Mercury Roundup (Dec. 16): Pottstown opens PAC Frontier play by topping Upper Perk, 50-44

Boys Basketball

Pottstown 50, Upper Perkiomen 44

Gage Sibley secured game scoring honors for the Trojans (2-1) as they opened PAC Frontier Division play by outlasting the Indians.

Sibley scored 18 points while teammate Ty Elliot-Moore added another 10. Kyle Clancy was UP’s leading scorer with 15 points.

Pottstown: Elliot-Moore 3 2-3 10, Jackson 1 0-0 3, Sibley 5 7-12 18, Washington 1 0-0 2, Phillips 2 3-6 7, Bostic 1 1-2 3, Augusto 1 1-2 3, Tinson 0 0-0 0, Schrauger 1 0-0 2, Graves 1 0-2 2, Totals 16 14-27 50.
Upper Perkiomen: Shaak 3 2-4 9, Clancy 4 6-11 15, Nguyen 0 0-0 0, Hieser 0 0-0 0, Willou 2 0-0 4, Hurlbrink 0 1-2 1, Montero 0 0-0 0, Carpenter 1 8-10 11, Avant-Brann 1 1-2 4, Totals 11 18-29 44.
Pottstown 12 10 15 13-50
Upper Perk 8 21 4 11-44
3-point goals: Elliot-Moore 2, Jackson, Sibley

Non-League

Pottsgrove 80, Valley Forge Baptist 36

Getting points from 12 of 13 players Thursday, the Falcons rolled over Valley Forge Baptist in their non-league game.
Gabe Rinda tied for game scoring honors with 14 points, and Marlon Glaze followed at 12. Pottsgrove got additional offensive balance from Mohammad Mohammad (eight points),

Valley Forge Baptist: Murray 5 1-2 14, Bartholomew 4 0-0 10, Urban 3 4-4 10, Moore 0 0-0 0, Stong 1 0-0 2, Gregory 0 0-0 0, Linnick 0 0-0 0, Witt 0 0-0 0, Burns 0 0-0 0, Buckman 0 0-0 0, Osopko 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 5-6 36.
Pottsgrove: Allen 3 1-1 7, Thompson 2 0-0 6, McMenamin 2 0-0 6, Rinda 5 2-2 14, Glaze 6 0-0 12, Mohammad 4 0-1 8, Schmidt 3 0-0 7, Simon 1 1-2 3, Penot 2 0-0 4, Potpinko 1 0-0 2, Sisko 2 1-2 5, Ward 3 0-0 6, Clark 0 0-0 0, Totals 34 5-8 80.
V.F. Baptist 8 7 11 10-36
Pottsgrove 20 17 21 22-80
3-point goals: Murray 3, Bartholomew 2, Rinda 2, Thompson 2, McMenamin 2, Schmidt.

West Chester Rustin 51, Upper Merion 46

A 15-9 third quarter brought the Vikings back against Rustin, but the visitors held on for the non-league win Thursday.
Ty Jones was one of UM’s scoring leaders, hitting for 10 points.

West Chester Rustin: Shoup 2 0-0 4, Scelas 0 0-0 0, Miscichowski 0 0-2 0, Nuchumson 1 5-8 8, Sproull 2 0-0 6, Giunta 1 0-0 3, Schlesinger 7 2-2 16, McCray 3 0-1 6, Murray 4 0-2 8, Totals 20 7-15 51.
Upper Merion: Wynne 0 0-0 0, Jones 3 2-2 10, Lawson 1 2-4 5, Perry 0 0-0 0, Seals 2 2-2 7, Etheridge 0 0-0 0, Amuefuna 2 0-0 5, Brooks 0 0-0 0, Nguyen 2 0-0 6, Smiley 0 1-2 1, Riley 3 5-7 12, Totals 13 12-17 46.
WC Rustin 10 9 9 23-51
Upper Merion 6 4 15 21-46
3-point goals: Jones 2, Nguyen 2, Lawson, Seals, Amuefuna, Riley, Sproull 2, Nuchumson, Giunta.

Boyertown 47, Faith Christian 24

Eddie Higgins hit for a game-high 17 points Thursday, leading the Bears past Faith Christian in non-league play.
Higgins also took two defensive charge calls to bring his season total to six.

Compass Academy 102, Perkiomen School 72

Though they had four players hit double figures, the Panthers found themselves well-outscored by Compass Basketball Academy Thursday.
Perkiomen got 13 points from Jake Okon on three 3-point goals. Cyriac Putthusery added 12 points while Julius Farin and Kuzey Ercan both had 10.

Girls Basketball

West Chester Rustin 59, Methacton 50

HIGHLIGHTS: Methacton went cold in the second half and couldn’t keep pace with Rustin and the McGurk sisters, Laine and Elizabeth who combined for 36 points Thursday. 
Nicole Timko led Methacton with her 22-point outing. Mairi Smith chipped in with seven rebounds for the locals, who were done in by a 14-2 third quarter after taking a 41-36 halftime advantage.

Methacton: Kropp 3 2-3 9, Arnold 2 0-0 5, Torres 1 0-0 2, Kaufman 0 0-0 0, Timko 8 5-8 22, Bockrath 2 2-2 7, Smith 1 1-2 3, Totals 17 10-15 50.
West Chester Rustin: Panetta 1 0-0 2, Flynn 3 0-1 6, L. McGurk 9 3-4 24, Costin 3 1-7 7, E. Stackhouse 2 3-5 8, E. McGurk 5 2-3 12, Totals 23 9-20 59.
Methacton 12 29 2 7-50
W.C. Rustin 15 21 14 9-59
3-point goals: L.McGurk 3, Stackhouse, Timko 3, Bockrath, Arnold, Kropp.

Downingtown East 46, Phoenixville 27

HIGHLIGHTS: Lauren Kent scored a game-high 13 points, and Ari Smuda added another 12, to propel the Cougars past the Phantoms in non-league play Thursday.
Jaime Michaud ranked among Phoenixville’s scoring leaders with seven points.

Conwell Egan 56, Pope John Paul II 43

HIGHLIGHTS: Tess Crossan had a game-high 18 points for PJP, but Lily Milewski led three Egan players in double figures as PJP lost a non-league contest Thursday.

Muhlenberg 50, Daniel Boone 9

Ryanna Hightower-Prentice scored 14 points to lead the Muhls (1-0, 2-2) over the Blazers (0-1, 0-4) in their Berks League contest Thursday.
Aniyah Germany scored six points for Daniel Boone.

Wrestling

Perkiomen Valley 51, Pottsgrove 9

HIGHLIGHTS: Sweeping the last eight weights enabled the Vikings to pull away from the Falcons and emerge victorious in Thursday’s non-divisional pairing of PAC member schools.

Pins by Kelly Kakos (138), Luke Ricci (145) and Cole Euker (285), coupled with Gavin Pascoe’s technical fall at 152, got Perk Valley rolling after Pottsgrove, with a Jeffry Strawley pin at 126 andNathan Gillin decision at 132, pulled the visitors to 16-9.

106 – Joseph Capaldo (PV) dec. Anthony Testa, 14-3 (4-0)
113 – Vincent Taylor (PV) won by forfeit (10-0)
120 – Luke Hanlon (PV) won by forfeit (16-0)
126 – Jeffry Strawley (Pg) pinned Dillon Sergi, :49 (16-6)
132 – Nathan Gillin (Pg) dec. Patrick Lamirande, 2-1 (16-9)
138 – Kelly Kakos (PV) pinned Trenton Allen, 3:19 (22-9)
145 – Luke Ricci (PV) pinned Avon Jones, 2:30 (28-9)
152 – Gavin Pascoe (PV) won by technical fall over Dominic Sithens, 5:13 (33-9)
160 – Carter Euker (PV) dec. Shane Caffrey, 4-0 (36-9)
172 – Carson Pascoe (PV) dec. Landon Shivak, 8-6 (39-9)
189 – Paul Popplewell (PV) dec. Jacob Frederick, 6-0 (42-9)
215 – Grant Euker (PV) dec. Dominic Demeno, 2-1 (45-9)
285 – Cole Euker (PV) pinned Damon Poloway, 4:38 (51-9)

Boys Swimming

Owen J. Roberts 73, Norristown 35

Jude Moes figured in on three first-place finishes by the Wildcats in Thursday’s PAC meet with the Eagles.
Moes won the 500 free in a time of 5:40.65, in addition to swimming legs of Owen J’s winning 200 medley (1:50.38) and 400 free relays (3:47.79).

200 Medley Relay: Owen J. Roberts (Davis, Moes, Purtle, Flewelling), 1:50.38
200 Free: Nate Kulp (OJR), 2:01.99
200 IM: Patrick Bowker (OJR), 2:13.65
50 Free: Ethan Suessmuth (OJR), 24.81
100 Fly: Colin Davis (OJR), 56.44
100 Free: Finnegan Purtle (OJR), 54.18
500 Free: Jude Moes (OJR), 5:40.65
200 Free Relay: Norristown (Rosen, Parks, LeBendig, Luna), 1:54.42
100 Back: Jack Rosen (Nt), 1:11.35
100 Breast: Nigel Parks (Nt), 1:18.55
400 Free Relay: Owen J. Roberts (Moes, Pothakamury, Kish, Bierman), 3:47.79

Girls Swimming

Owen J. Roberts 74, Norristown 37

Lauren Zelinske scored a pair of firsts in individual races to help the Wildcats outswim the Eagles in Thursday’s PAC meet.

Zelinske won the 200 IM (2:22.89) and 100 fly (1;03.10). Brianne Cox swam the lead legs on Owen J’s winning 200 medley and 400 free relays, which clocked respective times of 2:02.48 and 3:59.88.

200 Medley Relay: Owen J. Roberts (Cox, Gorman, Valbert, Fedun), 2:02.48
200 Free: Kaily Zakarevicz (OJR), 2:12.35
200 IM: Lauren Zelinskie (OJR), 2:22.89
50 Free: Emma Valbert OJR), 27.33
Diving: Madeline Lemke (OJR), 1:50.80
100 Fly: Lauren Zelinske (OJR), 1:03.10
100 Free: Lauren LeBendig (Nt), 1:17.01
500 Free: Natalie Spencer (OJR), 5:41.08
200 Free Relay: Norristown (Mocarsky, Phan, LeBendig, Pendleton), 2:24.78
100 Back: Katie Mocarsky (Nt), 1:30.52
100 Breast: Rachel Phan (Nt), 1:45.26
400 Free Relay: Owen J. Roberts (Cox, Zakarevica, Zelinske, Horn), 3:59.88