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By Scott Huff
PERKASIE – Quakertown coach Toomey Anderson could go down in Pennsylvania scholastic history with a perfect 1.000 winning percentage.“I might just retire undefeated,” smiled Anderson moments after Quakertown (10-10, 5-7) routed host Pennridge (1-19, 0-12), 75-44, in a Suburban One Continental Conference game. “I found out that I was going to coach the varsity around four o’clock this afternoon.”
Anderson – who is in his third season as the Panther junior varsity coach and has never coached a varsity game – took over for head coach Kevin Keeler. Keeler did not make the trek to the ‘Rams Den’ due to illness.
“All I really wanted to do was try and fill his shoes, and let the kids have some fun,” said Anderson. “I was just a different voice on the bench.”
Not that Anderson had all that much to say early in the game.
In the blink of an eye, Quakertown led 14-0 and extended the lead to 27-9 by the close of the first period.
Panther junior guard Dalton Nice was almost unconscious shooting the basketball as he drained four three-pointers and scored 16 points in the initial period. Nice finished with a game-high 27 points that included seven three-pointers.
“I found my stroke early,” said Nice. “They came out playing a zone, and we got some good ball movement. I had some really good looks.
“Coach (Anderson) did a great job of getting us pumped up for the game,” continued Nice. “This game is a big rivalry, and we played with a lot of emotion early.”
“We came out in a zone, and we had hoped that they wouldn’t be shooting the ball all that well,” said Pennridge coach Dean Behrens. “If we don’t play zone, then we have to match up with (Brett) Roseboro. I don’t know that we could have done that.”Roseboro – who will take his 6-foot, 9-½ inch body to Division One Marquette University next year – finished with ‘only’ 13 points.
“People outside of the team look at the box scores and might not be all that impressed with Brett,” said Anderson. “But what they don’t see is how he can dominate a game with both his defense and his rebounding.”
Roseboro – who played about half of the game due to the spread in the score – collected 12 rebounds and had five blocked shots.
“Quakertown has a good team,” said Behrens. “Nice can really shoot the ball, and Roseboro is tough to handle. They got out to the big lead, and we had to play too quick a game. It’s just not our style.”
The pace of the game was in coach Anderson’s game plan.
“We wanted to push the ball on offense and make it a possession game,” said Anderson. “We felt with the team we had on the floor, we could play at a fast tempo.”
The lead swelled to 41-13 but Pennridge refused to pack it in. In fact, the Rams scored 15 of the next 16 points in the second period and trailed by ‘only’ 42-28 at intermission.
“We didn’t go in the tank,” said Behrens. “And we executed our offense much better in the second quarter.”
Pennridge made its run behind the scoring of both junior Zech States and senior Ryan Connellan. States finished the game with a team-high 14 points, while Connellan added 11 points.
A Connellan three-pointer at the outset of the third period cut the lead to 42-31, but the Panthers regained their competitive edge and scored the next 15 points to take command of the game at 57-31.
“They have players and a coach on their bench, too,” said Anderson. “They made a nice run, but we did a good job of answering that run.”
In addition to Nice and Roseboro, Quakertown received double figure scoring from both point guard Kenny Gula (12) and shooting guard Donnie Thomas (12). Thomas made four 3-point field goals for the winners.
“We need wins if we have any hope of making the (district) playoffs,” said Anderson. “Right now we are at 10-10 with games against Hatboro-Horsham (Tuesday) and Souderton. Hopefully we can get to 12-10.”
Playoffs are not going to be in the future for the Rams – who have now lost 19 straight games.
“We have to forget this game and get ready for Souderton,” said Behrens. “We don’t want to be their whipping boy.
“I thought that their coach did a great job tonight of getting them ready to play,” added Behrens. “I think I might call Kevin and tell him that they really don’t need him.”
Right now – in Coach Toomey Anderson - the Panthers have a perfect replacement.
Quakertown 27 15 15 18 - 75
Pennridge 9 19 7 9 - 44
Quakertown: Dalton Nice 10 0-0 27; Brett Roseboro 6 1-2 13; Kenny Gula 4 4-6 12; Donnie Thomas 4 0-0 12; Rick Kivela 2 0-0 4; Steve Shells 2 0-0 4; Dylan Gossler 1 0-0 2; Brad Cook 0 1-2 1. Totals 29 6-10 75.
3-point field goals: Nice (7), Thomas (4).
Pennridge: Pete Roberts 2 1-4 5; Mike Guldin 0 2-2 2; Ryan Connellan 3 3-4 11; Zach States 3 8-11 14; Dylan Tice 3 0-0 9; Rocky Ferrier 1 0-2 3. Totals 12 14-23 44.
3-point field goals: Tice (3), Connellan (2), Ferrier.
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