(Photos provided by Pennsbury basketball)
Non-league
PENNSBURY 58, RIDLEY 42
The Falcons took care of business, defeating the visiting Green Raiders in a non-league game, and then the real fun began as they celebrated clinching the SOL Patriot Division title with a net-cutting ceremony after the game.
“The net-cutting ceremony kind of swept up the game,” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “(The game) was almost like a formality at that point – a non-league game on a Monday that was supposed to be our Senior Night that got moved because of the possibility of the SOL playoffs.
“It was a good opportunity to play a non-league game against a team from a league you might not see, a league that plays a little different style. They’re only 15-20 miles away, but they play different. All these leagues are unique. You just want to be prepared. We did enough to win.”
The Falcons, who led 12-8 after one quarter, took a 28-18 lead into halftime. They blew the game wide open with a 17-7 third quarter that was highlighted by 12 points from senior Ty Kocak.
“Ty Kocak in the second half really took over in the third quarter,” Emme said. “We did a great job forcing turnovers to create some easy offense. We shot the ball pretty bad, but to score 58 points, you’re doing something right.”
Kocak led all scorers with 19 points in three quarters. He also had a team-high five steals. Danny Cohen also finished in double figures with 10 points while Mike Roccograndi added nine points, Teddy Mangan had seven and Connor Taddei contributed six points. Kocak and Ryan Zuckerman led the Falcons under the backboards with eight rebounds each. Mangan and Zuckerman both had three steals. Zuckerman’s four assists led the Falcons. Taddei and Sam Callahan each had two assists.
Emme talked about winning a division crown in his first year at the helm.
“We are really, really fortunate,” the Falcons’ coach said. “We knew we would be okay and eventually the program would come around to the way we wanted it to be and that we would be competing. There are a lot of factors that allowed us to have early success.
“I think early success is really important for buy-in with your youth leagues and your middle schoolers. It starts obviously with your seniors, and I have two amazing seniors in Ty (Kocak) and Ryan (Zuckerman). The fact that Ryan (committed to play baseball at the University of Pittsburgh) decided to come back and play is obviously a major factor in our success.
“But Ty as our leading returning scorer, believing and buying into what we needed to be
successful – he sacrificed a lot in the way of play. I can’t imagine being a senior, losing my coach and then having to adjust. I can’t even put myself in his shoes. I came into an established high school program that had a lot of prior success, and the expectation was to have success.
“My opportunity to come in this year off of a very successful run by coach (Bill) Coleman and coach (Gary) Jones – I just wanted to pick up and make it our way and not try to change because Pennsbury basketball has been great for a very long time.”
Pennsbury (15-6, 11-4 SOL) will close out its regular season on Wednesday at Council Rock North.
Ridley 8-10-7-17 42
Pennsbury 12-16-17-13 58
Ridley (42) – M.Villacorte 2 0-0 5; Christian Harrop 2 0-2 4; Cameron Harrop 2 0-0 5; Seth Sizemore 1 1-1 3; Jacob Bowell 4 1-3 12; Austin McCaughan 2 3-4 9; Jayden Blackwell 1 0-0 3; Luke Showalter 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 14 6-13 42.
Pennsbury (58) – Teddy Mangan 3 0-0 7; Mike Roccograndi 4 0-0 9; Danny Cohen 4 0-0 10; Connor Taddei 2 0-0 6; Mitch Primola 0 1-3 1; Grayson Gozum 1 0-0 2; Ty Kocak 7 5-6 19; Sean Faust Jr 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 23 6-9 58.
3-point goals: Ridley – Jacob Bowell 3, M.Villacorte, Austin McCaughan 2, Cameron Harrop, Jayden Blackwell; Pennsbury – Danny Cohen 2, Connor Taddei 2, Teddy Mangan, Mike Roccograndi.
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