GRATERFORD >> Perk Valley’s offense was on fire out of the gate against Methacton Wednesday night. Julian Sadler, Josh Tagert and Kyle Shawaluk each scored seven points in the first quarter as the Vikings opened a quick 14-point lead and totaled 24 points through eight minutes.
The difference was trimmed to six in the third quarter, but Perk Valley finished the frame strong and led by double digits for most of the fourth before closing out a 67-53 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division win over the Warriors at Perkiomen Valley High School.
“We just played hard, played together,” Sadler, who finished with a game-high 29 points, said of the fast start. “We had a flat start last time (59-47 loss at Methacton on Dec. 15), so we just wanted to avoid that. We came out and played our game.
“Our coaches, and us, we put a big emphasis on everybody getting the ball. We have five threats on the court. Everyone is able to do some different things. I think we were just put in the right situations.”
After falling behind 2-0, the Vikings (4-2 PAC Liberty, 5-2 PAC, 13-3 overall) rattled off a 17-1 run. Sadler, Tagert and Shawaluk each hit a three-pointer in the first quarter and Ryan Murphy completed an old-fashioned three-point play.
Methacton’s Christian Matos (17 points) went on a personal 8-2 run to get the Warriors (4-2 PAC Liberty, 5-3 PAC, 10-5 overall) back into the game and finished the quarter with 10 points. PV’s lead was 24-15 at the end of the first.
“(Perk Valley) is way too good of a team to get down by that much so early in the game there,” Methacton coach Pat Lockard said of his team’s 17-3 deficit. “I thought we came out pretty flat in that first quarter and, credit to them, they came out energized. They executed. They had great shot selection and we were forcing things early. Against a really solid team, that can happen to you. You hope to make tough shots and we did not make tough shots tonight.That was too big of a hole for us to get out of.”
Methacton trailed the entire way, but battled to within 48-42 late in the third quarter. The rally started in the second quarter, when Sal Iemmello and Alex Hermann hit threes to help cut a 34-19 deficit to 40-30 at the half.
Iemmello and Conrad each added five points in the third quarter to help trim the difference down to six, but the Warriors missed a pair of foul shots that could have made it a four-point game and only scored two points in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the quarter. Shawaluk hit a three-pointer to get Perk Valley’s lead back to nine and Sadler kept it there with a turnaround jumper at the buzzer, sending the Vikings to the fourth ahead, 53-44.
“We didn’t want things to get out of control,” Sadler said. “We really slowed it down a lot today. I think slowing it down and getting those couple buckets definitely helped going into the fourth.”
It was Perk Valley’s defense and foul shooting that secured the win. As a team the Vikings shot 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter (15-for-17 in the game) and held the Warriors to just two field goals and nine points.
“The free-throw line disparity percentage wise,” Lockard said after his team went 9-for-16 from the line, “they probably shot – it felt like 100%. I know they missed some, but they made their free throws and we missed our free throws. It seemed like every facet of the game they were better than us. Credit to them.”
Sadler and Tagert hit back-to-back threes in the middle of the second quarter to give Perk Valley its largest lead of the first half, 34-19. Tagert’s triple was in rhythm from the top of the key while Sadler’s feet were almost touching the half-court logo.
Sadler is second in the PAC in scoring with a 23.7 points per game average. Fellow senior Tagert, a 6-4 forward, has proven to be a strong complementary piece of late.
“(Shooting) is what (Tagert) was best at originally,” Sadler said of his teammate, “and I think he’s expanded his game, defensively and especially in the post. I think his game’s improved a lot.
“(Tagert’s shooting) opens up the floor. It gives everyone else driving lanes. He’s more than just a stretch big. He can shoot and he can drive, so having that definitely opens up the offense and helps us reach new levels with that.”
Tagert and Shawaluk joined Sadler in double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Matos led the Warriors with 17 points while Iemmello added 12 and Hermann 10.
Perkiomen Valley 67, Methacton 53
Methacton 15 15 14 9 – 53Perk Valley 24 16 13 14 – 67
M: Anthony Daddazio 0 0 0-0 0, Mason Conrad 2 1 1-2 8, Sal Iemmello 2 2 2-4 12, Christian Matos 4 2 3-3 17, Alex Hermann 2 1 3-5 10, Manny Rodriguez 0 0 0-0 0, Wes Robinson 2 0 0-2 4, Jackson Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Jack Lineen 0 0 0-0 0, Liam Greenberg 1 0 0-0 2, Henry Goldstein 0 0 0-0 0, Jack Bradford 0 0 0-0 0. Total 13 6 9-16 53.
PV: Jakob Harken 3 0 1-2 7, Julian Sadler 7 2 9-10 29, Ryan Murphy 2 0 3-3 7, Kyle Shawaluk 1 2 2-2 10, Josh Tagert 3 2 0-0 12, Joey Keough 0 0 0-0 0, Anthony Rodriguez 1 0 0-0 2, Patrick McDonald 0 0 0-0 0, Sean Wagoner 0 0 0-0 0, Ty Hopenwaser 0 0 0-0 0. Total 17 6 15-17 67.
