WARMINSTER – Rarely did the Pennridge boys basketball team attempt to score inside in Tuesday’s Suburban One League non-conference game against William Tennent. The final seconds explained why.
With once last chance to force overtime, Panthers sophomore Horace Spencer smacked the 12-foot jumper back for the loudest of his four blocks. The Panther defense held long enough to pull off the 46-42 win.
Spencer added 18 points and 17 rebounds to round out a dominating display. The Rams (1-2) only mustered five two-point field goals, but luckily 10 three pointers kept them close.
‘We were this close to stealing one down here,’ Rams coach Dean Behrens said. ‘Horace Spencer really hurt us on the boards. With their length we had to hit some shots outside. We got good looks, but they are long, and made it tough to skip pass it to the post.’
The Rams kept it close with their sharp-shooting guards. Senior Jeff Garner scored all 15 points on five treys and sophomore Zack Muredda added 14 points, four form long distance. Pat McClatchy’s three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining brought the Rams within one point.
‘We tried to shade toward Muredda and Garner, but we kept losing them and they kept knocking them down,’ Panthers’ coach Robert Mulville said. ‘We worked a lot on offense, so we have not put too many wrinkles in on defense. But we can protect the rim and if a team does not shoot well we should be able to rebound and get on a break.’
The Panthers (2-0) looked to junior Matt Alden to ice the game from the foul line. After missing the first two attempts, he connected on three of his last four free throws to bump his scoring total to 16 points and seal the win.
‘Matt wants to be in at the end of the game,’ Mulville said. ‘He plays his heart out. He is a focused kid to what the overall goal is. He knows what he needs to do to win a game.’
After Alden hit two free-throws and the score sat at 43-40 the Rams needed one more deep jumper to land. After missing the three-pointer with 11 seconds left, teams traded technical fouls and possession stayed with the Rams. They still had a chance to earn their second win on the season even though those aspirations looked dim trailing 30-17 after one half of play.
‘It was good to be down and come back fighting,’ Garner said. ‘We shot the ball with confidence. We showed a lot heart, just could not finish it out.’
Optimism did not end for the Rams until Spencer ended it with a rejection heard all over Warminster. Spencer collected his own block and slammed home the final points of the night on the other end. The Panthers showed off their hard work from this offseason. Behind Spencer and senior Connor Spornak, who added six points and six rebounds, defense will determine the Panthers’ dreams.
‘We anticipated their shot and got a hand in the face,’ Spencer said. ‘Defense was critical. We have been dedicated and working hard. We are trying to have a little better record than we did last year.’
William Tennent 46, Pennridge 42
Pennridge 9 8 15 10 – 42 William Tennent 14 16 4 12 – 46
Pennridge: Garner 5 0-0 15; Muredda 4 2-2 14; McClatchy 3 0-0 7; Dietterich 2 0-0 4; Krivda 1 0-0 2; Totals 15 2-2 42
William Tennent: Spencer 8 1-3 18; Alden 4 6-9 16; Spornak 3 0-0 6; Case 2 0-0 4; Wasserleben 1 0-0 2; Totals 18 7-12 46
Three-pointers: PR – Garner (5), Muredda (4), McClatchy; WT – Alden (2), Spencer.
Follow Andrew Marcus on Twitter @amarcus515.
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