To view game action photos, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
VILLANOVA – A.J. Picard shook his head.
“Six-nine, 250 (pounds) – that’s kind of tough to box out,” Souderton’s senior captain said of Penn Wood junior center Shawn Oakman.
Teammate Jeff Bishop – the Indians’ tallest player at 6-4 – could attest to that firsthand.
“There wasn’t much I could do,” he said. “I wanted to be quick, but he was just so physical, and every time I tried to get around him, he just bumped me out of the way and got better position. I just tried to do my best to keep him as far away from the basket as I could.“Everyone told me how big he was, and I wouldn’t be able to move him. As soon as I saw him, I realized he was even bigger than I had pictured.”
If Oakman – who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots - had been the only force to contend with in Tuesday night’s District One AAAA semifinal game, the Indians still would have had their hands full when they took on a Penn Wood squad that is ranked second in the state.
But the junior center was just one in a parade of talented players the Patriots rolled out in their 71-49 win over the Indians at Villanova University.
“Quite frankly, it’s like playing an all-star team that has chemistry,” Souderton coach Perry Engard said.
Then the Indians’ coach took a moment to reflect on his own players who were quietly exiting the locker room after a decisive loss that snapped their 15-game winning streak.
“I wouldn’t trade a player in my locker room for anybody else’s players because they’re Souderton kids who grew up in Souderton,” Engard said. “They grew up together. They handle wins and losses with class, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
“But you play a team like this – that is quite an impressive, talented group that plays well together, and the earth, the stars and the moon are going to have to align perfectly – you’re going to have to shoot 60 percent from the arc, you’re going to have to shoot 80-90 percent from the line, and you’re going to have to have limited turnovers just to be in the game.”
In other words, the Indians would have needed to turn in a flawless performance if they entertained any thoughts of defeating the defending state champions, and Engard admitted that he may have underestimated Penn Wood when he said in an article in Tuesday morning’s Intelligencer that if the Indians faced Penn Wood 10 times, they would win five. “After playing them in person, I’ll recant what I said after watching them on film, and I’ll say that – Penn Wood or (Plymouth Whitemarsh) – if you play them 10 times and are fortunate enough to beat them once, a lot of things are going to have to go right for it to be that one time,” Engard said.
For a few minutes on Tuesday, a lot of things did go right for the Indians.
On the Indians’ opening possession, Nate Lewis scored on a drive, and after a Patriot miss, Picard hit nothing but net on a three to put the Indians on top 5-0. Oakman interrupted that run with a bucket, but Bishop turned a Nate Moyer pass into a basket at the end of the press, and the Indians were on top 7-2.
“I was confident,” said Moyer, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds. “I think everyone was confident.
“We had a good start. Things just didn’t go as planned. We made a lot of mistakes.”
The Indians still led 9-5 after a Picard basket on a fast break, but Penn Wood’s Will Brown buried a three to make it a one-point game. Kyle Connolly (10 points) turned a perfect lead pass by Moyer into another easy bucket, and the Indians led 11-8.
But not for long.Brown buried another three to knot the score, and the Indians were about to endure a five-minute scoring drought that didn’t end until Lewis buried one-of-two from the foul line at the 7:22 mark of the second period.
“We did good in the beginning, but we were stuck on 11 points for a while,” Picard said. “That eventually hurt us.
“We couldn’t build our momentum back up and come back and win.”
A basket by Lewis at the 5:50 mark broke a span of close to seven minutes without a field goal. By that time, the Patriots led 27-12, and the Indians knew they were in trouble against a team that can score points in bunches.
“What bothered me was we got out to the quick start that we thought was imperative, but we have had a habit this season when we get out to a quick start to kind of open the door and hold back a little bit,” Engard said. “The point we made to these guys is – ‘You got away with that against other people. You were able to collect yourself and get back in, but a team like this will kick the door in.’
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort.”
The Indians went into halftime on the short end of a 37-25 score. Picard, who finished with a team-high 18, accounted for 12 of those points.
“We had simple mistakes – costly turnovers that just dug us in a hole,” the senior sharpshooter said. “When we were watching the Bensalem tape, they just kept playing defense and making (Penn Wood) turn it over, and they got good looks.
“I thought we were getting good looks, but they just weren’t dropping.”
Penn Wood point guard Tyree Johnson matched Picard point for point, scoring 12 of his 15 points in the half.
“Tyree Johnson asserted himself today,” Engard said. “He’s a different player than I saw two years ago when we played them.“He got his scholarship (to Hartford) as a point guard, and he has been distributing all year. Today he attacked more. He took more shots. Where we were gearing up for Aaron Brown, Tyree Johnson took care of business a little more.”
The Indians used a reverse layup by Connolly and a bucket by Picard to trim the Patriots’ lead to 37-29 early in the second half. Three straight baskets by Oakman, including a dunk off an Indian turnover, made it a 43-29 game. The Patriots led 46-29 before the Indians got on the scoreboard again, and this time there would be no more comebacks.
“They’re definitely better than I thought,” Engard said. “We could have made a push, but I do believe they would have had another level in them. You pick your poison.”
The Indians hope to rebound when they face West Chester Rustin in Saturday’s consolation game for third place.
“The seniors have to come out the next couple of practices and make sure they’re good practices,” Picard said. “We can’t come out and lose by 20 and then lose the next game by 20 like they did (in 2007 after losing in the district semis). We have to keep going and show that we deserve the three seed.”
“We all just love the game of basketball,” Bishop added. “We always want to play hard. Coach was telling us – we want to play whistle to whistle. We don’t want to have any regrets, and that’s what we do. We play hard every game against every team.”
“We’re putting this behind us,” Moyer said. “We going on to the next game – focus and prepare for that.”
PENN WOOD 71, SOUDERTON 49
Souderton (49) – Jeff Bishop 2 1-2 5; Nate Moyer 3 2-4 8; Nate Lewis 3 2-4 8; A.J. Picard 6 3-5 18; Kyle Connolly 4 1-4 10; Mark Wonderling 0 0-0 0; Anthony Sergio 0 0-0 0; Joseph Plank 0 0-0 0; Ryan O’Connor 0 2-2 2; Derek Brown 0 0-0 0; Ryan Connolly 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 11-21 49.
Penn Wood (71) – Aaron Brown 6 2-4 15; Tyree Johnson 5 2-4 13; Will Brown 4 2-3 11; Darian Barnes 0 0-0 0; Shawn Oakman 10 2-5 22; Jeff Kyem 1 0-0 2; Dequan Pelzer 1 1-1 3; Khali Smith 0 0-0 0; Rahjul Young 0 0-0 0; Will Morton 0 0-0 0; Akil Anderson 0 0-0 0; Mike Riddick 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 29 7-14 71.
Souderton 11 14 13 11-49
Penn Wood 22 15 13 21-71
3-point goals: Souderton – Picard 3, Connolly. Penn Wood – Johnson 3, W.Brown 2, A. Brown 1.
- Log in to post comments
0
