Towamencin – Good things come to those who wait… and for the North Penn basketball team, that wait finally ended as their Covid-era delayed season tipped off on Tuesday night.

The Knights defeated CB West in a tight contest, 56-44. Senior Forward Josh Jones led the Knights to victory with an impressive line of 24 points and 12 Rebounds.

“Josh makes everything easier.” coach John Conrad said. “We ask a lot of him, but every time he steps up and rises to the challenge.”

The game started off with CB West winning the tip and within seconds converting a pair of free throws to go up on the Knights. The Knights came back down the court and responded with a three by Joey Larkin.

After a 3-minute scoring drought by both teams, Larkin was able to find Levi Caroll wide open in the paint for an easy layup. A 7- 0 run by North Penn, which included a Ryan Zelt three, forced the Bucks to call a timeout.

The Knights finished off the quarter by dominating on offense outscoring the Bucks in the last 6:45 minutes 14-2. The Knights would take a 17-6 lead into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, it was more of the same by the Knights. Larkin was able to find Caroll once again wide open in the paint for an easy lay-in. The Bucks responded with a three-pointer by sophomore Max Slaymaker with 4:50 left in the half. To cap off an 11-4 run for the Knights, Jones converted an And-1 for the Knights. Senior Ted Spratt for West was able to split 3 defenders and lay in a layup at the buzzer to close out the first half and shorten the deficit to 14.

The Bucks came out firing to start the second half. A layup and a pair of free throws by Donte Mancini started off the third period. Another bucket, coming on a layup by Spratt, forced Conrad to use a timeout. A three by Larkin out of the timeout wasn’t enough to cool off the Bucks as John Lee immediately responded with a three of his own.

“We knew they were going to make a run at some point,” Conrad said. “They’re a great team and well-coached. We just talked to our guys about keeping up with the rebounds and playing defense.”

With 3:50 left in the third quarter, the Bucks converted 4 free throws bringing them within 4. The Knights were able to regroup and following two more buckets by Jones, including another And-1, they took a 40-32 lead into the 4th quarter.

Zelt was able to get an easy layup to start the Knights scoring in the 4th quarter. A string of buckets by Spratt pulled the Bucks within 6 with 4:08 in the quarter. After an offensive rebound and putback by Jones, the Knights never looked back. The Bucks resorted to a full-court press, which proved to be too little too late as the Knights were able to dribble out the clock to open their season. Jones was the game MVP but talked about how the people around him made things easier.

“We have a lot of great shooters on our team,” Jones said. “Ryan Zeltt, Billy Coley, Joey Larkins, all of them can hit from deep. If a defender tries to bring the double, one of them is going to be open. It just makes things easier”

The Knights (1-0, 1-0 Conference) will host Pennridge this Friday. The Bucks (0-1, 0-1 Conference) will travel to Pennsbury on Saturday.