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Central Bucks East boys survive another overtime scare against Pennsbury

01/20/2022, 11:15pm EST
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)

It’s going to take some time for the Central Bucks East boys’ basketball team to feel comfortable headed into overtime, and it’s hard to blame them.

Last Friday, head Erik Henrysen and the Patriots lost to Council Rock North in triple overtime on a controversial call which erased a would-be overtime win with a buzzer-beater on their home floor. The student section stormed the court and received a technical foul after it was ruled there was still time on the clock in the first overtime period.

So when Central Bucks East watched Pennsbury’s Aidan McCormack beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to force overtime, Henrysen didn’t blame his players if they felt concerned about how this contest would end.


Jacob Cummiskey (above, in Dec.) had some clutch plays as CB East beat Pennsbury on Thursday night. (Photo: Rob Rose/CoBL)

“I think it's only natural for guys to start questioning, but the one thing we talked about was just do it the hard way and they came through,” Henrysen said.

Unlike last week’s loss, the Patriots showed Henrysen they were ready to play right from the start of overtime. Central Bucks East built up a quick lead and held on to secure a 71-69 win at Pennsbury on Tuesday.

One of the Patriots’ players that was pivotal in overtime was sophomore Jacob Cummiskey. The team’s top scorer was limited to three minutes in the first half with foul trouble, but did damage once he got going in the second half and finished with 13 points in the game.

Cummiskey scored four quick points in overtime, but it was the two points he scored in the fourth quarter that could mean a lot for Central Bucks East going forward.

Three times during the loss to Council Rock North, Cummiskey had one-and-one opportunities but missed the front end all three times. After the game, the sophomore spent time in the gym until he hit 50 foul shots and came through in the clutch vs. Pennsbury.

Up by one point with 6.6 second left, Cummiskey knocked down two free throws which prevented the Patriots from losing when Pennsbury scored on the next possession.

“I live for these moments,” Cummiskey said. “I love basketball. This is why I play for moments like these. I want to be on the line. I want to give my team that lead and after the game I took those 50 shots and they paid off. They paid off.”

Once Cummiskey got back on the floor in the third quarter, the Patriots’ offense got back on track. Pennsbury held a narrow advantage while he was off the floor, but once he got back in the third quarter Central Bucks East took off and won the quarter by 10 points.

Senior Aidan Weaver was the Patriots’ top scorer on the night with 14 points and was dominant from beyond the arc. The Duke baseball commit connected for four 3-pointers and paced the Patriots’ offense while they tried to keep up with Pennsbury’s perimeter attack.

The Falcons fired 3-pointers all night and went 9-for-23. Pennsbury consistently passed the ball around until it found an opening in Central Bucks East’s zone defense and gave Henrysen and his coaches issues, but the percentages decreased as the game went on.
“They're just tough, they're a tough team,” Henrysen said. “Those kids play for each other. There was so much movement when they got into the drive-and-kick. We thought we could slow that down just a little bit by going zone and they still burned us early, but we felt like if we stuck with it, it would pay off down the road.”

Pennsbury has three of the top 15 scorers in the league and that trio led their team again on Thursday. Evan McNeely had a game-high 23 points, McCormack had 20 and Ty Kocak added 18. Justin Hedges was the only other Falcon to score in the game and had eight points.

After a 4-game losing streak earlier this month, a pair of recent wins may have put the Patriots back on a path to make the playoffs.

Henrysen wanted to see his team compete in every contest and a road win over a talented team showed him the lessons he tried to teach them had taken hold headed to the end of the regular season.

“Sometimes you go through a tough stretch and you work extra hard and you don't get the result that you're looking for,” Henrysen said. “After our last game vs. Truman, we came back and we just went after it again in practice. Some of the guys said, ‘Coach, let's not take time off, let's get after it, coach us hard, and the results will come.’”

By Quarter

CB East:      15  |  13  |  18  |  14  |  11  ||  71

Pennsbury:  16  |  15  |   8   |  21  |   9   ||  69

Scoring

CB East: Aidan Weaver 14, Jacob Cummiskey 13, Tyriq Toney-Bailey 8, Brett Young 8, Liam Cummiskey 7, Joshua Lyzinski 7, Nick Rivera 6, Kyle Berndt 4, Ryan Lenahan 2, Joey Giordano 2

Pennsbury: Evan McNeely 23, Aidan McCormack 20, Ty Kocak 18, Justin Hedges 8


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