Croyle’s 2nd-quarter spurt helps Pennridge top North Penn in District 1-6A 2nd round

EAST ROCKHILL >> It has not exactly been a smooth senior season for Pennridge’s Paul Croyle.

“Broke my right foot, sprained my left ankle,” he said. “So it’s been a tough road.”

But it is a road that is continuing onto the District 1-6A quarterfinals for the Rams boys basketball team thanks to Croyle’s second-quarter scoring burst in Tuesday night’s second-round matchup with visiting North Penn.

Croyle provided Pennridge with seven of its 12 points in the quarter – four coming during a 9-0 run that extended the eighth seed’s lead to 15 before going into halftime up 29-16

“He’s like a microwave,” said Rams coach Dean Behrens of Croyle. “He can get hot, hit shots.”

The Rams never let the No. 24 Knights cut the lead into single digits after the break and clinched their third consecutive trip to the PIAA Tournament with a 55-41 victory over their SOL Continental rivals.

“Couldn’t catch a break, but it shows perseverance and it shows what this team’s about,” Croyle said. “Just staying strong through everything no matter what, got great teammates who kept going for me and we were able to get to where we are now and keep it going.”

Christian Guldin finished with a game-high 22 points – 10 coming in the third quarter – while Croyle and Connor Pleibel each added eight points for the Rams (19-6), who advance to the district quarters for a third straight season and visit top-seeded Methacton Friday. The Warriors rolled past No. 16 Council Rock South 66-41.

Pennridge and Methacton met in last year’s state quarterfinals with the Rams claiming a 50-47 victory on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Sean Yoder, now at Navy. Pennridge went on to reach the PIAA-6A final.

“I thought it was a big win for these guys because last year obviously most of these guys were on our varsity bench, they really didn’t get to experience on the court as much.” Behrens said. “OK, they watched what happened last year, here they are they make a mark in our program winning the SOL which has never been done before.

“And now we’re going to states with the opportunity, obviously Methacton’s very good, but with the opportunity to play at Temple (in the district semifinals).That’s a pretty cool opportunity I think.”

Josh Jones scored 16 points to paced North Penn (10-14), which was trying for back-to-back upsets of fellow conference members after knocking off No. 9 Central Bucks West in the first round last Friday.

The Knights now fall into the district playbacks for 9^th and 10^th place and visit No. 16 CR South Friday.

“That Jones kid is tough. Holy buckets, he is a good basketball player,” Behrens said. “They didn’t shoot as well tonight. They weren’t as on shooting so some of that was just I thought last game they were here they hit a couple banks in and obviously they hit that half-courter, the half-court shot. So I think we had a couple bounces go our way too.”

North Penn knocked off Pennridge 57-54 on Matt Swanson’s overtime half-court buzzer-beater Feb.6 but the Rams made sure to avoid any chance of drama Tuesday night. Pennridge was up 13 at halftime, pushed the lead to 18 in the third and never let North Penn get any closer than 12 in the second half.

“It was big for us cause we know this is a revenge game,” Rams senior Trent Fisher said. “Even though we weren’t playing for pretty much anything the last time but we knew that every game’s big. Play every night, you’re going to come out and play no matter who you’re playing or what it’s for, just come out and play hard every night. So we knew that this was going to be a good game for us. They weren’t going to go away.”

 After the Knights pulled level 7-7 on a Josh Jones basket, Pennridge ended the first quarter with a 10-2 run. Guldin banked in a runner to break then tie before Fisher energized the crowd driving down the lane for a one-handed slam and a foul at 2:38. He completed the three-point play for a 12-7 advantage.

“(Swanson) kind of jumped out real fast and I pump-faked him and he got up in the air and when I drove to the basket with the left I just knew I had the whole lane, I think (Joe) Larkins was down there,” Fisher said. “And I knew he was not going to jump with me so I just went up and dunked it.”

A Mike Chaffee 3-pointer – the Knights’ only made three until the fourth – had it 12-10 but Pleibel’s triple and a Colin Post basket gave the Rams the 17-10 edge after eight minutes.

Swanson scored down low to get the Knights within 17-12 before Croyle drained a three. A Jones putback made the margin 20-14 but the Rams proceeded to rip off the second quarter’s next nine points. Croyle scored on a runner while Guldin’s basket made it 24-14. Croyle then finished a give-and-go with Guldin to put the Rams up 12.

Pleibel’s 3-poitner made it 29-14 before Rob Carangi rebounded his own miss and scored inside to pull North Penn within 29-16 at halftime.

A Guldin triple put the Rams up 36-18 in the third. A Post basket had Pennridge back ahead 18 at 38-20 but North Penn registered the next six points – the first four by Swanson before a Carangi steal and one-handed slam had the Knights down 38-26.

Guldin, however, connected on a jumper and was fouled – completing the three-point play for a 41-26 lead at 2:52. Guldin drove for two more before two Chaffee free throws at 1:19 made it 43-28 at the end of the third.

“He put the team on his shoulder”,” said Behrens of Guldin. “He’s getting the most pressure obviously and I thought he handled it tremendously. Plus he can shoot.”

North Penn could not chip much off its deficit in the fourth, getting with 12 again at 53-41 on after a Joe Larkins basket in the final minute.