City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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As far as Perkiomen Valley has been concerned, this regular season was irrelevant.

Forget the fact that the Vikings wrapped up their 22-game slate with a 19-3 record after a 70-64 overtime win over Neshaminy on Monday night. Forget that they look primed to go into the District 1 6A tournament next week as the No. 1 seed in the 24-team bracket, which sends 10 members onto the state tournament. That they ripped off a 15-game win streak which spanned the last two weeks of December and the entirety of January.

“It’s definitely awesome, most wins in PV history for a regular-season, but we haven’t accomplished anything yet,” said senior captain Justin Jaworski, the team’s heart and soul and go-to scoring threat. “We didn’t set any regular-season goals.”

After what happened last year, who can blame them.

In the 2016 Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game, Perkiomen Valley took a late one-point lead on a Jaworski bucket against Spring-Ford, with the crowd storming the floor as they thought the game had ended. But the referees put a second back on the clock and whistled PV for a tech, giving Spring-Ford a chance to tie the game at the foul line.

The Rams went on to win in overtime. Perkiomen Valley won its first district game, then flamed out with two losses.

“I can only speak for myself,” Jaworski said, then didn't. “Everybody plays with that chip on their shoulder. I haven’t forgotten that at all, I’m sure coach [Mike] Poysden hasn’t forgotten either.”

This year’s Perk Valley squad is battle-tested, which was evident in Monday night’s win. The Vikings took all they could get from Neshaminy and star junior Chris Arcidiacono, who led the majority of the second and third quarters and were up two points with two minutes left in overtime.

Jaworski, a 5-11 guard with numerous Division II offers, hit the game-changer, a 3-pointer from straightaway that put the Vikings on top by one. Neshaminy (9-12) was unable to connect the next time down, and Perk Valley sealed the game by going 8-for-8 from the foul line down the stretch (14-17 for the game).

Arcidiacono, younger brother of former Villanova star Ryan Arcidiacono, had 33 points to lead all scorers.

Jaworski finished with 26 of his own on 9-of-13 shooting (4-5 3PT), but he had plenty of help as he sat for significant stretches of the first three quarters due to foul issues.

All five starters -- Perk Valley’s bench barely saw the court -- were key contributors to this victory: seniors Hogan Millheim (15 points, six rebounds) and Sean Owens (10 points); junior Andrew Light (13 points, four rebounds) and sophomore Tyler Stretchay (six points, seven rebounds).

Everybody in the starting lineup had at least two assists, as they combined for 13 as a team.

“It really is like a testament to what happens when chemically you have guys that believe in one another and trust in one another,” Poysden said. “Their ability to pass the ball and find the teammate and trust in their teammate, talk them through defensively.

“I think in the first half, I was getting a little quick-hit heavy and trying to run some sets to get some clean looks. In the second half, I put the play sheet away,” he continued. “The quick hits are nice but you can’t call that every time down the floor, they have to play and trust each other, screen and cut and move, and that’s what’s cool to watch, all five guys moving around and screening and cutting and hitting spots, that’s really what we preach and it pays off.”

It’s a team that knows its roles and plays it to perfection. Millheim, a 6-4 forward, and Owens, a 6-0 guard, are like Jaworski three-year starters. Stretchay and Light both played key reserve roles a year ago.

The Vikings’ motion offense is one of the most active around, with all five pieces in constant, coordinated movement. And a good number of their buckets -- the ones that weren’t created by Jaworski off the bounce -- were off back-door cuts and extra passes, with nary a forced look in sight.

“We’re undersized and we’re not more talented than a lot of teams,” Jaworski said, “but I just think we play well together.”

Perk Valley was the top spot for the latest District 1 power rankings released Sunday, so barring anything shocking next Sunday at Penncrest High School’s District seeding meetings, they’ll be No. 1 for the tournament when it starts Fri., Feb. 17. The Vikings will get a bye through to the second round, which takes place the following Tuesday, with the ability to play on their home court straight through the district semifinals at Temple.

First up, though, is revenge for last year’s Pioneer Athletic Conference championship, which starts on Friday with a game against either Methacton or Norristown in the league’s semifinals.

“After the championship game last year we said we’re coming back, we want our league championship,” Jaworski said. “So we have a good opportunity Friday to get back there.”