Pulugura scores 18, balanced North Penn wins on the road at Pennridge

EAST ROCKHILL >> It was in the second quarter that North Penn’s wave of momentum began to build, with Milind Pulugura riding along the crest.

“When I pulled up for that three during the fast break,” Pulugura said of a key stretch for the Knights, “I was feeling good. I let it go and it went in.

“Once we were pressuring full court, I thought we had it. Having our guards on their guards full court, I thought we got into them. And our rebounding and our defense really took us through the whole game.”

Pulugura, a senior small forward, scored 11 of his game-high 18 points during a pivotal second quarter and North Penn’s all-around effort produced a 79-53 win on the road at packed Pennridge Friday night.

“It’s a good win. Early in the season, we wanna keep that momentum,” Pulugura said. “We don’t want a slow start because a slow start will leak into the rest of the season. Stringing wins together is good for us.”

North Penn raised its record to 3-1 and is now 2-0 in the Suburban One League Continental Conference. Pennridge is now 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the Continental.

The Knights are back on the court Monday night at home, against Souderton Area at 8 p.m. Pennridge hosts Central Bucks West Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

North Penn had five players score in double figures Friday night and put together a tremendous defensive performance, limiting the rival Rams to 22 second-half points.

“I thought we had tremendous energy defensively,” Knights coach John Conrad said. “And I thought we got great minutes from the guys off the bench.”

North Penn’s Norman Gee, Deuce Dorsey (13 points), and Terhan Wright (10 points) provided some extra punch.

“I thought those guys came in and really contributed, in terms of energy and defense,” Conrad said. “I think a lot of (the balanced scoring) stems from what we did defensively and I thought we were very unselfish tonight.”

Early on, a three by Joe Larkins (11 points) opened the scoring for the Knights.

The two teams would exchange momentum and the lead throughout the opening quarter.

Tommy Cramer (15 points) drove baseline and completed a three-point play for the Rams. Mario Sgro drove hard to the hoop at the other end.

A three by Sgro brought the Knights within 18-16 before a jumper by Justin Nichols pushed the Pennridge advantage to 20-16 after one.

North Penn’s offense came on in the second quarter.

Pulugura got going for the Knights, hitting a pair of threes in the period and also going a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line.

A three by Pulugura and a drive and foul shot (three-point play) by Ryan Deininger (10 points) provided the Knights a 36-29 lead.

Pulugura scored 11 in the quarter and four others contributed points to give NP a 42-31 lead at the break.

North Penn extended to an 11-point lead in the third and blew the game open early in the fourth. Matt Campione led the Rams with 16 points. 

“We made good decisions when we got in the lane, made the extra pass,” Conrad said. “(Pennridge coach) Dean (Behrens) does such a great job and his kids are always well prepared and do a great job, so any time you come here and get a win, it’s valuable.”

North Penn 79, Pennridge 53
North Penn 16 26 12 25 – 79
Pennridge 20 11 12 10 – 53
North Penn: Mario Sgro 2 0-0 5, Terhan Wright 3 4-4 10, Norman Gee 1 0-0 3, Ryan Zeltt 3 0-0 6, Joe Larkins 3 4-6 11, Ryan Deininger 4 2-3 10, Deuce Dorsey 4 5-5 13, Milind Pulugura 5 6-6 18, Teddy McAllister 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 21-24 79.
Pennridge: Justin McCormick 4 0-0 10, Justin Nichols 1 2-2 4, Matt Campione 5 6-7 16, Jake Buesing 1 0-0 2, Tommy Cramer 7 1-1 15, Tyler Johnson 1 0-3 2, Steward 0 0-1 0. Totals 21 9-14 53.
3-pointers: NP-Sgro, Gee, Larkins, Pulugura 2, McAllister; P-McCormick 2.