Norristown returns to the floor with win over Wissahickon

SPRINGFIELD >> Norristown took the floor first the first time in more than 20 months Friday evening in the Triangle Club of Montgomery County 47th Annual Basketball Tournament at La Salle College High School.

The Eagles, who didn’t play last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, won their season opener, 57-46, over Wissahickon.

“It felt great,” Norristown senior DJ Johnson said. “Norristown pride – how we play basketball. It felt great to see a lot of fans and we showed them how we play. We’ve been working all summer. For two years we’ve been working on how we play – play hard, play smart, play together.”

Five Norristown players, including Johnson, played AAU together in the summer and that helped them keep their chemistry up despite not having a 2020-21 high school season.

“That helped a lot chemistry wise,” Johnson said. “We were a little bit shaky at the start, but we know that Wissahickon’s a good team. We know that. Chemistry wise, we know that if we play together we would come out with the victory.”

Norristown took an 8-6 lead late in the first quarter and led the rest of the way. The Eagles held a 10-8 advantage after eight minutes, 29-20 at halftime and 40-33 after three quarters.

Wissahickon (0-0) got its deficit to five in the middle of the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as they’d get. Johnson scored six points in the fourth quarter while Zaki Gomez added five and Greg Mobley four to help the Eagles close out the win, 57-46.

“We stayed calm and poised,” Johnson said. “We knew if we ran our sets we would get open looks and back-cuts. We just stayed calm and stayed poised like we always do. As long as we have each other, we’re fine.”

“We were able to play some physical defense,” Mobley added. “We kept them off the boards. That helped in the long run.”

“We needed to make a stop and make another play,” Wiss coach Kyle Wilson said. “That was our Achilles heel all night. We never went on a run. They never did either, but they kept gradually getting their lead. We lost (Josh) Twersky in the first half (to foul trouble) and went down nine at half and could never close that gap.”

Gomez scored a game-high 15 points while Johnson and Mobley each added 13 points.

“I even said to their coach, sometimes the difference between two fairly evenly balanced teams are the point guards,” Wilson said. “I thought (Johnson) set the table a little more. Some of ours went down and scored, but he got guys involved, moved the ball and they never let us get on a run there.”

“I didn’t play to the level I wanted to play at,” Johnson said, “but my team helped me pick it up. I only had two points at the end of the first half. I think my team in the locker room helped me pick it up, telling me they know what I can do. They were really vocal with me … and I just followed the gameplan.”

Earl Stout led Wissahickon with 12 points. Twersky and Dominic Vacchiano each added nine.

Both teams are back in action Saturday. Norristown faces La Salle for the Triangle Club Tournament championship at 8 p.m. after Wissahickon plays Germantown Academy for third place at 6:30 p.m. Both games are at La Salle.

Welcome to Norristown

Mobley joined Norristown this year after moving to the area from Tampa, Florida. The senior added eight rebounds and two blocks to go along with his 13 points in his Eagles debut.

“A lot of back-cuts were working for me,” Mobley said. “Just getting open. My teammates were feeding me the ball. We’re starting to build chemistry like that.”

Norristown 57, Wissahickon 46

Norristown 10 19 11 17 – 57

Wissahickon 8 12 13 13 – 46

N: DiMichele 3 0-0 6, Dinolfi 1 0-0 2, Gaymon III 2 0-2 4, Gomez 5 4-6 15, Johnson 5 2-2 13, Kirlew 0 0-0 0, Mobley 6 1-2 13, Williams 1 2-2 4. Total 23 9-14 57.

W: Lassiter 4 0-0 8, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Twersky 3 3-4 9, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Cupid 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0-0 3, Wilson 2 1-2 5, Dias 0 0-0 0, Vacchiano 4 0-0 9, Coughlin 0 0-0 0, Stout 5 2-3 12.

3-point goals: N: Gomez, Johnson. W: Williams, Vacchiano.