City of Basketball Love

Tom Robinson (@tomjrobinson)
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SCRANTON — Matt Zollers protected the rim defensively and got comfortable much farther away from it than usual on offense.

Zollers hit four 3-pointers after Scranton boys basketball built a 12-point first-quarter lead, fueling a comeback that carried Spring-Ford past the host Knights 55-52 Saturday afternoon in a PIAA Class 6A first-round game.

Jacob Nguyen, already a 1,000-point career scorer as a junior, scored a game-high 19 points for the Rams while Zollers did a little bit of everything else.

For Zollers, however, everything else does not usually include shooting 3-pointers.

“Usually, I’m more of a guy who cuts and gets layups,” said Zollers, who was 4 for 5 from 3-point range from 4:15 left in the second quarter until 6:10 remaining in the game. “But they weren’t really guarding me on the 3-point line.

“I just had wide-open looks from 3, and I was shooting well.”

Zollers also had game-high totals of nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. His defensive plays both sparked surges in Spring-Ford momentum and stopped Scranton charges.​​​​​​​

In a 25-second stretch right in the middle of the second quarter, Zollers cut a seven-point deficit to one by hitting a 3-pointer, making a steal, then hitting another. That burst capped a 13-2 run that pulled the Rams within 23-22 with 3:50 left in the half.

“When you play a kid like Zollers, who is a big-time football recruit, that’s the kind of intensity and grit they bring to the game,” Scranton coach Tony Battaglia said of one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects. “And he was able to do things outside his comfort zone.
“He made some big shots.”

Scranton was on a 7-2 fourth-quarter run when Zollers protected a one-point lead by blocking consecutive drives by the Knights in the last 100 seconds.

The Knights only managed one basket in the last three minutes, but Matt Barrett’s 3-pointer with 8.3 seconds left made things interesting. It was followed by a dead-ball offensive foul and turnover by the Rams before inbounding the ball coming out of a timeout.

Scranton got two chances to tie the game after that, but tight defense led to both shots being well off the mark — the first going behind the backboard.

“We were locked in on defense,” Nguyen said.

Free throws were a big part of the game.

The Rams were 15 for 21 while the Knights were 2 for 8, including missing all four attempts while losing control of the game in the third quarter.

Nguyen and Zollers each made two free throws in the final minute to create a five-point cushion before Barrett’s 3-pointer. Nguyen, who had made his first seven tries, missed the first of two free throws with 2.4 seconds left but made the next, meaning the best Scranton could do with a half-court try was tie the game.

Spring-Ford (22-7) advances to face District 1 eight-place finisher Springfield-Delco (14-14) in Wednesday’s second round. Springfield-Delco defeated District 12 runner-up Lincoln 59-43 Saturday.

Spring-Ford had to hit the road to face the District 2 champions in the first round of state play after finishing just ninth in the District 1 tournament. A 63-49 loss to 14th-seed Garnet Valley has been followed by four straight wins — three in the bracket to determine ninth through 12th places in District 1.

After taking that winding road to Scranton, the Rams got in trouble early.

Spring-Ford waited more than four minutes for its first field goal. Scranton (20-5) took leads of 7-1, 16-6 and then 19-7 when Tony Battaglia, the coach’s son, banked in a 23-footer at the first-quarter buzzer.

“We had a really slow start,” Zollers said, “but at the end of the first quarter, no one got down on themselves.

“We knew we were a better team. We just didn’t play up to our caliber in the first quarter.”

That started to show soon after.

The 13-2 run started with baskets by Tommy Kelly and E.J. Campbell, then continued with Nguyen hitting all three free throws after being fouled behind the arc.

After Scranton scored its only basket in the last 7:30 of the half, Zollers made his 3-pointers.

The Knights held on for a 25-24 halftime lead, but five third-quarter lead changes followed.

Zollers made a 3-pointer in the last minute of the quarter for a tie, then Campbell put the Rams up 42-40 going into the last eight by converting his own rebound in the closing seconds.

Spring-Ford stayed in front the rest of the way.

Nguyen and Zollers sandwiched 3-pointers around a basket by Scranton scoring leader Oliver Almonte to open the biggest Rams lead at 48-42 with six minutes left.

Almonte finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots to lead a balanced attack for Scranton.

Jaheam Roberts and P.J. Murphy came off the bench to each shoot 4 for 6 while adding nine points. Three other Knights scored at least six.

By Quarter

Spring-Ford: 7 | 17 | 18 | 13 || 55

Scranton: 19 | 6 | 15 | 12 || 52

Scoring

Spring-Ford: Jacob Nguyen 19, Matt Zollers 18, Tommy Kelly 9, E.J. Campbell 9

Scranton: Oliver Almonte 14, Jaheam Roberts 9, P.J. Murphy 9, Chris Chandler 8, Tony Battaglia 6, Matt Barrett 6

~~~

PIAA 6A Boys (local games)

First Round (Sat., March 9)
12-3 Archbishop Wood 81, 1-5 Methacton 73
1-1 Lower Merion 85, 3-6 Cedar Crest 55
1-3 West Chester Henderson 80, 2-2 Hazleton Area 73
3-4 Reading 65, 1-4 Chester 63
3-5 Central York 69, 1-2 Garnet Valley 60
12-1 Roman Catholic 63, 1-11 Downingtown West 37
1-6 Coatesville 57, 11-2 Liberty 46 (2OT)
1-8 Springfield (Delco) 59, 12-2 Lincoln 43
11-1 Parkland 65, 1-10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 35
3-1 Cumberland Valley 84, 1-12 Bensalem 59
1-9 Spring-Ford 55, 2-1 Scranton 52
3-2 Chambersburg 72, 1-7 Central Bucks East 41

Second Round (Wed., March 13)
1-1 Lower Merion vs. 12-3 Archbishop Wood
1-8 Springfield (Delco) vs. 1-9 Spring-Ford
1-3 West Chester Henderson vs. 12-1 Roman Catholic
3-1 Cumberland Valley vs. 1-6 Coatesville