Ryan Connolly showed signs of regaining the form that made him one of the conference’s top players in leading Souderton to the big win. To view photos of the Hatboro/Souderton game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Franconia – Souderton senior Ryan Connolly sure doesn’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger these days – not after losing close to 20 pounds after a bout with pneumonia and missing three weeks of the season. But the talented forward could have uttered the famous “I’ll be back” from the Schwarzenegger movie Terminator as Connolly looked close to 100 percent in the Indians (13-4, 9-1) 58-43 victory over visiting Hatboro-Horsham (7-10, 5-5), a win that allowed Souderton to keep a firm grasp on first place in the Suburban One League Continental Conference standings.
Connolly scored a game-high 17 points and controlled the paint to reestablish him as another weapon in the Souderton offense. He once again showed the agility of a player that was one of the most highly touted in the conference before the season.
“It was great to see the way that Ryan played the game tonight,” said Souderton head coach Dennis Stanton. “Ryan does everything for us – he rebounds, he defends, and he scores. He almost looked like he was back to the way he played at the beginning of the season before he got sick.”
“I was happy to see him back, I know his family, and he is a player that is going to have more basketball ahead of him on the next level,” said Hatboro-Horsham head coach Dennis Steinly. “With him back playing like he played tonight, you have to pick your own poison with Souderton. (Luke) Moyer can hurt you, (Mark) Wonderling can hurt you, and Ryan can hurt you.”
“The last couple of games since I was back I was fighting fatigue,” said Connolly. “I was having a hard time breathing, but things are slowly coming back. I gained three pounds back, and I hope to gain at least 10 more pounds by the end of the season. My teammates did a great job of getting us into first place, and that’s the great thing about this team. We’re like a family.”
Hatboro-Horsham – which came into the game riding a four-game winning streak – took an early 6-2 lead in the first period. And it was at this point of the game that everyone in the gym knew that Connolly was indeed back.
Connolly nailed a 3-point field goal from beyond the arc to slice the lead to 6-5 – made a key steal on the defensive end of the court – and finished around the rim moments later with a 2-point field goal to give the Indians a 7-6 lead.
Souderton would never trail after that.
“Ryan gave us a real spark at that point of the game,” said Stanton. “And we were able to play some good defense to take the lead.”
Souderton played suffocating defense from the 2:16 mark of the first period until the 4:34 mark of the second period as the Indians forced nine consecutive Hatter turnovers and zero points in that 5:42 stretch. In that same time frame, the Souderton offense erupted for 15 points and secured a 22-7 lead.
“It has been a while since we have played a team that plays the type of pressure defense that Souderton played tonight,” said Steinly. “They did a great job of denying passing lanes, and it took some time for us to adjust.”
The Hatters made some adjustments and climbed to within eight points (51-43) with 4:01 left in the game. Zach Quattro – who scored a team-high 12 points – bombed home a trio of 3-point field goals in the second half to lead the Hatboro-Horsham surge. Ryan Kelly – who also scored in twin digits for the Hatters with 10 points – and Paul Haggerty collected key buckets.
Souderton closed out the game, though, with a 7-0 run in that final four minutes to seal the deal.
The Indians showcased a very balanced scoring attack. In addition to Connolly’s 17 points, Wonderling (14), Moyer (11), and John Kanas (10) also scored in double figures for Souderton.
“We can’t let this game kill our season,” said Steinly. “We felt good coming into the game with the four wins, we felt that we were climbing that ladder. It would have been great to beat a Souderton, but we have to go out and beat the teams that are close to us in the standings if we want to get into the (district) playoffs.”
“We know that the (district) playoffs are ahead of us, but we want to finish the season with a conference championship,” said Connolly as the Indians are tied with Central Bucks West at the top of the standings with 9-1 records. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
And that championship load will be a lot easier to carry with a healthy Connolly.
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 7 14 12 10 - 43
Souderton Indians 16 19 12 11 - 58
Hatboro-Horsham: Zach Quattro 12; Ryan Kelly 10; Paul Haggerty 6; Bobby Bruno 6; Michael Brown 5; Mike Vogel 2; Chad Gill 2. Total – 43.
Souderton: Ryan Connolly 17; Mark Wonderling 14; Luke Moyer 11; John Kanas 10; Ry Yazzolinas 4; Greg Mendrezcki 2. Total – 58.
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