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NEWTOWN - Council Rock North shoved. Bensalem shoved back. The Indians went on a run. The Owls answered with a run of their own.
So went the first half of Friday's intense, hard-fought clash of SOL National Conference foes, a first half that saw seven lead changes and neither team manage a lead larger than six points.
So what -- or who -- was the difference in a second half that saw the hosts limit the Owls to eight points as North, thanks to its 42-37 win, remained undefeated in league play? Coach Derek Wright had no doubt as to the answer to that question."John Raymon won the game on the defensive boards for us tonight," Wright said of his 6-6 senior forward. "That's what it comes down to against good teams in close games is half-court offense, half-court defense, and our half-court defense was good because we were able to limit them to one shot and John was a big part of that."
Raymon - whose play on the boards was a huge factor in the Indians' seven-point run to start the second half and erase a rare halftime deficit - was quick to share the credit.
"I didn't win the game myself -- everyone contributed," he said as Council Rock North improved to 10-1 overall, 6-0 in the National Conference. "My coach kept telling me to rebound the whole game. I just went out and did my job."
Raymon added six points to go along with nine rebounds. Arron Goodman led all scorers with 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Aaron Morgan finished with nine, including four-for-four from the foul line in the final 33 seconds to ice the game.
But it was the Indians' dominance under the basket in the second half that led to the come-from-behind victory.
"We didn't do the things we were in control of, we should have rebounded better," said Bensalem coach John Mullin, whose squad falls to 5-1 in SOL play (9-3 overall). "I thought the kids toughed out a good defensive plan we put in place, but it came down to rebounding and some execution on offense. We're a good defensive team, that's one of our strengths, but we have to finish off the defensive effort with the rebound and we didn't do that today."Chris McMullin led the Owls' offense, scoring 10 of his team-high 12 points in the first half. The 6-5 senior, along with 6-9 center Calvin Brown (three points), gave the North big men all they could handle in the first half.
"Chris played well, Chris kept us going in the first half," Mullin said. "He was a big part of why we had a lead the first half. In the second half, (Council Rock North) just started sagging, they didn't let us get inside and we couldn't make anything on the outside."
"Bensalem has a lot of athleticism and lot of height," Raymon said. "When you play them, every board counts, every possession counts."The Owls managed just three points in the third quarter as their five-point halftime lead turned into a two-point deficit heading into the final quarter.
"We broke down, we were slow, we didn't have the intensity we did in the first half," McMullin said. "We needed to figure out a way to get the ball to our guards to shoot for the three or get it to our bigs, and we couldn't work that out."
The Indians, however, were able to do just that on the visitors.
Matt McCloskey opened the second half by sinking a three-pointer, followed by Charlie Anastasi's inside layup to knot the score at 29-29. Goodman then hit one of two from the foul line and scored on a putback to give the Indians at 32-29 lead. Though the Owls would get back to within one before the end of the quarter, they were never able to regain their shooting touch, or the lead.
"We just focused on a couple little things we didn't think we executed well in the first half, and got a little tougher around the basket," Wright said. "We forced them to make perimeter shots. And Matt McCloskey did an awesome job on (Leo) Vincent."
Vincent registered four of his nine points in the opening quarter, in which both teams were stellar from inside the three-point arc as they jockeyed for momentum.
When Raymon opened the scoring, Vincent answered right back for the Owls. When the Indians put together a six-point run on a Morgan steal and layup, bookended by a pair of Goodman layups, the Owls came right back with six of their own on a McMullin shot in the paint, a Dovonta Newkirk (five points) shot from inside and a Vincent putback."We had them close in the beginning of the game," McMullin said. "The first quarter we came out strong, but we needed to box out better."
With the big men battling underneath, neither team was able to make a difference behind the three-point arc. Bensalem managed a lone trey, and the Indians shot two of 13 from beyond the arc.
"It's really hard to score in the paint against Bensalem, and they rebounded well," Wright said. " It's very hard to score inside with guys like Calvin Brown, and McMullin is tough as well, so you've got to make threes, and we didn't make threes tonight."
Nonetheless, Wright was pleased to see how his team responded both to the intense Bensalem defense and to the rare halftime deficit."I was excited to see how we'd respond to that, because we didn't play real well and I thought Bensalem played harder than us in the first half," Wright said. "We haven't had many opportunities to respond to adversity like that. I think it shows our leadership and our togetherness. I think these guys really believe in each other."
Of course, the players in the other locker room feel much the same about themselves.
And despite the disappointment of losing, they know they'll get a shot at redemption when the Owls host Council Rock North on Feb. 8.
"We came into this game feeling like we were the better team, and I know I still believe that," McMullin said. "We're strong, we're probably one of the biggest teams in the league. We definitely know we are one of the top teams in the division. After that big win (against Neshaminy on Jan. 7), we know what we can do."
The Indians know as well. And they welcome the rematch.
"In our league, we've got probably some of the best basketball in eastern Pennsylvania," Raymon said. "You want to get into states, you've got to win these games to get to those down the line. And it's a great experience, especially at their gym, it's wild there. And that's what you want to play against - you want to play against the best, and we know they're going to give us their best."
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 42, BENSALEM 37
Bensalem 16 13 3 5 - 37
Council Rock North 15 9 10 8 - 42
Bensalem: Leo Vincent 9; Chris McMullin 12; Austin Nyekan 2; Dovanta Newkirk 5; Alex Agyedu 6; Calvin Brown 3; Feriz Saade 0; Julian Hyden 0; Quancine Wilson 0. Total: 37.
Council Rock North: John Raymon 6; Arron Goodman 20; Aaron Morgan 9; Charlie Anastasi 4; Matt McCloskey 3; Hunter Stevens 0. Total: 42.
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