Wissahickon wins fifth straight game; first over PW since 2014
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Wissahickon started the season with five straight losses — the fifth being a 26-point defeat against Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Fast forward a month and the Trojans extended a winning streak to five games with a victory over those same Colonials.
Wissahickon picked up a Suburban One League American Conference win, 59-53, over Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday night at Wissahickon High School.
“It was a very hard game to watch losing by 30,” Wiss senior captain Carmen Ostroski, who missed the first meeting with a back injury, said. “I wanted to be out there and do something. Finally to be able to come back and change the story on them, I feel tremendous.”
The win also marks the Trojans (8-8, 6-2 SOL American) first over Plymouth Whitemarsh since the 2014 season.
“We’ve chipped, we’ve been close at times,” Wiss coach Kyle Wilson said. “We were close last year. We’ve never been able to shut that door on them. I give a lot of credit to these guys. They trusted each other, stuck to the plan. We knew where their strengths were.”
Matt Compas led Wissahickon with 26 points. The junior scored 18 points after halftime to help the Trojans hold off the Colonials.
“I just wanted to win,” Compas said. “At first I saw that they were double-teaming me. They were denying me the ball. I had to help my team out whether it was rebounding (11 boards) or taking the shots that I’m going to get when the team doesn’t double me. It just comes out to a win.”
“(Compas) was pressing early,” Wilson added. “I said, ‘Matt it’ll come to you. Just relax.’ Scorers score. I said, ‘Don’t feel you need to do more than you need to.’ He trusted and plays rolled his way. It’s just what he does. Very proud of him.”
Compas scored 10 straight Wiss points in the game’s final minutes. He made three layups – all extending one-possession leads to four or more points – and hit a pair of free throws with 1:59 left to give the Trojans a 55-48 lead. He made one more layup to make it 57-50 with 17 seconds remaining to seal the game.
The Colonials (6-9, 5-3 SOL American) were able to get within one possession for most of the fourth quarter, but never completed the comeback to draw even.
“I think we’re just a work in progress throughout the whole season,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “The mental mistakes — the work the kids put in is not carrying over to a game. I don’t know if they overly hype themselves up. We’re hard to figure out right now in all honesty. We’re doing things in the game — the focus in nowhere near where it needs to be. The challenge is — as long as you have a next game to play — where is our character at to want to get better. Where we want to get better at is concentration stuff, focus stuff, team confidence stuff. It’s very odd.”
The Trojans couldn’t have asked for a better start. PW missed two technical free throws to open the game and then Wiss forced four turnovers on the Colonials first five possessions and built an 8-0 lead. PW battled back thanks to six points from Caelin Peters and five from Zuri Jerman to tie the game at 14 after eight minutes.
The second quarter was another tight one. Peters hit an early three to give the Colonials their first lead, 17-14. The visitors opened up a six-point edge, 22-16, halfway through the frame, but Wiss responded, scoring seven straight to go ahead, 23-22. The rivals traded leads before the Trojans took a 27-26 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was more of the same. Harrison Williams hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Trojans to the fourth ahead, 45-40.
Jackson Intrieri joined Compas in double figures with 15 points for the Trojans.
Peters led PW with 17 points, Jerman had 14 and David Harris had nine.
