Defense, second half runs lead Methacton past Boyertown
WORCESTER >> Jeff Woodward was trying to avoid another mistake and ended up making the play of the game.
Methacton’s senior center had botched a play by dribbling into a double team under the basket and found himself falling out of bounds when he spotted Erik Timko on the left wing. Hurriedly, he fired a pass out to the senior guard, who buried a three much to the delight of Methacton’s costumed student section for a five-point third quarter lead.
Timko’s trey was the midpoint of a critical third quarter run that put the Warriors up for good with their defense closing the deal in a 50-41 win over Boyertown on Thursday.
“I’d already made some mistakes in the half and I thought ‘I can’t be making another one,’” Woodward said. “I was fighting as hard as I could to keep the ball and once I got up in the air, I saw Erik re-locating into the corner which was great movement by him. I kicked it to him, he drained the play and it was just a huge momentum play.”
Nobody was happier about the result that Woodward, who emerged from the baseline with a hand in the air as the ball went through the net. For Timko, it was a matter of stepping up for his team after Boyertown had tied the game midway through the third quarter.
As soon as the Bears knotted the score 29-29, the Methacton senior scored the next 10, using sharp off the ball movement for a go-ahead layup before the saved-ball three and followed by a layup off a cut and a dead-on trey assisted by Woodward.
“It was just the flow of the offense we were running, my teammates really helped get me open,” Timko, who led the Warriors with 17, said. “That play definitely gave us a lot of energy, especially on defense. It helped us play aggressive. I felt in the second half, our defense was the key to get us ahead and build that lead.”
Boyertown took it to the Warriors (12-1, 6-0 PAC Liberty) in the first half, guided by the marksmanship of Tre Diguglielmo who connected on all four 3-point shots he took in the second quarter including a half-ended buzzer-beater in the corner with a defender draped all over him. The Bears, who lost 64-37 in the team’s first meeting a month ago, were not deterred by that result.
Even with Methacton’s student section going wild after Cole Hargrove scored the 10th point to end Silent Night, the Bears (10-4, 3-3) stayed engaged. Their defense was excellent in the first half and they were the aggressors on the glass, taking away a lot of rebounds the Warriors thought they had.
“Our kids did a great defensive job tonight in holding them in check for long periods of time, we just didn’t make enough shots,” Boyertown coach Mike Ludwig said. “Give them credit too, as good as they are offensively, they’re just as good defensively. They get you in spots and take away what you do.”
Ludwig feels like his team’s defense has really ramped up the past few games, although he noted giving up 50 points twice this week was a small step back. At the same time, holding strong offensive teams to that number is going to give the Bears a chance in a lot of games.
“Our guys played a great game tonight,” Ludwig said. “You don’t want to end up on the short end any night, but it was a good growth game for our kids and it builds their belief a little more.”
At the break, Methacton harped on better defense and a strong effort on the glass. Woodward took care of most of the rebounding end by ripping down 14 of his 19 boards after halftime while the entire team locked in on getting stops.
Kropp, a senior guard, was the catalyst and stayed glued to Diguglielmo almost the entire second half. After pouring in 14 before the break, the Bears’ senior sniper didn’t score in the second half but did have a bit of bad luck as a couple open attempts glanced out.
“Owen is a great defender and a relentless kid,” Woodward said. “He was upset with himself he let Tre get some of those shots early so he really committed in that second half. He’s a tough, physical kid who does whatever we need him to do. Second half, we needed him to go out and shut down Tre and that’s what he did.”
Alex Obarow’s buzzer-beating putback gave Boyertown some life going into the final quarter and the Bears cut the lead to 39-34 with 6:30 left before Methacton went on another run.
Defense sparked it again, with the kickoff play starting when Brett Eberly poked the ball away from behind right to Woodward for a steal, then ended up getting the ball back from the center to knock down a 3-pointer with 4:49 left. The shot started a 10-0 Warriors run over the next four minutes to give the hosts a 49-34 lead.
“We needed to pick up our rebounding, which I thought we did a great job with, and stay with our matchups,” Timko said. “We had to play good defense without reaching but bring a lot of pressure and I thought we achieved that.”
Woodward finished with 12 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and four steals while Eberly added 14 points and three assists.
Diguglielmo finished as the Bears’ top scorer while Mason Marinello added 10 and Obarow chipped in eight and two steals. Point guard Aarick Salata didn’t score but he was a pest on defense with five steals and a couple assists.
There’s still plenty of PAC play left and always the chance the teams could see each other again, but Woodward was happy to add another good win to the team’s resume for later in the season.
“You’re going to be playing top-level teams like Boyertown, Roman and Malvern so it’s all that big game experience and close game experience,” Woodward said. “Basketball is a game of runs, those teams will make runs and you can’t let it rattle you. You move onto the next play and if you make a mistake, don’t hang your head, get back and play defense or go try to get a bucket.”
METHACTON 50, BOYERTOWN 41
BOYERTOWN 9 13 9 10 – 41
METHACTON 13 12 14 11 – 50
Boyertown: Mason Marinello 4 0-0 10, Tre Diguglielmo 5 0-0 14, Kameron Metcalf 2 0-0 4, Chris Kiefer 1 1-2 3, Roman Marinello 1 0-0 2, Alex Obarow 3 2-4 8. Totals: 16 3-6 41.
Methacton: Owen Kropp 1 0-0 2, Brett Eberly 4 3-5 14, Erik Timko 7 1-2 17, Jeff Woodward 4 4-9 12, Brett Byrne 1 0-0 3, Cole Hargrove 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 8-16 50.
3-pointers: M – Eberly 3, Timko 2, Byrne; B – DiGuglielmo 4, M Marinello 2.
