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EWTOWN – A word of caution to SOL basketball fans: Think long and hard before beginning a chant of ‘start the buses,’ especially if your opponent is Pennsbury.
EWTOWN – A word of caution to SOL basketball fans: Think long and hard before beginning a chant of ‘start the buses,’ especially if your opponent is Pennsbury.Council Rock North’s student section was decidedly premature with its ‘start the buses’ chant in Friday night’s SOL opener, although it didn’t seem unreasonable at the time. After all, the Falcons were staring at a nine-point deficit early in the fourth quarter when the chants began in earnest.
It’s a safe bet the buses were already warming up in the parking lot when Jon Raymon scored from the low post at the 4:11 mark of the quarter, allowing the Indians to maintain their seemingly comfortable nine-point advantage.
But the Falcons paid no attention to any of that, rallying from the ashes to send the game into overtime and going on to earn an electrifying 47-44 win.
“The same thing happened against Simon Gratz,” senior Jesse Krasna said of the Falcons’ come-from-behind win in their opener. “We just never quit.
“Coach always talks about mental toughness, and I think we definitely showed that down the stretch.”
The improbable win extended the Falcons’ winning streak to 59 in SOL play, and few, if any, were more gratifying than this one.
“We haven’t really come into games as the underdog per se,” said Krasna, a four-year varsity veteran. “This season you kind of cherish every win.
“Last year, we kind of waltzed through league play. It was still fun, but it wasn’t as thrilling as these games are.”
On the other side of the court, Rock North coach Derek Wright put his team’s loss in perspective.“I told them before the game and after the game – if we won, it was not going to make our season, and if we lost, it wasn’t going to lose our season,” the Indians’ coach said. “I think there’s a reason why we played this game so early.
“It can only make us stronger, it can only make us better. We have a lot of season to go, and we can be a better team because of it. It’s going to hurt tonight – let it hurt, sleep on it and then get up tomorrow ready to practice, ready to get better.”
A win wasn’t in the books for the Falcons until Krasna stepped into a passing lane for a steal in the closing seconds of overtime.
“It’s not just what he does offensively , which is what the average person sees – it’s what he does defensively,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “The play at the end – he jumped back, saw there was only one place the ball could go. He had confidence, and he did it.”
Krasna’s steal was just one big play in a long line of big plays for the Falcons down the stretch. The Falcons’ comeback began when senior Zak Kumor connected to make it a 40-33 game, and the Falcons trailed by just five after Krasna scored off the dribble.
Arron Goodman broke a two-minute Rock North scoring drought with a bucket that put the Indians on top 42-35 with 2:10 remaining in regulation, but Kumor – who had just two points through three quarters - answered with his second trey of the quarter.
Suddenly, it was a 42-38 game, and when Sciolla called a quick timeout, it was the Falcon fans making all the noise.
“They came over down (four) with 1:50 left, and (assistant coach Kurt Bergmann) said, ‘Make two stops. That’s all we need. It’s not as hard as it seems,’” Sciolla said. “We got the stops and had a chance to win it.”
Another Rock miss set the stage for Pennsbury’s Jay Jabat, who stepped to the foul line for the first time and calmly buried a pair to make it a two-point game. With 1:17 showing on the scoreboard clock, the Indians misfired on the front end of a one-and-one.
When Dante Devine was fouled at the other end, the veteran guard sank both ends of a one-and-one to knot the score 42-42 with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.
Both teams had a chance to score the go-ahead basket. Both came up short, setting the stage for overtime.“We kind of got sloppy with the ball, we were careless with the ball,” Raymon said of his team’s woes down the stretch. “We just had to slow down.
“Pennsbury took us out of our basic game.”
Neither team got on the scoreboard until Jabat capped a tough drive across the key by laying it in with his left hand, putting the Falcons on top 44-42 with 1:35 remaining.
Rock North misfired at the other end, and the Falcons returned the favor, missing on the front end of a one-and-one. The Indians missed another shot in close, and a travel violation on the rebound turned the ball over to the Falcons.
This time they capitalized.
With 23 seconds remaining, Kumor – who finished with a game-high 13 points – sank both ends of a one-and-one to put the Falcons on top 46-42.
“At the end of practice, we work on free throws,” Kumor said. “We’re tired, we’re exhausted, and we have to make free throws.
“I was extremely nervous, but I kept my cool. I didn’t want to have another four minutes.”
“Those were huge shots,” Sciolla said. “He had struggled. He had one of those games – he had a bad play, he had a good play.
“He played 31 minutes – he’s covering guys that are 6-5, 240. He’s a tough kid. He’s strong. You’re asking him to have the legs to make shots at the end, which he did.”
The Indians answered when Andrew Stress sank a pair from the charity stripe with 15 seconds remaining, pulling to within two.
Kumor, who was fouled on the inbounds, sank one-of-two, and when Krasna came up with the steal near midcourt, the exhilarating win was in the books for the Falcons.“Tonight – win or lose – we were trying to get a good experience because it was the first experience for a lot of kids,” Sciolla said. “To their credit – they had the right idea.
“They have a big team, and they packed it in, and they made it difficult.”
The Indians had a decided height advantage over the Falcons – four of their starters are 6-1 or taller while the Falcons’ tallest starter (Kumor) is just 6-1. What the Falcons lacked in size they made up for with heart as they limited the Indians to just one shot on every possession down the stretch and in OT.
“They were bigger than us, but Zach Sibel, Jay Jabat and myself – we had guys on our weakside, and we trusted our teammates that they will be there,” Kumor said. “It’s not about a one-on-one thing. It’s a team game.
“Even on the defensive end – someone has got to get your back if you get in front of a big guy. Down the stretch we did that extremely well.”
Early on, it looked as though the Indians’ size might be the difference in the game.
The Falcons led 2-0 after a pair of Krasna foul shots, but it was their last lead until OT. Point guard Aaron Morgan found Charlie Anastasi, who had a team high 13 points, for a basket, and then it was Morgan burying a shot from the top of the circle. A Falcon turnover set the stage for another Anastasi basket on the low post, and the Indians led 6-2.They extended that lead to 10-5, but a trey by sophomore Kieran Bolger (11 points) made it a 10-8 game at the end of one quarter. The Indians took a 20-17 lead into halftime.
“In the first half, we only scored 20 points, and we’re up three because of how well we defended,” Wright said. “You’re going to have games where you miss shots, and your defense has to keep you in it.
“We focus on defense – that’s the foundation of what we do.”
Not a whole lot changed in the third quarter.
The Indians extended their lead to five after a basket by Andrew Stress, but Dante Devine sank a three-pointer, and after a Rock North miss, Krasna (11 points) converted a drive to knot the score 22-22.The Indians answered with a 7-0 run that included a Stress trey and was capped by a Raymon basket down low. They still led 32-28 heading into the final frame and upped that lead to 37-28 after Arron Goodman turned a Stress steal into an easy basket.
It wasn’t enough, however, as the Falcons rallied for the big win.
“They played a great game,” Wright said. “At this level in our conference and in our district, most games between good teams will come down to a possession or two. They did the right things, and we didn’t.”
“We play them again,” said Raymon, who had 12 points. “We’ll get another chance. This doesn’t change how we’re going to play the rest of the season. This is just a start.”
The Indians (2-1) will face Glen Mills on Monday in a non-league tilt, and the Falcons return to action on Tuesday when they will host Bensalem.
PENNSBURY 47, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 44 (OT)
Pennsbury (47) – Jesse Krasna 4 2-2 11; Dante Devine 2 2-2 7; Kieran Bolger 5 0-0 11; Zak Kumor 3 5-7 13; Jay Jabat 1 3-4 5; Andrew Long 0 0-0 0; Zach Sibel 0 0-0 0; Kris Hassell 0 0-0 0; Jimmy Higgins 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 12-15 47.
Council Rock North (44) – Aaron Morgan 1 0-0 2; Arron Goodman 4 0-0 8; Charlie Anastasi 6 1-2 13; Andrew Stress 2 2-3 7; Tim Filer 0 0-0 0; John Raymon 5 2-3 12; Matt McCloskey 1 0-0 2; Ty Bostain 0 0-0 0; Nick Donofry 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 5-8 44.
Pennsbury 8 9 11 14 5-47
Council Rock North 10 10 13 9 2-44
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Kumor 2, Krasna, Devine, Bolger. CRN – Stress.
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