Balanced North Penn shuts down Souderton

FRANCONIA >> North Penn’s focus was there right from the opening tip and only sharpened as the game went on.

“We knew coming off that loss to Pennridge, we wanted to get back on the right track,” the Knights’ Josh Jones said after his team’s clash with rival Souderton Friday night. “We came out firing early. We got a lot of defensive stops, and I think our defense really led to our offense tonight, which is how we were able to put up so many points.”

North Penn controlled things from start to finish, pulling away to a 60-39 win over Big Red in a Suburban One League Colonial Division contest at Souderton.

“It was a good team win for us,” Knights coach John Conrad said. “I thought we shared the ball really well today. And collectively, we played good team defense.”

Jones had the game high for North Penn with 23 points. Billy Coley had 16 and Joe Larkins added seven.

North Penn raised its Colonial record to 6-2.

“I thought we made the first run of the game and we were able to maintain that throughout,” Conrad said.

The Knights immediately turned defense into offense in the opening moments, converting steals into points at the other end. North Penn blew out to a 22-10 by the end of the first quarter.

Jones had nine first-quarter points, including a three, and at the other end was part of a defense that clogged things up for Big Red.

“We knew they like to drive and because of that, we would sit in a little bit more,” Jones said. “We were just worried about them getting over that ball screen and turning the corner. So we made a point on that to cover that in the second half and kind of blitz it. We needed to rebound, box out, and as soon as we get that rebound, we’re out and we’re going.”

Souderton, which got eight points each from Evan Kutzler and Chris Towsen, got to within 47-35 early in the fourth.

But Ryan Zeltt fed it to Jones, who sprung open underneath, and the lead was back to 14. Another drive by Jones with three minutes to play extended the lead to 54-35, putting things out of reach.

Larkins’ third-quarter steal and coast-to-coast layup also typified the evening for determined North Penn.

Both teams are home on Tuesday night at 7.

North Penn hosts Central Bucks South and Souderton (1-6 Colonial) hosts Pennridge.

NORTH PENN 60, SOUDERTON 39
North Penn 22 15 10 13 — 60
Souderton 10 13 7 9 — 30
North Penn: Mario Sgro 1 0-0 2, Joe Larkins 3 1-2 7, Josh Jones 8 5-6 23, Ryan Zeltt 2 0-0 4, Billy Coley 7 1-1 16, Milind Pulugura 1 2-2 4, Terhan Wright 2 0-3 4. Totals 24 9-14 60.
Souderton: Evan Kutzler 4 0-0 8, Chris Towsen 3 0-0 8, Aleks Smith 1 3-4 5, Shaun Purvy 3 1-4 7, Dylan Hollick 2 2-2 7, James Blair 1 0-0 2, Chase Scheuren 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-10 39.
3-pointers: NP-Jones 2, Coley; S-Towsen 2, Hollick.