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Perkiomen Valley torch bearer Sadler goes for 32 against Norristown

01/28/2023, 1:15am EST
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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In years past, Perkiomen Valley coach Mike Poysden has described the ‘torch of expectation’ passed down through his program over the 11 years he’s been at the helm.

It started with Tyler Krause, then passed down to Justin Jaworski, then to Tyler Strechay, then to Tyler Lapetina. 

On a senior-laden team last season, it wasn’t quite yet his turn, but it was clear Julian Sadler was next.

The junior guard and most recent PV torch bearer is lighting the way for the Vikings this season and lighting up opposing defenses. He had a season-high 32 points Friday night in a 68-61 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty win over Norristown.

“I think I did a pretty good job stepping into the role,” Sadler said. “I give credit to guys like Tyler Lapetina, Jaws, Strech, guys I can learn from to learn how to handle this position and helping my teammates adjust and fill in the new roles that we have.”


Perkiomen Valley junior Julian Sadler scored 32 points in a win over Norristown on Friday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/ CoBL File)

Sadler exploded for 12 points in the second quarter to spot Perk Valley (13-7, 2-6 PAC Liberty) a 32-25 halftime lead on Friday. He was complemented by 13 points from sophomore Mason Thear and an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double from senior forward Morgan McKinney. Thear’s eight points in the third helped the Vikings build their lead as large as 12 and bring a 49-41 lead into the fourth.

Sadler, the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s leading scorer, added nine more points in the fourth (6-for-10 from the foul line) to hold off Norristown (9-10. 4-4), which was led by sophomore Jayden Byrd (15 points), senior Jaden Wise (12 points) and senior Jonathan Brooks (12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks).

“Let your leader lead in Julian on the floor, and we have to do a lot of small things well throughout the game,” Poysden said. “I thought Morgan played well. … Trust your teammates to make plays, and I thought we moved it at times and the thumbprint of our style really showed up tonight of managing the clock and controlling the game while also trying to look for scoring opportunities.”

Sadler’s older brother Vance shared the court with PV’s most recent torch bearer Tyler Lapetina, who led the PAC in scoring a senior on the Vikings’ 2020-21 district quarterfinal team. Sadler and the Vikings went down to watch Lapetina and Immaculata play at the Palestra earlier this season.

The junior guard said he’s talked to Strechay, a 1,000-point scorer who led another district quarterfinalist in his senior season, during a few games this season. He spent time with Jaworski this summer at Dennis Stanton’s basketball camp, where the former Lafayette star who is playing professionally in Spain was working. 

“I did watch some of them,” Sadler said. “I was a little young at the time, but just watching them playing and talking to them helped me with a lot of the leadership things on the court.”

Poysden has seen some of the intangibles from his past standouts rub off on Sadler, even if their skillsets aren’t 100 percent identical.

“The trajectory and the talents that other players had, what’s cool is the mindset,” Poysden said of how Sadler compares to some of PV’s past stars. “It’s the work you have to put in when no one’s looking and he’s in the gym all the time. Strech was in the gym Jaws was in the gym. We’re going to learn how to play as a team in practice, but you’re going to become a more talented player when no one’s looking. That sort of culturally passes down.”

Sadler averaged just more than 10 points per game for the Vikings last season. This season he’s averaging more than 21 per contest, Friday night was his second 30-point outing and he’s approached the mark several other times with 11 games of 20-or-more points.

He is a knock down shooter (four threes Friday), whether that’s pulling up himself or getting a pass from a teammate, and can usually get to the basket when he wants as well.

“It’s just work the ball,” Sadler said of his offensive production. “I just gotta let the ball come back to me, share the ball, have a balance of that and knowing when to attack and shoot.”

Those who have led way before Sadler have taken their teams on some pretty good runs. The Vikings have at least one District 1 playoff win in six of the last seven years, the exception when they missed the postseason in 2020. They upset CB East on the road in the first round last season when Sadler scored 16 in his district playoff debut.

This season’s an odd one. An incredibly inexperienced PV squad, with the exception of Sadler jumped out to a 9-1 start. Poysden said he almost forgot just how little varsity experience he had until getting into the thick of league play. 

It turns out the lone loss during the early hot stretch — a 47-45 defeat to Liberty rival Methacton — was an indicator of what was to come.Entering Friday’s victory over the Eagles, PV was just 1-6 in division play with five of those losses by single digits and three of them one-possession games.

“We just stayed grounded,” Sadler said. “We knew we had to get better because we just work on a lot of the small things and I feel like that’s what lost us a lot of the games. We just work on the small things in practice and execution and stuff like that.”

With two games left against Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford, there’s an outside chance Sadler can help the Vikings into the PAC playoffs with a lot of outside help. Currently sitting at No. 9 in the District 1-6A power rankings, PV could also set itself up for another playoff run with a first-round bye and home game if it can build off Friday’s win.

“We hope to win as many games as we can and get just a higher seed in districts,” Sadler said. “We know PACs it’s not guaranteed, so we’re just taking it game-by-game and we’re seeing what we can do.”

“That’s what we thought we might be able to do. It’s just these two-point losses that are driving us mad,” Poysden said of Friday’s win. “I thought we made a concerted effort and we talked about taking care of the basketball and rebounding, and I thought that really showed up today. To not turn the ball over against a really good Norristown team, and I thought we really competed on rebounds.”

By Quarter

Phoenixville:  10   |   15   |  16  |   20   ||  61

Perkiomen Valley:  13  |   19   |   17   |   19   ||  68

Scoring

Norristown: Jayden Byrd 15, Jaden Wise 12, Jon Brooks 12, Myon Kirlew 9, Miles Daniel 9, Roddy Gaymon 6

Perkiomen Valley: Julian Sadler 32, Mason Thear 13, Morgan McKinney 11, Luke Hansen 6, Ryan Murphy 4, Kyle Shawluk 2


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