Penncrest beats Great Valley for spot in district finals
Penncrest shuts down Great Valley; Lions advance to District 1 5A title game at Villanova
PHILADELPHIA >> The old adage that defense wins championships applied to Penncrest’s 41-33 victory over Great Valley Wednesday night at Temple’s Liacouras Center in the District 1 Class 5A semifinals. No championship was claimed, but Penncrest’s dogged defense may just lead to one.
The third-seeded Lions (20-6) harassed the second-seeded Patriots into a 1-for-10 shooting nightmare in the fourth quarter, outscoring them, 12-5, to punch their ticket into the distirct championship game against No. 8 Upper Merion Saturday at the Pavillion at Villanova.
“Shooting like that in the fourth period is not going to get it done,” Great Valley coach Paul Girone said. ”They took our back screens away, and we had to settle for too many jump shots tonight. They ourebounded us, and had 12 second-chance points.”
Junior Tyler Norwood led all scorers with 21 points, while Mike Mallon added 11.
It was Norwood’s 6-for-7 at the foul line in the fourth that was key for the Lions.
Alex Capitano and Gavin Frankenheimer had nine points each for Great Valley.
“It is great for the community, the school and the kids that worked so hard to be going to Villanova,” Penncrest coach Mike Doyle said. “We thought at the beginning of the season that we wanted two home games and to get to Temple, and now I guess it is Villanova. We are very excited to be playing for a district title.
“Chris Mills did a great job defensively taking their back screens away. That was his job. He is a very underrated player. You put something on the board and he does it. He is like a college player in that regard.”
With the Lions holding a 29-28 lead after three, Norwood went to work, draining a jumper to give Penncrest a 31-30 lead, and they were never behind again.
Missed 3-pointers by Capitano, Liam Ward and Matt Porecca were followed by made free throws by the Lions. Penncrest was 16-for-20 from the line, while the Patriots (19-7) went 2-for-2.
“Great Valley is a very well-coached team,” Doyle said. “You take away our free throws and it is an even game. We just play good defense and wait until Tyler makes a shot, and that happened for us tonight.”