North Penn keeps playoff hopes alive, holds off Souderton
TOWAMENCIN >> The North Penn boys basketball team knew exactly where it stood in the District 1-AAAA playoff picture with two games left.
Just on the outside looking in.
In the district’s unofficial power rankings released Monday, the Knights sat at 33rd, one spot out of the 32-team field, leaving no option to what North Penn needed to do against visiting Souderton Tuesday night.
“It was all or nothing,” NP junior Ricky Johns said.
Things were going the Knights’ way through three quarters before five minute plus scoring drought in the fourth saw the Indians cut a 13-point deficit down to three. But North Penn found enough offense late to keep it postseason hopes afloat by beating the Indians 61-53 for a Suburban One League Continental Conference victory.
BOYS #HOOPS: @JustisHenley5 's floater in the lane puts @npknightsbball up 54-48 on Souderton 4Q. pic.twitter.com/vUZ37BpNdr
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) February 3, 2016
“I thought we had tremendous energy tonight,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “I thought are bench was exceptional. We actually had five subs in and they made the run in the second quarter, they made the run again in the third quarter. They just played with tremendous energy.”
Johns, A.J. Mitchell and Justis Henley all came off the bench to score a team-best 10 points for the Knights (10-11, 5-8), who have won four of five to stay in the hunt of a fourth straight district appearance.
“The kids are great, they’ve responded, they played hard all year. We’ve just been inconsistent,” Conrad said. “Whether it be in a quarter or for a whole game, we just have not been very consistent.”
Henley helped provide a cushion after Souderton (7-14, 3-10) began the fourth with 10 straight points to cut North Penn’s 51-38 lead to 51-48 after Ty Salone made both ends of a 1-and-1 at 3:27. After a Noah Kwortnik free throw ended the Big Red run, Henley’s got a floater in the lane to bank in, and then converted his 1-and-1 for a 56-48 NP advantage with 1:31 left.
Three straight points got the Indians back within five, yet a Mitchell foul shot and Johns’ putback made it 58-51 and the Knights were in the clear after the sluggish start to the fourth.
“We had to grab rebounds, fight for every ball and be smart on offense,” said Johns on how North Penn held on for the win.
BOYS #HOOPS: @npknightsbball's @ReeceUdinski drives and finds @rickyj4432 inside for 2 3Q vs. Souderton. pic.twitter.com/52B6sR4xEJ
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) February 3, 2016
Four players scored for Souderton, but all reached double figures, with Tracy Simsick knocking down four 3-pointers for a game-high 19 points.
“He made a couple threes, a couple contested threes, too. He’s a good player, you expect that,” said Conrad of Simsick. “He’s a senior and he didn’t disappoint.”
Salone added 13 points, Ian Beardsley had 11 points while Austin Eberhart finished with 10 points as the Indians – who were 37th in the district power rankings – dropped its second straight, haven lost to Pennridge in double overtime Monday.
Both teams ended the regular season with SOL Continental games 7 p.m. Thursday. Souderton hosts Central Bucks East while North Penn makes its final district push on the road against Hatboro-Horsham.
“We got to be smart, can’t turn over the ball, grab rebounds and really play hard cause that’s a great team,” Johns said.
North Penn ended the first quarter Tuesday with a 10-2 run to lead 16-4 after two Mitchell free throws at 1.4 seconds.
A J.J. Melchior 3-pointer had the Knights up 24-13 before Souderton scored nine straight, cutting the margin to 24-22 on Simsick’s triple. NP, however, finished the half on an 11-3 run, seven of the points coming from Mitchell, including a three before the buzzer that made it 35-25 at the break.
BOYS #HOOPS: @SoudertonBB's Ian Beardsley drives for 2 & is fouled 2Q vs. North Penn. he made the free throw. pic.twitter.com/L78JZUpS2z
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) February 3, 2016
The Indians whittled the North Penn lead to 39-34 in the third after a Simsick 3, but the Knights responded with another run, this time outscoring Big Red 12-2 – a Henley basket giving NP it biggest lead at 51-36. Beardsley drove for two, putting Souderton’s deficit at 13 going to the fourth.
Simsick was fouled beyond the arc at 7:12 and made all three at the line then buried his four triple of the contest to make it 51-44. Salone found Eberhart for a basket inside then made two free throws at 3:27 to get Big Red within 51-48.
