City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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PERKASIE — North Penn boys basketball junior guard Ahmaar Godhania was looking for a jolt of energy entering Tuesday night’s Suburban One League Colonial Division showdown with rival Pennridge.

With advice from his father, Godhania purchased a Celsius energy drink.

It turns out the Knights’ 6-foot guard found the energy on the court all by himself.

“It did not work out,” Godhania said of the drink. “It gave me the opposite of giving me energy. It made me tired.”

Tired or not, Godhania did all the dirty work in the second half with plenty of hustle plays as the Knights held off a determined Pennridge squad 53-41. Godhania finished the game with 13 points, five assists and three steals.

The win improves North Penn to 7-8 on the season, 6-4 in the Colonial. More than that, it was the Knights’ first two-game winning streak of the season.

“Pennridge is always a tough team to play here,” Godhania said. “They always bring it against us.”

The Knights brought it in the first half, especially from long range, drilling seven 3-pointers to take a 29-20 lead into the half. Norman Gee (18 points) led the way with four of them, but Lee Hammond and sophomore JV player JC Wood also got into the act.

“It’s a game of averages,” NP head coach John Conrad said. “We shot really well in the first half. We came back down to earth in the second half. That’s where we settled for a lot of 3s. Fourth quarter we got some defensive stops, and that was the difference.”

The 3-pointers were not falling to start the third quarter, but Godhania went to work with a coast-to-coast bucket and a drive to the hoop. Then, North Penn got a spark once again from Wood, who hit the only two 3-pointers of the third quarter. That gave the Knights a 10-point lead heading into the final frame.

“They definitely adjusted to Norm, but then I gotta give a shoutout to JC,” Godhania said. “He stepped up.”

“Where I needed to reflect was going to zone,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “I was trying to slow Norm down, but then their shooters got loose. That No. 14 (Wood) hit three 3s off the bench. Give him credit. That hurt us. We are not a great 3-point shooting team. We are trying to get the kids to drive to the basket and get contact. Again, if you don’t play hard against this team you are going to lose by 30.”

The Rams (3-13, 2-8) made things interesting in the second half by attacking the boards. After being out-rebounded 18-10 in the first half, Pennridge was sparked by the play of Dylan Horton (eight points, 10 rebounds).

The Rams got to eight on several occasions in the final quarter, but a steal and flip to the open court from Godhania to Gee gave NP a 10-point lead with 3:30 to play. 

“I just know Norm is going to outrun the whole defense,” Godhania said of his backcourt mate. “Norm is the fastest person in the SOL. I just threw it up there.”

Gee and Godhania both salted the game away at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 in the final moments.

“The game was always at eight, eight, eight,” Behrens said. “We got to seven one time, but we could never break that eight. There was one ball I thought was going to get it to six, popped out and they went down and hit a 3. That’s the basketball gods telling me something.”

While the game appeared to feature two teams going in different directions, Behrens was thrilled with the effort of his squad. This is a team that is still playing without injured point guard Xavier Peters, junior guard Jacob Bolger and junior forward Marley Steward.

“There were a lot of positives,” Behrens said. “Our kids haven’t quit. We are trying to teach them to have good body language, play hard and be a good teammate. No matter if you win or lose, let's do that.”

The Knights, on the other hand, are still making a push towards the .500 mark and a possible berth in the District 1 Class 6A playoffs. For now, a two-game winning streak will suffice.

“We are just focused on the process and ourselves,” Conrad said. “I thought we defended well, and that’s been our focus and sharing the ball on the offensive end.”

NOTES: Conrad was acknowledged before the game for his 300th coaching victory Friday night against Truman in a 68-25 triumph. He is now 158-146 in his 13 seasons with the Knights.

“Mrs. Conrad and I went out for some wings and beers,” Conrad said with a smile. “We had to go home and watch film and get ready for the next one. Maybe after the season we will be able to celebrate some more.”

By Quarter

North Penn: 16 | 13 | 10 | 14 || 53

Pennridge: 12 | 8 | 9 | 12 || 41

Scoring

North Penn: Godhania 13, Hammond 3, Gee 18, Onyeanusi 0, Atkinson 4, Wood 9, Meade 4, Simpson 2.

Pennridge: Smith 5, Gehlert 2,  Richards 2, Horton 8, Schwind 9, Rising 9, Barbadoro 6.