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#24 NORTH PENN 57, #9 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 47
The Knights pulled off an opening round upset, notching their second win in two weeks over their conference rival. The two teams split the regular season series with the Knights winning on Jan. 31 48-43.
“The kids played really well tonight,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “We just didn’t play well early, they hit some big shots, and they were up 13-2 in the first quarter.
“At the end of the first quarter, Kolby Barrow hit a running one-hander to cut it to seven (16-9). Then we were down 25-22 going into halftime. We were able to make a little run in the second quarter to get it to a manageable three-point deficit.”
Mika Munari scored 10 points in the half to lead the Bucks, and Ted Spratt added six. Matt Swanson kept the Knights afloat with nine first-half points.
“Matt Swanson kept us in it early,” Conrad said. “We kept throwing it inside, and he made plays.
“Once we started playing better on the defensive end, we had a couple of guys hit shots on the perimeter, which got us going.”
The Knights outscored their hosts 16-6 in the third quarter to go on top 38-31.
“At the end of the third quarter, (Owen) Haney hit a huge 3 to make it 35-31, and we came down and Kolby (Barrow) hit one at the buzzer to answer, which was huge and put us up seven,” Conrad said. “The third quarter was good to us.”
Josh Jones had a big fourth quarter, burying a 3-pointer and connecting on 6-of-6 at the foul line. Joe Larkins added a pair of 3s.
“The kids really played well down the stretch,” Conrad said. “Josh is a multi-sport athlete. He’s obviously been in the fire, and he was really clutch for us tonight.
“I thought Joe Larkins really played well. (Mika) Munari is a really tough kid to go against, and I thought Joe did a great job at both ends.”
Swanson’s 15-point effort led the Knights. Jones added 13 points, which included a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line. Barrow, who had three 3s, finished with 11 points
“I talk about multi-sport athletes – Kolby is the quarterback, a pitcher and a basketball player, and he certainly didn’t shy away from the moment,” Conrad said.
Also for the Knights, Larkins had 10 points and Rob Carangi, six.
Neri and Munari led the Bucks with 13 points each. Munari scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter. Spratt added 11 points.
“Adam (Sherman) does a great job, and Munari and Neri are battle tested,” Conrad said. “They’ve been there before, so it was a good win for our program.”
The Knights are 4-1 in their last five games after a 6-12 start.
“We saw flashes here and there, but we lacked consistency,” Conrad said. “A lot of that has to do with the different guys – we’ve got guys that play fall sports, we had some illnesses in the beginning of the year, and I think it took us a while to get going, but the kids have worked hard. They believed in it, so they stayed the course. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
North Penn (10-13, 5-7 SOL) will travel to #8 Pennridge on Tuesday. Interestingly, it took a Matt Swanson buzzer beater from near midcourt to propel the Knights to an overtime win over the Rams in the conference finale for both squads. It was a win that propelled the Knights into the district playoffs.
Central Bucks West (8-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 15-9 record.
Game Summary brought to you by
North Penn 9-13-16-19 57
Central Bucks West 16-9-6-16 47
North Penn (57) – Kolby Barrow 4 0-1 11; Josh Jones 2 8-8 13; Joe Larkins 3 2-2 10; Mike Chaffee 1 0-0 2; Rob Carangi 3 0-0 6; Matt Swanson 6 3-4 15; Totals 19 13-15 57.
Central Bucks West (47) – Ted Spratt 3 5-9 11; Owen Haney 1 0-0 3; Mika Munari 4 3-4 13; Jack Neri 5 0-1 13; Dan Miller 1 2-2 5; Jack Slaymaker 1 0-0 2; Totals 15 10-16 57.
3-point goals: NP – Kolby Barrow 3, Joe Larkins 2, Josh Jones, CBW – Jack Neri 3, Mika Munari 2, Owen Haney, Dan Miller.