TOWAMENCIN- North Penn erased a 14-point deficit and had all the momentum on their side in the 4^th quarter.  The Knights were down by two and looked to send the game into overtime but CB South’s Ian McCaw made sure the game finished in regulation with a big-time block in crunch time.

“Their big kid made a nice play.  He came off the guy he was guarding and was able to get the block,” Head coach John Conrad said.

The North Penn Knights (8-4) lost to the CB South Titans (10-3) 54-52 in a Friday night matchup in the North Penn gymnasium.

The Titans jumped out with a lead early in the first quarter thanks to buckets from Alex Dietz and Mark Kannengieszer and took a 12-9 lead into the second quarter. In the first possession of the 2^nd quarter, junior Mike Chaffee drained a three to tie the game.  Chaffee led the offense with 17 points by the end of the game.  The Titans retook the lead after a Kannengieszer layup but Chaffee made another three with 6:12 left to put the Knights ahead 15-14.  The Titians tied the game up on a free throw but then junior Kolby Barrow made a three and gave the Knights a 18-15 lead.  However, the Titans not only tied the game, but this time were able to build a lead and after an and-one attempt from Cole Prezelski, the Titans took a 29-20 lead into the half.

The Titans got their lead up to 14 in the 3^rd quarter and entered the 4^th up 43-33, but then the Knights started their comeback.  Senior Chris Caputo shifted momentum after he drew a charge and the Chaffee made a three to bring the Knights to within 4.  Then senior A.J. Mitchell caused a loose ball and it was picked up by Barrow.  Barrow passed to Mitchell for an easy layup and the Titans lead was down to one possession.  The Titans called a timeout but it didn’t seem to matter as Mitchell stole the inbound pass and it led to a Barrow sidestep three-pointer to give the Knights a 50-49 lead.  The Titans missed their next shot and senior Tali McIver sent the ball down to Chaffee for a layup to make the score 52-49 in North Penn’s favor.

“We had to come out with energy.  We knew we started off slow.  We weren’t hungry enough.  They were beating us to fifty-fifty balls and just looked quicker than us in the first half. We knew we had to pick it up and we did.  We pressured them well, and got hungry,” Chaffee said on the comeback.

Prezelski made a three-pointer to tie the game up with 2:22 left in the game.  The Titans took a 54-52 lead with 27.7 seconds left thanks to a layup from Tommy Kuypers off an assist from Dietz.  Mitchell had the ball at the top of the key and drove to the basket and attempted a layup but McCaw swatted the ball with 6.0 seconds left and the Titans won a close one to improve to 10-3.

“It’s all about heart to be honest with you.  We played our heart and soul into that game.  It’s a shame we came up short,” Mitchell said.

The Knights will have to put this game behind them quick as they play tomorrow at 1:30 against the Downingtown West Whippets.

“We spent a lot of energy today so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.  Hopefully they have good energy and we can get it done tomorrow,” Conrad said.

North Penn: Chaffee 17 pts, Mitchell 13 pts, Barrow 10 pts, Swanson 9 pts, Caputo 2 pts, McIver 1 pt

CB South: Kuypers 18 pts, C. Prezelski 12 pts, McCaw 9 pts, Kannengieszer 7 pts, B Prezelski 4 pts, Dietz 4 pts