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Boys: Pope John Paul II, Perk Valley pick up season-opening wins

12/03/2022, 1:00am EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

ROYERSFORD — Trey Rogers laid full-out to dive for a loose ball along the baseline, saving it just in time to a teammate. The Pope John Paul II senior then casually jogged up the sidelines, the defense forgetting about him for just a little too long, as he crossed the volleyball line painted on the PJP court, catching the pass with only clear space in front of him. 

So Rogers pulled up from 35 feet, the ball floating through the air, catching nothing but net.


Trey Rogers (above) helped pull Pope John Paul II back into it with three big 3-pointers. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“I knew as soon as he saved the ball,” PJP coach Brendan Stanton said afterwards. “I told Trey this back there in the locker room, I said as soon as he saved the ball and we still had to bring it down the court, I said ‘Trey’s going to walk right into a three here,’ and that’s exactly how it played out.”

“We know that when he shoots it,” junior guard Dom Demtio said, “it’s going to go in.”

That shot was a major one in PJP’s come-from-behind, season-opening 47-45 win over Central Bucks on Friday night, though not Rogers’ only one. It was only his first of three consecutive fourth-quarter three-pointers: the first bringing them within three points with just under six minutes to play; another from the corner brought the Golden Panthers within one of the Bucks.

His last was from almost as deep, straightaway center, tying the game up at 43 with 3:35 to play. That was the last of Rogers’ 14 points, all but two of which came after halftime as he picked up three first-half fouls, one reason why CB West had a 28-16 advantage at the break.

“I struggled in the first, got into foul trouble, couldn’t make shots. Other guys found ways to score, kept us in the game,” said Rogers, who added three assists and rebounds in the win. “I definitely want the game to come to me, I don’t want to sit out there and chuck up 30-footers [...] I just let it come to me, dished out to my teammates, they were playing really well, and we got it done.”

“What I was proud of him tonight was if last year he’d have picked up three early fouls and things weren’t going his way, he would have put his head down,” Stanton said of Rogers, one of his few varsity returners from a year ago. “He’s really matured and grown up, and didn’t bat an eye.”


Dom Demito (above) had 12 points, including the game-winning layup and foul shots. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Rogers’ shots closed a gap that had slowly been diminishing over the course of the second half, though they weren’t enough to win it. It was Demito who scored the final four points of the game for PJP II, including a tough off-angle layup with a little more than two minutes to play, and then two foul shots with 80 seconds left that were the final points of the game, capping off his 12-point outing.

The Golden Panthers just had to survive a backcourt violation with 40 seconds to play and a couple inbounds plays in the last 10 seconds, sophomore wing Bradey Bass breaking one up with 5.7 seconds left, the final one with 1.8 seconds remaining, neither time resulting in a CB West shot.

“Everything that could go wrong kinda did go on, and we knew going into the first game it was going to come down to who can execute,” Stanton said. “CB West did out-execute us the first half, so we tried to simplify things, so we ran basically two plays the entire second half [...] once we were able to simplify it, getting back to pass and screen and being good teammates, good things happened for us."

The Bucks (0-1) were paced by a 19-point effort from junior guard Matt Engle, who shot 3-of-5 from downtown.

It’s going to be a year of learning for PJP II, which has gotten to lean on the likes of Justin Green (Catholic) and J.P. Baron (Lynn), plus Jaden Workman and Kevin Green, to shoulder the offensive load over the last few years, winning a couple titles along the way between the PAC and District 1. 

Now it’s up to Rogers, Demito, junior guard Chase Mondillo (8 points) and an assortment of juniors and sophomores — three of whom (Bass, Braden Reed and Jake Robinson) were in PJP’s top seven — to step up and keep it rolling. They’ll get right back in action on Saturday with the second half of the season-opening PAC/Suburban One Challenge, playing at Central Bucks South (0-1).

“We started off slow, had a lot of nerves because we’re a young team, and the last couple years we’ve been winning a lot, the legacy was winning,” Demito said. “We lost a lot of talent so we knew we had to play together.

“Just coming back and playing together, sticking together, was really how the rest of the season’s going to go for us. We didn’t want to start off the season 0-1, starting it off 1-0 really boosts our confidence for tomorrow.”

By Quarter
CB West: 8   |  20  |  11  |   6   ||  45
PJP II:     6   |  10  |  16  |  15  ||  47

Shooting
CB West: 15-30 FG (4-13 3PT), 11-22 FT
PJP II: 18-34 FG (6-14 3PT), 5-7 FT

Scoring
CB West: Engle 19, Cashman 10, Gugger 4, Phillips 4, McGlone 3, McKenna 2, Wisniowski 2, Reed 1

PJP II: Rogers 14, Demito 12, Mondillo 8, Bass 6, Zavertnik 5, Reed 2

~~~

Game One: Sadler leads Perkiomen Valley to win


Julian Sadler (above) had 27 points in Perkiomen Valley's season-opening win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

A 27-point outing from junior guard Julian Sadler led the way for Perkiomen Valley, as the Vikings beat Central Bucks South 58-54 in the opening game of Friday night’s doubleheader. 

Sadler got hot with a couple first-quarter 3-pointers, his first two shots from the floor, and had 15 before halftime. Though he missed his first four attempts from the foul line, he found his form there and finished the game 13-of-20 from the line, 6-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-4 from the 3-point arc.

“Not a surprise — the growth he had from 8th to 9th grade and 9th to 10th grade, the trajectory that he’s on has been really impressive, the work that he’s put in to get better,” Perkiomen Valley coach Mike Poysden said. “I just think he stays in attack mode well [...] he’s got a gear, he is a scorer, we’re excited about what he brings.”

Sadler’s offensive outburst helped the Vikings stay ahead against a Titans squad that had a significant height/length advantage, especially up front in 6-6 senior Tyler Meinel (15 points, 10 rebounds), who got a number of PV players in foul trouble. 

That caused Poysden to go deep into his bench, playing 11 over the course of the evening, and that depth paid off. Sophomore guard Mason Thear came up big with four points and two steals in the fourth quarter, as seven Perk Valley players overall found the scoring column.

“He’s (a) guy who played JV last year, did everything right on JV as a 9th grader and we’re really excited about the growth that he’s put in this offseason,” Poysden said. “In summer league he was getting his legs underneath him but he really stepped out tonight well, it was really cool to watch.”

By Quarter
CB South:    9   |  12  |  10  |  23  ||  54
Perk Valley: 13  |  11  |  17  |  17  ||  58

Shooting
CB South: 16-50 FG (2-17 3PT), 20-26 FT
Perk Valley: 17-38 FG (5-15 3PT), 19-29 FT

Scoring
CB South: Meinel 15, Valentine 11, Wheeler 9, McCusker 9, Granito 6, Vanzanten 4

Perk Valley: Sadler 27, Hansen 9, Nelson 6, Murphy 5, Target 5, Thear 4, Brady 2


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