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By Scott Huff
The magnificent play that Norristown senior James Ramsey made with four minutes left in the PIAA District One semifinal game against Pennsbury was a snapshot of the entire Eagle season.Norristown came out quickly – led 12-2 – but Pennsbury was on the verge of making a serious run late in the game and trailed 47-40. Falcon senior Eddie DiRugeris stripped Ramsey of the ball at midcourt and drove hard to the basket.
“I gave up a turnover and was determined that he wasn’t going to get an easy basket,” said Ramsey. “I knew that I had to make a play.”
The play was a remarkable one as Ramsey cleanly blocked the shot – alertly recovered the ball along the baseline – and started a fast break that culminated in a huge basket by teammate Tom Smith.
“That has been the story all season,” said Norristown head coach Michael Evans as the Eagles (21-5) held off the Falcons (22-4), 60-53. “This is a team that has worked very hard – a team that really does like each other and has good chemistry.”
“This was not an X and O game,” said Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla. “This was a game decided by toughness, and Norristown did a great job with that.
“They mentally got after us right from the very beginning of the game,” added Sciolla. “They won most of the loose ball battles and just played harder than us tonight.”
Norristown came out on fire as the Eagles buried four consecutive three-point baskets to take an 18-11 first period lead. Senior Lorenzo Christmas drilled a pair of treys and finished the period eight points – Ramsey and junior Sheldon Mayer also connected in the first period from beyond the arc.
“Once they got the early lead, we had to get out of what wanted to do and chase them,” said Sciolla. “I could see us coming out and hitting those three’s, but give them credit for making those shots.”
Khalif Wyatt – who will begin his collegiate career on the very same floor for Temple University next season – did not score a single point in the first period.
“The rest of my teammates came up big early in the game,” said Wyatt, who found time to lead the Eagles with 17 points. “We have confidence in each other to get the job done.”
“They knew what they had to do to beat us,” said Pennsbury senior Dalton Pepper who scored a game-high 28 points. “They beat us last year in the district final four game, and they sure outplayed us tonight.”
“This is a team that is very battle tested,” said Evans. “We have played a good non-league schedule, and that has had to get our confidence up.”
Beating Pennsbury – ranked #1 in Southeastern Pennsylvania before last night – and Chester (61-59) – the #1 seed in the PIAA District One tournament – in successive weeks has gotten the critics attention.
“Chester was the favorite, and when we beat them, I think most people felt that Pennsbury was the new favorite,” said Wyatt. “But this team stood up and accepted the challenge.”
Norristown will now face Penn Wood – a 62-52 winner over Conestoga last night for the PIAA District One title with a 9 p.m. tipoff at Villanova University.
“We have beaten both Chester and Pennsbury the last two games, but we had lost to both of them earlier in the season,” said Evans. “Penn Wood is going to be a much different story – we haven’t seen shared the court with them.”
“Penn Wood is very big, very athletic,” said Wyatt. “We are going to have to study the film and get ready to play.”
Pennsbury will play Conestoga to settle the #3 and #4 seeds in a Saturday contest.
“Our team is a team that has played in a lot of big time games,” said Sciola. “We will be ready for another one.”
And so will Norristown.
“We will go out and play from the heart and prove people wrong,” said Ramsey. “It’s not the size of the dog, it’s the size of the fight in that dog. And this team has had that fight all season.”
Click.
FREE THROWS – Norristown featured a very balanced attack as Wyatt (17), Ramsey (10), and Christmas (10) all scored in double figures…Mayer (9) and Smith (8) were close to double digits … The only other twin digit scorer for the Falcons – in addition to Pepper (28) – was DiRugeris with 12 points.
Norristown 18 10 13 19 - 60
Pennsbury 11 9 13 20 - 53
Norristown: Khalif Wyatt 5 6-8 17; James Ramsey 3 3-3 10; Sheldon Mayer 2 3-4 9; Jarrel Gardner 3 0-0 6; Tom Smith 3 2-2 8. Totals 20 14-17 60.
3-point field goals – Mayer (2), Christmas (2), Wyatt, Ramsey.
Pennsbury: Dalton Pepper 11 4-7 28; Eddie DiRugeris 5 2-4 12; Marcus Healey 1 0-0 2; Jesse Krasna 2 0-0 5; Dante Devine 2 0-0 6. Totals 21 6-11 53.
3-point field goals – Pepper (2), Devine (2), Krasna.
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