FRANCONIA — In their first practice of the season, the Pennridge Rams were lights out.
An electrical problem cut the power.
Then, last week, junior guard Marley Steward suffered a severely broken leg.
Another junior guard, Jacob Bolger, hasn’t been able to get on the court because of an ongoing illness.
And when athletic director Scott Hegen was nice enough to replace a damaged whiteboard in the team’s locker room, the crew that brought it mounted it in the wrong locker room.
Oh, and the wrestling team used the basketball gym the other day and knocked a door off the hinges.
Nothing much had gone right for this Pennridge squad.
Until Friday night.
After trailing by six in the first quarter, Xavier Peters caught fire, igniting a 28-point Rams second period as Pennridge charged past the Souderton Indians, 76-67, for its first win of the year in an SOL Colonial showdown at Souderton Area High School.
Peters, also a junior guard, whose game resembles a high school version of Ja Morant, scored from outside, scored from inside, and did just about anything he wanted to do in a dazzling, 30-point performance.
He put up 16 points in the second quarter to give the Rams a 38-27 lead by halftime.
“In that second quarter, I felt like we settled in and we got our wits together,” Peters said. “We made more shots, not as many turnovers.
“I just wanted to win,” Peters said. “I work on it all the time, so I just let the work show.”
Peters was a magician as he navigated through the crowded paint to find the basket, masterfully manipulating the ball in mid-air with natural ease.
“Xavier snapped,” Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey said. “He got hot. He just had a special performance in that second quarter. I think the defense was excellent, and he just went off. So, hats off to him. That was really something.
“We played man-to-man, and he hit shots against whoever was in front of him,” Sackitey said. “We went zone, and their guys did a good job of knocking down that mid-range shot at the foul line.”
On this night, the Rams shot the lights out.
They were a scorching 10-of-13 from the field in the second period. They finished 21-for-41 from 2-point range and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
They also knocked down 19-of-19 free throws. Perfect.
“When you’re a team and you hit shots, you look like the greatest coach in the world and you look like the greatest team in the world,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “When you can’t hit shots, you look terrible. So I think it was one of those quarters where we got hot. And I thought we moved the ball really well.
“Xavier got in the paint, created a lot, made it easy for his teammates to get some easy buckets. And the ball went in the basket.
“It is nice having Xavier Peters on the team,” Behrens said. “He’s playing extremely well.”
Charles Rising added 19 points for the Rams (1-3, 1-1). Cole Gehlert finished with 14, and Rowan Smith had 11.
Pennridge extended its lead to 16 midway through the second half, but Souderton (2-2, 1-1) was able to close the gap to one possession late in the fourth quarter before the Rams pulled away again.
Bill Sackor led the Indians with 19 points. Chanse Salone had 15. Trey Bui finished with 12 and Nolan Watkins had 11.
“When we pressed, we were able to get a couple takeaways and crawl back into it,” Sackitey said. “I probably should have pressed earlier.
“The story of the night on our side was that we didn’t give up.”
Astoundingly, the second period against Souderton wasn’t the Rams’ best of the year. They scored 30 in a quarter against William Tennent, but lost that game. This was a much happier outcome.
Peters hopes the victory sparks a turnaround for Pennridge.
“It’s big to come in here and get this win,” he said. “I know some of the players on their team. They were 2-1 and we were 0-3, so we needed this win. I definitely think it can get us going. It was important.”
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PENNRIDGE 76, SOUDERTON 67
Pennridge 10 28 19 19 — 76
Souderton 16 11 18 22 — 67
Pennridge (76) — Xavier Peterson 8 2 8-8 11, Charles Rising 5 2 3-3 19, Cole Gehlert 3 0 8-8 14, Rowan Smith 4 1 0-0 11, Dylan Horton 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 21 5 19-19.
Souderton (67) — Bill Sackor 4 3 2-2 19, Chanse Salone 2 3 2-4 15, Trey Bui 4 1 1-3 12, Nolan Watkins 1 2 3-3 11, Clinton Kikonjo 1 1 0-0 5, Kahlil Williams 0 0 3-6, Thaddeus Harter 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 13 10 11-18 67.
Rebounds: Pennridge 26, Souderton 17.
Turnovers: Pennridge 8, Souderton 8.
Records: Pennridge 1-3 (1-1), Souderton 2-2 (1-1).
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Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc, or visit ChrisDeFranco.com.
