry. The guys are ready to get after it and keep grinding.”

Souderton 68, Academy Park 65
Academy Park 13 15 22 15 – 65
Souderton 14 15 19 20 – 68
Academy Park: Cassidy 4 0-0 11, Jabateh 3 0-0 6, Marrero 7 8-10 26, Simmons 4 2-2 10, Johnson 3 0-1 9, Brown 0 3-4 3. Totals 21 13-17 65.
Souderton: Andrew Vince 5 5-7 15, Jason Price 3 1-2 9, Evan Kutzler 0 0-2 0, Sami Chouriaf 3 2-4 9, Dominic Natale 7 4-5 18, Jack Towsen 3 1-2 8, Ben Murawski 2 5-6 9. Totals 23 18-28 68.
3-pointers: AP-Cassidy 3, Marrero 4, Johnson 3; S-Price 2, Chooriaf, Towsen.