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Methacton, North Penn win at Perkiomen Valley shootout

12/30/2021, 12:30am EST
By Zak Wolf

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)

It’s hard to miss Cole Hargrove when he’s out on the court. The physically imposing 6-foot-8 big man for Methacton sticks out like a sore thumb, often standing tall above the other nine players on the court. It’s no secret that he’s one of their most important players. 

The senior’s impact was felt on both ends in Methacton’s 46-32 victory over Wissahickon in the second game of the Viking Shootout at Perkiomen Valley High School. Hargrove has been steady for the Warriors all season long, leading them to a 6-0 record to start the year. 


Cole Hargrove (above, in October) and Methacton are 6-0 on the season after beating Wissahickon on Wednesday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“There’s a reason why he doesn’t come out of the game unless he’s in foul trouble or he’s tired,” Methacton head coach Pat Lockard said. 

Hargrove is a two-way threat that makes his presence felt on both ends with his length giving opposing coaches nightmares and Wednesday night was no different. The big man scored 18 points, going 6-9 from the field and hitting six of his eight foul shots on the night. Hargrove did most of his work in the first half when his team was struggling a bit on the offensive end, scoring 14 of Methacton’s 22 first half points. He used his big frame to grab offensive rebounds and create second chances for himself and his teammates all game long.

“Our game plan is to play inside-out,” Hargrove said. “I have to be a dominant force in the lane and if I’m guarded I have to kick it out for jumpers.”

Hargrove likes to play physical and over the years he’s gotten used to his new body and adjusted his game accordingly. As a freshman he was 6-3, then grew to 6-5 his sophomore year, before growing a couple more inches his junior year and now stands at 6-8. 

Hargrove is someone with plenty of varsity experience, playing on Methacton’s 2019-20 District 1 championship squad when he was only a sophomore. Hargrove was on a team with plenty of seniors including Erik Timko (Jefferson) and Jeff Woodward (Colgate), whom he’s learned lessons from about how to play as a big. 

“I’ve learned a lot from Jeff,” Hargrove said. “My sophomore year he told me to play more assertively and he believed in me to make the right plays, and I’ve been doing it this year.”

Playing on such a dominant team that had their season cut short due to the pandemic before a massive state quarterfinal rematch with Roman Catholic, Hargrove wasn’t the main focal point like he is now. 

“I was more of a sixth man my sophomore year,” Hargrove said. “My job was to go out there, make some hustle plays, rebound, and make shots. This year and my junior year I learned to play more as a captain, I’ve got to communicate more and teach the young guys what I know.”

“One of the biggest things I’ve seen him learn is when to be aggressive and attack,” said Lockard. “I think that leadership role of really knowing it’s up to me to do this, it’s crunch time, our team needs a bucket, I need to be able to find a way to get that done.”

As much trouble as Hargrove causes on offense, he’s even more difficult to play against on the defensive end. Methacton sit’s in a 2-3 zone, with Hargrove at the bottom protecting the basket, almost daring teams to come inside to try and challenge him. 

“We try to funnel guys to Cole and say have fun trying to finish over a 6-8 athletic kid,” Lockard said. “We’ll take our chances there.”

The thing Hargrove does well is that he doesn’t get into foul trouble often because of his instincts. He knows when he needs to try and block a shot or when to not fall for a pump fake under the basket. This allows him to stay on the floor for the Warriors and have as big of an impact as possible.

“He does a really good job of staying vertical and not coming down too often,” Lockard said. 

“He’s really developed that discipline over the years of when to go block that shot and when to stay vertical and make it tough to finish.”

For Wissahickon it was a rough night offensively, with sophomore forward Dom Vacchiano the only player to get into double figures with 10 points. Junior guard Earl Stout had 19 points the night before against Perkiomen Valley, but was held to just eight against Methacton. 

Wissahickon tried their best to work around Hargrove and find times to attack him, but it proved to be too difficult a task. 

“The one thing that’s always tough to simulate is his size at 6-8,” Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson said. “You can work on it and try and get used to it in practice, but until you’re actually out there on it, it’s something that you’ve got to get a little used [to].”

Hargrove had a quiet second half offensively, only scoring four points, but he was able to get his teammates involved showing off his unselfish play. Colin Meyer had a big third quarter for Methacton, scoring six points, outsourcing the Trojans, who only managed five in the quarter. 

Senior point guard Brett Byrne had a relatively quiet night, only finishing with nine points, but came up with a couple key steals in the second half. 

Despite the victory and the 6-0 start to the season, Lockard knows his team’s best effort hasn’t yet showed.

“We still haven’t played four straight quarters of basketball,” he said. “We’ve put together two quarters, three quarters and there seems to be a lull somewhere in the game there. We’re still working to play good for an entire game” 

By Quarter 

Methacton:      9   |  13  |  12  |  12  ||  46

Wissahickon:   7   |   9   |   7   |   9   ||  32

Scoring

Methacton: Hargrove 18, Byrne 9, Meyer 6, Christian 4, Chilson 3, Daddazio 3, Logana 3

Wissahickon: Vacchiano 10, Stout 8, Wilson 7, Twersky 5, Stewart 2

~~~

North Penn survives in overtime against Perk Valley 

After surrendering a late lead, North Penn was able to squeak out a 68-59 overtime win against Perkiomen Valley. The Knights were up four when Perkiomen Valley started to press and eventually tied the game up thanks to a Dawson Debebe breakaway layup. Debebe finished with 13 points for Perk Valley. Mario Sgro put North Penn back up with two free throws, before Shane Nelson’s tip-in with five seconds to go to send the game into overtime. 

Sgro had a quiet first three quarters, being held scoreless, but the sophomore point guard came alive in the final 12 minutes of the game. Sgro scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to give North Penn the win.  

“He’s a tough kid,” North Penn head coach John Conrad said. “I thought he struggled for three quarters, but came up really big in the fourth.”

North Penn outscored Perk Valley 14-5 in overtime after struggling to get much separation in regulation. For the first three quarters Joe Larkins and Milind Pulugura carried the load for North Penn offensively.

Larkins finished with 19 points, scoring on drives to the basket as well as jumpers, while Pulugura led all scorers with 22. Pulugura showed his ability to stretch the floor, knocking down three triples, but also used his size to get points down low. 

“They’ve been with us since freshman year,” Conrad said. “They’ve been elected captains, so obviously guys look for them to lean on and they did. They carried us early and kept us in the game.”

With COVID becoming a big factor again, Conrad hopes his team can stay healthy so they can still be on the court. And when they’re on the court, he hopes their shot selection can improve as they head into more Suburban One League games. 

By Quarter 

North Penn:             13  |  13  |  12  |  16  |  14  ||  68

Perkiomen Valley:    8   |  17  |  15  |  14  |   5   ||  59

Scoring

North Penn: Pulugura 22, Larkins 19, Sgro 11, Gee 7, Zeltt 4, Dorsey 3, Deininger 2

Perkiomen Valley: J. Sadler 14, Debebe 13, V. Sadler 11, Nelson 10, Kohler 6, Pelzer 5


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