Boyertown boys take 2nd behind SF at PACs

The Pioneer Athletic Conference kicked off the postseason with the first installment of the PAC Championships this weekend at Perkiomen Valley High School.

And with the raised competition, of course, came some impressive results as the teams utilized final tune-up before next month’s District One Championships.

Spring-Ford senior Carson Huff was a four-time medalist at the result of Saturday’s boys meet, leading Spring-Ford (39) to the most team points. On the girls side Friday night, Owen J. Roberts’s depth shined through as the Wildcats posted 57 team points for a top finish.

Huff took a pair of individual first-place medals — claiming the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.44) and 100 back (52.93) Saturday. He also swam legs of the Rams’ golden 400 free relay (3:17.25) as well as the 200 free relay (1:30.32), which took silver. Classmate Carson Hilliard was part of both relays, and took his own individual first with a 1:45.61 in the 200 free. Teammate Matt Skilton finished right behind with a 2:03.82.

“This meet was a step in the right direction for the whole team,” said Huff, “and I think our district team is really in a good position to do great things at the end of the season. I know the whole district is ready to swim fast.”

Boyertown finished second overall in team points with 33 while Upper Merion took third with 27.

For the Bears, Nolan Benner claimed a pair of individual firsts and swam a leg in a top-finishing relay. The sophomore claimed the 100 free in 49.41, just edging Methacton’s Michael Palumbo (49.47) to go along with a 1:01.22 finish in the 100 breast. Benner swam the second leg of the meet’s opening 200 medley relay, which finished up at 1:40.40.

Justin Ardamoy grabbed a pair of silver medals for Upper Merion, with second-place finishes in the 50 free (22.05) and a 1:02.66 in the 100 breast.

With an unbeaten regular season record, Owen J. Roberts (90) still reigns as the conference champ, the Wildcats picking up their fourth straight title this winter.

Matt Snyder took third overall in the 100 breast (1:03.09) and also swam a leg of the Wildcats’ silver 200 medley relay (1:41.56). Simon Crew finished third in the 100 free (49.85).

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On the girls side, two-time defending conference champ OJR was led Mikayla Niness, who picked up three first-place med-

check while still filling the stat sheet with 22 points is an indication as to what she is capable of. It can be difficult to match her scoring, but Boyertown sophomore Julia Smith nearlyid just that.

While Burke is one to create space and create her own shots, Smith is the sharp-shooter who lives on the perimeter just waiting for opposing defenses to give her just a little too much freedom.

Smith led Boyertown with 20 points, including four three-pointers.

The ability to score against CB West was a load off Boyertown coach Jason Bieber’s back.

“We talked all year about making shots and playing solid defense,” Bieber said. “We’ve played good defense all year but the scoring has been off

“Really, the kid who stepped up huge tonight was (Boalton),” Bieber continued. “Even though Burke had 22 points, a lot of them came toward the end on deep threes. (Boalton) did a heck of a job. (Burke) can just take a game over at any point in time and I thought we did an excellent job in containing her.”

The game started out modestly, with both team’s largely failing to take advantage of the other’s miscues until CB West junior Diane Nicholson stole the ball twice and finished both times with contested layups with under one minute in the opening quarter.

The Bucks led 27-22 at halftime with Boyertown closing the gap in the third. It was 37-36 heading into the fourth quarter with CB West clinging to a slight lead.

In the fourth, CB West fell behind and was ultimately forced to foul in an effort to play catch-up. Boyertown, with raucous Bucks fans making a scene beneath the basket, kept their cool enough to carry a 5-point lead into the last minute of the game.

The draining duty of guarding Burke did not deter Boalton, a key contributor on last year’s statechampionship Bears team, from being able to perform effectively on the offensive side, particularly from the free throw line. Boalton went 9-for-10 from the foul line, and Boyertown as a team went 23-of-33 from the line.

Boalton credited Bieber’s regimented practice habits for allowing the offense to stay fresh and focused toward the end of the game.

“We run a lot in practice,” Boulton said. “We run a lot of sprints. We run sprints and shoot foul shots afterward to make it similar to game-like situations.”

Burke, with a flair for the dramatic, drilled a contested three-pointer with 25 seconds left, cutting the lead to two. Boyertown then traveled on the subsequent in-bound play, giving CB West their chance to tie or go ahead. Burke, however, missed the three-pointer this time and Boyertown hung on to advance.

“(We were) missing foul shots, missing layups, missing screens, not rotating,” CB West head coach Terry Rakowsky said. “We did not do the things we had to do.

“It’s probably one of the most talented teams I’ve had, but there’s definitely a lack of maturity. When you’re not focused and you’re not taking care of that business in practice, that’s what happens.”

While CB West’s season has come to a conclusion, Boyertown has advanced to face Spring Ford next week.

“It’s a rivalry,” Bieber said. “When it’s us and Spring Ford on the court, anything can happen.”