Byrne, Hargrove lead Methacton past North Penn

PERKIOMEN >> Brett Byrne and Cole Hargrove powered the Methacton boys basketball team to a 19-point halftime lead over North Penn then held off the Knights after the break to earn a 66-52 victory at the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shootout Tuesday night.

“Me and Brett have a lot of good chemistry,” Hargrove said. “We been playing probably since like fourth grade and me and Brett are one of the three captains on the team and we kind of have to lead our group of guys on the court.”

Byrne and Hargrove each finished with a game-high 21 points, Byrne scoring 17 in the first half while Hargrove used his 6-foot-8-inch frame to frustrate North Penn inside before the Knights finally got some shots to fall in the third – hitting three 3-pointers during a 14-3 run to pull within 49-41 entering the fourth.

BOYS #BASKETBALL: @MHS_BoysBBall’s @colehargrove_ with a dunk off a pass from Cameron Chilson 4Q vs. North Penn. pic.twitter.com/rn4bmXOrA7

— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 29, 2021

 

Methacton, however, opened the final quarter with eight straight points – Hargrove collected four of those, his dunk putting the Warriors up 55-41 while two Matthew Christian free throws extended the lead to 16 with 3:59 remaining.

“We just don’t have an answer,” said North Penn coach John Conrad of Hargrove. “He’s obviously very long, he’s athletic, he’s really disciplined and fundamentally sound. It’s a tough combination, him and Byrne are just two solid senior basketball players.”

Methacton continued to pull away with a Cameron Chilson triple making it 64-45 as the Warriors kept its unbeaten record intact, improving to 5-0.

“They had a pretty good run in the third,” Hargrove said. “We played passive in the press and we weren’t trying to attack the press we kind of just try to not get the ball taken. And in the fourth, our coach was saying we got to be more assertive, we got to attack the zone and play the game inside out.”

Norman Gee scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second half for North Penn (4-3, 3-1 SOL Colonial Division). Joe Larkins hit three 3-pointers in adding 11 points while Milind Pulugura collected seven of his 10 points in the third.

“I thought we were able to get in just finishing over (Hargrove) is really tough,” Conrad said. “And we got good quickness but we are small so that was a tough combination.”

Both teams are back at Perk Valley Wednesday, Methacton taking on Wissahickon 5 p.m. while North Penn faces host PV at 6 p.m.

A Christian three gave Methacton a 7-0 lead before a Ryan Zeltt triple put the Knights on the scoreboard.

Gee hit a floater over Hargrove to make it 10-5 but the Warriors collected the first quarters’ last eight points – consecutive baskets by Byrne putting Methacton up 18-5 after eight minutes of play.

Joe Larkins knocked down back-to-back threes to get North Penn within 18-11 only for the Warriors to rip off eight straight – four each from Byrne and Hargrove – to extend their lead to 26-11.

The Knight were back within 10 again at 26-16 after a two from Mario Sgro, but Byrne collected the next two buckets while a Matthew Blakemore trey had the Warriors up 33-16.

Baskets from Colin Meyer and Hargrove stretched the run to 11-0 and the lead to 21 before a Gee two made it 37-18 at halftime.

Ryan Deininger’s 3-pointer had North Penn down 39-27 in the third but Methacton responded by seven straight points – a Hargrove slam putting the Warriors ahead 46-27.

A Hargrove basket had Methacton up 17 at 48-31 but back-to-back threes from Larkins and Milind had the Knights’ deficit down to 11. After a Hargrove free throw at 1:50, Milind made two from the line at 1:07 while his putback had North Penn within eight at 49-41.

But the Warriors began the fourth with an eight-point burst, doubling their lead to 57-41 and from there the Knights could only get as close at 14.