Guldin, Fisher help Pennridge rally past CB East in overtime
EAST ROCKHILL >> Christian Guldin was confident the Pennridge boys basketball team was not going to squander the four extra minutes the Rams earned with their fourth-quarter comeback.
“We knew, we get it OT, we’re going to win,” Guldin said. “We believed in each other and it was a fresh slate. So the first four quarters whatever went wrong wasn’t going to go wrong in OT.”
Pennridge erased a five-point Central Bucks East lead in the final minutes to end Friday night’s regulation knotted at 38. Trent Fisher then put the Rams up for good, scoring the first six points of overtime as Pennridge fought through frustration to stay perfect in SOL Continental play with a 54-47 win over the visiting Patriots.
“Just shows how resilient we are,” Fisher said. “We’re not going to give up every night no matter how much we’re down. These league games are huge, every game’s huge. No matter what record cause everyone comes to play every night.”
Fisher collected eight points in OT as the senior finished with 13 points while Guldin scored a team-high 22 points – going 6-for-6 from the foul line in overtime – as the Rams (10-2, 5-0 conference) rallied for a second straight win.
“It was a hard-fought game, great energy, the fans really got their money’s worth, I thought,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “I mean, I’m exhausted.
Central Bucks East’s Joe Jackman recorded a game-high 25 points, posting 10 in the first quarter and ending the first half with 18 after draining a buzzer-beater from just beyond halfcourt for a 24-19 East lead.
Fisher and Colin Post defended the Jackman throughout the night and after the break the Rams held the East junior to seven points – just two in the third and fourth quarters.
“I think Colin got caught up, he lunged at the ball a little too much early on and that kid’s pretty quick so then we put Trent on him,” Behrens said. “And Trent had length and I figured this kids’ going, ‘Oh no, I got to deal with him again.’ And I thought Trent did a really good job. The only reason that basically we took him off Jackman for the second half is I didn’t want to burn him out running around the perimeter.
“And I thought Colin got used to what he was doing and let’s see what he can do the second half. And I thought Colin did a really, really good job.”
Jack Hamilton scored 11 of his 17 points after halftime for the Patriots (9-6, 3-3), who had their four-game win streak snapped.
“Obviously I thought our kids really kept their composure in a difficult situation,” Behrens said. “Give East a lot of credit. Boy, they can hit some threes, can’t they?”
Pennridge plays Sunday in the Lehigh Valley Roundball Jamboree at Parkland against Liberty at 1:40 p.m. Central Bucks East host Bensalem for an SOL nonconference matchup 7 p.m. Tuesday.
CB East led 38-33 after Hamilton hit two free throws with 2:13 left in the fourth. Fisher hit one from the line at 2:03 to get the Rams within four. A steal by Colin Post led to a cutting Post scoring off a Fisher assist to make it 38-36 with 1:24 remaining.
After East missed a 3-pointer in the final minute, the Rams pushed the ball up the court – Post bouncing a pass to Luke Yoder for the tying layup at 35.6 seconds.
The Patriots got a chance at a win in regulation but Joe Jackman’s three from the right wing before the buzzer was long.
In overtime, Fisher gave Pennridge its first lead since 19-18 in the second quarter scoring inside off a Post assist to make it 40-38. Fisher connected on both ends of a 1-and-1 at 2:36 then posted another basket inside to put the Rams up 44-38.
Two Jackman free throws at 1:59 made it 44-40 but Fisher pushed the Pennridge lead back to six after an offensive rebound.
“I noticed when we started overtime they threw the tall kid, Hamilton, he was guarding Christian right away in the beginning,” And (Chris) Charlton was out of the game so I knew they’re tallest guy in there was probably maybe like six-one. And I knew just getting the ball inside, making easy layups were going to help us win this thing.”
A Jackman deep three had East within 46-33 at 1:15 while East got the ball back on an Anthony Giordano steal. But Jackman could not convert on a drive down the lane and the Rams got out in transition – Yoder finding Connor Pleibel for a layin with about 44 seconds left.
After a missed East three, Guldin hit a pair of free throws for a 50-43 Rams lead with 25.3 seconds and from there the Patriots could only get as close as five.
“The boys know there’s a lot of pressure to win every single night in a league game,” Behrens said. “It’s hard to go undefeated in the league, let’s be honest but we’re going to give it a shot.”
CB East ended the first quarter with an 11-0 run, knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers – the last two by Jackman to lead 13-4.
Guldin scored five points as Pennridge answered with an 11-1 run to open the second quarter, the Rams taking a 15-14 lead on a Fisher basket. The teams traded one-point leads until Jackman drained a three to make it 21-19. Jackman then hit his buzzer-beating heave from a bit behind the midcourt line to have East up five at the break.
“That one before the half, you know, you’re like, “Ah, maybe it’s one of those nights you don’t have it,” Behrens said. “Sometimes the basketball gods don’t have the ball bouncing your way.”
Both sides struggled on offense in the third, combining for just 11 total points in the quarter. Guldin had all five of the Rams’ seven, his three tying the contest at 26 before Giordano’s turnaround jumper in the lane had East up two entering the fourth.
A Ryan Benscoter basket had Rams even at 28 before East took a 31-28 lead on a Charlton 3-pointer. After two Guldin free throws at 6:52, the Patriots posted the next five points – Jackman scoring off a drive while Hamilton’s trey making it 36-30.
The Rams missed two free throws at 3:10 but cut their deficit to 36-33 on Pleibel’s 3-point play on a basket inside at 2:37. Hamilton’s two from the line 24 seconds later had East up five but the Patriots did not score again until 1:59 left in OT.
