Central Bucks West defeated Souderton 57-42 in Friday night’s SOL Featured Game, sponsored by Millennium Administrators in memory of Mark Picard. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Franconia – Basketball on any level is a game of runs, and Central Bucks West used an impressive run at the outset of the game and an even more impressive run to close the game to defeat host Souderton 57-42 in a Suburban One League Continental Conference game.
The Bucks opened the contest with a 9-0 run in the first 3:47 seconds and closed the contest with an 18-4 run over the final 5:41 to coast to the win. Prior to the closing run, Souderton had fought its way back into the game and trailed by a 39-38 score.
“We got the lead, but Souderton made a strong run to get back into the game,” said Central Bucks West head coach Adam Sherman. “They made some adjustments to get back into the game, and we made some adjustments at the end of the game. We had to go to our ‘Plan B.’
“Central Bucks West is a good team, and they have some super quick guards,” said Souderton head coach Pete Chimera. “They got out to the early lead, but we began to play to our scouting report and got ourselves back into the game.”
“We knew that Souderton was going to make a run at us,” said Central Bucks West guard Pat Kelley who fueled the final Bucks’ scoring run in the fourth quarter. “It was a game of momentum.”
CB West rode the first surge of momentum at the beginning of the contest with the 9-0 lead. Evan Dunn scored six first period points to spark a Buck attack that generated a 13-7 first period lead. Dunn would finish the game as one of three West players in twin digits with 12 points.
“Adam Sherman has done a great job of developing Dunn into a very good player,” said Chimera. “He was a kid with a lot of talent, and now he is playing the game at a different level.”
Souderton began its slow ascent back into the game in the second quarter and closed to within 24-19. Tim Markow – who scored a team-high 13 points – fueled the Indian uprising. The Bucks took a 26-19 lead into halftime.
The most entertaining part of the ballgame was a terrific third period as a pair of Markow field goals gave Souderton its only lead of the game at 27-26. West regained the lead at 34-31 courtesy of not one – not two – but three thunderous dunks by Dunn within a two-minute time period.
“Evan is very athletic,” said Sherman of Dunn’s dominance inside the paint. “He continues to get better and better. I am extremely proud of the way he has been playing.”
“Those dunks seemed to help us get our momentum back,” said Kelley. “It was like he helped us turn on a switch.”
Souderton managed to knot the score at 34-34 at the close of the third period when senior guard Carter Knight drained a three-pointer late in the quarter. Knight finished the game with nine points.
The teams exchanged points at the outset of the final period, but the final 5:41 belonged to visiting Bucks. Guard Jared Kelly scored eight of his game-high 14 points in the final period. And in the final 18-4 run, the visitors were a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line and finished the game with a wonderful 17-of-17 performance from the charity stripe.
“Really?” said Sherman when told of the 17-for-17 performance. “We work hard on our free throws, but I didn’t know we shot the ball that well tonight.”
“We work on shooting free throws every practice,” said Kelley who scored in double digits with 11 points. “We run the floor hard the last few minutes of practice, and then we have a free throw shooting competition at the end of practice. Win the competition – you’re done. Lose – you keep running.”
There would be no extra running for the Bucks on this night – not with a perfect 17-17 on their free throw shooting resume.
“This game is behind us, we have to focus on what comes next week,” said Sherman. “We can’t pay attention to the big picture, we can only play one game and at a time and go into that game prepared.”
“We are going to have to figure this whole thing out,” said Chimera. “We have good kids who will work hard to correct in practice what we have to improve on to get better. We will have to get ready for the next challenge – and we will.”
Central Bucks West Bucks 13 13 8 23 - 57
Souderton Indians 7 12 15 8 - 42
CB West: Evan Dunn 12; Kyle Schechter 2; Kyle Salvitti 8; Cal Reichwein 8; Jared Kelly 14; Pat Kelley 11; and Nico Munari 2. Total – 57.
Souderton: Carter Knight 9; Tim Markow 13; Evan Slone 5; Dalton Bowers 2; Nick Diehl 5; Tracy Simsick 6; Jared Bernhart 2. Total – 42.
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