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WILLIAM TENNENT 37, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 36
Trailing by two with 30 seconds remaining, Jay Stanfield found Sean Haus on the right wing, and Haus nailed a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 37-36 lead.
“We had set up a play to either look for Derrik (Cosenza) inside or set a screen on the opposite side for Sean Haus,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “They actually defended both of those things well.
“Stanfield got the ball back and brought it back over. Haus was able to get free for a second, and it was just enough time for him to get a clean look, and he was able to knock down a three.”
The game was far from over. The Titans missed a contested shot, and Cosenza got the rebound. The Panthers weren’t able to capitalize, missing the front end of a one-and-one, and with nine seconds remaining, the Titans called a timeout.
“I thought – we were in the same situation last year against them up at their place,” Mulville said of his team’s 55-53 loss to the Titans last season. “The game was tied. They called a timeout. I remember saying to our staff, ‘We’re going to go man-to-man. We’ll put our best defender on (Alex) Dietz,’ and he went down and made this unbelievable shot with two guys’ hands in his face.
“I said, ‘I am not letting that happen again. We’re going zone, we’ve got to try and get the ball out of Dietz’s hands. If you can make them make two passes, we should be able to have them rush that last shot.’ Dietz got the ball. We were able to get it out of his hands. They had to rush the shot at the end. I was real happy with the way we executed the last two defensive possessions.”
The Panthers took a 25-12 lead into halftime but managed just three points in the third quarter.
“It was almost like we swapped roles,” Mulville said. “They started pressing us in the second half. They didn’t get a lot of steals, but it just got us out of sync where we kind of stopped attacking the basket.
“We probably got maybe four or five good looks, but they challenged them. We missed a couple of layups. Then all of a sudden the quarter was over and we only scored three points, but we still had a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter, so our defense was still solid.
“Holding them to 23 points through three quarters, you should feel pretty good, but that third quarter really got them back in the game. They did a nice job, got us out of our rhythm, and all of a sudden we were in a close game again.”
South took a lead in the fourth quarter, but Derrik Cosenza answered with six straight points for the Panthers, but this one wasn’t decided until the buzzer sounded.
“He got a three-point play for us, he got fouled and made one-of-two and then he scored on a post move,” Mulville said of Cosenza’s six-point tear. “Our defense was still there at the end.
“Jay Stanfield took a charge with a minute and 10 seconds left that would have led to a basket for them, but he was able to rotate over and get that charge.”
Cosenza finished with 12 points and Haus had nine to lead the Panthers, who were 15th in the latest District 1 6A power rankings.
Dietz’s 11-point effort led the Titans. Michael Farley added 10.
William Tennent (11-6, 5-3 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday, and Central Bucks South (9-9, 4-5) will host Pennridge on Tuesday.
Game Summary brought to you by
Central Bucks South 6-6-11-13 36 William Tennent 12-13-3-9 37
Central Bucks South (36) – Michael Waltrich 1 0-0 2; Evan D’Orazio 2 0-1 5; Aiden VanZanten 1 0-0 2; Owen Petrich 3 0-0 6; Alex Dietz 3 5-6 11; Michael Farley 4 2-2 10; Totals 14 7-9 36.
William Tennent (37) – Jay Stanfield 2 0-0 4; Daulton Zeaman 1 0-0 3; Josiah Johnson 2 2-2 6; Sean Haus 3 1-2 9; Derrik Cosenza 5 2-6 12; Bryce Lockett 1 1-2 3; Totals 14 6-12 37.
3-point goals: CBS – Evan D’Orazio, WT – Sean Haus 2, Daulton Zeaman.