To view action photos of the game, visit the Photo Gallery later this weekend and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
NEWTOWN – For every team, there are going to be nights like this. Nights when shots don’t fall, nights when a lid seems to be on the basket, nights when nothing seems to be working offensively. On those nights, teams need to rely on their defense to carry them.
Council Rock North did just that in Friday night’s SOL contest against a gutsy William Tennent squad. The Indians battled to a 21-14 halftime lead and went on to earn a 50-30 win over the Panthers, but nothing came easily on this night.
According to senior Charlie Anastasi, the tone for the night might well have been set on Rock North’s very first possession of the night. The Indians took six shots and missed all six.
“From that point on, it felt like there was a lid on the rim the whole night,” Anastasi said. “That was definitely very frustrating, but at the same time, I think it’s good that we didn’t let the offensive end dictate how we played on the defensive end.
“If defense is a constant throughout all your games, you’re going to put yourself in a position to win.”
Tennent coach Robert Mulville knew his team would have its hands full against a Rock North squad with a lineup that includes the 6-6 Anastasi , 6-4 Arron Goodman and 6-7 Hunter Stevens as well as 6-1 Matt McCloskey in the backcourt. When it was over, the Panthers’ coach – whose tallest player is 6-4 Jack Rauchut - had no complaints about his team’s effort.
“Even though we’re on a seven-game losing streak right now, these guys just come into practice every day and try to get better,” said Mullville. “We research teams and give them a game plan, and every game they come out and really try and execute the game plan.
“We told them – ‘You’re not going to block their shots. You’re going to have to get at least 10 charges.’ We didn’t get 10, but we were real pleased with their effort.”
On the other side of the court, Rock North coach Derek Wright tipped his hat to the Panthers.
“You know what – you have to give credit to Tennent,” the Indians’ coach said. “This was no fluke. When we played at their place (a 56-39 win), it was very similar.
“Tennent plays very hard, and they’re very physical. They give you nothing. You have to earn it. We missed a lot of shots inside, but they didn’t make anything easy for us.”
Anastasi led the Indians with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, and his dunk early in the fourth quarter after a steal at the defensive end evoked the biggest fan response of the night.
“He’s probably been our most consistent player,” Wright said of his senior captain. “He was great on both ends of the floor. He did a great job defensively on Rauchut, which is their main guy, and offensively made the plays when we needed them.”
Aaron Morgan added 11 points. Arron Goodman, Matt McCloskey and John Raymon each added seven points. For Goodman, seven points was 11 below his season average, but he made up for that by dominating the backboards, pulling down a game-high 15 boards.
“Some nights you feel like the basket is an ocean, and some nights you feel like it’s a small little trash can,” Goodman said. “Tonight was probably the worst offensive game of my life.“When I’m off – I have to do the other stuff. I was trying to get assists, trying to make plays for the other guys. I also hit the glass and get some easy baskets, but the shots just didn’t fall for me tonight.”
Goodman and his teammates made sure the Panthers were equally frustrated on the offensive end. No Tennent player reached double figures on a night that saw Cole Weber score a team-high seven points while Rauchut added six.The offensive frustration started early for both teams, beginning with Rock North’s futile attempts on its first possession of the night.
“I think each of us had about five rebounds after that first possession,” Anastasi said with a laugh.
The Indians led 5-2 after Morgan buried a three-pointer, but midway through the quarter, Weber answered with a trey, and the teams were deadlocked 5-5.
An Anastasi bucket sparked a 6-0 Rock North run that was broken when Connor Geiger scored on a putback, trimming the Indians’ lead to 11-7 at the end of one quarter.
Another Weber trey to open the second quarter pulled the Panthers to within one, but Anastasi answered with a three-point play at the other end after an offensive board. After a Panther miss, McCloskey connected on an outside shot to make it a 16-10 game.
It was a 21-14 game at the intermission.
“The three keys tonight – we were trying to disrupt Morgan as much as we could because he runs that whole offense,” Mulville said. “We thought if we could get him off his game maybe they would get out of sync, but he did a real good job.
“The other key was boxing out and doing whatever you can to get the ball because we have a real height disadvantage. We tried to cut down as best we could their second shots. The other (key) was to play help defense. I was really pleased with the way we kept trying. They didn’t just blow us out of the gym. We didn’t make shots, and they did.”
The Panthers trailed 22-16 after Rauchut scored on a cut to the hole, but the Indians took their first double-digit lead of the game when – after Raymon buried a pair of foul shots – Goodman scored on a putback to give the Indians a 26-16 lead.Shakat Kofa connected for the Panthers, but Morgan responded with a three-point play. When Goodman converted a fastbreak bucket after an Anastasi steal, the Indians led 31-18.
“In order to beat teams when you have an off game, you have to go to the other to the other end of the court, and you have to play defense, rebound, run and get easy baskets,” Goodman said. “We treat this game liked we’re playing Neshaminy. We play every minute hard.”
The Indians went on top 35-21 after Anastasi scored on a putback to close out the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Indians continued to add to their lead, but on this night, it was never easy.
“I was most pleased with the fact that we defended really well despite the fact that we weren’t playing well offensively,” Wright said. “That’s what we focus on every day, and that’s what we hang our hat on that we need to bring it defensively every night.
“I was really pleased with the way we played defensively. We just need to keep working to get better, especially to become more consistent on the offensive end.”“This is definitely not one to remember offensively,” Anastasi added. “From the start, we came out defensively. We weren’t gambling.
“It was just halfcourt defense for 32 minutes, and that’s what we try to pride ourselves on. We call it ‘North Basketball,’ and I think we were at least happy we did that tonight.”
While the Panthers fell to 0-7 in SOL play (4-10 overall), the Indians improved to 8-0 in the league (13-1 overall).
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 50, WILLIAM TENNENT 30
Wiliam Tennent (30) – Shakat Kofa 2 0-0 5; Mike Wasserleben 0 1-2 1; Tyler Wuensche 2 0-0 4; Jack Rauchut 3 0-0 6; Cole Weber 2 1-2 7; Ryan Smith 0 0-0 0; Connor Geiger 2 0-2 4; Tim Compton 1 0-0 2; Matt Alden 0 1-3 1. TOTALS 12 3-9 30.
Council Rock North (50) – Aaron Morgan 3 3-3 11; Matt McCloskey 3 0-0 7; Arron Goodman 3 1-4 7; Charlie Anastasi 6 1-1 13; John Raymon 1 5-8 7; Jordan Chernin 0 0-0 0; Kevin Bogucki 1 0-0 3; Liam Kane 0 1-2 1; Sam Ryan 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 17 12-20 50.
William Tennent 7 7 7 9-30
Council Rock North 11 10 14 15-50
3-point goals: Tennent – Weber 2, Kofa. CR North – Morgan 2, McCloskey, Bogucki.
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