Mitchell fuels Knights to double overtime win

Senior+A.J.+Mitchell+drives+to+the+basket.++He+finished+the+game+with+35+points.

Prasham Jobanputra

Senior A.J. Mitchell drives to the basket. He finished the game with 35 points.

TOWAMENCIN- Mitchell drives.  Mitchell Scores.  This was the story for four quarters and two overtime periods.  The Knights snapped a 6-game losing streak in dramatic fashion and the team had big smiles all around after the win.  Especially senior A.J. Mitchell who was simply unstoppable in the paint as he dropped 35 points.

“We just talked to A.J. about you know you gotta jump stop and finish.  I thought he did a great job tonight and when they did help, I thought he did a great job of distributing the ball,” Head Coach John Conrad said.

The North Penn Knights (9-9) beat the CB East Patriots (11-6) 89-85 in a Friday night matchup that went to double overtime.

“It’s just one game but it gives us a little bit of confidence back that we can play as a good basketball team,” Head Coach John Conrad said.

The Patriots built the early 1st quarter lead but junior Kolby Barrow found sophomore Rob Carangi, who created a layup out of the post to the game at 12.  With 38 seconds left in the 1st quarter, Mitchell made a layup and gave the Knights a 14-12 lead into the second quarter.

Nick Roggio tied the game at 14 with 6:01 left in the 2nd quarter off a layup.  Then a free throw from Joe Jackman broke that tie and gave the Patriots a 15-14 lead.  Barrow got that lead right back for the Knights by making both free throws at his trip to the line.  With a 1:21 left in the quarter, Ben Markowitz made a three and was fouled by senior Chris Caputo.  Markowitz converted on the free throw and got the Patriots a 27-26 lead off the 4-point play.  The Knights got the lead back but the game was tied at halftime off a floater from Roggio.

Roggio started off the second half strong and got the Patriots the lead but senior Tali McIver tied the game at 39 off a layup with 3:37 left in the 3rd quarter.  The Patriots barley managed to escape the 3rd quarter with a lead as it was 48-46 into the final quarter.

With 7:21 left in the 4th quarter, Mitchell made a layup and was fouled in the process.  He made his free throw to tie the game at 50.  Jason Markowitz made a three and gave the Patriots a 53-50 lead but Mitchell tied the game at 61 off a layup with 1:38 left in the 4th.  And that’s where the score stood at the end of the regulation.

The Patriots got the first two points up on the board for overtime but the Knights did not let them make a lead out of it as they tied it on their possessions every time.  Leo Masterson made 3 clutch mid-range jumpers but McIver made a flashy layup off a spin move to tie the game at 69.  Masterson made another mid-range jumper and the Patriots had 71-69 lead with 7 seconds left.  With the game on the line, the Knights gave it to the hot-hand and one of the veteran leaders on the team, A.J. Mitchell.  Mitchell drove to the basket and made a layup as the buzzer sounded to send the game into its second overtime period as the student section reached its peak volume.

“I needed to score so we could win,” Mitchell simply stated with big smile on his face.

I needed to score so we could win

— #11 A.J. Mitchell

And that’s all the Knights needed as they built a lead in the second overtime that reached as far as 7 points.  The Knights made 8/9 free throws in the final overtime period to close out a crazy thriller in the North Penn gymnasium.

The Knights are back in action against the Quakertown Panthers on Tuesday for a home match.

We’re gonna take tomorrow off and then we gotta get ready Monday cause the next game is big,” Coach Conrad said.

North Penn: Mitchell 35 pts, McIver 15 pts, Carangi 12 pts, Swanson 8 pts, Caputo 7 pts, Barrow 6 pts, Chaffee 4 pts, Larkins 2 pts

CB East: Roggio 24 pts, Masterson 20 pts, Hamilton 17 pts, B. Markowitz 7 pts, J. Markowitz 5 pts, Giordano 4 pts, Jackman 4 pts