Souderton holds on in 4th quarter to edge CB West, stay unbeaten
FRANCONIA >> Getting the Souderton boys basketball team on the path to success hasn’t been an easy task for coach Tim Brown.
“There’s a reason why I have gray hair and I’m 28 years old,” he said.
Tuesday night’s fourth quarter may have done little alleviate Brown’s stress. But despite scoring only two points in the final period the Indians found a way to keep their perfect record intact.
Souderton did not record a point in the fourth until there was just 20 seconds remaining in its SOL Continental matchup with fellow unbeaten Central Bucks West but Big Red’s defense held the Bucks to five points in the frame and that was enough to preserve a solid third-quarter effort and give Souderton a 43-39 victory.
“It just comes back to we’ve never been in these situations,” Brown said. “We’ve had a rough couple years so learning how to win was huge. I think these guys stepped in and had experience on the varsity floor but now we got to get experience with learning how to win. So it’s just taking that next step but happy to squeeze this one out.”
Souderton’s Dominic Natale scored eight of his team-high 15 points in the third, the senior capping an 8-0 run by banking in a shot to put the Indians (5-0, 2-0 conference) up 41-33 in the final minute of the quarter. But that was the Indians’ last field goal of the game and West (4-1, 1-1) slowly chipped the margin down to 41-39 after two Mika Munari free throws with 1:16 remaining.
“We were moving the ball around and taking time off the clock but we needed to get the ball in the basket,” Souderton senior Andrew Vince said. “And we just couldn’t get it done.”
The Bucks had a chance to tie or take the lead after an Indians turnover but on the ensuing possession Vince came up with a steal down low. After a West foul with 25 seconds, Natale missed on a drive but grabbed the offensive rebound and drew a foul at 20 seconds.
Natale made the second of two from the line to put the Indians up 42-39. West tried to roll the ball upcourt but the ball took a touch off Munari’s foot. Both Munari and Souderton’s Sami Chouriaf dove on the court for the ball and while Munari gained possession he was called for a travel at 17 seconds.
“We had opportunities we just didn’t capitalize on, missed a couple plays and missed a couple free throw, stuff that I thought could have made a difference,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said. “We had a seven-point lead in that second quarter and I really don’t like the way we finished that quarter. We had a couple turnovers and missed opportunities.”
The Indians, however, missed twice from the line with 16 seconds left and West got another chance at the tie. But Jack Neri’s 3-point try hit the back of the rim and was rebounded by Chouriaf with four seconds on the clock. Chouriaf connected on the front end of the 1-and-1 to give the Indians the four-point win.
“We’re happy and proud of the guys, they played their butts off,” Brown said. “But wins don’t forgive sins. And we had a lot of them, especially in that fourth quarter. And I think the guys understand that and they know how much better they can be and that’s been good to see them kind of focus on just winning every single day and getting better.”
For Souderton, it is the first time the program has been 5-0 since the 2009-2010 season that saw the Indians advance to the District 1-4A semifinals. Souderton is trying for its first winning season under Brown, now in his fourth year as Big Red head coach.
“This is definitely a statement win for us,” Vince said. “CB West is always a great team in our conference and we knew coming in that they were going to be tough team. We went to the (Central Bucks) East game and they played well against East. So this is a huge statement win and I think this is definitely going to put a target on our backs because teams are going to want to come in and beat us. But we’re not going to let that happen.”
Munari scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first half while Neri added 11 points for the Bucks, who led 26-19 before Jason Price scored the half’s final five points to get Souderton with 26-24 at the break.
“I thought we were really solid defensively for about a quarter and a half to start of the game and then we hit a spurt where we just got sloppy at the end of the second quarter,” Sherman said. “I thought we were up seven, if we finish that quarter better it could have been a slightly different situation.”
Souderton hosts Academy Park in a nonleague contest 6:30 p.m. Wednesday then returns to conference play Friday visiting Central Bucks South at 7 p.m. Central Bucks West hosts Pennridge in a SOL Continental matchup 7 p.m. Friday.
Four straight points from Neri gave West a 30-26 lead in the third before Souderton answered with the next five — a Jack Towsen 3-pointer putting Big Red ahead 31-30. After the teams traded one-point leads a free throw from West’s Ted Spratt evened the contest 33-33 at 3:59 in third.
Two Natale foul shots at 3:42 made it 35-33 Indians with Natale hitting a hook shot for a four-point edge. After a Vince jumper in the lane had Big Red leading 39-33, Natale capped the 8-0 run by scoring off glass for a 41-33 advantage. A Munari free throw with two seconds left in the third made it 41-34.
“I just thought they were kind of playing on eggshells in that first half,” Brown said. “And they woke up and brought the energy and brought the confidence that we need and played our game. So I thought that was the big thing.”
After Munari spun into the lane and got a tough shot to drop to pull West within 41-36 in the fourth, the rest of the game’s scoring came from the foul line.
Natale has six points in the first quarter but Owen Haney’s putback had West up 14-13 at the end of the opening eight minutes.
Back-to-back baskets from Neri and Munari gave the Bucks their largest lead at 26-19 before Price — who finished with nine points — knocked down a 3-pointer then got a shot to drop off a drive and was fouled with five seconds to go before halftime. Price couldn’t finish the three-point play, but the junior provided Souderton with a boost of momentum entering the second half.
Souderton 43, Central Bucks West 39
Central Bucks West 14 12 8 5 — 39
Souderton 13 11 17 2 — 43
Central Bucks West: Mika Munari 7 4-5 18; Jack Neri 4 3-4 11; Dan Miller 1 2-2 4; Jack Slaymaker 1 0-0 3; Owen Haney 1 0-2 2; Ted Spratt 0 1-2 1; Totals 14 10-15 39.
Souderton: Dominic Natale 6 3-4 15; Jason Price 4 0-1 9; Andrew Vince 2 2-2 6; Jack Towsen 2 0-0 5; Sami Chouriaf 1 1-4 4; Ben Murawski 1 2-3 4; Totals 16 8-14 43.
3-pointers: CBW-Slaymaker; S-Chouriaf, Price, Towsen.
