Perkiomen School national team wins inaugural home tournament championship over Dynastie

PENNSBURG >> It only took 148 years, but the inaugural Perkiomen School national team home tournament came to a close on Sunday.

And with it, the first piece of hardware from the event was kept in house. With a 78-58 win over Dynastie (Montreal, Canada), the Panthers reaped the rewards of their efforts behind the scenes to put on the international showcase.

Having kicked off two days prior, Perkiomen took wins over Spire Institute (Ohio) and Scotland Campus to reach the title game in the field of eight competing prep schools.

“I know they’re gonna keep this going the next couple years, so to get the first one and keep it at home, it means a lot to us,” 2023 power forward Thomas Haugh said.

Haugh — a University of Florida commit — was named tournament MVP after the title game, in which he scored 15 points. Preist Ryan led the Panthers with 16, his flashiest play being a dunk off an inbound pass.

H2, 15:38 — Priest Ryan, good God.

He dunks right off the inbound pass. Perk up 45-33. pic.twitter.com/5b3CTOVGFT

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) January 8, 2023

Perkiomen Schol (11-2) jumped out to a 12-0 lead after four straight 3-point shots and didn’t do too much looking back. While the Panthers never trailed, Dynastie cut the game as close as six points midway through the second half.

Hans Alexander Charlotin was sneaky at midcourt, forcing turnovers that were baked on while 15 of Anthony Maxwell’s game-high 23 points came after halftime, which Perkiomen entered with a 36-22 advantage.

“We’ve been playing a lot of close games already and we’ve found ways to win most of them,” Panthers coach Thomas Baudinet said. “We’ve beaten good teams and most of them were close, so I don’t think they have any sort of panic because this group has already been tested a little bit, even if we’re younger and more inexperienced than we’ve been the last couple years.”

Unshaken, Perkiomen leaned on the talents of ‘23 Bobby Rosenberger, who found 12 of his 15 points late to help keep the Panthers afloat. Macon Emory (13 points) also heated up with seven in the frame.

Speaking of Rosenberger, he knocks down a three on the following possession. https://t.co/WAwTdg3SwG pic.twitter.com/8Eon0rd5Ft

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) January 8, 2023

Perkiomen also made Dynastie pay at the line with 16-of-17 free throws made, 14 of which came after the break.

“We practice game scenarios all the time and tempo and transition points,” Haugh said. “Just to shut down the tempo of some of their key players and also keep pushing the transition and doing the things we know best, that allowed us to keep it steady for us all game.”

Ryan added, “We were playing at our own pace and trusting the guys to make the right plays, just keep moving and getting one more,” Ryan said. “They were playing a lot of pressure up top. We’re not the greatest ball handlers, so we’re just cut and screen-in to get whatever to go.”

Loic Affoumon scored 10 points for Dynastie and Charlotin added nine. The Panthers lit up the perimeter with 10 3-pointers, many coming from the corners as four different players banked shots from deep.

Crashing the offensive boards on the shots that didn’t fall kept Perkiomen’s offense on its end of the floor, and it often finished the job one way or the other.

“It just takes a lot of energy and effort from our older guys to our younger group,” Ryan said. “We just gotta talk, get everybody going then we’re good.”

The Panthers now ride a three-game win streak coming out of the holiday break.

“I think it was really good for our school community to have an event like this and bring in high-level teams,” Baudinet said. “For our fans, for our students and our families to see a lot of good games, not just the ones featuring Perkiomen.”

Perkiomen School national 78, Dynastie 58
Dynastie: St-Felix 2 1-2 5; Maxwell 8 4-4 23; Tropnas 3 0-1 6; Charlotin 2 4-5 9; Affoumon 4 0-0 10; Konate 0 1-2 1; Jean 0 0-0 0; Diane 1 0-0 2; Gouamba 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 10-14 58
Perkiomen: Salisbery 0 2-2 2; Lieb 2 4-4 8; Tanner 0 0-0 0; Neverbrickas 0 0-0 0; Ryan 7 0-0 16; Emory 5 0-0 13; Haugh 5 5-6 15; Rosenberger 5 2-2 15; Downes 0 0-0 0; Byers 2 3-3 9. Totals: 26 16-17 78
Dynastie 22 36-58
Perkiomen 36 42-78
3-point goals: Maxwell 3, Charlotin, Affoumon 2, Ryan 2, Emory 3, Rosenberger 3, Byers 2