Methacton rolls Norristown, creates three-way tie atop PAC Liberty

WORCESTER >> The Methacton boys basketball team woke up last Saturday morning in third place in the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division — a full game behind Perk Valley and Norristown.

The Warriors handled Perk Valley Saturday and did the same to Norristown Tuesday night.

Methacton used a dominant first-half run to roll over the Eagles, 87-66, at Methacton High School and create a three-way tie atop the league standings.

“We were like this last year,” Warriors guard Brett Eberly said. “We started off alright, then went on a bad losing streak and now we’re coming into our stride. We had a big talk and said, ‘We need to show up every day and work every day for what we want to accomplish.’ That’s to get to districts, to get to states and win the PAC.”

The Warriors (14-5, 7-2 PAC Liberty) game-defining run came after a slow start. They fell behind 10-0 in the first three minutes, but that deficit didn’t last long. The defending league champs tied the game at 12 and 18 before taking their first lead, 20-18. They held a 22-20 edge after the first quarter and started the fourth with eight straight points, making it a 30-20 game and 30-10 run.

Eberly was a big part of Methacton’s offensive attack in the first half. He made his first four three-pointers and finished five-for-six in the first half, totalling 15 points.

“We just kept our composure,” he said. “We knew that we were going to hit some big threes coming up, which we did. I came out and hit some key threes for us to change the momentum and then we went on our run. I feel like that changed the game and all the energy shifted to us.

“I was just in the groove. I was looking for the opportunities to shoot. I was obviously hot and so I was just getting into my spot and they were finding me in the first half. Then in the second half we found the other guys. We all contributed tonight as a whole team. That’s a good win for us.”

The Warriors finished the first half strong — taking a 46-29 lead into the lockerroom — and never slowed down. The lead hovered around 20 for most of the second half before the final horn sounded at 21, 87-66.

“That was a run of exceptional shooting,” Norristown coach Binky Johnson said. “They shot the ball very well … That was a heck of a second quarter — they had 24 points in the second quarter. It’s tough to rebound from those. We dug ourselves quite the hole. They really came out smoking in that second quarter.”

Eberly was one of five Warriors to score in double figures. Jeff Woodward led the way with 20 points, David Duda and Erik Timko each added 18 and Owen Kropp had 11.

“Brett (Eberly) had kind of a rough shooting night when we played (Norristown) over at their place,” Methacton coach Jeff Derstine said. “He’s had some really big games for us. A lot of times he’s not putting up big numbers because he’s our point guard, playmaker, he’s looking to find other shooters, but he found himself open and he has a ton of confidence and we have confidence in him to step up and make those shots.”

Woodward had 12 of his points — and 13 of his 22 rebounds — in the second half while Duda and Timko did most of their damage after intermission, each scoring 13 points in the final 16 minutes.

“Really a strong team effort,” Derstine added.

The Eagles (14-4, 7-2) were led by Mickeel Allen, who finished with 15 points. Tyler Lyons added 12, Xavier Edwards 11 and Aaron Reddish 10.

After a tough stretch over the last two weeks, Norristown will look to get things turned around before the PAC and District 1 playoffs.

“Basketball is a game of highs and lows,” Johnson said. “We had a tough week last week — four games in a week — and then we come back this week with a tough game here at Methacton. I just tell the guys that there’s a lot of basketball to be played. We needed to face some adversity and now in the new year we’ve lost three games. It’s one of those things where I said, ‘Oh, now we get to face some adversity.’ I want to see how they respond.”