Yoder hits six 3s, scores 24 as Pennridge pounds Lansdale Catholic

EAST ROCKHILL >> Sean Yoder was locked in from long range Tuesday night.

“I think the main part was taking what the defense gave me. And tonight, they were leaving the 3-point shot open,” the Pennridge boys basketball senior said. “We swung the ball around, give credit to my teammates. They found me in the open shots. Luckily they fell tonight.”

Yoder knocked down six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points – 18 coming in the first half. The Rams, meanwhile, locked down on visiting Lansdale Catholic throughout their non-league contest as and stayed unbeaten as they cruised to a 60-23 victory.

“We got off to a really good start. I think it demoralized them a little bit, LC, cause they play hard, they got frustrated, they can shoot the three,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “This is a better team that what showed today. I think it was a combination of us shooting the ball really well and them not shooting well.”

Yoder made half of his 3-pointers in the first quarter, scoring 11 points in the period as Pennridge (3-0) jumped out to a 14-4 advantage. The Rams ended the first half scoring 12 of the last 14 points to lead 31-10 at the break. An 18-2 run extended the margin to 50-16 at the end of the third.

“It looked like no one really stepped up. And even from the outset they were more physical,” LC coach Joe Corbett said. “They were pushing us around and we – instead of pushing back and fighting back – just were OK with it. And that the tough part to watch is we just showed no fight, no heart and again credit Pennridge, they really dictated, dictated both offense and defense.”

Jon Post added nine points while Trent Fisher scored all seven of his points in the third quarters as Pennridge had 11 players record at least two points. The Rams held their second-straight opponent to just 23 points and through three contests are allowing just 26.3 points per game.

“I think in our first scrimmage we struggled on defense,” Yoder said. “Help defense, as a team on defense, so we definitely picked it up through that week and into the Faith (Christian) week, first week last week, we really picked it up and though the last three games, the first three games this season help defense has been a strength of ours.”

Lansdale Catholic (1-2) was looking to build off a solid start at last weekend’s Jim Church Classic were topped host Souderton 49-41 before falling to Council Rock North 42-18 in the final. But the Crusaders could not shake early struggles against Pennridge and were held to 30 points for the first time since falling to Saint Joseph’s Prep 51-28 in January 2015.

Nick Romeo paced LC with eight points while Hunter Healy chipped in seven points.

“That was disheartening,” Corbett said. “I was telling the guys, we had a nice weekend as you said, it looked like we were building toward something and then was this just in every facet an utter failure. And from beginning to end it’s on me and we weren’t ready to go, you could tell that from the beginning.”

Pennridge finishes the week with a pair on Suburban One League non-conference matchups. The Rams visit William Tennent 7 p.m. Friday then host two-time defending District 1-6A champ Abington 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s a big weekend, too, for us so we got to rise to the occasion and get at it at practice tomorrow,” Yoder said.

Lansdale Catholic aims to bounce back with a home non-league matchup against Boys’ Latin 1:30 p.m. Saturday before starting its Philadelphia Catholic League play with games against Roman Catholic, Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Wood.

“There has to be some improvement cause these guys know the first couple games in the Catholic League are not easy,” Corbett said. “We got into Christmas break with some of the top teams and we have to show more fight. And I’ve always said it’s not really about who we’re playing, with our schedule and the Catholic League, we’re going to play great teams. We just have to show more fight than we’ve been showing.”

The Crusaders led once Tuesday at 2-0 before Yoder posted the next five points. A Healy basket had LC within 5-4. But the Rams collected the opening quarter’s final nine points – Post with a three-point play followed by back-to-back triples from Yoder.

“I think you see the lost art of the mid-range now in basketball. Everything’s kind of floating out towards the 3-point line,” said Yoder, a Navy commit. “But definitely trying to expand my range because I know I’m going to be that ½ guard at the college level, so I got to work on that.”

Yoder scored off a drive to make it 19-5 early in the second before a Nick Romeo 3-pointer had the Crusaders within 11. But that was a close as LC would get – the Rams’ 12-2 run at the end of the halfwas capped by a Yoder trey and two Post free throws for a 21-point lead.

In the third, the Crusaders got within 32-14 after two Romeo foul shots at 5:58 only for Pennridge to rip off 16 straight points – Yoder hitting  two 3-pointers and Post throwing down a pair of dunks during the run – to lead 48-14 after a Fisher basket.

“I thought we took good shots tonight,” Behrens said. “I thought our shot selection was great, I thought we were unselfish, too.”

Pennridge extended its advantage to as large as 39 at 60-21 in the fourth.