Spring-Ford knocks off unbeaten Methacton, 51-48

ROYERSFORD >> Entering Tuesday night, no team had knocked off the Methacton boys basketball team during the 2021-22 season.

No one on the Spring-Ford boys basketball roster had ever been a part of a win over the Warriors — winners of three of the last four Pioneer Athletic Conference championships.

Both of those facts changed when the Rams knocked off previously unbeaten Methacton, 51-48, in Tuesday’s Liberty Division rivalry game for Spring-Ford’s first win over the Warriors since 2017.

Senior Jake Kressley led the way with 16 points — eight of which came in the fourth quarter — and sophomore E.J. Campbell had 12 as a Rams team playing for its PAC playoff life pulled off the upset victory.

“They’re a great team, great program,” Kressley said. “It’s always a battle with them. We really needed that one.”

.@BoysSF’s E.J. Campbell, left, and Jake Kressley had big nights as Spring-Ford knocked off unbeaten Methacton on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/fS8KmLqf8m

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) February 2, 2022

 

Spring-Ford (11-6, 7-4 PAC, 5-3 Liberty) entered this week knowing three wins would guarantee the Rams a spot in the PAC Final Six next week.

The undefeated Warriors (18-1, 11-1, 8-1) presented a tall task to start having won 11 straight against Spring-Ford heading into Tuesday night, including a 31-28 victory earlier this season on Jan. 21.

But despite a hot shooting start from Methacton junior Matt Christian, who led all scorers with 22 points, the Rams controlled the game from the second quarter on.

Spring-Ford’s aggressive 2-3 zone — spearheaded by junior Caleb Little at the top — held Methacton scoreless for the final 6:13 of the second quarter to give the Rams a 27-18 lead, and unlike most of their games this season the Warriors were forced to play catch up the rest of the way.

“We talked about how I thought that was really the determining quarter in the game where they outscored us 13-4,” Methacton coach Pat Lockard said. “Credit to them. They brought out a ton of energy, tenacity and they were just up and ready to guard. Our guys were kind of not up to the challenge tonight.”

Methacton had some close calls recently, but the Warriors typically have a second-half run in them to dig themselves out of a hole or put a team away. The Warriors whittled away at Spring-Ford’s lead multiple times in the second half, but the Rams always had an answer.

Christian came out of the halftime break with two 3-point shots to knock Spring-Ford’s advantage down to three.The Rams responded with an 8-0 run, going up 35-24 on a putback by Kressley .

A three by Cole Turner halted a mini Methacton run at the start of the fourth quarter and put the Rams back up by eight, 38-31, with seven minutes left. Consecutive threes from Hargrove and Christian to pull the Warriors within two, 39-37, were answered by Alex Lewis on the other end with five and a half to play.

“Just win,” Campbell said of his team’s mindset. “That’s all we’ve been preaching at practice. Beat Methacton.”

Kressley put the game away in the final minutes.

With Methacton trailing 41-39, he scored consecutive buckets off feeds from Campbell and Little to extend the Rams’ advantage to 45-39 with 1:38 to play.

When the Warriors got back within a possession in the final seconds, Kressley converted two pairs of free throws to put away the win.

“I just gotta give it to (Campbell) and Caleb (Little),” Kressley said. “They just kept finding me when I was open. It’s not hard to make a wide open layup. They just kept feeding me and I got hot.”

“I thought Kressley played a helluva game tonight,” Lockard said. “He was down around the basket taking it strong and that was really changing our defensive gravity where we had to go down there and defend him. … They made the plays. They really dictated the tempo tonight, and we were kind of reacting to what they were doing.”

Lewis added eight and Turner seven for the Rams. Little helped the winning effort with a steal in the final mintue.

Cole Hargrove had 14 points for Methacton, including eight in the fourth quarter. Christian also scored eight in the final period. Senior Matt Blakemore gave the Warriors a boost off the bench, including a big block on Kressley.

Methacton and Perkiomen Valley (10-2 PAC, 7-2 Liberty) are the only two teams in the league with their playoff spot secured. Spring-Ford (7-4), Norristown (7-4), Phoenixville (7-4), Pope John Paul II (7-5) and Upper Meiron (7-5) all have seven league wins and are fighting for the final four spots.

Tuesday’s win was a big boost to the Rams’ playoff odds. They face Owen J. Roberts on Thursday and Norristown on Friday — a game which could potentially be for a playoff spot depending on the results for the rest of the week.

“We just gotta do all the celebrating tonight, get in tomorrow and get ready for a good practice,” Kressley said.

The Warriors still hold the top seed in District 1 despite Tuesday’s loss and half a one game lead over Perkiomen Valley in the league and division standings.

Methacton has its spot in the league tournament locked down, but a win over the Vikings on Thursday would secure the top overall seed.

“I talked to the guys in the locker room,’” Lockard said. “and was like, ‘Hey, feel this emotion for a moment. Understand how the frustration, the disappointment, whatever’s going through your mind right now — the anger maybe — use that because that’s a waste of a loss if you don’t use that going forward and we don’t learn from that and grow from that. We’ve gotta move past it because our season’s not over yet.”

NOTES >> This was the second time in the past two seasons an undefeated PAC team lost in its penultimate league game. Pope John Paul II was 13-0 before losing to Boyertown in its second to last regular-season game in 2020-21.

Spring-Ford 51, Methacton 48

Methacton: Blakemore 1 0-0 2, Meyer 0 0-0 0, Byrne 2 0-0 4, Hargrove 6 1-3 14, Chilson 2 0-1 4, Brandi 1 0-0 2, Matt Christian 7 2-2 22, Lagana 0 0-0 0.  Totals 19 3-6 48.

Spring-Ford: Campbell 5 1-2 12, Kressley 6 4-4 16, Schauder 2 0-0 4, Turner 3 0-0 7, Huntington 0 0-0 0, Lewis 3 2-4 8, Nguyen 1 0-0 3, Little 0 1-2 1, McKenna 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-12 51.

Methacton 14 4 10 20-48
Spring-Ford 14 13 9 15-51

3-point goals: Christian 6, Hargrove. Nguyen, Turner, Campbell.