Early To Rise
First-quarter flurry helps Perkiomen Valley overcome CB East, 55-53
DOYLESTOWN » Perkiomen Valley got out to a 16-point lead to start Friday’s District 1-6A first round game against Central Bucks East.
Though the 19th-seeded Vikings saw that advantage trimmed down on a number of occasions, they never relented the large head start over 14thseeded Patriots.
Senior Dawson Debebe scored 23 points and sophomore Julian Sadler added 16 as Perkiomen Valley held on for a 55-53 win to move on to the second round of districts at third-seeded Cheltenham on Tuesday.
“It was a big one,” Debebe said. “It was win-or-go-home, backs against the wall. It just felt really good to get this one done and extend our season.”
The first half was a tale of two quarters.
Fueled by 11 points by Debebe, the Vikings jumped out to a 20-4 lead after eight minutes of play.
CB East outscored PV, 144, in the second. Senior TyriqToney Bailey reeled off all 14 of his team-high 21 points for the Patriots, cutting the PV lead all the way down to four before the Vikings went into half with a 2418 lead.
The Patriots cut the PV advantage down to one, 30-29, with 3:39 left in the third quarter before Debebe answered with an and-one to put PV back up four.
That was the story throughout the rest of the night. As PV grew its lead as large as eight only to see CB East cut it down to a single possession on multiple occasions, the Patriots couldn’t get over the hump.
CB East had one last shot when Toney-Bailey drilled a three and Liam Cummiskey scored with 1:36 to left to pull the Patriots within two, 48-46.
But senior Josh Pelzer, who finished with nine points, knocked down a free throw and the Vikings got a stop on the other end for Sadler knocked down four three throws in the game’s final minutes to finish off the victory.
The Vikings are now guaranteed at least two more games, needing at least one win to earn a spot in the PIAA tournament.
“We’re super excited,” Debebe said. “Last year we knew we were a state playoff team, and unfortunately they didn’t take as many teams as they usually do and we were just hungry this year to get back to it.”