BUCKTOWN >> Double-figure scoring by four players, including big baskets down the stretch, proved to be just enough for Boyertown to offset a 39-point performance by Owen J. Roberts’ Luke Fryer on Friday night in a wild 70-67 win.
Braedyn Johnson scored 18 to lead the visiting Bears, who rallied from an 11-point deficit in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division opener for both teams. Jack Greaves followed with 16 points, Brant Rath scored 15 and Trey Kern added 10 for Boyertown (5-1 overall). Elijah Cline scored 11 for the Wildcats (3-2 overall).
“We’ve had a lot of close games,” said senior point guard Johnson, who nailed two 3-point baskets and dished out a pair of key assists late in the contest. “We’re pretty good in tight games. We don’t get rattled. We come out and try to execute our plays.”
The Bears were up 4-2 after baskets by Rath and Kern, but did not lead again until Johnson passed underneath to Rath for a layup and a 59-58 advantage with four minutes remaining in the contest. A jumper by Fryer put OJR back up at 60-59 with just under two minutes to go. Then Johnson knocked down a trey from the top of the circle and Fryer hit one of his own for a 63-62 Wildcat lead.
But Johnson passed to Rath for another layup and Greaves scored off a pass from Ryan Thompson (8 points) to make it 66-63 in favor of the Bears with 45 seconds remaining. Johnson sank four straight from the line after that for a 70-64 advantage and the Wildcats could not get the ball back after Fryer’s sixth 3-pointer made it 70-67 with just 0.8 remaining.
“We tried just about everything,” Boyertown coach Travis Miller said concerning his team’s efforts to stop Fryer, “We ran a second guy at him. We tried a box-and-one and a diamond-and-one. He’s a really quick kid. Our primary defense is a 2-3 zone, but we had to get out of it.”
The Wildcats led 15-11 after a quarter and ran off eight straight points early in the second for a 23-14 advantage before Boyertown came back to within 34-28 at the half. OJR was up 34-23 with a minute left in the third before the Bears began their comeback.
“We played a pretty rough half, but we were down by just six,” said Johnson. “Our goal is to have 12 or less turnovers (in the game), but we had 11 at the half.”
The Bears also had trouble on the defensive boards in the first two quarters, allowing 12 offensive rebounds, but gave up just four more after the break.
Roberts led 52-45 after a pair of free throws by Colin King (9 points, 11 rebounds) to start the fourth quarter before Boyertown went on a 14-6 to take its first lead since early in the game.
“A tough one tonight,” said Wildcat coach Ben Condello. “We played well off and on. I want to give all the credit to Boyertown. They played a good second half and a great fourth quarter. We got great shots the whole night, but we’ve got to be better on the defensive end. Hopefully we take it as a learning moment.”
Johnson also hopes his team learned something from the back-and-forth contest.
“The 39 points show what we need to work on,” he said. “Spring-Ford has four players who can score that many. We have to get out on their shooters and tighten up our 2-3 defense. We want to get scrappy.”
“I think my point guard (Johnson) took it a little personal,” said Miller. “He’s a fiery kid.”
Boyertown had won its first five games of the season, despite graduating all five starters and eight players in all, before suffering a four-point loss Tuesday night at undefeated Fleetwood.
“We have three seniors and two juniors, but they’re youthful to varsity basketball,” Miller added. “Not a lot of experience. This team is almost naive to varsity basketball. So far we’ve been successful. Our motto has been ‘next play’. They just come out and play hard. This was a great step, facing adversity after our first loss.”
“All credit to them,” said Condello. “This is a tough one. They made some plays. We could have been a little more focused. This league is full of great schools and great players. We need to play four quarters.”
Boyertown 70, Owen J. Roberts 67
Boyertown 11 17 17 25 – 70
Owen J. Roberts 15 19 16 17 – 67
Boyertown: Johnson 5 4-4 18, Copeland 0 0-0 0, Greaves 6 1-2 16, Kern 4 2-2 10, Thompson 3 0-0 8, C Rath 1 0-0 3, B Rath 7 0-0 15, Totals 26 7-8 70
Owen J. Roberts: Walker 2 0-0 5, Frey 13 7-8 39, Drumheller 0 0-0 0, Cline 5 1-2 11, Holmburg 0 0-2 0, Cashman 1 0-0 2, King 3 3-4 9, Graham 0 1-2 1, Totals 24 12-18 67
3-point goals: Johnson 4, Greaves 3, Thompson 2, C Rath, B Rath, Walker, Frey 6
