Mercury Roundup (Dec. 12): Methacton holds off Spring-Ford in PAC playoff rematch, 44-42

Boys basketball

Methacton 44, Spring-Ford 42 >> The Warriors got enough stops down the stretch and Brett Byrne and Brett Eberly made clutch free throws to hold off the Rams in a rematch of last season’s Pioneer Athletic Conference first round matchup Thursday night at Spring-Ford.

Methacton improved to 3-0 (2-0) with the hard-earned road win with Jeff Woodward’s 12 points and Eberly’s 10 leading the way.

Tre Medearis gave Spring-Ford a game-high 17 points — he had nine of them from 3-point range — while Pat Kovaleski added 10.

Spring-Ford took its first lead late in the third quarter, 33-32, on a corner 3-pointer by Kovaleski, but Methacton regained and maintained the lead the entire fourth quarter.

Norristown 62, Perkiomen Valley 36 >> Nizer Kinney and Willie Anderson combined for 34 points to key the Eagles’ PAC Liberty Division romp over the Vikings Thursday.

Kinney netted a game-high 18 points in helping Norristown build a 15-9 lead in the first half and improve it to 41-24 heading into the fourth quarter. Tyler Lapetina scored 12 to lead the Vikes.

Pope John Paul II 71, Pottsgrove 47 >> Justin Green headed a trio of double-figure scorers that enabled the Golden Panthers to roll over the Falcons in Thursday’s PAC Frontier Division game.

Green hit for a game-high 18 points, followed by Drew McKeon’s 14 and Luke McCarthy’s 13. James Thompson had 13 for Pottsgrove, with Nick Stringer adding 11.

Twin Valley 59, Daniel Boone 44 >> Beau Altman hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Raiders (1-3) pulled ahead for good in beating the Blazers (0-4) in a non-divisional Berks game Thursday.

Dryden Colon scored a team-high and career-high 17 points for the Raiders, and Altman finished with 13. Larnell Towson scored a game-high 19 for the Blazers, with Logan Hinkle adding 10.

Girls basketball

Perkiomen Valley 61, Norristown 22 >> The Vikings (1-1, 1-3) got their first win of the year in Thursday’s PAC Liberty Division pairing.

PV sophomore Emma Miley scored 14 points (three 3-pointers) and Naiya Daisey contributed 10 points to the Vikings’ effort. Ryan Morse was leading scorer for the Eagles with 8 points.

Phoenixville 67, Pottstown 29 >> Phoenixville moved to 4-0 (2-0 Frontier) with its victory over Pottstown.

Nailah Green led the Phantoms with a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Marlee Brown had 10 points, Angelina Williams 10 points, and Jamie Michaud nine points.

Boyertown 39, Owen J. Roberts 31 >> Ashley Kapp netted a game-high 17 points to lead the Bears over the Wildcats in Thursday’s PAC Liberty Division matchup.

Avery White was the only other player to score in double figures, giving OJR 12. An 11-3 edge in fourth-quarter scoring provided the margin of victory for Boyertown.

Pottsgrove 45, Pope John Paul II 40 >> Amelia Kennedy was the runaway game scoring leader for the Golden Panthers, but the Falcons rode more scoring balance to victory in Thursday’s PAC Frontier Division game.

Kennedy hit for 24 points, half of them coming off shots from 3-point range. Rachel Ludwig and Sierra Potts each chipped in with 13 for Pottsgrove in a meeting of last year’s top 2 teams in the Frontier.

Boys swimming

Spring-Ford 96, Owen J. Roberts 87 >> Luke McKenna and Brandan Baganski each won pairs of individual races for the Rams as they topped the Wildcats in their PAC meet Thursday.

McKenna topped the 200 free in 1:49.11 and the 500 free in 5:11.66 while Baganski was first in the 50 free (22.01) and 100 free (49.60); both swam legs of Spring-Ford’s winning 400 free relay (3:35.66). For Owen J, Jonah Kasznay (200 IM, 2:04.66; 100 breast, 1:02.70) and Dalton Fink (100 fly, 51.48; 100 back, 54.89) were double-winners of individual events and swam legs of their winning 200 medley (1:39.82) and 200 free relays (1:28.10).

Phoenixville 88, Norristown 59 >> Paul Florio, Jack Hussin and Ryan Aclan each won pairs of individual events to key the Phantoms’ win over the Eagles in Thursday’s PAC meet.

Florio was first in the 200 IM (2:27.79) and 400 free (4:43.08), Hussin did the same in the 50 free (25.97) and 100 free (59.85) and Aclan followed suit in the 100 fly (1:10.10) and 100 back (1:09.25). Norristown swept the relays and got an individual win from Alex Waskiewicz in the 100 breast (1:18.31).

Boyertown 104, Perkiomen Valley 76 >> Nolan Benner and Owen Miller each won two individual events as the Bears ran away from the Vikings in their PAC meet Thursday.

Benner’s firsts came in the 200 IM (2:06.21) and 100 breast (1:01.13) while Miller headed the 200 free (1:48.06) and 100 fly (52.29) in addition to swimming legs of Boyertown’s first-place 200 medley (1:42.49) and 200 free relays (1:40.12). Jacob Replogle was a two-race winner for PV, taking the 100 free (48.89) and 100 back (55.56).

Girls swimming

Owen J. Roberts 101, Spring-Ford 79 >> Mikayla Niness and Lauren Zelinske each won pairs of individual races to lead the Wildcats over the Rams in Thursday’s PAC meet.

Niness scored her firsts in the 50 free (24.19) and 100 fly (59.30), with Zelinske doing the same in the 100 free (54.99) and 100 back (1:00.65); they also swam legs of OJR’s winning 200 medley (1:52.47) and 200 free relays (1:39.34). Spring-Ford race winners were Emma Thomas (200 free, 2:00.00), Anna Curran (500 free, 5:34.92) and Meredith Ruckelshaus (100 breast, 1:15.07).

Phoenixville 91, Norristown 52 >> Sarah Ritter and Katie Baker figured in on four wins by the Phantoms in Thursday’s PAC meet with the Eagles.
Ritter won the 200 free (2:24.73) and swam the anchor leg of Phoenixville’s winning 200 free relay (2:06.43) while Baker headed the 50 free (30.00) and was part of the 200 medley (2:23.45). Norristown got individual wins from Olivia Parks in the 100 free (1:08.45), Rachel Phan in the 100 back (2:05.50) and Bailee Hendricks in the 100 breast (1:45.32).

Boyertown 99, Perkiomen Valley 71 >> Angie Nelson and Gabrielle McKee were winners of pairs of individual races for the Bears as they outdistanced the Vikings in Thursday’s PAC meet.

Nelson won the 200 IM (2:19.01) and 100 breast (1:12.08) while McKee took the 500 free (5:13.55) and 100 back (59.36); they helped Boyertown’s three relays place first by swimming a combined four legs. Perkoimen Valley’s individual winners were Olivia Palubinski in the 50 free (26.52) and Emily Hinz in the 100 free (1:00.72).

Co-ed bowling

Record day for Rams >> The Spring-Ford boys and girls teams set a number of records Thursday in their match with Plymouth Whitemarsh.
The boys, who went 4-0 (7-0-1 overall), had a record high game of 1,129 and a record high series of 3,167. Matt Hanson rolled a 697 to lead the Rams, with Mason Doan a close second at 694.
The girls went 3-1 (7-1 overall), scoring a record high game of 730 and a high series of 2022. Julia Ryan led the way with her 510, and DeAsia Speaks chipped in with a 399.