Dock Mennonite comes through in the clutch, tops Jenkintown
JENKINTOWN >> The final, frantic minutes included a steal by Tomir Johnson and a clutch three-pointer by Nathan Lapp.
And then with three seconds to go, everything went quiet.
Dock’s Roman Kuhn stood at the foul line with a chance to break a 45-45 deadlock with rival Jenkintown.
“I just cleared my mind and didn’t listen to anything,” said the junior.
Kuhn calmly made them both, and after a turnover by the Drakes, Kuhn made another with a second to play. A desperation heave by Jenkintown sailed wide, and Dock had held tight to a 48-45 victory in a Bicentennial Athletic League non-conference game on the road.
“What I was proud of was how we closed the game out,” Pioneers coach Mike Fergus said. “There were a lot of special situations we encountered being in a close game, because our games haven’t been that close this year. So I was really happy with how we handled it.”
Dock raised its record to 5-3 on the year with a game at Bristol slated for Wednesday night. Jenkintown dropped to 5-2 and will host Phil-Mont Christian Wednesday night.
Dock blew out to an 8-0 lead Saturday but then scratched and clawed through a back-and-forth contest. Pivotal plays in the fourth made the difference.
Said Fergus: “It was ugly but it was beautiful.”
Lapp’s three put Dock ahead 45-43 and then Jaden Welch tied it up at the other end.
Johnson stole and inbounds pass by Jenkintown, setting up Dock’s final possession. The Pioneers dribbled down the clock, with Kuhn driving to the hoop as the final seconds ticked down.
The junior drew the foul and then went to the line, sinking the two most pressure-packed free throws of the contest. Kuhn finished with 12 points, with Lapp scoring a team-high 14.
“Different guys had to step up and make plays,” Fergus said. “We executed down the stretch, which at times this year, we had had problems with.”
Dock, a bit banged up and playing its third game in as many days, was coming off a tough road loss at Faith Christian.
But the Pioneers bolted out to an early lead, their defense creating easy baskets. Lapp’s eight first-quarter points had Dock in control.
Jenkintown settled in, and with Jake Hilton pouring in a game-high 16 and Roan McCall adding 13, the Drakes led for most of the second and third quarters.
The fourth, however, belonged to Dock. The Pioneers allowed just two points in the final four minutes of the contest.
“We didn’t play as well as we could have in the first half but in the second half, we played better defense and closed it out,” Kuhn said.
DOCK MENNONITE 48, JENKINTOWN 45
Dock Mennonite 14 9 13 12 — 48
Jenkintown 7 19 11 8 — 45
Dock: Steve Martin 3 0-2 6, Roman Kuhn 3 6-7 12, Nathan Lapp 4 4-6 14, Nathaniel Dorsey 2 2-2 6, Hoyt Bultje 5 0-1 10. Totals 17 12-18 48.
Jenkintown: Iman Jackson 2 2-2 6, Jaden Welch 3 0-2 6, Emmett Tweh 2 0-0 4, Jake Hilton 7 0-0 16, Roan McCall 5 3-3 13. Totals 19 5-7 45.
3-pointers: D-Lapp 2; J-Hilton 2.
