Bingnear happy to be Ridley’s secret weapon

RIDLEY TWP. >> Sean Bingnear knew the start on Senior Night was ceremonial.

The outcome of Ridley’s game, against fellow playoff-bound squad Garnet Valley to cap an unbeaten run through the Central League, was hardly inconsequential. And for the senior guard, the opportunity was palpable.

So much so that eight days later, with Ridley surprisingly on the brink of a premature exit from the District One Class AAAA tournament and in a more precarious position on its home court than it had been all season, Mike Snyder looked down his usually tightly-rotated bench and found a saving answer in Bingnear.

Of the many surprises contained in the boxscore from that narrow, 51-49 survival over No. 29 North Penn Friday, the most glaring is the eight points attributed to Bingnear’s name. And with the No. 4 Green Raiders facing another team that’s displayed its upset potential, No. 20 Perkiomen Valley, in Tuesday’s second round, Bingnear’s postseason cameo may transform into a recurring arc.

Snyder’s methods have been fairly constant this season, opting for a six- or seven-man rotation most nights. With the Green Raiders winning a Central League title and accumulating a very unbroken 23-1 record, there was no need to fix that proposition.

Bingnear, the only of the Green Raiders’ five upperclassmen to find himself outside that core, appeared in fewer than half of the team’s games this season. Before the Jaguars arrived Feb. 4, Bingnear had hit two baskets, both 2-pointers, and scored five points. His record as a junior: Four games played and two made free throws.

But given the nod on Senior Night, Bingnear responded, shooting over the GV defense to score 11 points, burying three triples.

“I just wanted to prove that I can play a little bit, so I just wanted to show that I can help if they need me,” Bingnear said at practice Sunday. Ridley topped GV, 59-49. Behind Julian Wing’s game-high 29 points, Bingnear and star guard Brett Foster contributed 11 apiece, a tally that could be seen as decisive.

Fast-forward eight days — a span bisected by a 62-38 shellacking of Conestoga in the Central League title game in which Bingnear didn’t leave the pine — and the Green Raiders were in jeopardy of a disastrous crash out of districts, trailing 11-4 after a sleepwalking first quarter.

Enter Bingnear, who scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers that helped shoot Ridley out of the Knights’ zone and out of the playoff-opening doldrums.

“To start a spark, a little bit,” Bingnear said of his objective. “To get everybody going, because we kind of came out a little flat. … They were all a little down. I tried to get everyone going, and I guess I did.”

The competitive side of Bingnear is a little conflicted on the season. No athlete with fire inside is happy being confined to the bench. Doing the little things behind the scenes and playing his bit part in his team’s romp to a Central League title mitigates that, however.

“It’s been fun watching it because we won the Central League,” he said. “It hurt a little bit as the competitor that I am, but I got over it. Whenever they needed me, I was ready, and in practice, I just worked hard.”

The other piece of the puzzle, which is anything but common, is Bingnear’s confidence after entering. Snyder inserted him to Friday’s game to seek shots in weak spots of the zone. From the outside, that directive sounds amazingly difficult: Sit on the bench most of the year, then go hit (already low-percentage) shots on the biggest stage of the season, looks that Bingnear’s more seasoned teammates couldn’t get to fall.

For that confidence, Bingnear credits his classmates. Since middle school, he’s played alongside Wing, Foster and Ryan Bollinger, the core of this season’s success. So when those guys find him open on the wing and exhort him to shoot, knowing that he has it in him to make it, the belief fuels Bingnear’s poise. So does the trust forged between teammates who Tuesday will take the court for their 55th game since the start of last season, a win away from a second straight trip to the PIAA tournament.

“They just tell me to shoot when I’m open because they know I can make it,” he said. “They gave me a lot of confidence to come in and shoot.”

Confidence isn’t in short supply from Ridley’s opponent, a cocktail spiked with anger. The No. 20 Vikings (16-9) upset No. 13 Cheltenham, 49-45, in the first round. Perk Valley entered the contest feeling the sting of a 54-48 loss in the Pac-10 title game to Spring-Ford that the Vikings appeared to have won with 1.1 seconds left before the crowd stormed the court, eliciting a technical foul that allowed the Rams to send the game to overtime.

The author of that erstwhile game-winning shot was also the architect of Cheltenham’s demise: High-energy junior guard Justin Jaworski, whose engine ticked over for 29 points against the Panthers. Sean Owens is a strong complementary scoring guard, while Sean Moriarty and Cullen O’Connor give the Vikings size in the post.

No. 25 Hatboro-Horsham at No. 9 Chester

The Hatters and Clippers renew acquaintances after the only bright spot of Chester’s 2015 postseason, a 56-35 win for the 11 seed over the 22 in the first round.

This year’s Chester team (17-6) is more daunting, having won 15 of 16, including a 53-27 steamrolling of No. 25 Council Rock North Friday. Eight players scored in that game, led by 10 for big man Maurice Henry and nine apiece from DeShawn Hinson and Stanley Davis.

Some intimidation is mitigated for the Hatters (12-11) considering they just trounced the No. 8 seed Strath Haven, 68-46, a few miles up the road from the Clip Joint. Clifton Moore, a 6-foot-7 interior defender with range to the perimeter, blitzed Haven for 28 points, while Jay Davis scored 22 from the backcourt. Moore and Henry will get familiar in the post, while the Clippers’ passel of backcourt defenders that limited CR North to five second-half points hope to stifle Davis and company.

No. 18 Academy Park at No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh

By the transitive property, the underdog Knights (17-6) have reason to hope. They took care of Upper Merion, 53-51, in the first round, one of two teams to beat the Patriots (21-2) this season.

PW didn’t look much like a top seed in laboring by No. 31 Radnor, 49-36, Friday in an affair that was within one point late in the third quarter. Part of that sluggishness stemmed from an injury to Xzavier Malone, though the Rider commit returned to score a game-high 14 points, with forward Mike Lotito adding 12 and Kevin Ashenfelter with 10.

Lotito will be a big matchup for AP’s Khyree Temple in the post. The Knights weren’t their usual explosive selves Friday, scoring a season-low 53 points. Only Jawan Collins (15) scored in double-figures.