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District 1 6A: Mahtat's big night powers CR North past Neshaminy

02/18/2022, 9:45pm EST
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)

Adam Mahtat picked the perfect night to play one of the best games of his career.

The Council Rock North junior forward has impressed his head coach Jesse Krasna with the improvements he’s made since his sophomore season, but Friday night was something special.

With Neshaminy in Newtown for a PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoff game just 10 days after it beat CR North on its own floor, Mahtat opened and closed the game strong for his team. The junior tied his career high with 23 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and led CR North to a 58-53 win.


Adam Mahtat (above) had 23 points as CR North held off Neshaminy to advance in the District 1 6A playoffs. (Photo: Rob Rose/CoBL)

“He wants to have a complete game and he really worked in the offseason on expanding his shooting range, which you saw on display tonight,” Krasna said. “He really does have a really high skill level, so I think he's starting to realize how good he is and when that really sinks in the sky's the limit for him because he's got all the tools.”

The 6-foot-5 junior continued to come through with clutch shots for his squad as Neshaminy tried to complete a comeback.

In the third quarter, immediately after Neshaminy tied the game for the first time since the early minutes, Mahtat drilled a 3-pointer to put CR North back ahead. Neshaminy knotted the contest at the third-quarter buzzer, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, Mahtat made a layup that took the lead right back.

Mahtat said Krasna and the coaches talked to the team about battling on the court like boxers in a ring and he responded. The junior forward didn’t want to see his senior teammates’ season stop, so he had to do whatever it took to secure the win.

That loss to Neshaminy 10 days ago wasn’t fun for Mahtat and he looked forward to a chance to get rid of that feeling.

“The second time we played, we just didn't come out with the energy and I didn't come out the way I wanted to play,” Mahtat said. “Sometimes things can, you know, get to my head maybe a little bit, but tonight I came out mentally stable, mentally strong and I was able to come through. It feels great (to have) all my friends, just cheering me on and having that feeling I've never had before.”

Krasna said with how close their last contest against Neshaminy was, the coaching staff really wanted to watch the game film and find some changes to make. While there were some things he wanted his squad to focus on when the teams met again on Friday night, it came down to the CR North players’ effort more than schematic changes.

“Knowing that you just played them a little more than a week ago, you try to take a really good hard look at that film, especially in a loss and try to make some adjustments but honestly, it wasn't the adjustments that we made. It was our guys making big-time plays,” Krasna said. “It doesn't matter what adjustments his coaches make, you win because of performances like that. Our kids, they all love each other, they play really hard for each other and they're really unselfish.”

While Neshaminy was never able to take the lead away, it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

Sophomore Nate Townsend battled Mahtat all night and finished tied with Mahtat for a game-high 23 points. Townsend continued to keep his team in the game while senior Evan Esposito added 15 points and junior Sean Curley contributed nine points including buzzer beaters in the first and third quarters.

The win sent the No. 13 seed CR North into a road game at No. 2 seed Lower Merion on Tuesday. The Aces are 19-3 on the season and have only lost twice in 2022.

While the team still has another game on the schedule, Krasna and his squad spent some extra time together postgame as several coaches spoke to the team about how impressed they were with the players.

CR North had three seniors spend most of the night on the floor, but it was the junior Mahtat who was the man and it didn’t matter to any of them because they got the win and get to keep playing.

“I think the biggest message is just how proud our coaching staff is of our kids because of their character, their work ethic and their unselfishness,” Krasnsa said. “That kind of culminated in tonight's win. It's really hard to win any game, let alone a playoff game against a really good opponent and I'm just really proud of how hard we competed and how we stayed together throughout.”

By Quarter
CR: 17 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 58
N:    13 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 53

Scoring

CR: Adam Mahtat 23, Bernie Parent 14, Jack Blum 7, Ryan Burkett 6, Logan Saifer 6, Shane Anhalt 2.

N: Nate Townsend 23, Evan Esposito 15, Sean Curley 9, Emeer Coombs 2, Kade Benjamin 2, Joey Zack 2.

~~~

Boys District 1 6A First Round Results
17) Penn Wood def. 16) Pennsbury, 52-42
24) Garnet Valley def. 9) Upper Dublin, 48-46
20) West Chester Henderson def. 13) Great Valley, 60-52
12) Norristown def. 21) Wissahickon, 49-34
15) CR North def. 18) Neshaminy, 58-53
23) Abington def. 10) Conestoga, 36-32 (2OT)
19) Perkiomen Valley def. 14) CB East, 55-53
22) Plymouth Whitemarsh def. 11) CB South, 73-66

Boys District 1 6A Second Round
Tues, Feb. 22 at higher seeds

1) Methacton vs. 17) Penn Wood
8) Spring-Ford vs. 24) Garnet Valley
4) Bensalem vs. 20) West Chester Henderson
4) Haverford vs. 12) Norristown
2) Lower Merion vs. 15) CR North
7) WC East vs. 23) Abington

3) Cheltenham vs. 19) Perkiomen Valley
6) Downingtown West vs. 22) Plymouth-Whitemarsh


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