To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
NORRISTOWN – They headed to the locker room in stunned silence.
Nothing could have prepared the Pennsbury Falcons for such a cruel ending to a district tournament they had entered with such high hopes.
For the second time in five days, the Falcons – ranked number one in the state one short week ago by The Patriot-News of Harrisburg - had come up short, this time falling to Conestoga 54-52 in Saturday afternoon’s District One AAAA third place game at Norristown High School.
“We just have to turn it around,” said a subdued Eddie DiRugeris. “We have to get better shot selection and play harder on ‘D.’ I think we’ll turn it around in states.“I don’t remember, but it’s been a long time since we lost back-to-back games. There’s nothing we can do about it except play harder in states.”
While the Falcons staged a heroic comeback, rallying from an 11-point deficit to knot the score, they were ultimately doomed by a deadly scoring drought of more than nine minutes.
What had gone wrong?
For starters, the Falcons seemed willing to settle for perimeter shots, most notably in a third quarter that saw the Falcons go scoreless until Dalton Pepper sank a pair at the foul line with 59 seconds remaining. Throw in the fact that some of the players looked reluctant to pull the trigger, and there was cause for concern.
“We spent 10 minutes at the half talking about – we need to shoot layups much like did at the half against Norristown,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “Then I had to pop three timeouts in the first five minutes (of the second half) to explain why we need to shoot layups.
“The first four shots out of the locker room were three’s against a team we can get to the basket against. It’s mental toughness. You have to be able to settle down and get a good shot. Obviously, they’re a great defensive team. They give up 39 points a game. We knew coming in it was going to be difficult to score, and we could accept that if we were trying to execute.”
Execution wasn’t a concern in a first quarter that saw the Falcons bury four three-pointers. It began with Dalton Pepper, who led all scorers with 22 points, connecting on a three-pointer from the top of the circle to put the Falcons on top 3-2.
Then DiRugeris sank a baseline trey, but the fun really began in earnest when Pepper turned a steal into a one-handed slam over 6-10 center Jake Cohen. The basket put the Falcons on top 8-5 and set the tone for the Falcons’ most passionate stretch of the game.Moments later, Casey Ikeda – who was assigned the task of containing Pepper – and the Falcons’ high-scoring senior were whistled for offsetting fouls after a spirited battle in the paint. With emotions running high, DiRugeris broke an 8-8 tie with a bank shot off the dribble, and after a Tom Marcinkowski steal, DiRugeris buried a three-pointer from the top of the circle.
DiRugeris forced a five-second violation with some serious in-your-face defense, and then, as time was winding down in the quarter, the Philadelphia University-bound guard kicked the ball to freshman Kieran Bolger, who hit nothing but net on a trey to put the Falcons on top 16-8.
The Falcons still led 23-18 after DiRugeris scored on a pull-up jumper with 2:14 remaining in the half. They did not score again until Pepper’s foul shots near the end of the third quarter. By that time, the Pioneers had opened up a 34-23 lead.
“We were all settling for three pointers at the start of the (third) quarter, and coach had to burn a few timeouts to tell us to go to the hole, which we should have been doing since the beginning,” DiRugeris said. “That kind of cost us at the end because we could have used those timeouts.”
The Falcons – thanks to treys by Pepper and Dante Devine – cut the deficit to 38-31 heading into the final quarter. The two teams were deadlocked 40-40 after Pepper scored off the dribble. It was the first of five ties, and each time the Pioneers had an answer.
“If we could have gotten a two-point lead in the second half, we could have changed the game because we could have pulled them out (of their match-up zone) and made them play man, but they always kept us at arm’s length,” Sciolla said. The final tie was the most dramatic when Marcus Healey buried his first shot of the game – a baseline trey – with 42 seconds remaining to knot the score 52-52.
“Good for him,” Sciolla said. “He made big shots in this game last year.”
The Pioneers held for the last shot and won it when Matt O’Hara dished off to Doug Jakiela for a basket with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Jakiela scored 15 points, but it was Cohen who did the most damage, finishing the day with 21 points – which included a near-perfect 9-for-10 from the foul line – and eight boards. The Falcons had no answer for the senior center, absorbing their second loss in as many outings.
“It’s hard to say how I feel about this loss,” Sciolla said. “We were down big, we were out of it, and we came all the way back in – that was great, but it’s still a loss.
“We don’t want the kids to go home and be ‘Oh, woe is me.’ (Their) losses came to Conestoga with 25 wins and (district champion) Norristown, and they were close. In both situations, we were chasing in the fourth quarter. We’d like to be closer, so we can do some of the things we want to do defensively.
“If we would have lost to somebody not that good, then you could be really down. At this point, we’re playing great teams – the two seed and the eventual district champ.
“Even though you’re playing great teams and losing, you want to have that winning feeling. You have to get that back this week and be positive. We’ve had a great year, and we’re heading into state playoffs. That’s what it’s all about.”
Pennsbury will face North Catholic in an opening round game next Saturday.
CONESTOGA 54, PENNSBURY 52
Pennsbury (52) – Jesse Krasna 2 2-2 7, Dante Devine 1 0-0 3, Eddie DiRugeris 4 2-2 12, Dalton Pepper 7 4-5 22, Tom Marcinkowski 0 0-0 0, Marcus Healey 1 0-0 3, Goran Dulac 1 0-1 2, Jon Ryan Wolff 0 0-2 0, Kieran Bolger 1 0-0 3, Zak Kumor 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-12 52.
Conestoga (54) – Zach Shapiro 2 0-0 5, Matt O’Hara 0 2-3 2, Doug Jakiela 7 1-3 15, Robert Scott 3 0-1 7, Jake Cohen 6 9-10 21, Casey Ikeda 0 0-0 0, Kyle Dolby 0 0-0 0, Tanner Scott 0 0-0 0, Paul Mita 2 0-0 4, Marshall 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-17 54
Pennsbury 16 7 8 21-52
Conestoga 8 18 12 16-54
Three-point goals: Pennsbury – Dalton Pepper 4, Eddie DiRugeris 2, Marcus Healey, Jesse Krasna, Kieran Bolger, Dante Devine. Conestoga – Zach Shapiro, Robert Scott.
- Log in to post comments
0
