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NEWTOWN – When Aaron Morgan scored on a drive in the closing seconds of the first quarter, Council Rock North led 18-5 in Tuesday night’s District One AAAA second round game against Wissahickon.The Indians were on their way to a cakewalk. Or at least so it seemed.
But the pesky Trojans had other ideas.
Wissahickon trailed by just four after Mike Scheier turned a Jordan Freed steal into an easy bucket with 37 seconds remaining. Morgan was fouled on the inbounds. He calmly sank a pair from the line.
The Trojans misfired at the other end. Again, Morgan found himself on the foul line. Again, he delivered, burying a pair to put the Indians on top 49-41 and all but sealing the Trojans’ fate.
“I love it,” Rock North’s junior point guard said of shooting foul shots with the game on the line. “I used to hate it.”
The days of dreading going to the line at crunch time are a distant memory for Morgan, who was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter. All told, he buried 11-of-13 from the charity stripe en route to a game-high 25 points to lead Rock North to the 50-44 win.It’s the kind of performance coach Derek Wright and Rock North fans have come to expect from their veteran point guard.
“He’s a three-year varsity starter, and he knows what we want,” Wright said of Morgan. “He’s our coach on the floor. He’s the guy with the ball in his hands more than anybody else, so he better be making the right decisions.
“Defensively, I thought he was really solid tonight too. For the most part, he was in the right position, he didn’t get in foul trouble, and he made big shots when we needed them.”
As a result of their win, the Indians have ensured themselves a berth in the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament.
“That’s big,” Morgan said. “We haven’t done it since I have been here.
“Last year we lost to Chester in the second round. This was a big game for us. We’ve happy we made it to states, but now that we know we made it to states, we have to handle districts and take it one game at a time.”
The next obstacle in the Indians’ path will be seventh-seeded Norristown, a 67-62 winner over Coatesville in a second round game on Tuesday. The Trojans, meanwhile, will face Coatesville in a game to stay alive in their quest for the ninth and final state berth.
“We still have a chance to get to states,” said Scheier. “If we can play with this team, we can play with anybody. We can definitely win three games and try and get that spot in states.”Scheier led the Trojans with 16 points, which included four three-pointers. All told, the Trojans connected on eight treys, which included a pair from Anthony McKie, who finished with seven points, and one each from Kyle Garrett (eight points) and Jordan Freed, and it was their long-distance shooting that allowed them to keep things interesting.
In truth, there was nothing to suggest the Trojans would still be hanging around in the fourth quarter as the Indians put on a clinic in the first quarter.
The fun began with a Charlie Anastasi tip in on the Indians’ opening possession, and when Morgan – despite being fouled – somehow scored on a hanging scoop shot and then completed the three-point play, the Indians led 6-0.
A foul line jumper by Raymon, who had nine points to go along with a game-high 14 boards, put the Indians on top 8-0 before Scheier buried a trey from NBA range to put the Trojans on the scoreboard at the 4:35 mark of the quarter.Arron Goodman scored on a drive, and after a Trojan miss, Goodman found Anastasi for an easy bucket to make it a 12-3 game. Tanoh Kpassagnon interrupted the Indians’ run with a basket, but Anastasi answered with a bucket. Back-to-back baskets by Morgan to close out the quarter put the Indians on top 18-5.
“That swung the momentum toward us because our fans get behind us,” Morgan said. “It helped us to get out to an early 8-0 lead because we maintained that lead even when they started making their runs.”
Another Scheier trey from NBA range to open the second quarter made it an 18-8 game. The Indians led 24-12 after Morgan buried a jumper from just inside the arc, but Freed found Jabari Kibler for an easy bucket to cut the Indians’ lead to 10.
After Morgan connected on one-of-two from the foul line, the Trojans found Scheier wide open on the baseline, and the senior sharpshooter buried his third trey of the half to make it a 25-17 game at the intermission.
“They’re a really good team,” Scheier said of the Indians. “Our game plan was to work the ball, get the open shots. We couldn’t force shots because if we let them get in transition, we’re not going to be able to keep up.
“We got the shots we wanted to get. When we get good shots, we’re able to get back on ‘D’ and play good man-to-man defense and stay in the game.”
The Trojans trailed by just a 36-30 score at the end of three quarters after Garrett completed a three-point play with .5 seconds remaining. Another Garrett bucket to open the fourth quarter made it a 36-32 game.The Trojans had a chance to cut into that lead even further but came up short. Raymon, who had a monster game on the boards, scored on the low post and converted the foul shot to make it a 39-32 game.
“They’re a very good team,” Morgan said. “They D’ed us up real well in the second half, didn’t give us some of our shots.
“Once we started pounding it in the paint – I think that turned the game around when John (Raymon) and Charlie (Anastasi) hit the boards. We rebounded real well tonight.”The Trojans refused to go away, but each time, the Indians had an answer with Morgan providing most of the answers down the stretch.
“We were concerned whether or not defensively we could hold them down because they have a lot of threats offensively,” Wright said. “I felt really good after the first quarter. I thought we played really well.
“You have to give a lot of credit to them. Every time we had a lapse defensively, they hurt us, which is a credit to their guys and coach (Kyle) Wilson. They got themselves back in the game. When it’s a tight game come playoff time, there are consequences to everything you do. Shots get a little tougher, handling the ball gets a little tougher.”
But when push came to shove, the Indians delivered when it matter most and earned the big win.
NOTES: Anastasi (13 points, 10 rebounds) finished with a double-double for the Indians...it didn’t help Rock North’s cause down the stretch that junior guard Matt McCloskey injured his shoulder early in the fourth quarter and was sidelined down the stretch. “He’s a steady, solid guy for us, and having him out – we had to put guys in positions they’re not normally in,” Wright said. “I thought we responded well.”
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 50, WISSAHICKON 44
Wissahickon (44) – Anthony McKie 2 1-2 7; Mike Scheier 6 0-0 16; Jordan Reed 1 2-4 4; Kyle Garrett 3 1-1 8; Tanoh Kpassagnon 2 0-0 4; Jordan Freed 1 0-0 3; Jabari Kibler 1 0-0 2; Flowers 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 4-7 44.
Council Rock North (50) – Matt McCloskey 0 0-0 0; Aaron Morgan 7 11-13 25; John Raymon 3 3-7 9; Aaron Goodman 1 1-3 3; Charlie Anastasi 5 3-4 13; Hunter Stevens 0 0-0 0; Jordan Chernin 0 0-0 0; Liam Kane 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 18-27 50.
Wissahickon 5 12 13 14-44
Council Rock North 18 7 11 14-50
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Scheier 4, McKie 2, Garrett, Freed.
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