Fisher leads Pennridge past Bensalem in SOL semifinals
BENSALEM >> Many heroes emerged for Pennridge Saturday night at Bensalem High, but none bigger than Trent Fisher.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward scored a game-high 21 points, including a trio of threes, and was a constant disruption to Bensalem’s offensive plans.
“If we have some issues, get beat off the dribble, there’s Trent, controlling the paint, blocking shots,” Rams coach Dean Behrens said. “He controls the game offensively and defensively for us, because he rebounds so well and he blocks shots. And he actually slides his feet well. He can actually defend guards.”
And at the other end, he’s an inside force who can also step out and hit threes.
“When Trent’s hitting shots from the perimeter, that makes us that much better and more powerful offensively,” Behrens said.
It all added up to a 56-39 Pennridge victory over the Owls, as the Rams head to the Suburban One League Challenge Final for the second straight year.
After Central Bucks West takes on Upper Dublin in the girls final at 6 p.m., Pennridge will face Cheltenham in the boys final at 7:30 on Monday – both games are at Council Rock South.
“It was an honor for us to play at the Suburban One Challenge. It was an honor for us to play against competition like Bensalem, CB West and Cheltenham,” said Behrens, who guided his team to the state final a season ago. “So we felt like this was an honor to play. I felt like our kids earned it this year, by winning our conference.”
Breaking It Open
A Fisher three stretched Pennridge’s lead to 30-23 in the third and the Rams would be up by nine heading into the fourth.
Then, the Rams blew it open.
“We knew they were a little tired. We were pushing the ball more in the fourth quarter,” Fisher said. “And we were just playing great defense on them.”
Christian Guldin hit a pair of threes in the contest and finished with 14 points. Colin Post continues to emerge, contributing seven points. Paul Croyle, hurt most of the year, hit a three in his third game back after recovering from a broken foot.
Pennridge went after it.
“No Pennridge team has won the SOL Challenge so winning this game tonight, it puts us in contention to win the championship on Monday night, which would be huge for our program,” Fisher said. “It’s another goal for us to accomplish.
“Every team we play in this tournament is a really good team so this shows what type of team we are.”
Guldin was calm and smooth at the point, directing things through heavy traffic.
“That was a tough game to control, and he did a great job of not turning the ball over,” Behrens said. “He only had one turnover, and that’s pretty good with that kind of pressure (from Bensalem).”
Fast Start
The first quarter, which included a Fisher slam dunk, saw the Rams blow out to an 18-3 lead.
“We knew if we could break their press and looked opposite, we could get layup after layup,” Fisher said.
Bensalem came roaring back.
The Owls, led by Jeremiah Alexander’s 10 points, made it tougher for the Rams to find open shots and also got their transition game going, along with mixing in some key threes.
Benscoter scored inside to give Pennridge a 22-15 lead and Guldin hit a pair of free throws to later make it 24-16, but the Owls cut it to 24-21 at the break.
“We got ourselves in some foul trouble,” Behrens said. “And they were scoring on foul shots. So after that, we were trying to just have them hit into us. When they go to the basket, they’re going to the basket.”
Pennridge stabilized in the third and pulled away in the fourth.
Fisher scored 12 points in the Rams’ dominant first quarter and – just like his team – finished strong as well, adding six in the final frame.
“Tonight, I felt like I was shooting pretty well in warmups,” he said. “I knew they weren’t gonna play up on me as much so I knew I’d have the chance to shoot tonight.”
SOL Challenge Semifinal
Pennridge 56, Bensalem 39
Pennridge 18 6 14 18 – 56
Bensalem 6 15 8 10 – 39
Pennridge: Connor Pleibel 1 0-0 3, Ryan Benscoter 3 0-0 6, Luke Yoder 1 0-0 2, Paul Croyle 1 0-2 3, Christian Guldin 5 2-2 14, Colin Post 2 3-4 7, Trent Fisher 8 2-2 21. Totals 21 7-10 56.
Bensalem: Robinson 0 5-8 5, Sanders 2 2-3 7, Koli 2 0-0 5, Alexander 3 4-6 10, Ashford 2 3-4 7, Maddela 1 0-0 2, Ebner 1 0-0 3. Totals 11 14-21 39.
3-pointers: P-Pleibel, Croyle, Guldin 2, Fisher 3; B-Sanders, Koli, Ebner.
