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FRANCONIA TWP –Joe Plank’s three-pointer had barely fallen through the net on Souderton’s first possession of Saturday’s regular season finale against Quakertown when A.J. Picard was up off the bench applauding his teammate’s effort.
“Even though we had five different starters today, they came out and played their hardest,” the Indians’ senior captain said after a rare stint off the bench on Senior Day. “We all like each other. We don’t really care about points. We share the ball, put it in the hoop, play defense and win.
“That’s all we want to do – go out and win.”
Through 22 games, it’s been an effective formula for the Indians, who won their 20th game on Saturday when they downed the Panthers 60-49.
Afterwards, the Indians celebrated a Continental Conference crown they clinched four days earlier by cutting down the net.
“I saw them cut the net down as a freshman, and I always wanted to be part of a team and have an impact on a team that won the league,” Picard said. “It really hasn’t hit me. We clinched the league against Pennridge (on Tuesday), and I’m at home thinking ‘This is crazy. We actually did it as a team, made it through every adversity.’
“In the past years, we had the talent, but we didn’t have the chemistry we have. Our team has such good chemistry.
“We’ve been playing together since we were young, and we like each other as friends. It’s not like separate groups. This team is senior-based. We have the experience this year, and it definitely helped us win the league.”
Back in November when it’s every team’s dream to win a league crown, Picard made it clear that winning a title was paramount.
“As a team, we were expecting nothing less than this,” senior captain Sam Wonderling said. “We said at the beginning of the season we wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a league title.”“We’ve been trying to do it for three years now,” senior captain Kyle Connolly added. “After all we have been through, it feels good to finally get it.”
On Saturday, the Indians honored the 10 seniors who are the heart and soul of this year’s championship squad. The starting lineup featured Plank, Ryan O’Connor, Wonderling, Derek Brown and Korrey Council while the usual starters – Picard, Connolly, Nate Moyer, Jeff Bishop and Nate Lewis – offered support from the bench.
“It was a satisfying day, definitely the culmination of the whole season and of our hard work,” said Wonderling, who has battled back from knee injuries to play this season. “This definitely shows how hard work does pay off.
“I didn’t think I was going to play last year when I hurt myself, and to get this far – all the rehab I was doing over the summer definitely paid off.”
Coach Perry Engard said he wasn’t surprised when his regulars offered to give up their starting roles for Senior Day.
“That’s what is special,” the Indians’ coach said. “We have tried to stay with the mantra for eight years that no seniors will come through the program and never start a game. They all start at least one.
“It just seems like it’s worked. They deserve it. I said to the five guys that started, ‘Look, no disrespect to Quakertown, but you have played against five better players every day at practice, so there’s nothing to be nervous about. Just go out and play.’”Sparked by a pair of three’s from Donnie Thomas – who finished with a game-high 24 points, the Panthers sprinted to a 9-3 lead. The Indians’ starters took care of that deficit in the final two minutes of the quarter, using buckets by Picard, Nate Moyer and Nate Lewis to knot the score 9-9.
A basket by Bishop to open the second quarter put the Indians on top 11-9, and after a Panther turnover, Connolly buried his first of three treys on the day.
“They were just going down for me,” Connolly said of his hot hand from beyond the arc.
The Panthers rallied to knot the score 17-17 after a Rich Kivela basket on the break. A putback by Souderton’s Mark Wonderling gave the Indians a 22-19 lead, but again, Thomas answered with a three – his third of six on the day – to knot the score.
“To be honest, he’s been a three-point shooter, but he’s been struggling all year,” Quakertown coach Kevin Keeler said of his senior forward. “Tonight, he just broke out of it and kept us in the game.”
A floater by Moyer sent the Indians into halftime with a 24-22 lead.
The Panthers kept hanging around. They trailed 39-35 after the Indians completed what amounted to a four-point play to close out the third quarter. Picard – despite being fouled – scored on a drive. He came up short on the foul shot, but Mark Wonderling was there for the putback.
Again, the Panthers had an answer. Dalton Nice, who finished with 19 points, converted a three-point play to open the final quarter. Picard answered with a drive at the other end, but Thomas erased that lead with another three.“They didn’t miss, but that’s going to happen,” Connolly said. “We know going into districts we’re going to run into teams that are going to do the same thing – they’re going to hit shots, they’re going to keep coming after us.
“I think today was kind of a preparation game for us.”
Bishop – after delivering a block on the defensive end – scored on a putback, and after a Quakertown miss, Anthony Sergio buried a three. Thomas responded with yet another three, but Sergio came back with his second three in a 60-second span, and the Indians led 49-44
“When they go to the zone and they’re not going to come out of it, Serg has to be on the floor,” Engard said. “It was a credit to them for going to that defense. I thought it was a good look.”
Kivela connected on a pair from the foul line, but Bishop scored for the Indians, and the Panthers would get no closer than five the rest of the way.“We told the kids – we’re playing one of the top three or four teams in the district, and we’re tied in the fourth quarter,” Keeler said. “We broke down a couple of times defensively, and Sergio hits some big threes.
“We got down six or seven points, and we had to foul them. A.J. doesn’t miss, and that’s why they win so many games.”
The Indians closed out the regular season with an impressive 20-2 mark.
“This group has been special from the beginning,” Engard said. “Kyle and A.J. were superfroshed. The rest of the group without Kyle and A.J. went undefeated as freshmen. They put together a 21-1 record last year on jayvee.
“They have had success at every level. Even if they haven’t necessarily been on the same team over the past three years, they always stayed together, they always stayed close on the court and off the court and supported each other.“It’s clear these boys have chemistry with each other, it’s clear they play for each other and not with each other, and I think that’s the biggest part.”
The only question that remained was what exactly the players were going to do with their piece of the net.
“I don’t know – somewhere special,” Wonderling said.
“I’m not quite sure,” Connolly said. “I have to think about it, but I’m definitely going to hold onto this for a while. I still have mine from my freshman year when I was on the bench, so it felt good to finally get one for myself.”
Picard was more definitive.
“I’m going to frame it and keep it next to my bed,” he said. “I’m going to take it everywhere.”
Quakertown closed out the regular season with an overall record of 10-12 (6-8 in SOL play).
SOUDERTON 60, QUAKERTOWN 49
Quakertown 9 13 13 14-49
Souderton 9 15 15 21-60
Quakertown (49) – Dalton Nice 5 6-7 19; Kenny Gula 1 0-0 2; Austin Keeler 0 0-0 0; Donnie Thomas 8 0-0 22; Trevor Dietrich 0 0-0 0; Dylan Gossler 0 0-0 0; Rick Kivela 1 4-4 6. TOTALS 15 10-11 49.
Souderton (60) – Joe Plank 1 0-0 3; Ryan O’Connor 0 0-0 0; Sam Wonderling 0 0-0 0; Derek Brown 0 0-0 0; Korrey Council 0 0-0 0; Jeff Bishop 4 0-1 8; A.J. Picard 5 5-6 16; Kyle Connolly 3 0-0 9; Nate Moyer 3 0-0 6; Nate Lewis 2 0-2 4; Anthony Sergio 2 2-2 8; Mark Wonderling 3 0-2 6; Daniel Falencki 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 7-13 60.
3-point goals: Quakertown – Thomas 6, Nice 3. Souderton – Connolly 3, Sergio 2, Picard.
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