By Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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WARRINGTON – The Souderton Area and Central Bucks South boys basketball teams have to stop meeting like this.
For the second time this season the two Suburban One Colonial League squads battled for the entire 32 minutes in a down to the wire finish.
Last time back on January 7, Big Red had a 36-29 lead in the final moments of the third quarter. This time around on Tuesday night Souderton led 39-33 after three quarters.
Last time Souderton blinked and fell one point short. Big Red did not blink with the SOL Colonial title on the line, running away with a 55-50 victory despite point guard Chanse Salone fouling out.
Nate Rusike was quite simply phenomenal with 15 points and five assists as Souderton employed a two point-guard offense all night long which worked to perfection.
Nate Rusike scored 15 points and added five assists on Tuesday night (Dan Arkans/CoBL)
“Before the game it was nerve-wracking,” Rusike said. “This was the Colonial League championship right here. Once I felt the ball in my hands the nerves went away. It was just a normal game.”
To say the first loss to South was a defining moment for Souderton may be a bit dramatic, but it did walk them down a three-game losing streak.
Since then Souderton (16-5, 9-1) has been pretty flawless with its seventh consecutive win, which just happened to culminate with its first league title since sharing the SOL Continental back in 2013 with Hatboro-Horsham.
“Man, it’s special,” Salone said. “This hasn’t been done in a while. We’ve been thinking about this since the summer. We wanted this. We wanted so much of this. Honestly, with any team I have, if it's small or big, slow or fast I think I’m going to win the state championship, district championship. We knew we could do it since the beginning of the season.”
Souderton was a little timid in its first meeting with CB South (17-5, 8-2). There were no such problems on Tuesday night. Salone began the game with a Steph Curry range 3-pointer in the first few minutes of the contest and Souderton never let up on either side of the floor.
“I was definitely confident,” Salone said. “I’m after practice every day putting in the work. I’m shooting shots. I am confident in any game I go into.”
Offensively, Salone, Rusike and sophomore Dylan Quinn all hit 3-pointers in the first half. Meanwhile, Souderton’s 1-2-2 zone caused fits to CB South, resulting in nine steals from Souderton. Salone and senior Nolan Watkins each had three steals apiece.
Watkins did it on both ends of the floor, scoring eight first-quarter points and finished with 11 points, while Salone added 10.
“We wanted it more,” Rusike said. “This team beat us by one point last time. We had the hunger. We wanted it badly. They were good. We had the same record. We just played harder. That’s all I can say.”
After Rusike’s second 3-pointer of the first half, Souderton led 26-10 and despite South battling back, Big Red still led 28-17 at the break.
“From the beginning to the end my role has gotten bigger,” Rusike said. “I have gotten more confident in what I can do. I was adjusting to a new team, but they want me to do what I do. Towards the end of the season I got the green light, let me do what I do.”
The Titans though weren’t about to give up a chance at a league championship without some fight. In fact Leo Medwid scored the first five points of the second half and just like that it was a 28-22 contest.
Rusike answered with a couple of spectacular drives to the basket and then a stepback 3-pointer as Souderton opened the lead back up to 39-24.
“That 3-pointer I had in the second half that was just I’m feeling myself shot,” Rusike said. “It was my best shot.”
Again, the Titans answered with the final nine points of the frame, seven from senior Benjamin Harrison. Just like that it was a 39-33 game entering, what was certain to be a dynamic finish.
“I wasn’t too nervous,” said Souderton head coach Okoteh Sakitey. “We are pretty battle tested. We were battle tested if you look at the last 10 days. North Penn, CB West, CB East were our last three games. We have been here before. I trust the guys to make the right decision and they trust me. I love these kids. Win or lose I am rocking with them. I will accept the results. I wasn’t really too nervous.”
CB South kept on coming after Souderton. After a 3-point play from Kayode Adebayo the Titans trailed just 43-40 with a little over four minutes to play.
Salone answered with a 3-point play of his own and just like that Souderton was back up 46-40. Big Red still had some anxious moments though as Salone was called for an offensive foul, his fifth of the night. Souderton led 46-42 with 2:25 to play, but had just lost its point guard.
“It’s just not me that’s the star of the team,” Salone said. “Everyone’s the star. I have full confidence that we will win if I am out of the game.”
Rusike answered with a drive to the hoop and a bucket inside from Grady Kovach pushed Souderton’s lead back up to 50-42 with 1:30 left.
“When I hit my first shot I knew we were going to be good,” Rusike said. “Towards the end I made the layup, I knew we were winning this. We stayed composed throughout the whole game.”
Still, South kept fighting back and had the lead down to 55-50 with 10 seconds to play and had a look at a 3-pointer, but it misfired. Souderton collected the rebound and ran out the clock and then it was time to celebrate.
“It feels a little surreal,” Sakitey said. “I know it’s real, but I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet. I know it will sink in on a deeper level when I get home. I am so proud of these kids. They put so much time in, they worked for it, they deserve it. So many hours, so many hours over the course of the years. To see it pay off like that the kids deserve it. These are amazing kids and I am so happy for them. They worked so hard, they trusted each other. It’s a special team. It’s a special team that will go down in history. We are going on the banner. None of us will ever forget this.”
Quarter scoring
Souderton 18-10-11-16-55
CB South 10-7-16-17-50
Team scoring
Souderton (55): Watkins 11; Salone 10; Rusike 15; Bui 4; Quinn 5; Kovach 8; Harter 2;
CB South (50): Barrett 10; Medwid 14; Harrison 11; Adebayo 7; Gies 8.
Tag(s): Home High School Boys HS Suburban One (B) SOL Colonial (B) Central Bucks South Souderton Dan Arkans