The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
AROUND THE CLOCK
Four-quarter effort lifts Pioneers to championship victory over Sankofa Freedom
TOWAMENCIN » The Pioneers absorbed seven charges, kept scrapping defensively, and as coach Mike Fergus put it, “played their tails off” Saturday night, overcoming an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to go storming past highlyranked Sankofa Freedom.
“Not over yet until the buzzer sounds,” said a smiling Misrahim Nyagwegwe, who scored a teamhigh 20 points for Dock. “This means a lot. We lost to these guys last year in the championship so we wanted to come out and get this one.”
Nyagwegwe and the surging Pioneers put everything together down the stretch to pull out a 60-56 victory over the Warriors, earning Dock its first Dock Holiday Tournament Championship since 2014.
Dock (4-1) went ahead with under two minutes to play and didn’t relinquish the lead.
“Just staying poised,” Nyagwegwe said of an offense that kept delivering in the final, tense moments, “and when they came to trap, we found the open guy, made the extra pass and got the easy layup.”
Dock won its fourth straight behind Nyagwegwe’s 20 points, Darius Ellis’ 12 and Nolan Bolton’s 10. Scialanca had nine points and Ralph Saint-Fleur chipped in with seven.
“This team plays really hard and really together. They play great team basketball. That’s a quality win for us,” said Fergus, whose squad battled past a veteran Sankofa Freedom (7-2) team that reached Class A States last year and cracks the top five in multiple statewide polls this winter.
Scott Spann, tied with Nyagwegwe for the game high with 20 points, had his team up 44-36 entering the fourth quarter.
Back came Dock
Saint-Fleur scored on a runner down the lane, Nyagwegwe
Athletes heeded call for help when disasters hit
The funds raised by JJ Watt are being used to rebuild homes, restore child care centers, provide food and address health needs of those who were affected most by the hurricane. FULL STORY ON PAGE C6
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