Phoenixville closes out Perkiomen Valley for PAC semifinal spot
ROYERSFORD >> Phoenixville senior Jackson Kuranda got a taste of the Pioneer Athletic Conference playoffs two seasons ago when the Phantoms knocked off Boyertown in the first round.
It was limited, but after the event was canceled last season, Kuranda was the only player on the floor during the No. 6 Phantoms’ PAC Final Six contest against No. 3 Perkiomen Valley on Wednesday at Spring-Ford who had a PAC playoff win on his resume.
Kuranda’s experience paid off in Phoenixville’s 53-44 win to set up a matchup with No. 2 Pope John Paul II on Friday at 7:45 p.m. He tallied a team-high 14 points, helping his team off to a strong start and a strong finish.
Senior Zavier Mayo added 13 points for the Phantoms, while seniors Vance Sadler and Dawson Debebe scored 18 and 12 points, respectively, for the Vikings.
“Our sophomore year, we came here,” Kuranda said. “I didn’t play that much but it was against Boyertown and the crowd was jumping, gym was packed and it was loud. Now, we’re seniors. We’re kind of used to that varsity experience, so we kind of just put that behind us and we’re treating it like a regular game. We just gotta keep going and doing our business.”
.@Phantom_Hoops seniors Jackson Kuranda, left, and Zavier Mayo helped the Phantoms to a win over PV in Wednesday’s PAC Final Six game. pic.twitter.com/VFaBULaYja
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) February 10, 2022
The Phantoms (17-6) jumped out to an early lead, helped by a big first half from Kuranda. Phoenixville went up 17-12 after a quarter of play when Kuranda closed the period with back-to-back threes. The Phantoms extended that advantage to 30-20 by halftime.
Phoenixville went up by 12 early in the third quarter and had multiple chances to extend that lead, but the Vikings (15-8) held tough.
Senior Josh Pelzer (five points) and Sadler ignited a 16-3 PV run to close the third quarter. Sadler hit a pair of threes to close the 12-point gap to one, 38-37, by the end of the period, and he canned another triple with 6:21 to play to give PV a 40-38 lead.
“I thought some of our mistakes really hurt us,” Perkiomen Valley coach Mike Poysden said. “Digging that hole, we’re not exactly built to play from behind necessarily. But I thought what happened in the third quarter and then in the fourth to get it back to a tie, it gives yourself a chance.
“That’s all you need to do in postseason basketball is just try to give yourself a chance down the stretch. Down the stretch we didn’t close out some plays and that’s the difference, but I was really proud of the way we played.”
Phoenixville had an immediate answer to the Perkiomen Valley push. The Phantoms responded with a 10-0 run, going up 48-40 on a Chase McDonnell dunk with 1:43 to play that all but sealed the game.
“They had some momentum, but we just had to play our game and not feed into the momentum and we got the job done,” Mayo said.
Kuranda had six points in the final quarter, scoring a pair of buckets during the 10-0 run.
“Third quarter has always been a struggle for us, so I knew coming into the fourth that I had to get some momentum going,” Kuranda said. “Anything I can do to get the team going and just try to win.”
The Vikings, ranked No. 20 in the District 1-6A power rankings, will be on the road in the first round of the district tournament on Feb. 18.
Perkiomen Valley advanced to the district quarterfinals last year, but Wednesday night was PV’s first time back in the PAC Final Six since 2018-19.
“We always talk about earning the opportunity to play meaningful basketball,” Poysden said. “Lots of teams don’t get to do it, so after last season it’s great to be back and it’s great for the PAC to be celebrating their basketball teams.”
The Phantoms ran into eventual champion Methacton in their last trip to the PAC semifinals. This time they’ll have a more familiar opponent in their Frontier rival Golden Panthers.
PJP and Phoenixville split their two meetings this season, which were decided by a combined five points. Friday night’s game should be a good one when the two squads meet up for round three.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” Mayo said. “We had some goals before the season, and this is part of it.”
“We’re very excited, very excited,” he added. “We’re not done yet. We’ve got two more to win. We’re ready.”
