TOWAMENCIN – With a tied score at halftime, back-and-forth scoring throughout the whole game, and a one-point difference with a minute left, the Knights knew they needed to lock it in immediately if they wanted their playoff journey to continue.

This Tuesday the North Penn Knights (19-5) defeated the Coatesville Red Raiders (15-9) 64-60 in a closely-matched playoff game that all came down to the very last minute. 

There were 40 seconds left and the game was still up for grabs. Both teams played a fast-paced offense trying to get those last few deciding points of the game. After a foul from the Raiders, senior Mario Sgro hit two free throws. As the clock ran down with only 11 seconds left, junior Corey Meade was fouled after scoring a layup and then completed one free throw. The Raiders answered with a layup at five seconds left but at this point, there was nothing else they could do to win this game. The Knights had officially taken a win for the night.

¨This win feels really good because we played a hard team and we won, so hopefully we beat the other teams later on,¨ Meade said.

After a scoreless first minute and a half, senior Ryan Deininger put up the first two points with a layup for the Knights. Junior Teddy McAllister quickly followed up with two points of his own after being fouled and making two free throws. The Raiders answered soon enough with two layups, but with the Knight’s solid defense, they were only able to score four more points in the first quarter.

¨Starting off the game, we just tried to remember that it’s just another game and to stay focused and be confident in ourselves,¨ Sgro explained.

Contributing to the rest of the pointed score this quarter was junior Corey Meade with two, sophomore Norman Gee with three, McAllister with three, and Deininger with four.

Although the Knights started out the second quarter with an eight-point lead, the game quickly turned around as the quarter ended with a tied score of 29-29. 

¨We weren’t really worried about it. We just knew that if we played our game and played calmly that we would come out on top at the end,¨ Meade stated.

As the third quarter began with 29 points on the board for both teams, it was a minute and a half into the quarter until McAllister broke the tie with a clean three. The game again continued with back-and-forth possession, but the Knights were able to pull through the quarter with a five-point lead and a score of 48-43.

From the beginning this game was close, but it all came down to the last quarter leading up to the last few seconds of the game. The Raiders started the quarter off strong by scoring four points right off the bat but quickly followed by a three from McAllister and two made free throws from Sgro. With a minute left in the game, the Raiders got their first lead of the night by just one point but this wasn’t enough as the Knights came back to secure the lead.

¨We have been in plenty of situations like this so I feel like we were all just comfortable even when they were pressuring us. We knew we were gonna get a bucket,¨ Gee emphasized.

The Knights will continue their playoff journey as they play Plymouth Whitemarsh this Friday away at 7. PW narrowly escaped Penn Wood with a 64-62 win last night. 

¨Now we know we can’t take anything for granted,” Gee stated.