skip navigation

Penncrest upsets Conestoga to alter Central playoff race

01/27/2016, 8:15pm EST
By Josh Verlin & Stephen Pianovich

Tyler Norwood (above) and Penncrest helped out LM and Strath Haven by beating Conestoga on Wednesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Stephen Pianovich (@Spianovich) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
--

Penncrest pulled off a Central League upset over Conestoga on Wednesday night, one that could help shape the conference’s playoff picture.

The Lions, who’ve had had a fourth quarter lead in all 19 of the games they’ve played this season, were able to finish off a big one, holding on for a 57-53 win.

Penncrest, which was led by sophomore Tyler Norwood’s 19 points and got 12 more from junior guard Justin Ross, improved to 7-6 in the league, while Conestoga dropped to 9-4. While the win certainly might have an impact on the Central League playoffs next weekend, it definitely helps the Lions’ push towards a spot in the District 1 AAAA playoffs.

“Every single game this year we’ve got a lead in the fourth quarter, whether it was Lower Merion, Cheltenham, Ridley, the list goes on,” Penncrest head coach Mike Doyle said afterwards over the phone. “So we just felt like we were building towards something, that being the District playoffs now.”

Ridley is still unbeaten in Central League play at 13-0, while four teams -- including Penncrest and Conestoga -- are battling for the final three spots. Lower Merion helped its cause on Tuesday night by beating Strath Haven, a result that made Lower Merion 10-3 in the conference and dropped Strath Haven to 11-3.

Of course, if Ridley finishes undefeated in league play with three more wins, then there won’t be a No. 4 seed in the league playoffs. Though Conestoga’s league playoff hopes took a big hit with the loss and Penncrest’s chances are incredibly slim, Doyle insisted there was no motivation from playing the spoiler.

“Maybe other years that would be (motivation), but it really was about us,” he said. “Just trying to play and say ‘look, we’ve been with Ridley, we’ve been with Lower Merion, let’s do this, let’s finish one.”

While Norwood continued to establish himself as a player-to-watch in the region for the next two years, Doyle gave a lot of credit to Ross, a 5-11 junior and the son of Delaware men’s basketball head coach Monté Ross. The younger Ross was 5-for-5 from the floor, and Norwood added four assists while Mike Mallon corralled 10 boards for Penncrest.

“What we’d been saying was we needed somebody to be a wing for (Ty), and Justin Ross was clearly that guy tonight,” Doyle said.

Latest Headlines

Tag(s): Old HS  Boys HS  Central League (B)  Conestoga  Penncrest