City of Basketball Love

Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo)
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As Cameron Reid’s three pointer at the start of overtime hung in the air, hundreds looked on, waiting for the precious second that turned the District 1 second round game in favor of visiting Spring-Ford.

Reid’s three went in to give Spring-Ford a three-point lead in overtime, but not without first bouncing high off the rim only to fall right back in again.

“When Cameron Reid took that three to start overtime, and it popped up off the rim, I thought it was going out, but then it came back down and in,” Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens said. ”I thought maybe the basketball gods were against us.”  

From that three on, Spring-Ford never looked back, pulling out a nail biting 61-58 overtime win over host No. 5 Pennridge to clinch their spot in the state playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

Despite a valiant late effort from Pennridge to battle back from 59-54 down in overtime, the Suburban One Continental winners came up just short, after late threes from Danny Long and Stephen Lowry did not go down.

In a game that was dominated and headlined by offense, it was Spring-Ford’s tenacious overtime defense that won them the game.

Spring-Ford turned over Pennridge on two of their first three possessions of overtime and held Pennridge to just one field goal in the extra four minutes to earn a berth in the District 1 quarterfinals.

“We just needed a couple stops in a row, and everyone chipped in and did just enough to get the win,” Spring-Ford head coach Chris Talley said.

On a night when Spring-Ford would need to match Pennridge’s offensive production, the PAC-10 champions turned to senior leader Matt Gnias. 

And right from the opening tip, Gnias was dialed in.

The Rams’ point guard and leading scorer came out firing, sinking his first four threes and scoring 17 first half points en route to his team's upset victory.

“I just tried to do what I do every game, shoot the ball and hope it goes in,” Gnias said.

Gnias, who led all scorers with 23 points and six made threes, wasn’t the only Ram on fire on Tuesday night.

Lowry made four of his own threes, finishing the opening half 4-of-5 from beyond the arc which allowed Pennridge to cut into the Spring-Ford lead to just one before half.

“We tried to limit Lowry as much as possible because he was making everything,” Gnias said.

The 3-point shooting from Lowry and Gnias highlighted what was an action packed first half, with both teams on fire shooting a combined 14-of-20 from beyond the arc.

“I thought it was going to get to 100 at some point, both teams were making everything and that was some of the best high school basketball you can ask for,” Talley said.

Expectedly, the game slowed early in the second half, as both teams cooled off from three, and Pennridge held their PAC-10 counterparts to just six points in the first six minutes of the half.

Trailing 40-37 nearing the end of the third, Spring-Ford retook the lead on the back of two of its star seniors. First, it was a Reid three point play to tie the game at 40. That was followed up by a Gnias corner three and an assist from Gnias to junior Ryan Fitzpatrick that barely beat the buzzer, giving the Rams all of the momentum back entering the fourth.

“It was a shootout, we were hitting threes, they were hitting threes, it was just fun,” Gnias said.

Pennridge fought back, as neither team led by more than three at any point in the fourth quarter. The Suburban One Continental champions went on a quick 5-0 run on the back of Long to go up three with just 2:40 left.

Long, who is the all-time leading scorer in Pennridge history, finished with 20 points, with 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter, where the Monmouth baseball commit fought to keep his team in the game.

“Dan is the type of competitor where he decides that it’s time to step up his game, and he does it,” Behrens said.

With just two minutes to play, Charles Drummond, a Spring-Ford junior, sunk another critical three, to level the game at 54, a score which would remain locked at 54 for the game’s final minutes of regulation.  

In a game of two teams who love to get out and run and shoot threes, there was plenty of offense to go around.

But when it counted, Spring-Ford did just enough on the defensive end in the closing moments.

“We thought that was the kind of game it was going to be, with two very similar teams going at it, and it would come down to the last few possessions,” Behrens said.

Spring-Ford will now take on No. 4 seed Ridley on the road in hopes to pull off a second consecutive upset.

For Pennridge, the season isn’t over, as they’ll have a playback game at home against Perkiomen Valley Friday night.

Behrens stressed to his team that they need just two wins to clinch a state bid.

“Our guys are a little down about the loss, but our goal is to make states,” Behrens said. “We have to win two games, that’s our goal.”

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Tuesday's District 1 AAAA Results
No. 17 CB East 49, No. 1 Coatesville 43
No. 9 Chester 56, No. 25 Hatboro-Horsham 34 (Game story)
No. 4 Ridley 45, No. 20 Perkiomen Valley 31 (Game story)
No. 12 Spring-Ford 61, No. 5 Pennridge 58 (Game story)
No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh 60, No. 18 Academy Park 56
No. 7 CB West 42, No. 10 Phoenixville 30 (Game story)
No. 14 Conestoga 57, No. 3 Downingtown West 51 (Game story)
No. 11 Lower Merion 64, No. 27 Upper Dublin 48

Friday's District 1 AAAA Schedule
Quarterfinals
No. 17 CB East @ No. 9 Chester
No. 12 Spring-Ford @ No. 4 Ridley
No. 7 CB West @ No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh
No. 14 Conestoga @ No. 11 Lower Merion

Play-Backs
No. 25. Hatboro-Horsham @ No. 1 Coatesville
No. 20 Perkiomen Valley @ No. 5 Pennridge
No. 18 Academy Park @ No. 10 Phoenixville
No. 27 Upper Dublin @ No. 3 Downingtown West