City of Basketball Love

Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo)
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Perkiomen Valley had a golden opportunity entering Friday night, a chance to both defeat archrival Spring-Ford on the Rams’ senior night, and more importantly, put themselves in the driver’s seat for a PAC-10 Final Four spot.

After some missed opportunities throughout the season against lesser PAC-10 teams, the Vikings made this one count.

“We had a special opportunity, and life only gives you so many,” Vikings coach Mike Poysden said.

In a game where Perkiomen Valley needed it more, they wanted it more too.

Right from the opening tip, the Vikings were first to every loose ball, smarter with their possessions, and tougher on the glass than the Rams, outrebounding a bigger Spring-Ford team.

Junior guard Justin Jaworski scored 10 points in the first quarter to give his team an early lead, and the Vikings never looked back, en route to a 53-45 win over their biggest rival.

The Vikings sharpshooter finished with 25 points, including a stellar 4-6 from beyond the arc and 7-9 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers.

“I got really good looks, honestly,” Jaworski admitted. “It helps to have such great teammates because they can’t just double team me and have to respect other shooters too.

“Big time players step up in big time situations, and that is what I tried to do tonight,” he continued.

Playing just 24 hours after a tough road loss to Phoenixville, Spring-Ford came out flat yet again, scoring just nine in the opening quarter and 16 in the first half. For the second consecutive night, the Rams shot poorly from three, going 5-21 from beyond the arc.

Rams leading scorer Matt Gnias did have 14 points, but was just 3-14 from the field and struggled to get his game going after sinking a three just seconds after the opening tip.

Trailing 25-16 at the half, the Rams needed a spark, but never really found one as Perkiomen Valley continued to add on to their lead and take the air out of the basketball by slowing the game down to a crawl.  

“Justin and Sean [Owens] carry a big load for us in terms of ball movement and ball security. They carried that load really well and did a great job of keeping the ball out of Spring-Ford’s hands,” Poysden said.

Despite multiple attempts to start up a comeback, the Rams never cut the lead to less than six in the final quarter.

When 6-5 Spring-Ford senior Cameron Reid had a huge breakaway slam with 3:05 to play, the momentum seemed to shift, but an Owens three at the other end quickly ended all comeback hopes for Spring-Ford.

Earlier this season, when the Vikings were the host, the Rams came in and dominated from the opening tip, with Reid scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a 62-47 Spring-Ford win.

“We know Cam’s tendencies and where he likes to get the ball, and last time we gave him too many easy looks, and this time we made him work for every shot,” Poysden said.

Spring-Ford found themselves unable to consistently break down the stingy Vikings defense, shooting just 15-42 (35.7 eprcent) from the field. Reid was held to only 14 points and six rebounds, nearly half of last game’s effort.

In addition to an unbelievable shooting performance from Jaworski, Perk Valley received significant contributions from key seniors Sean Owens and Sean Moriarity.

After shooting a combined 4-20 in the first match-up, both seniors stepped up with 15 and five points respectively on a combined 5-10 shooting from the field. They provided the additional scoring alongside Jaworski that was missing when these two teams last met.

Whether it was Owens in the backcourt breaking down the Rams’ pressure defense, or Moriarity fighting through the stomach flu to grab eight key rebounds, the Vikings’ seniors were not leaving the court without a chance to continue their hopes for a league title.

After receiving his appointment to West Point for next year earlier this week, Moriarity was not about to miss his team’s biggest game of the season.

“I knew it was going to be a big game and I wasn't feeling well, but I wasn't going to miss it for anything,” Moriarity said. “It was an appropriate ending to the best week of my life.”

If Perkiomen Valley can win on Monday against 3-7 Owen J. Roberts, they will clinch a PAC-10 Final Four spot and a game against the Frontier Division champs, 13-0 Phoenixville next Friday night at Spring-Ford.

“When I was a freshman, I watched our team sneak into the playoffs and make a run and win the title and I always wanted the opportunity to do the same,” Moriarity said.

Spring-Ford has already clinched the Liberty division and will play either Pope John Paul II or Pottstown in the other semifinal on February 5.

Thanks to this huge win over Spring-Ford, Perkiomen Valley has a chance to repeat the magical run from three years ago and reclaim the PAC-10 title.

With Jaworski and an experienced group of seniors, this Perkiomen Valley team can use this win as a spark to catch fire heading into league playoffs and districts.