Pennsbury advanced to the final of the District One AAAA Tournament with its win over second-seeded Methacton on Monday.
By Scott Huff
Fairview Village – The dust had not settled on Pennsbury’s impressive 68-58 PIAA Quad-A quarterfinal victory over host Methacton (23-4) when the talk began about the Falcons (22-5) upcoming semifinal contest with Abington (24-3) at Temple University on Wednesday (6 p.m.).
“Coming into this game, we were all thinking about Temple, and we were glad that Abington won and will plays us,” said 6-8 senior Derrick Woods, who was artful around the basket with 18 points. “We wanted another opportunity to beat Abington – we won’t be satisfied until that happens.”
Abington has beaten Pennsbury three times this season. The Ghosts won both games during the regular 
Suburban One League National Conference season (58-57 & 52-50) – and also defeated the Falcons in the first-ever SOL championship game (63-50). The fact is – Abington has now won eight straight games against the talented Black and Orange over the last three years.
“The road against Abington has been an interesting one, and I guess I won’t be getting any sleep the next day and a half,” smiled Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “Let’s just say that the kids are excited to play against them again.
“It is great that we are going back to Temple – and it is great to be able to play Abington on the big stage,” said Pennsbury senior guard Cameron Jones, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We want to get to that district title game.”
One step on the journey to a possible district championship was to clear a huge hurdle in defeating Methacton. The Warriors were the # 2 seed and won the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship.
The two teams exchanged punches in the first period as the Falcons relied on some long-range shooting by Jones – who knocked home four 3-point bombs in the first quarter. The Warriors countered punched with some inside scoring by 6-6 senior Chris McCarthy, who scored the first eight Methacton points.
The period closed with Pennsbury up by a point (17-16) – but the Falcons soared in the second period to snatch an eight-point (37-29) halftime lead.
“We wanted to get the game more up-tempo, and we were able to do that in the second quarter,” said Jones. “We knew that Methacton was a good team – and we needed to play hard defense.”
The Warriors – who had four players score in double figures – got as close as 39-32 with 6:38 left in the third period. However, Pennsbury went on an 11-3 run and closed out the quarter with a ten-point advantage (50-40).
The senior core of Falcon players – Jones, Woods, and Mekhi Bryant (15 points) – carried Pennsbury to victory with a solid fourth quarter. The Falcons were clutch on the free throw line in the final stanza hitting 10-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe.
“This is what high school basketball should be all about,” said Coleman. “The doors were locked because the place was sold out – and the crowd in the gym was awesome on both sides.
“This is the same path that we took to get to Temple last year,” added Coleman. “We won our first two district playoff games at home – and then had to go on the road and win a game to get to Temple. We had 14 games on the road this year – and we have played well in almost all of them.”
“I love it when we have to play in front of a lot of people who doubt us,” said Woods in reference to the vocal Warrior home crowd. “You want to play – and you want to win those games.”
Pennsbury played – and won – that huge quarterfinal game against Methacton. And now the Falcons – who will once again have their share of doubters – will travel to North Broad Street in Philadelphia to meet rival Abington.
Again.
Pennsbury Falcons 17 20 13 18 * 68
Methacton Warriors 16 13 11 18 * 58
Pennsbury: Cameron Jones 25; Derrick Woods 18, Mekhi Bryant 15; Juan Perez-Jones 4; Nick Cereby 4; and Mark Flagg 2. Total – 68
Methacton: Chris McCarthy 15; Sean Mann 13; Tom Dyer 12; Justin Ardman 11; TJ Tornetta 5; and Derrick Ellis 2. Total – 58.
About the Author
