Wissahickon fell to Penncrest in overtime in a District One 5A quarterfinal contest Saturday.
PENNCREST 60, WISSAHICKON 56 OT
Wissahickon is no ordinary 11 seed, not after coming through the SOL American and a very tough nonleague slate.
So, the Trojans' first-round upset of Phoenixville wasn't a big surprise to people that know these things. The fact that they pushed third seed Penncrest to overtime isn't a big shocker either.
What will eat at Wissahickon the next few days though is the chances it didn't take advantage of.
"Sometimes the ball goes in or it doesn't,” coach Kyle Wilson said. "They made a few more plays and we didn't, and that's the difference in the game. We had chances to win and it doesn't always come out the way you want it to."
Penncrest is a tough defensive team, but the Lions also have a special scorer in junior guard Tyler Norwood. Norwood poured in 30 on Saturday night, hitting four 3-point shots, and he also got to the line a lot, shooting 14-of-16 from the stripe.
Zach Reiner led Wissahickon with 18 points, but he left some few points out there with a 6-of-13 performance at the foul line. He wasn't the only guy to miss free throws as Wissahickon shot 12-of-23 as a team.
Wissahickon have shown they can hang with PW and Cheltenham, and the Trojans certainly don't mind playing an up-tempo game. Their trip to Penncrest certainly brought that, with both teams going up and down the floor, trading small runs and lots of baskets.
"Our guys never wavered on the fact we still had a chance to win this," Wilson said. "On some of the steals and some of the missed shots, I felt they chip you just enough to keep you off-balance. Some of those shots we needed to go in just wouldn't go in when we were a little off. We'll live and learn from it."
Penncrest led 13-12 after a quarter, then Wiss turned the tables and won the second quarter 13-12 to force a 25-25 tie at the break. Reiner had 13 at the break after battling through a physcial Lions defense that didn't want any of Wissahickon's capable scorers to have a big night.
"Even in the last game, he played with a lot of heart," Wilson said of Reiner. "He didn't want to go home and not go to Temple (for the semifinal) in the next game. He played against Conestoga two years ago when we were the 32-seed so he knows it's a tough exit."
The third quarter saw the game start to take more twists and turns, a theme that would continue the rest of the way. Zach Gelman gave the Trojans a 35-34 lead, then Penncrest took it back at 38-35 before the Lions built it to six late in the quarter.
Donovan Oliphant, who had eight points in a strong game as a reserve, hit a 3-pointer to end the third, setting up a wild finish. Chaz Owens got his team within one to start the fourth, before things started to come a little undone.
With his team up three, Norwood drove and got fouled. Afterward, he and some Wissahickon players came together, words were exchanged and Wissahickon got hit with a technical. Norwood sank four straight foul shots for a 51-44 lead with a bit less than five minutes to play.
"The technical – you can't give a guy like that extra shots," Wilson said. "He out-gamed us a little bit on some of the calls, was just a little craftier than we were tonight."
Wissahickon wasn't done though, and the Trojans fought back. A big 3-pointer by Max Rapoport, a free throw by Chaz Owens and two by Oliphant after forcing a steal at midcourt, tied the game up 52-52. After two misses by Penncrest, Wissahickon had a chance to try and take the last shot.
It didn't go according to plan. After a timeout, Wissahickon lost the ball and gave the chance to Penncrest.
"We just said the game's not over, we have a defensive possession," Wilson said. "We just didn't want Norwood to catch it, because he seems to make those shots, so let's just make somebody else catch it and we were able to do that. It was a bump, sometimes the refs call it, sometimes they don't.
"They're not going to say 'oh, my bad,' and change it. You just have to keep playing."
Marlyn Johnson made some big plays in overtime for Wissahickon, contributing a trio of steals and one of them led to his score that put Wissahickon up 56-54.
"He's got such active hands," Wilson said. "He has a seven-hour trip up to Massachusetts, he has a football receiver combine up there, but he just gave us a great effort tonight knowing he had that going on."
Norwood took over, getting to the line and hitting two free throws to tie the game, then after a missed Wissahickon free throw, he hit the game-winner on a runner with about a minute left in the overtime.
A couple of Wissahickon shots afterward refused to go down, kind of summing up the night for the Trojans, but they do have another chance to extend their season. With seven teams in 5A making states, they'll have to battle it out with the other three quarterfinal-losing teams for the final three spots next week.
"The state tournament is still a reality," Wilson said. "We can play with these teams, so let's get into the next tournament."
Wissahickon 12-13-17-10-4 56
PENNCREST 13-12-20-7-8 – 60
Wissahickon: Chaz Owens 7, Zach Gelman 5, Max Rapoport 3, Shane Ford 12, Zach Reiner 18, Donovan Oliphant 8, Marlyn Johnson 3
Penncrest: Norwood 30, Ruffin 2, Mills 6, Ross 7, Mallon 11, Arbogast 2
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