Perkiomen Valley sticks to its motto to down OJR, 60-31

GRATERFORD >> Their motto is simple: Hold opposing teams to single-digit quarters, below 40 points for the game and trust their vast arsenal of shooters to get the job done.

Friday night, the Perkiomen Valley boys basketball team showed just how lethal it can be when it checks off all three goals.

Tyler Strechay finished with a game-high 17 to lead three Vikings in double figures as Perkiomen Valley clamped down defensively en route to a 60-31 victory over visiting Owen J. Roberts in a PAC Liberty Division contest.

The win is the Vikings’ 12th straight since falling to Friday’s opponent Owen J. Roberts in their league opener, 54-43, on Dec. 16.

“We set the goal of trying to keep as many single-digit quarters defensively as we can,” Perkiomen Valley head coach Mike Poysden said. “Tonight we did a nice job of that.

“That’s what we try to hang our hat on. We’re going to have off shooting nights and slow starts but we can always take pride in the way we defend.”

Defense has been a major component to their recent surge, the Vikings having totaled 13 quarters in which they’ve held their opponent to single digits. Friday night, PV accomplished its task three times, allowing five in the first and eight apiece in the third and fourth quarters.

“Single-point quarters — that’s the motto our coach has for us and the one we follow,” senior guard Sean Owens said. “Try to keep them to single digits and below 40 for the game. Hopefully with all of our shooters and weapons, and holding teams under 40, we should get us the ‘W’ every time out.”

Senior guard Justin Jaworski finished with 13 points with Owens adding 11 (five assists) and Hogan Millheim eight in a win that saw the team start off 3-for-10 from the field in the first eight minutes.

The icy start ended up being a 22-for-41 effort (53.6 percent) from the field and the sixth double-digit victory for PV.

Strechay, a sophomore, finished 6-for-8 from the field, his 11 third-quarter points and three 3-pointers helping lead the Vikings to a 23-point third and a comfortable 45-23 lead entering the fourth. Strechay’s 17 points were a season best.

“The confidence that Tyler is building every game, you can just see it,” Poysden said. “He’s been turning into a major player for us. He heard from Justin, Sean and Hogan, ‘Keep shooting the ball, keep shooting the ball,’ and I think that went a long way for him.”

“You’re not going to hit every shot,” Strechay said. “Even if you start out cold, you just got to keep putting them up. Eventually they’ll start falling.”

Sean Praweckyj led OJR with nine points with Dawson Stuart and Justin Bailey finding the going tough against PV bigs Millhem and Joe Gorla. Stuart and Bailey finished with seven points apiece in the Wildcats’ second-straight loss and a complete reversal of what last December’s contest against the Vikings.

“They came out with so much energy, shooting bombs away kind of shots,” Owens said of the game against OJR to start the PAC schedule. “We didn’t shoot well, got behind early and never really caught up. That was definitely a wake-up call for us. We knew that wasn’t good enough and we needed to come out with more fire and more energy.”

“I think it was a needed game,” Poysden said. “Hey, non-league is one thing, but everyone in the league gets up to play anyone else in the league. That game was a great example. They played really well and I think that brought us back down to earth a little bit because we had just played a good Abington team close.

“We’ve rebounded and learned from that game.”

Box Score