PHOENIXVILLE-A trophy and first place finish in their first tournament of the season, not a bad start for the North Penn Men’s Basketball team. On Friday December 7th the boys traveled up to Phoenixville area high school, just 25 minutes down Valley Forge Road to participate in a two-day tournament to start off their year.
The first game tipped off at 6:00 on Friday night, where the Knights played against Conestoga High School. Led by the team’s two lone seniors, Mike Swanson and Stephen Brown, the young inexperienced North Penn squad came into the game as the underdogs.
The Pioneers took a dominating lead going into half time as they netted double the Knights points with a score of 24-12. The Knights unorganized defensive play allowed plenty of passing and shooting lanes which Conestoga took control of to gain the advantage.
Unwilling to let the Pioneers to run away with the win, North Penn came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter. Swanson led the Knights with aggressive drives to the net and finding key open players open in the lane. North Penn outscored Conestoga 14-5, just seven minutes into the third quarter. With just 1:23 left in the third period, Brown stole the ball from a frazzled Conestoga offense and sprinted up the court to make a lay up that gave the Knights the lead for the first time all game 31-29.
Continuing their strong play into the fourth quarter, the Knights were able to draw plenty of fouls from the Pioneers to keep the lead. Strong play from juniors Noah Melchior and Cordell Lord allowed the Knights to complete their dramatic comeback and win the game 48-45.
The win earned the North Penn a spot in the championship game against Phoenixville on Saturday night. Motivated by their unbelievable win on Friday, the knights came out and played a great game to bring home a championship trophy the first tournament of the season. Stephen Brown was named player of the game for his leadership of the young squad which ultimately reaped a big win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
After proving the critics wrong, the Knights are looking to go places with their young team this year. With this tournament’s success, there is one win down, and many more to look forward to.