Sgro helps North Penn hold off Coatesville in District 1-6A 2nd Round

TOWAMENCIN >>  Mario Sgro’s clutch answers then North Penn’s defensive stop in the final minute allowed the sixth-seeded Knights boys basketball team to hold off visiting No 11 Coatesville for a 64-60 victory in the District 1-6A second round Tuesday night.

“I like to take shots in the fourth quarter,” Sgro said. “I want to be the guy to take those shots.”

Twice Sgro came through with the host Knights down a point in the fourth quarter. His turnaround jumper in the lead had NP up 57-56 before the Red Raiders’ Jeremiah Marshall converted on a drive with 37.6 remaining.

But Sgro was fouled as he looked to get into the lane at 31.8 seconds and proceeded to hit both ends of his 1-and-1 to put the Knights back ahead by one.

“At the end of the game I felt a little pressure,” Sgro said. “Cause we were down by one but that’s really it.”

The following Coatesville possession, Ryan Deininger provided a block then collected the loose ball, setting off a fast break that finished with Corey Meade gliding in for a basket for a three-point play with 11.1 seconds left to make it 62-58.

“That was huge,” Sgro said “Basically that was the dagger that put in them. After that, we won the game – we knew we won. That was big for him to rise up and take a strong take there.”

Zuri Harris’ long 2-pointer had the Red Raiders down two with five seconds to go but Norman Gee knocked down two free throws at 4.2 seconds to make it a four-point margin.

“I think we were able to get some timely stops,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “They pressure was unlike anything we’ve seen all year except maybe for PW and I think we a good job of these two guys (Gee and Sgro) shooting free throws down the stretch”

North Penn went 9-for-9 from the line in the fourth after going 3-for-10 the first three quarters as it clinched its first PIAA appearance since 2020 in advancing to visiting No. 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarterfinals Friday.

“North Penn hasn’t had the record like us or been in the situation in a while so teams they’re not giving us our respect,” Sgro said. “So coach said we got to go and take it today. And I feel like we put the district on notice after this game.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh, which edged No 14 Penn Wood 64-62, topped North Penn in the Suburban One League Tournament quarters 75-57 Feb. 11.

Harris scored 12 points in the second quarter – including a personal 9-0 run – and finished with a game-high 17 while Marshall added 14 points for Coatesville (15-9), who hosts Penn Wood in the first round of district playbacks Friday. Winner clinches a state berth while the loser has its season over.

North Penn (19-6) had four players in double figures led by Teddy McAllister, who connected on a trio of 3-pointers in posting 15 points. Eight of Sgro’s 11 points came in the fourth while Gee and Deininger both chipped in 10 points.

A Lee Hammond 3-pointer capped an 8-0 first-quarter run that gave the Knights a 16-6 lead before a Marshall bucket had Coatesville down 16-8 after the opening eight minutes.

North Penn stretched its advantage to 23-10 after a Sgro triple, however the Red Raiders got back into the contest with to its defensive pressure, finishing the half on an 18-6 run.

“I thought we did a really good job of getting in, penetration, jump stop and finding the open man along the perimeter,” Conrad said. “They really wear you down a little bit and I thought we started to fatigue a little bit in the second quarter and that’s when they made their run.”

Five straight points from Coatesville made it 23-15 before a McAllister 3-pointer but Harris responded by scoring the next nine – his three-point play on a putback to get the Red Raiders within 26-24 with 1:12 left in the half.

A longer corner two from Peoples had North Penn’s lead at 29-28 at the break.

“Just their length and quickness, it’s hard to simulate that in practice,” Conrad said. “We had seven or eight guys and we were able to handle that but they’re just long and quick and they’re very good at.”

In the third, Peoples connected on a corner trey to knot the score at 34 then scored on a drive to put Coatesville up 36-34. But a Meade basket off an inbounds then a Zeltt 3-pointer gave NP back the lead 39-36.

Baskets off turnovers by Dior Kennedy then Amon Fowlkes had the Red Raiders even again at 41 but a Gee 3-pointer made it 44-41 Knights After Lawrence Brown’s putback had Coatesville within a point, Deininger scored and was fouled at 45.7 seconds then McAllister made a pair at the line at 3.4 seconds for a 48-43 lead.

A McAllister triple had the Knights up 51-47 in the fourth while two Sgro free throws at 5:49 made it 53-47. But Coatesville cut the margin to 55-50 after a Harris three. A Marshall foul shot at 3:04 had the Red Raiders down one while Marshall scored on a drive to give the visitors a 56-55 edge.

Sgro’s turnaround jumper made it 57-56 only for Marshall’s shot on a drive dropped for another one-point Coatesville lead with 37.6 seconds remaining. Sgro, however, hit both ends of his 1-and-1 to put the Knights up for good at 31.8 seconds.

“I was just trying to get to the rim,” Sgro said “We were in the bonus so either way I was going to end up shooting free throws.”

Deininger got a hand on the ball to block a Marshall shot but Marshall got off a pass as he was coming down. The ball, however, came free and Deininger scooped it up. He passed the ball to Sgro, who found Meade for his drive in for a basket and the foul – completing the three-point play at 11 seconds to make it 62-58.

Harris’ long two had Coatesville within 62-60 but Gee sealed the Knights’ place in the quarter by hitting twice from the line with 4.2 seconds left.

District 1-6A Second Round
(6) North Penn 64, (11) Coatesville 60
Coatesville 8 20 15 17 – 60
North Penn 16 13 19 16 – 64
Coatesville: Zuri Harris 7 2-2 17; Jeremiah Marshall 6 2-4 14; Marquis Peoples 3 2-3 9; Amon Fowlkes 2 4-6 8; Lawrence Brown 3 0-2 6; Dior Kennedy 1 2-2 4; Christian Proctor 1 0-0 2; Totals 23 12-19 60.
North Penn: Teddy McAllister 5 2-3 15; Mario Sgro 2 6-6 11; Ryan Deininger 5 0-3 10; Norman Gee 3 2-2 10; Corey Meade 3 2-5 8; Nicholas Hoffman 2 0-0 4; Lee Hammond 1 0-0 3; Ryan Zeltt 1 0-0 3; Totals 22 12-29 64.
3-pointers: C-Harris, Peoples; NP-McAllister 3, Gee 2, Hammond, Sgro, Zeltt.