Jones sets tone as North Penn tips Strath Haven
NETHER PROVIDENCE » Josh Jones’ long-reaching rebound and putback set North Penn on its fourthquarter charge.
Moments later, Jones buried a 3-pointer, and the Knights were digging in.
In a back-and-forth battle for three quarters, North Penn gained firm control in the fourth and secured a 68-62 victory over Strath Haven in the opening round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs.
“That 3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter was pretty big,” Strath Haven coach Chris Conlan said. “That made it a two-possession game, which, to that point, made it feel like 10 or 12.”
The win sends No. 18 North Penn
on to the second round at No. 2 Conestoga Tuesday night. No. 15 Strath Haven, led by Luke Edwards’ 32 points, finished its season at 8-5.
“We were playing free and like our normal selves,” Jones said of the Knights’ critical push.
Jones poured in 24 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Billy Coley added 16 points, including a pair of threes, and Ryan Zeltt had nine.
“For a while, it was a seesaw game, a game of runs,” Knights coach John Conrad said. “And then in the fourth with about four minutes to go, we got three consecutive stops, and that was the difference.”
In the midst of that defensive surge, Jones’ 3-pointer made it 60-55 for North Penn (11-6) with 4:20 left.
Will George scored on a Strath Haven fastbreak to cut the margin to 60-57. But a 3-pointer by Coley and a free throw by Jones padded the lead to 64-57 with 1:07 to go.
Said Conrad of Jones’ performance: “He’s been our guy all year long.”
Perimeter shooting dominated the opening moments. Edwards hit a pair of 3-pointers while Zeltt did the same for the Knights. North Penn took a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.
The two teams continued to go back and forth, with Jones scoring on a reverse lay-in and a jumper for NP and then Strath Haven coming right back with a hard drive to the basket by Chris Golay.
“It was a lot of fun to watch (Edwards) and Jones go at it,” Conlan said. “Those are two really, really good players. They battled all day long. Luke had a game like that coming so I was real happy to see it. I wish we could have gotten the outcome for him as well.”
Strath Haven can look back on a successful season and look ahead with confidence.
“These guys laid an unbelievable foundation for the younger guys,” Conlan said of his seniors. “I think we’re on the right track. The culture has turned around. The wins and losses have turned around.
And making the playoffs the last two years has been huge.”
Also in Class 6A:
UPPER DUBLIN 48, HAVERFORD 46 » Collin O’Sullivan and Drew Stover combined for 40 points to lead the
20th-seeded Cardinals to a firstround victory over the No. 13 Fords.
Upper Dublin advances to take on fourth-seeded Garnet Valley Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
O’Sullivan scored 22 of his team-high 24 points in the final three quarters, nine in the pivotal fourth period. All of his points in the fourth quarter came on 3-pointers. Stover had all 16 of his points in the last three periods, seven in the final frame when Upper Dublin outscored Haverford, 18-15.
John Seidman tallied 25 of his game-high 27 points in the final three quarters.
UNCASVILLE, CONN. » Freshman Paige Bueckers scored 17 points and top-ranked UConn opened its postseason with a 77-41 victory over St. John’s (8-15) in the Big East quarterfinals Saturday.
Christyn Williams added 14 points for the Huskies (22-1). UConn has won 158 straight games against conference opponents since losing to Notre Dame in the 2013 Big East title game.
UConn will face Villanova on Sunday.
(16) GEORGIA 74, (2) TEXAS A&M 68 » Mikayla Coombs scored a season-high 14 points, including the go-ahead basket in the fourth quarter, and Georgia (20-5)beat Texas A&M
(23-2) to reach its first SEC Tournament final in 17 years.
(3) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 66, GEORGIA TECH 61 » Elissa Cunane had 23 points and nine rebounds and North Carolina State (192) overcome a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Georgia Tech (15-8) in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
(5) LOUISVILLE 72, SYRACUSE 59 » Dana Evans scored 13 points, Olivia Cochran added
10 points and 10 rebounds and Louisville (232) beat Syracuse (14-8) to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game.
(6) BAYLOR 93, KANSAS 67 » Nalyssa Smith had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Dijonai Carrington added 20 points and Baylor (21-2,
16-1 Big 12) beat Kansas (7-17, 3-15) .
(7) SOUTH CAROLINA 67, (17) TENNESSEE 52 » Zia Cooke scored 17 points, Aliyah Boston had 15 points and 11 rebounds and South Carolina (21-4) beat Tennessee (16-7) to reach the SEC Tournament title game for the sixth time in seven years.
(8) MARYLAND 88, PENN STATE 61 » Chloe Bibby had 15 points and nine rebounds and Maryland (21-2, 17-1) beat Penn State (9-14, 6-13) to wrap up the Big Ten regular-season title.
(10) INDIANA 74, PURDUE 59 » Mackenzie Jones scored 11 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter and Indiana (18-4, 16-2) beat Purdue (7-15,
3-15) for its school-record 18th Big Ten victory.
(12) MICHIGAN 63, NORTHWESTERN 58 » Naz Hillmon had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Akienreh Johnson also scored 19 points and Michigan (14-4, 9-4 Big Ten) beat Northwestern (13-7, 1-7).
OMAHA 52, (21) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 40 »
Josie Filer had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Omaha (6-12) beat South Dakota State (213) to become the first No. 8 seed to defeat a top seed in the Summit League Tournament.
(23) MISSOURI STATE 85, EVANSVILLE 44 » Brice Calip scored 14 points and Missouri State (20-2, 16-0) routed Evansville (6-16,
2-15) to finish undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season.
Men
(17) OKLAHOMA STATE 85, (6) WEST VIRGINIA
80 » Avery Anderson III scored a career-high
31 points and Oklahoma State (18-7, 11-7) beat West Virginia (18-8, 11-6) in their Big 12 regular-season finale.
(21) VIRGINIA 68, LOUISVILLE 58 » Sam Hauser scored 24 points, Trey Murphy III added 17 and Virginia (17-6, 13-4) beat Louisville (13-6, 8-5) to win the ACC regular-season championship. NOTRE DAME 83, (11) FLORIDA STATE 73 » Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points and Dane Goodwin had 15 to help Notre Dame (10-14, 7-11) beat Florida State (15-5, 11-4) , costing the the Seminles the ACC regular-season title
(4) ILLINOIS 73, (7) OHIO STATE 68 » Ayo Dosunmu returned after missing three games
with a concussion and facial injuries to score
19 points, and Illinois (20-6, 16-4 Big Ten) rallied to beat Ohio State (18-8, 12-8).
(8) ALABAMA 89, GEORGIA 79 » Herbert Jones had two baskets in a 9-0 run to open the second half and Alabama (21-6, 16-2) beat Georgia (1411, 7-11) for its school-record 17th SEC victory.
(14) CREIGHTON 93, BUTLER 73 » Marcus Zegarowski matched his career high with 32 points and Creighton (18-7, 14-6 Big East) closed a difficult week off the court with a victory over Butler (9-14, 8-12).
The Bluejays won for the first time in three games, doing it without head coach Greg McDermott. He is suspended indefinitely for making racially insensitive remarks to his team following a Feb. 27 loss.