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CB South, CB West score wins at PAC-10/SOL Challenge

12/05/2015, 12:00am EST
By Justin Allen & Anthony Dabbundo

Connor Lynch (above, in June) keyed a big third quarter for Central Bucks West in their win over Spring-Ford. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) &
Justin Allen (@Jallen_Town)
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After a sluggish first half performance that produced just 16 points, Central Bucks West found themselves searching for answers in the locker room. They found those answers coming out of the half, dominating Spring-Ford and never looking back to hold on for an eventual 54-42 win in their season opener.

The Bucks rode the scoring production of 6-foot-2 senior Connor Lynch, who provided the spark in the second half with nine of the team’s 16 third-quarter points. Lynch and Lafayette commit Cal Reichwein scored just enough to get past the Rams, who struggled to generate offensive production for most of the evening.

CB West head coach Adam Sherman urged his team at halftime to settle down and play their game, as they looked very nervous and rushed for the majority of the first half against the high intensity Rams’ defense.

“I told our guys to just calm down,” Sherman said. “I think we were a little too excited, and we played a little too fast, but the second half we really calmed down and were able to relax on the floor.”

Once the Bucks did calm down, Spring-Ford found themselves fighting an uphill battle for most of the second half. The PAC-10 contenders  were unable to generate offense outside of 6-4 senior forward Cameron Reid.

Despite Reid’s 20 points to lead all scorers, Rams’ head coach Chris Talley acknowledged that the Rams struggled due to lacking offense around their big man.

“We have to get more contributions from guys other than Cameron,” Talley said. “I think our guard play is strong, but we need to get more production from those guys on the offensive end.”

It was clear from the beginning that CB West had the edge in size, and they dominated the glass, especially offensively, where they generated second, third, and sometimes even fourth looks at the basket. Sherman preached to his team at the half that the shots would fall, and once they did, Spring-Ford could no longer keep pace.

“Coach was talking about how hard we worked this offseason, and just to have confidence in ourselves even though we weren’t making much,” the standout senior Lynch said. He told us to just crash the boards and we would get some easy buckets which we eventually did.”

Unlike their PAC-10 counterparts, the Bucks benefited from balanced scoring, as they received 11 points from Reichwein, nine from senior point guard Luke Irons, and 13 from 6-4 forward Erich Hohenleitner.

For the majority of the second half, CB West was in the bonus, and used the bonus to their advantage to close out the Rams, finishing 10-14 from the line in the final quarter. Every time it seemed as though Spring-Ford was attempting to mount a comeback, one of the senior leaders on this CB West team would step up and knock down his free throws.

For the Rams, third-year head coach Talley admitted that while a few plays down the stretch may have cost them a shot at the win tonight, his team played with a lot of defensive intensity. An intensity that was missing for most of last season when the Rams struggled mightily at guarding opponents, especially in the PAC-10.

“In the first half, we played as well defensively as I could have asked them to play,” Talley said. “But in the end, they did the little things better than us tonight.”

If this Suburban One contender wants to make a district and potential state run, then they will have to continue their great free throw shooting form when the game is on the line in bigger moments.

Despite the win, the Bucks took this game as a bit of a wake-up call. They received a tough test from Spring-Ford, but they know that their level of play was nowhere near where it should be going forward.

“It was a little bit of first game jitters, but this game was a little bit of a wake up call for a team to come out and jump on us like they did,” Lynch said.

Spring-Ford came out and punched the Bucks in the mouth for the entire first half. CB West received their first test of many challenges upcoming on their schedule this season.

It was not how they had expected or hoped it would go.

But they passed. --Anthony Dabbundo


Alex Karras (above, in October) and Central Bucks South beat Pottstown thanks to a strong second quarter. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

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CB South needs to get its confidence going early this season if it hopes to contend in a deep District I and Suburban One League. A big second quarter run helped the Titans find their moxie as they downed Pottstown, 67-40, in the Pac-10/Suburban One Challenge at Spring-Ford High School Friday.

Powering the CB South run in the second quarter was point guard Alex Karras (nine points), who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the frame to provide his team some separation. The Titans outscored Pottstown 23-8 during the stretch.

Despite being outmatched athletically at times, Karras and the Titans were able to get out collect a plethora of points on the fast break.

“I thought we did a good job getting out and running,” Karras said.  “We were really able to break their zone and use it to our advantage.”

The Titan offense fed off of its stellar defense all evening, allowing them to capitalize on both ends of the floor.

Forward Tim Waddington helped CB South blow the game wide open in the second half as he scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter.

Overall, CB South shot the ball well from all over the court, including beyond the arc, where they were 4-of-10.

“I felt that we shot the ball very well, especially from the free throw line,” Karras said. The Titans shot 92-percent (11-of-12) from the charity stripe, a contrast to their opponent, which shot 58-percent (14-of-24).

Pottstown endured some growing pains during the contest, as the Trojans have an entirely new starting five and are faced with the task of replacing their top six scorers from a season ago.

One bright spot for the inexperienced Trojans was the play of senior Shamir Edwards. The 6-foot guard finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and a pair of assists.

The Trojans struggled to get anything going offensively, where they were just 2-of-13 from three point range. Turnovers plagued the team, as well. They’ll need to fix things up if they hope to contend in a deep Pac-10 Frontier Division.

Both teams will need to bounce back quickly as possible as they will play the next leg of the challenge Saturday at CB West. --Justin Allen


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