To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
FAIRLESS HILLS – The Bensalem Owls were staring at a 20-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s SOL showdown against Pennsbury when the Falcons’ student section began chanting, “Maybe next year. Maybe next year.”Granted, Dalton Pepper, the Falcons’ all-everything guard, won’t be around next year to torch the Owls for 25 points like he did in Tuesday’s 52-31 win, but even more impressive than Pepper’s routinely excellent performance was the suffocating defense the Falcons’ threw at the Owls for 32 minutes.
“Defense is our main focus point,” Pepper said. “We focus on defense because we’re not that big on the glass – we only have two guys over 6-5, so we think if we stop them on defense and keep them under 40 points, we figure we can win every game.”
How good was the Falcons’ defense?
For starters, the Owls managed just 11 field goals in the game – only three in the second and third quarters combined.
Throw in the fact that they only had 22 points on the board midway through the fourth quarter, and it isn’t hard to figure out why they came up short.
If there was actually room for improvement, coach Frank Sciolla found it in a first quarter that saw the Owls score nine points.
“In the first quarter, we were gambling a little bit,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Between quarters, we really talked about staying home and being disciplined.
“When we do that, we’re good. We can’t afford to gamble because overall we’re not athletic enough, and we don’t have an eraser on the back line. But if we’re disciplined and we stay in lanes, we can really do a good job of making teams take bad shots.”
The Falcons not only forced the Owls to take bad shots, they also forced them into committing turnovers. During one stretch midway through the first quarter, the Owls turned it over on four straight possessions.
For an Owl team intent on staking claim to a share of the National Conference’s top spot, that just wasn’t good enough, and the Falcons (8-0) all but ensured themselves another conference crown with Tuesday’s win over the Owls (6-2).
“We know we’re every other team’s biggest game, especially in here,” Pepper said. “Pretty much the league was on the line tonight.
“Whoever got the win could pretty much say they won the league. This was probably our biggest game all year.”
There was no mistaking the intensity of both teams from the outset, but it was the Falcons setting the tone early. On their opening possession, Eddie DiRugeris – despite being fouled – buried a trey from the corner and then completed the four-point play.
Corey Canestrare answered with a three-pointer at the other end, but that bucket was followed by a scoring drought of more than four minutes.
During the span, the Falcons were hardly setting the world on fire, but a cutting Pepper scored to make it a 6-3 game, and when Tom Marcinkowski scored on a drive out of an Owl timeout, the Falcons led by five.
The Owls, meanwhile, were struggling to simply take a shot. They finally brought their scoring drought to an end when Kelsey Dark buried a shot over his defender, but Pepper responded by sinking another three-pointer.
Back-to-back baskets by Bensalem’s Alex Agyedu and Rob Schreiber – the closest the Owls came to going on a run all night - made it an 11-9 game at the end of one quarter.
After Dyron Edwards connected on one-of-two from the charity stripe for Bensalem, DiRugeris scored on a pretty drive at the other end. Schreiber, who led the Owls with eight points, connected on a pair from the foul line to make it a 13-12 game.
Jesse Krasna kissed a shot off the glass at the end of a drive to spark an 8-2 run that sent the Falcons into halftime with a 21-14 lead and ignited the home crowd.
“It’s fun, and we know come playoff time it’s going to be crazy in here,” Pepper said. “We only have seven home games, and they’re all league games, so there aren’t really any barn burners in here.”
Any chance of turning Tuesday’s game into a barn burner went out the window in a third quarter that saw the Owls score just six points. The Falcons took a double-digit lead (31-20) after a putback by Pepper, and when Dante Devine (eight points) buried his first of two three-pointers on the night, the Falcons led 36-20 at the end of three quarters.
A win – and another conference title – was all but assured.
“The kids do a great job,” Sciolla said. “You could see the focus in the locker room before the game.
“I was shouting things out at them – ‘Three-point shooter?’ and they were throwing numbers. ‘What’s this set,’ and they were screaming what was going on. We’re lucky. That’s the strength of our team. The kids are smart, and they can prepare really well, and they can go to their second and third options.
“Bensalem will still do some damage. You’re talking about a 12-3 team that’s got a lot of great wins. They have athletes, they have size, they have some shooters, but for us tonight, emotionally we were ready to go.”
And the Owls didn’t stand a chance.
PENNSBURY 52, BENSALEM 31
Bensalem (31) – Corey Canestrare 1 0-0 3, Nick Christian 1 1-2 3, Alex Agyedu 1 0-0 2, Ivan flores 2 0-0 4, Rob Schreiber 2 4-4 8, LSean McBrearty 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Dark 3 0-0 7, Dyron Edwards 0 1-2 1, Chris McMullin 1 1-1 3. Totals 11 7-9 31.
Pennsbury (52) – Jesse Krasna 2 0-0 4, Eddie DiRugeris 2 1-1 6, Dalton Pepper 10 3-4 25, Marcus Healey 1 0-0 2, Goran Dulac 0 0-0 0, Wolff 0 2-2 2, Dante Devine 2 2-2 8, Zachary Kumor 0 0-0 0, Jay Jabat 0 0-0 0, Mike Ciotti 0 0-0 0, Kieran Bolger 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 8-9 52.
Bensalem 9 5 6 11-31
Pennsbury 11 10 15 16-52
Three-point goals: Bensalem – Kelsey Dark, Corey Canestrare. Pennsbury – Dalton Pepper 2, Dante Devine 2, Eddie DiRugeris, Kieran Bolger.
- Log in to post comments
0
