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By Scott Huff
VILLANOVA - Norristown can finally pack away those faded blue uniforms. The Eagles captured the PIAA District One Quad-A title with a heart pounding 52-49 victory over Penn Wood at the Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University.“No more blue for us,” smiled Norristown senior Khalif Wyatt, who scored a game-high 25 points. “When you are district champs you get to wear the whites and be the home team on the scoreboard.”
And the blue uniforms were very, very good for the #8 seeded Eagles. In addition to the ‘upset’ win over #3 seed Penn Wood, Norristown also knocked off the #1 seed Chester (61-59) and the #4 seed Pennsbury (60-53).
“Penn Wood has a lot of big and talented players,” said Norristown senior James Ramsey. “And a lot of people thought that we weren’t going to be able to handle them.
“We won this game because we wanted it more than they did,” added Ramsey. “Last year we got to the district final against Chester and lost, we weren’t going to let that happen this time.”
It didn’t.
And in a game that began as the ‘Khalif Wyatt Show’ in the first half morphed into a true Norristown team effort. Wyatt scored 19 points on a dazzling variety of off balance shots. However, Ramsey was the Eagles second leading scorer with one point – and Norristown trailed at the half, 22-20.“We knew that we couldn’t win the game by letting Khalif do it alone,” said Norristown senior Lorenzo Christmas who scored 10 key second half points. “The team really stepped it up – and we took care of some unfinished business by winning the district title this year.”
“All the coaches at halftime reminded the team that I couldn’t do it by myself,” said Wyatt. “They came out with a junk defense to play against me in the second half, and that gave the rest of the team a chance to get into a better offensive flow.”
Norristown appeared to take control of the game as the first 17 points of the third period were scored by someone not named Wyatt.
Ramsey drilled a trey and added a free throw, while senior Jarrell Gardner drove to the hole for a couple of baskets and tacked on a free throw. Christmas scored six digits in the period, while junior Sheldon Mayer added a bucket.
The biggest lead in the third period was seven points (37-30) and the period closed with the Eagles up six points (40-34).“We told the players at halftime that they had to step up and play in attack mode,” said Norristown coach Michael Evans. “Khalif played great in the first half, but we needed others to step up and help out.
“And that happened,” added Evans. “This has been a team that works hard together, extra hard, and really believes in each other.”
That belief was tested as the Patriots forged a fourth period rally that saw Penn Wood snatch the lead away from the Birds and take a 47-45 lead with 2:36 left in the game.
Christmas delivered a crucial trey with 2:21 left to give the Eagles a 48-47 lead, but a bucket by the Patriot Will Brown regained the lead for Penn Wood – 49-48.
Insert Norristown junior Tom Smith. Smith had more personal fouls (four) than minutes played (three) up until this point of the game, but the energetic power forward made two critical plays to insure victory.
At the 1:17 mark, Smith drove hard to the offensive glass and scored his only two points of the game. Those points, however, gave the Eagles a lead (50-49) that they would never relinquish.
The second huge play came when Smith gobbled up a defensive rebound on the ensuing Patriot possession - which was followed by a pair of enormous free throws by Eagle point guard Sheldon Mayer to ice the game.
“Tom Smith isn’t going to fill up a stat sheet,” smiled Evans. “But even though he didn’t play that much, he sure gave us some positive minutes.”
“We didn’t play Norristown basketball in the first half,” said Smith. “We came out in the second half and began to push the ball down the floor.
“This is great getting the district championship,” added Smith. “Now our next goal would be to win states, but we can’t look too far down the line.”
“It’s been a long time – 19 years - since Norristown won a district championship,” said professor of basketology, Khalif Wyatt. “It was exciting.”
No one could have been any more excited that Evans. Evans was a member of that 1990 team that captured the district title. And now he adds his coaching legacy to the annuals of District One basketball.
“I was a senior and we won the championship on this very same floor,” said Evans. “It was great to win as both a player and a coach.”
Norristown is a team – like the 1990 team – that plays a lot of seniors. And Wyatt, Ramsey, Gardner, and Christmas have most of their scholastic careers behind them.“All of these games are very important – especially since we are seniors,” said Christmas. “One of our goals was to win a district championship, now we are going to move on with confidence in states.”
“Our goal should be to get back to the state championship game,” said Ramsey in reference to the Eagles loss to Chester. “Last year we lost in the district final – and we won this year. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make that happen at states by winning in the finals.”
And when the Eagles begin their play in the state tournament next Friday, Norristown will be wearing the home white uniforms.
“It’s been a little while since we played in the whites,” said Wyatt. “In fact, I always think I play a little better in the whites.”
It’s hard to believe.
Norristown 10 10 20 12 - 52
Penn Wood 8 14 12 15 - 49
Norristown: Khalif Wyatt 8 4-6 25; James Ramsey 1 3-6 6; Lorenzo Christmas 2 5-9 10; Sheldon Mayer 1 2-3 4; Jarrell Gardner 2 1-2 5; Tom Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 15-26 52.
3-point field goals – Wyatt (5), Ramsey, Christmas.
Penn Wood: Tyree Johnson 1 1-2 3; Duane Johnson 3 1-3 7; Shawn Coleman 3 2-4 8; Aaron Brown 5 1-4 11; Thomas White 2 0-2 4; Chris White 3 0-0 9; Dequan Pelzer 1 0-1 3, Will Brown 2 1-2 5. Totals 20 6-18 49.
3point field goals – Chris White (2), Plezer.
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