Perkiomen School National team returns to PAISAA semifinals in win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy

PENNSBURG >> A couple of well-placed timeouts worked wonders for the Perkiomen School National team Saturday afternoon in the PAISAA boys basketball quarterfinals. The Panthers went on an extended run after the first one to regain control after Springside Chestnut Hill Academy had cut its lead to one point. Then it ran off seven straight points after the second to break the game open in the fourth quarter of a 74-56 win at Hollenbach Athletic Center.

Thomas Haugh led No. 1 seed Perk School (24-4) with 27 points and 15 rebounds while Preist Ryan scored 23. Alassane Amadou topped the No. 9 seed Blue Devils (15-9) with 14 points. Perk School will host a semifinal Friday against No. 4 Hill School, a 68-63 winner over No. 5 William Penn Charter.

“We just like to focus during timeouts,” Haugh said. “Be who we are as a team. Be who we are as a player. Sometimes we get too rattled. He (coach Thomas Baudinet) calls a timeout and calms us down.”

Ryan scored the first 12 points of the game for the Panthers, who led 16-10 after a quarter. Then after Haugh sank two free throws to open the second, SCH scored seven straight to make it 18-17 and instigate a timeout by the hosts.

Then Haugh quickly scored off a pass from Ryan and Gabe Tanner (8 points) knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing. Keni Willimas (10 points) followed with a basket on a fastbreak for the Demons. But Ryan scored off a pass from Haugh and Haugh dunked in a basket off a long pass downcourt from Ryan. A three-point play by Haugh and a 3-pointer basket by Tanner completed a 15-2 run over the course of three minutes for a 33-19 advantage.

“One guy gets it going and that gets the whole team going,” Haugh said. “Preist and Brant (Byers). We were able to get some stops, consecutive stops.”

The Blue Demons still managed to hang around after that, closing to within 38-30 after scoring the first basket of the second half, and the Panthers still had not put the game away when Williams made two at the line for a 59-48 score early in the fourth.

But Haugh put in a basket after the second key timeout, Ryan drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and Byers (9 points) scored off a pass from Haugh (5 assists) to create the Panthers’ largest lead of the game up to that point at 66-48.

“I thought we were just a little frantic offensively,” Baudinet said concerning the reason for calling time. “We weren’t playing with the poise we needed. I told them to just calm down and make them defend us.”

Camden Burns scored 13 for SCH, including eight in the third to keep the Blue Demons in the game, and Jaren Morton scored 10 and pulled in a team-high eight rebounds.

“That’s a really good team,” said Haugh, who had 12 points and seven rebounds in the second quarter alone. “They’re one of the best No. 9 seeds we’ve ever played.”

“I knew they were good,” Baudinet said. “They play hard. They have good athletes. I thought we did a very good job guarding them, contesting their shots. They had no easy baskets.”

The Blue Demons shot 37.7% from the field while the Panthers hit on 57.8% of their shots. Depsite a fast pace, each team had only 11 turnovers. Perk School had a 33-29 rebounding advantage.

Ryan shot 9-for-17 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, and was second on the Panthers with six rebounds.

“He’s my guy,” Haugh said. “He’s just able to control the game. He’s just methodical.”

Haugh and Ryan have been scoring consistently this season.

“They have each had just one game with less than 15 points,” Baudinet said. “They’re consistent producers.”

But that’s not to say that the rest of the Panthers don’t share in the offense.

“I think we do have an unselfish group,” Baudinet said. “The guys are interested in winning games. We don’t have to worry about that.”

The Panthers had opened the tournament with a 79-51 win over Friends’ Central on Friday while Springside downed Friends’ Select, 79-69.

The semifinal winners will meet for the title next Sunday at St. Joseph’s University.

Last year, the Panthers made it to the final, losing 46-41 to Westtown.

Perkiomen School National 74, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 56

Springside Chestnut Hill: Amadou 6 1-2 14, Burns 6 1-1 13, Brown 0 2-2 2, Morton 4 1-1 10, Williams 2 6-8 10, Kull 2 0-0 5, Andrews 0 2-2 2, Alston 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0-0 0, McFadden 0 0-0 0, McGrath 0 0-0 0, Scott 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 13-16 56
Perkiomen School National: Salisbery 1 0-0 3, Lieb 1 0-2 2, Tanner 3 0-0 8, Ryan 9 4-4 23, Emory 0 0-0 0, Haugh 10 6-7 27, Addesa 1 0-0 2, Herman 0 0-0 0, Downes 0 0-0 0, Byers 3 2-2 9, Totals 28 12-15 74
Springside Chestnut Hill 10 18 17 11-56
Perkiomen School Nat. 16 22 19 17-74
3-point goals: Amadou, Morton, Kull, Salisbery, Tanner 2, Ryan, Haugh