Conestoga defense locks up Penncrest
TREDYFFRIN>> The old adage is that defense wins championships. Well, no championship was won Friday night at Conestoga high School but the host Pioneers put on quite a defensive show as they harassed visiting Penncrest into a frigid two for 32 shooting night from the field and came away with a 39-21, Central League win on Senior Night at Conestoga.
Conestoga (5-7 Central, 10-5 overall) only shot 15 for 36 from the field themselves but the Pioneers, along with some brutal Penncrest (1-8, 3-10) shooting, held the Lions to just two made baskets for the entire game. Penncrest did go 15 of 19 from the free throw line to help accumulate their 21 points.
“Defense is a staple of our team this year,” Conestoga coach Sean Forcine said. “We work and work on it everyday in practice. And it is not just one man defense. We play five man defense and everybody helps on the defensive end. You have to play defense to play for me. And there are going to be nights when shots don’t go down but you can always be constant on defense. And I was proud of the way the kids bounced back from a bd loss to Radnor the other night.”
Conestoga opened things up in the second period when the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run to take a 18-7 lead at halftime. Brain Schubert scored on a runner to start the spurt. After a Lions miss Ben Robinson drained the first of his three treys on the night. Robinson led the Pioneers with 11 points while Westin Fryberger chimed in with nine for Conestoga.
The run ended when Robinson hit a bank shot three-ball at the buzzer to end the first half and the Pioneers were completely in charge at 18-7. Penncrest shot just one for 18 in the first half and zero for nine in the second period which saw them score just two points.
Conestoga got into early foul trouble to start the third period and the Pioneers had six team fouls in the first three minutes of the third period. This allowed the Lions to outscore the Pioneers 10-9 in the third period as Penncrest went seven for seven from the line in the third period and the Pioneers lead was 27-17 after three periods. Brendan Hemphill led all scorers with 13 points, going 11 for 11 from the free throw line for the Lions.
But the Penncrest shooting woes continued in the fourth period as Penncrest was zero for six from the field in the fourth period. The only Penncrest points came from four made free throws.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers got two big baskets from Robinson, the impressive sophomore, to ice the game away midway through the fourth period. Robinson scored on a driving layup to make it a 33-19 game. Then, after a Lions turnover, one of 13 Penncrest miscues on the night, Robinson drained a very long three-ball for a 36-19 Conestoga lead with just under three minutes to go.
Fryberger added four points in the fourth period and Conestoga outscored the impotent Lions 12-4 in the fourth period and the Pioneers had a solid, if not visually impressive Central League win.
“We wanted to come out snd show some energy on defense because we got beat pretty bad by Radnor the other night,” Robinson said. “We feel we will always be in games if we show energy on defense. And in the fourth period we had real good ball movement and the ball rotated to me and I just went for the layup and then the three pointer.
“We feel that if we get in districts we will do well because teams may not be used to the type of defense we play and the energy we bring.”
Conestoga 39, Penncrest 21
PENNCREST (21) Garrison 0 0-0 0. Mita 1 4-4 6, B.Hemphill 1 11-11-13, Br. Hemphill 0 0-0 0, Ciavelrelli 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 1-4 1, Cahill 0 0-0 0, Benson 0 1-2 1, Beneratt 0 0-0 0. Totals 2 15-19 21.
CONESTOGA (39) Miller 2 0-0 4, Smith 0 1-2 1, Demming 0 0-0 0, Robinson 4 0-0 11, Kushner 0 0-0 0, Costigan 0 0-0 0, Styer 1 1-2 4, Vesey 0 1-2 1, Corr 0 0-0 0, Kim 1 0-0 2, Dembele 2 1-2 5, Krishman 0 0-0 0, Schubert 2 0-0 5, Fryberger 3 0-2 6. Totals 15 4-7 39.
Penncrest 5 2 10 4-21
Conestoga 6 12 9 12-39
3-point goals: Robinson 3, Schubert, Styer.
