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FAIRLESS HILLS – Council Rock South was greeted with chants of ‘Go home now’ as it took the court for Friday night’s District One AAAA opener against SOL rival Pennsbury.
Not exactly the warmest of greetings from the Falcons’ wildly enthusiastic student section, but this isn’t the time of year to exchange niceties.
It’s playoff time.
One team will survive. The other won’t.
The fourth-seeded Falcons put to rest early any thoughts of an opening round upset, making life generally miserable for their visitors as they tormented Rock South into one turnover after another with stifling defensive pressure. There were undoubtedly stretches when the Golden Hawks wished they could have heeded the advice of the Falcon fans.
“We just want to contain the ball up top and not let them get easy looks on offense,” said Pennsbury’s Zak Kumor, who gave the Falcons a lift off the bench. “We want to make it as tough as possible for them to get a shot off.
“We want to have the same defensive intensity the whole game, game in and game out.”
Pennsbury had a double-digit lead after one quarter and never looked back, leading by as many as 31 on their way to a no-doubt-about-it 76-43 win over the Golden Hawks in front of yet another sellout crowd in the Falcons’ Nest.
“It’s the playoffs, and we want to come out and put teams away early and set the momentum for the rest of the game,” Pennsbury senior John Ryan Wolff said. “Any time you get on this floor, you give it all you have, and you just play together as a team.
“The playoffs are an exciting time. We all know what we have to do and what our role is. We just go out and do it.”
Dalton Pepper buried a three-pointer 15 seconds into the game and scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the opening quarter. Eddie DiRugeris added 13 points, Jesse Krasna, 10, and Kieran Bolger, nine points.
Bolger, only a freshman, saw significant minutes in the absence of Marcus Healey and Guran Dulac, who were sidelined with injuries. He accounted for three of the Falcons nine three-point buckets, connecting on his first shot of the night in the opening moments of the second quarter.
“All the freshmen that you’ve been reading about in this area, all the freshmen that are getting the hype - you’d be reading about Kieran Bolger too if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s playing for our team, and there’s not a spot for him ,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “To be honest, he’s as good a shooter as we’ve had come through here, and he has a tremendous desire to improve.
“He’s very exciting to coach.”
On the other side of the court, the Golden Hawks – who were led by the nine-point efforts of Cody Nowlin and Tom Boyd - were without their primary ball handler, John Thomas, because of ankle injury.
“Losing John was a big blow to us,” said Rock South coach John Easterly. “It’s tough, but Pennsbury is so good. They have so many weapons. You try and stop one and another guy gets a three or gets a rebound.
“They’re a good team. That’s why they’re going to do well and go deep in the playoffs.”
The Falcons looked playoff ready from the opening tap. Pepper buried the early trey, and after a Rock South miss, Dante Devine hit nothing but net on a trey to put the Falcons on top 6-0. Nowlin sank a three-pointer from the top of the circle to cut that lead in half.
A Falcon turnover resulted in a Rus Chichkin bucket in close, making it a 6-5 game.
But not for long.
Pepper converted a three-point play on the low post, and he was just getting started. The gifted senior came up with a steal but was fouled going up for a dunk. He sank both foul shots. Pepper turned yet another steal into a layup, and the Falcons led 13-5.
Easterly acknowledged that trying to game plan for the Falcons’ pressure defense is no easy task.
“We watch a lot of game film,” he said. “They have taller kids, they’re quick, and it’s difficult to simulate that kind of pressure.”
Boyd answered with a three-point play for the Golden Hawks. At the other end of the court, Pepper scored on the low post, but Pat Silverthorn answered for the Golden Hawks. Yet another Pepper steal resulted in a highlight reel play as Wolff passed the ball back to Pepper, who somehow softly laid the ball in on a reverse layup that ignited the crowd.
“With the awesome fan base we have – this is how a lot of teams have it just in playoff games,” Kumor said. “Not a lot of teams get to experience this game in and game out. We see this all the time at every home game.”
Devine turned a Pepper deflection into an easy basket, putting the Falcons on top 20-10. It was still a 10-point game (22-12) after Wolff converted a long outlet pass from Pepper into a layup to close out the quarter.
“He has amazing skill and talent,” Wolff said of Pepper. “He can do it all. He makes it fun because he gets you open, and or you can pass it to him, and he’ll get any shot he wants.”
The Falcons officially put the game out of reach in the second quarter. Bolger buried a trey to open the frame, and after Nowlin answered for Rock South, the Falcons seized control. A basket by DiRugeris after a drive prompted a Rock South timeout.
It didn’t help.
Pepper came up with a steal and found Krasna for a layup. After a Rock South miss, Pepper scored an easy bucket, and another Pepper steal netted a Devine basket for the Falcons, who led 35-15.
At halftime, the Falcons led 38-19, and a 20-8 third quarter explosion extended that lead to 58-27 as Pennsbury rolled to the decisive win, earning a date with Owen J. Roberts in a second round game at home on Tuesday night.
“We always take every game like it could be our last,” Kumor said. “We only take it one step at a time.
“We got through one step, and now we have step two. We’re not looking anywhere else but one game ahead of us.”
EXTRA SHOTS: Easterly bids farewell to five seniors, including four-year varsity veteran Tom Boyd. “I’m a very lucky coach to have him early in my career – to have a kid like that to rely on to be a leader,” Easterly said. “He does the right things in school. He does the right things outside of school, and he does the right things on the court. It’s a good example to our younger guys.”…Komar, who had five points, three rebounds and two steals, gave the Falcons a lift off the bench. “Zak Komar always plays with such energy and positive spirit and (made) a lot of great basketball plays,” said Sciolla, who also lauded the effort of Wolff off the bench…ten players contributed scoring for the Falcons on a night that saw them score 16 or more points in every quarter. “We were able to shoot the ball well, which is what we were known for last year,” Sciolla said. “This year we resemble the Sixers in terms of shooting.”
PENNSBURY 76, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 43
Council Rock South (43) – Cody Nowlin 3 0-0 9, Rus Chichkin 2 0-0 4, Justin Thomas 0 2-2 2, Tom Boyd 4 1-3 9, Pat Fitzsimmons 0 0-0 0, Terrence McGovern 0 0-0 0, Mike DePaolo 0 2-2 2, P.J. Gallo 0 0-0 0, Joe Matthews 2 0-0 6, Jim Merron 2 0-0 6, Jake Clopton 1 0-0 3, Jason Eccleston 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-7 40.
Pennsbury (76) – Jesse Krasna 3 2-2 10, Dante Devine 3 0-0 7, Eddie DiRugeris 5 2-2 13, Dalton Pepper 9 4-4 23, Tom Marcinkowski 0 0-0 0, John Ryan Wolff 1 0-0 2, Zak Kumor 2 0-0 5, Kieran Bolger 3 0-0 9, Jay Jabat 0 0-0 0, Mike Ciotti 1 1-2 3, Zack Sibel 1 0-0 2, Brandon Pepper 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 9-10 76.
Council Rock South 12 7 8 16-40
Pennsbury 22 16 20 18-76
Three-point goals: CR South – Cody Nowlin 3, Joe Matthews 2, Jim Merron 2, Jake Clopton. Pennsbury – Kieran Bolger 3, Jesse Krasna 2, Dante Devine, Zak Kumor, Dalton Pepper, Eddie DiRugeris.
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