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Mobley leads Norristown boys to first home win in nearly two years

12/17/2021, 12:15am EST
By Zak Wolf

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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The Norristown Eagles’ boys hoops team hadn’t won a home game since Feb. 2, 2020, a seven-point win over Harry Truman. Until Tuesday night when Norristown defeated a scrappy Penn Wood team, 63-54.

The Eagles had their entire 2020-21 season canceled, but have made up for lost time at the start of the season, with their fourth game in five days. Norristown opened up the season with a win over Wissahickon on Friday and then a loss to La Salle in the Montco Triangle tournament the following day. On Monday, they beat Academy Park, but got blown out by a tough Archbishop Caroll team on Tuesday. 

Binky Johnson crouches on the sideline

Binky Johnson (above, in 2020) and his Norristown team got their first home win in early two years on Tuesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“We needed this to bounce back, to boost our confidence and morale,” said Norristown head Binky Johnson. “ I think the guys executed the game plan to perfection.”

After not being able to use any school facilities last season, Norristown is trying to get used to playing competitive high school basketball again. The team is doing as much as it can to get caught up, including weight training and conditioning after Tuesday’s victory.

“It was a setback for our program,” Johnson said of the hiatus. “We’re actually two years behind, so we’re using whatever time we can get.”

With all the time in between games, Norristown only has two players who have varsity basketball experience. Zaki Gomez and D.J Johnson were sophomores the last time Norristown had a season, but they’re the most experienced players on the team. Yet, it was someone new to the program who came up big for the Eagles in their third win of the season.

Greg Mobley, a lanky forward, was the x-factor in the win. He had an excellent game, scoring 20 points, finishing 6-of-10 from the field. The senior did it all for his team in the victory, using his size to get deep paint touches, and showed off from the outside, knocking down a couple of midrange jumpers and a three. 

“I got to my spots today,” Mobley said. “I was able to get to the free throw line well and my teammates were able to get me the ball when I was open.”

Mobley was born in Norristown, but moved to Tampa, Fla., when he was younger. He never got any varsity basketball experience while living in the Sunshine State and ended up moving back to Norristown last year. But with the school going all virtual and not having a basketball season, this year has been a new experience for Mobley.

“It’s been really fast,” Mobley said, “I’m just trying to get used to the speed, but I think it’s only good things to come.”

His coach has a lot of confidence in him and knows he’ll only get better as time goes on.

“I told Greg, ‘the Greg in December won’t be the Greg in January,’” Binky Johnson said. “He’s making major strides quickly.

“He has so much raw talent. He’s inside, outside, he’s long and one thing about him is that he works so hard in practice.” 

Mobley helped his team get off to a good start against Penn Wood, pouring in 13 points in the first half, including a 3-of-3 second quarter. The Eagles led the Patriots 35-22 at halftime, but Penn Wood did not go away easily. 

With Mobley on the bench for a large portion of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul, Penn Wood was able to work their way back into the game. 

“I was a little frustrated when I realized how many fouls I had, and I had to sit,” Mobley said. “On the bench, I tried to encourage my teammates, tell them to slow the ball down and run our sets.”

Penn Wood started to play tough defense, pressing the Norristown guards and speeding them up, which led to forcing passes and dribbling into pressure. The Patriots clawed their way back, and thanks to Mekhi Shillingford’s free throw with 1:20 left in regulation, tied the game. Shillingford was a spark off the bench for Penn Wood, leading his team in scoring with 17 points.

That was when D.J Johnson came up big for Norristown. He had 11 points in the fourth quarter, getting to the free throw 10 times and knocking down nine of his attempts. His one miss led to an offensive rebound by his backcourt partner Gomez, who got a put back to give Norristown a three-point cushion. From there, Mobley came up with a big block on the other end and Johnson sealed the deal at the line.

“D.J.’s always been a good leader,” Mobley said. “He knows how to come through in times like that.”

There aren’t many high school teams in the area that went through a canceled season like Norristown did. Only five games into the season and with an inexperienced team, Norristown is still learning every minute.

“The coaches have been very patient,” Binky Johnson said. “Normally, at this time of the year, you’re coming in with experience and knowing what you’re going to do. Now we’re kind of trial by fire.”


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