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Spring-Ford thumps Norristown for 15th straight win, stays perfect in PAC

01/18/2023, 2:15am EST
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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ROYERSFORD -- As the other top teams in the Pioneer Athletic Conference made their way to Spring-Ford High School for the league playoffs last season, the host Rams were left out.

Instead of participating in the PAC Final Six on its home court, Spring-Ford practiced next door in the auxiliary gym and walked out past the packed stands only to be reminded of what they were missing out on.

“That was rough,” senior wing Alex Lewis said. “We never want that to happen again. That left a pain in our stomach. Leaving the school everyday and all the kids coming in and playing, we didn’t want that to happen again, so in the offseason we worked really hard.”


Spring-Ford senior Alex Lewis is a three-year varsity player. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

The Rams appear well on their way to a drama free finish and an invitation to the dance this season. Spring-Ford cruised past Liberty Division foe Norristown, 69-50, for a 15th straight win on Tuesday. The victory over the Eagles, who took down the Rams in the final regular-season game last season for the last spot in the PAC postseason, pushed Spring-Ford one step closer to locking up their spot this season.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time right now,” Lewis said. “Obviously, we want to win as much as we can but we’re just looking for the next game right now.”

Those who saw last season’s team play would hardly recognize this Rams (15-1, 6-0 PAC Liberty) group. Sure there are a few familiar faces — Lewis, sophomore Jacob Nguyen, junior E.J. Campbell and senior Claeb Little were all main rotation pieces last season and seniors Mike McKenna and Zach Zollers were around — but the Rams’ style at both ends are drastically different.

With two true post players in Gavin Schauder (6-9) and Jake Kressley (6-5), Spring-Ford’s 2021-22 squad packed into a zone on defense and was deliberate on offense as they ran through Kressley in the post. The Rams were strong on defense, holding opponents to 44.3 ppg, but were far from a juggernaut on offense (48.0 ppg) during a 13-7 regular season (8-5 PAC, 6-4 Liberty) that was followed by two excruciating home district playoff losses.

This year’s team starts athletic 6-foot-4 sophomore wing Tommy Kelly at the ‘5’ alongside Nguyen (6-4), Campbell (6-1), Lewis (6-2) and Little (5-10). They play a lot more man-to-man defense and are trying to push the pace on offense. The offense (54.3 ppg) is coming a lot easier for the Rams this season, while they continue to lock opponents down (41.3 ppg). 

“We have some good athletes and I don’t want to play so slow at times that would just nullify some of our good weapons,” second-year coach Joe Dempsey said. “That’s kind of what we’re trying to do is just create some more possessions.”

“Offensively, we’re pushing the ball more, upping the tempo, shooting a lot more threes,” Campbell said. “We were working hard all summer working on our three ball.”


Spring-Ford junior E.J. Campbell had 15 points against Norristown. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Nguyen led the way with 18 points, Campbell added 15 and Lewis added 13 to lead the way in Tuesday’s victory over the Eagles (8-8, 4-2). Little chipped in another nine points with seven assists and six boards.

“I just feel like 1 through 5 this year, everyone can do everything,” Lewis said. “Last year, we had Kressley and Schauder and people could zone in on them, but I feel like 1 through 5, everyone’s mobile, everyone can shoot a little bit, so it’s hard to cover.”

“This year, I feel like overall as a team we’re much more connected,” he added. “Everyone plays for each other. Everyone loves each other. I feel like that helps us a lot.”

Norristown had a chance to tie the Rams atop the division standings with a win on Tuesday, but despite big outings from junior guard Jayden Byrd (19 points) and senior forward Jonathon Brooks (16 points, 10 rebounds) the well-balanced Rams never let them in the game.

Spring-Ford led 14-6 after the first quarter, showing off its defensive chops, and went up double-digits at the half, 33-23. That advantage grew as large as 17 in the third quarter before Byrd got going to keep the Eagles down just, 47-37. Seven different Rams scored in the fourth as they pulled away once again.

The Rams haven’t lost since a double overtime defeat against West Chester East in their season opener Dec. 2.

“We have a great group of seniors,” Dempsey said. “We have great leaders. Mainly, it’s one of those years where nobody cares who scores. We’re going eight deep and nobody cares who gets the credit and it just comes down to the kids and their character and letting us coach them hard.” 

Before their streak of five straight PAC playoff appearances was snapped first by COVID and then Norristown last season, the Rams made three championship game appearances from 2016-2020.

The Rams last went to the PAC title game in 2018 and haven’t taken home a crown since 2016.

OJR took the Rams to overtime this weekend and Perkiomen Valley and Methacton have played them tough. However, with five PAC games still left on the schedule, including contests against the Wildcats, Vikings and Warriors, the Rams are looking like an early favorite this year.

They should be able to clinch their playoff spot with one or two more league wins.

“I think the last time we made it to a PAC chip was five years ago,” Campbell said. “We’re bringing the crowd back. We got a lot of people supporting us now that we’re winning. It would just be good to finally put Spring-Ford on the map.”

Spring-Ford currently ranks No. 2 in the District 1-6A power rankings, though Dempsey noted his team has “holes” and he’s not quite sure how they stack up against the rest of the area’s top teams.

As the wins pile up and expectations grow, he hopes his players can continue to stay in the moment.

“I don’t win the 15 wins to become a burden to the kids,” Dempsey said. “I want them to enjoy it.”

That shouldn’t be an issue.

“We don’t really look into the rankings and all the standings, we just like to play, but I think we’re on a pretty good run,” Campbell said. “It’s been fun so far.”

By Quarter

Norristown:   6   |  17  |   14   |  13  ||  50

Spring-Ford:     14   |  19  |   14   |  22  ||  69

Scoring

Norristown: Jayden Byrd 19, Jonathan Brooks 16, Andre Gordon 7, Roddy Gaymon 4, Jaden Wise 2, Myon Kirlew 1, Miles Daniels 1

Spring-Ford: Jacob Nguyen 18, E.J. Campbell 15, Alex Lewis 13, Caleb Little 9, Tommy Kelly 4, Mike McKenna 3, Justin Johnson 3, Luke Pufko 2, Tyree Banks 2


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