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#12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 50, WILLIAM TENNENT 49
The Patriots had a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and there was nothing to suggest the game would come down to the wire, but that’s exactly what happened after the Panthers took a one-point lead late.
“We had a couple of opportunities but didn’t score, so we had to foul,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “With about 10 seconds left, we fouled, and (Derrik) Cosenza hit one-of-two free throws to put them up two.”
The Panthers led 49-47 with time winding down. Henrysen elected not to use a timeout.
It proved to be a good call.
“We decided we were going to go right away – get the ball to Joe Jackman and let him try and create,” Henrysen said. “He took a drive down the left hand side toward our bench, pulled up for three, hit the three fully contested, but he was able to get the shot off and knock it down.”
The Panthers – after a timeout – took a shot from just inside half court that fell short. The dramatic win was in the books.
Earlier, the Patriots, who led 12-8 after one quarter, took a 24-16 lead into halftime.
“They hit us with a 1-3-1 zone,” Henrysen said. “We felt like we were going to get open looks at the basket, and we did. We hit the shots early, and then as the game got late, we missed a couple that earlier in the game we were hitting.”
The Panthers cut six points off East’s lead in the third quarter and trailed by just a 35-33 score heading into the final quarter.
“We felt really good about how the game was going,” Henrysen said. “Even into the third quarter we were up 11 and kind of controlling the game.
“They switched to a man-to-man defense, and we still got good shots. We missed a couple of layups, we missed a couple of wide open shots, and we didn’t get stops like we had been for the whole game, and they were able to get into the lane and really put pressure on our second level of defense.”
Jackman led the Patriots with 18 points, which included four 3s. Jack Hamilton, who had a pair of 3s, had 12 points and led the Patriots under the boards with nine rebounds. Jason Markowitz also had 12 points, which included three 3s. Chris Charlton had six points. Tyler Young had four assists and three steals. The Patriots, who buried 10 3-pointers, connected on 11-of-12 at the foul line.
For the Panthers, Cosenza led the way with 18 points. Josiah Johnson added 14 points, and Jay Stanfield had nine.
“Josiah Johnson was tough for us to guard, and Cosenza is just a handful – he’s so strong, and he can do multiple things,” Henrysen said. “We’re just happy we could pull it out at the end.
“I thought we shared the ball, we played for one another. We played our brand of basketball leading up to that final moment. Joe came through as he has all year.”
Central Bucks East (14-9, 7-5 SOL) will travel to #5 Lower Merion for Tuesday’s second round contest.
“We’re excited about going down to Lower Merion for the next round and giving them everything they can handle,” Henrysen said.
Game Summary brought to you by
William Tennent 8-8-17-16 49
Central Bucks East 12-12-11-15 50
William Tennent (49) – Derrik Cosenza 18, Josiah Johnson 14, Jay Stanfield 9, Michael Scheller 2, Bryce Lockett 4, Brett Hanssens 2.
Central Bucks East (50) – Jack Hamilton 12, Joe Jackman 18, Jason Markowitz 12, Brett Young 2, Chris Charlton 6, Brendan Harte 3.
3-point goals: WT – Jay Stanfield, Josiah Johnson, Derrik Cosenza, CBE – Joe Jackman 4, Jason Markowitz 3, Jack Hamilton 2, Brendan Harte.