No. 1 Perkiomen National books return trip to PAISAA basketball final in comeback over No. 4 Hill School

PENNSBURG >> Perkiomen School entered the second half of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) semifinals level with Hill School. But the No. 4 seed Blues burst out to a 10-0 run and the No. 1 seeded Panthers were in need of a wakeup call as they saw their hopes of returning to the state final slipping.

The alarm came in the form of a fiery talk from coach Tom Baudinet as he corralled his troops in a timeout.

“He said we have to put together stops and not be selfish on offense,” Perkiomen forward Thomas Haugh said on his squad’s pause in action. “I know we were kind of settling for stuff early on offense, but towards the end of the game he kind of calmed us down with the timeout and we started hitting our flow and playing like we usually play.”

Trailing as much as 13 in the third quarter (40-27), the Panthers rallied out of their timeout and throughout the final frame for a 49-42 win at the Hollenbach Athletic Center on Friday, punching their ticket back to the PAISAA championship for a second straight year.

Perkiomen School (25-4) will compete for its first PAISAA title against No. 2 George School at St. Joseph’s University’s Hagan Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m.

“It’s important and it certainly has a different feel than last year in the semifinals,” Baudinet said. “Probably because for a while it looked like we might not get there.”

FINAL — No. 1 Perkiomen National 49, No. 4 Hill School 42

Panthers are heading back to the state final for the second straight season as they hunt for their first PAISAA title. pic.twitter.com/zkzJoHAxeL

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) February 24, 2023

The third quarter began with a 10-0 run from the Blues (19-9) as they got out in transition, scored against the Panthers’ press and knocked some big putbacks courtesy of Penn pledge Augie Gerhart, who led the game with 11 points.

But some 3-pointers from 6-foot-6 wing Bobby Rosenberger (10 points), aggressive offensive rebounding from 6-foot-8 junior Macon Emory (9 points) and a five-point swing from Trey Lieb (9 points) cut the game to three, 40-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

“The guys like Macon and Trey and all of them were making the hustle plays, extra plays that don’t end up in the stat sheet necessarily, but that’s what wins games,” Haugh said. “Those guys stepped up, filled big shoes and competed.”

Haugh — a three-star University of Florida commit — finished with nine points, his last field goal of the evening being a two-handed dunk to pull Perkiomen away 46-42 with 1:50 to go.

While the Panthers found their rhythm late to tie the game 42-42 with three minutes left, stifling defense paved the way for their return to the PAISAA final. Hill was held to a single two-point field goal in the fourth quarter.

“It certainly was not a stellar offensive night. It was more of the defensive side,” Baudinet said. “Really digging in and getting stop after stop after stop.”

Q4, 1:50 — University of Florida-bound Thomas Haugh (@ThomasHaugh4) slams one down to go up four.

Perk National 46, Hill School 42 pic.twitter.com/aunVMGfXAh

— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) February 24, 2023

The Blues traded blows with the Panthers, alternating leads through the first quarter before Pottstown native Jacob Meachem (5 points) drove in for a layup just before the buzzer, lifting Hill 13-12 through the opening eight minutes.

From there, both squads continued to make 3-point plays and force stops, unable to put together big runs. Lieb hit a layup in transition with 40 seconds left to create the 22-22 halftime stalemate.

“I thought we did a good job in stretches there of controlling tempo and getting the shots we wanted,” Hill coach Seth Eilberg said.

The Blues were able to pad its surplus of points with a pair of 3-pointers from Justin Molen (8 points) and putbacks from big man Josh Cameron (7 points).

The last time Hill School reached the PAISAA final was in 2018, a 69-50 win over the Haverford School. With the loss in Pennsburg, the Blues’ 2022-23 campaign came to an end.

“To hold them under 50 points is kind of unfathomable. Just a credit to how hard our guys worked all night,” Eilberg said. “But (Perkiomen has) built a very special program here. A great opportunity and real privilege to compete in that kind of game against a team like that. I’m really proud of our guys.”

Perkiomen National 49, Hill School 42

Hill School: Cameron 3 1-3 7; O’Neil 3 0-0 8; Gerhart 5 1-2 11; Meachem 2 1-2 5; Field 1 1-2 3; Molen 3 0-0 8; Bashiru 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 4-9 42
Perkiomen: Salisbery 1 0-0 2; Lieb 4 0-0 9; Tanner 2 0-0 5; Ryan 1 1-1 3; Emory 3 1-1 9; Haugh 4 1-2 9; Rosenberger 3 2-4 10; Byers 0 2-2 2. Totals: 18 7-9 49
3-point goals: O’Neil 2, Molen 2, Tanner, Emory 2, Rosenberger 2