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By Scott Huff
TOWAMENCIN – The physical resemblance between North Penn head coach Ron Hassler and Gene Hackman, who played Norman Dale in the movie Hoosiers, isn’t close.
But the way their respective teams play – that is where the resemblance is unmistakable.
“We want to run our offense with at least eight or nine passes before we shoot the ball,” said Hassler moments after his Knights captured the Chris Smith Holiday Tournament with a 47-38 victory over Downingtown West. “If you make that many passes, the defensive intensity drops off and you can get good shots.
“Right now it seems like I not only have to coach every possession, but every pass,” said Hassler in his best Norman Dale voice. “Downingtown West played a tough, physical defense. And I thought we did a good job of handling that as the game moved on.”
“Coach doesn’t like it when we make just a couple of passes and take a shot,” said sophomore point guard Wes Brooks who played a marvelous game and scored a game-high 15 points for the Knights. “But if we make the shot, he is a lot less angry.”
“Coach gets on us if we are too quick shooting the basketball,” said North Penn junior Matt Possazana who added eight points – and along with Brooks made the All-Tournament team. “He likes the game to be in the 40’s, and when we win a game like this it gives us confidence that we play that way and win.”
North Penn struggled at the outset of the game and trailed the Whippetts 17-12 at the close of the first half. Both teams were very patient with the basketball, and combined with poor shooting, kept the score close.
“We have to find a way to begin games better,” said Hassler. “We can only dig ourselves out of a hole so many times.
“I thought that the third quarter was the best that we played all season,” added Hassler as the Knights outscored West 21-6 to take a 33-23 lead. “We haven’t had to protect a lead like that the whole season, and it was a good learning experience for us.”
The beginning of the third period showcased the ability of 6-foot, 5-inch junior Connor Silhanek who scored six straight points to slice the Whippet lead to 19-18. And then a flurry of 3-point plays jettisoned NP to the lead.
Possanza scored on a conventional 3-point play to give the Knights a lead at 21-19 with 3:48 left in the third period. North Penn would not trail the remainder of the game.
And then the Knights caught fire from beyond the arc and drained four 3-pointers in a 2:32 period of time. Brooks popped home a pair, while TJ Gill and Possanza each nailed one trey.
“We really don’t want to be a 3-point shooting team,” insisted Hassler. “Shooting 3-pointers is like playing the stock market – you can hit it big or lose big.
“Shooting inside is more like getting 2 percent on a savings account,” added Hassler. “No big deal, but a lot safer.”
North Penn played fundamental basketball – surprise, surprise – in the fourth period to preserve the win. The Knights scored 12 of their 14 points from the free throw line with Brooks hitting a clutch 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.
“Wes played a great game tonight,” said Hassler of his 5-foot, 9-inch guard. “I really get on him in practice, so the games are actually a lot less pressure on him.”
“Coach really does get on me in practice,” agreed Brooks. “And that has made me a better player.”
Possanza – who had been the Jimmy Chitwood character from Hoosiers as the leading scorer all season for the Knights – was happy to play a somewhat supporting role in the win over West.
“It seemed like everyone tonight stepped up and played well,” said Possanza. “It was great to see everyone contribute.”
“We can’t be a good basketball team if we rely on one player to do most of our scoring,” said Hassler. “We had a lot of players involved tonight – a lot of balance.”
Gill - the lone senior on the North Penn roster – chipped in with 10 points for the Knights and handled the ball well against Whippet pressure.
“I think that we might have surprised some people to be 4-2 at this point,” said Possanza. “And we are looking forward to playing the teams in our league.”
And some of those teams might not be looking forward to playing the Knights.
Downingtown West 12 5 6 15 - 38
North Penn 6 6 21 14 - 47
Downingtown West: Terrell Brice 2 3-8 7; Idris Jones 5 3-3 13; Mike Milto 3 2-3 8; Ian Jones 2 1-2 6; Andrew Bargman 1 2-3 4. Totals 13 11-19 38.
3-point field goals: Ian Jones
North Penn: Connor Silhanek 3 2-2 8; Matt Possanza 3 1-3 8; Wes Brooks 3 7-8 15; James Somers 0 1-2 1; TJ Gill 3 2-4 10; Dexter Shy 1 1-2 3; Sean Brooks 0 2-2 2. Totals 13 16-23 47.
3-point field goals: W. Brooks (2), Gill (2), Possanza.
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