Boys’ Basketball: Resurgent Nguyen helps reigning champ Spring-Ford rally past Perkiomen Valley, return to PAC title game

COLLEGEVILLE — Jacob Nguyen had not felt like himself offensively as of late, but Spring-Ford’s second-leading scorer decided to leave the past where it belongs.

With his top-seeded Rams managing just five points and trailing 11-5 after one lethargic quarter against No. 5 Perkiomen Valley in Friday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference postseason semifinals, there was no time like the present for Nguyen to strike and get his mojo back.

The 6-foot-4 junior guard erupted for nine straight second-quarter Spring-Ford points, all on three-point plays: an and-one, a 3-pointer, then another and-one. The Rams tied the score at 18 heading into halftime, and then Nguyen poured in 14 more in the second half en route to a game-high 23 points, rallying his squad to a 57-50 victory.

Despite facing two more six-point deficits in the second half, the Rams propelled themselves into Tuesday night’s championship game against No. 2 Phoenixville (7 p.m. at Perkiomen Valley) thanks to a 21-13 fourth-quarter advantage (with six of those coming from Nguyen).

“I haven’t been playing my best lately on offense,” said Nguyen, who managed just five points in Spring-Ford’s 50-41 win over Perk Valley on Feb. 1 and missed his first three shots tonight. “I really did not want to lose this game. That first and-one got me going and pumped up. This game boosted my confidence.”

Nguyen shot 7-for-14 from the field — 3-for-8 from downtown — and made all six of his free throws, including four in the fourth quarter that helped keep the Vikings at bay while also adding four rebounds and two assists. And while Nguyen was the only Rams player to reach double figures in scoring, the team’s depth really shined. Jordan Marsilio (nine points, five rebounds), EJ Campbell (eight points, five rebounds, three assists), Jake Dellangelo (six), Oben Mokonchu (six) and Tommy Kelly (five) all had big moments.

“Everybody on this team is a scorer,” Nguyen said. “When you have five people on the court who can score, it makes it so much harder on the defense.”

Spring-Ford (18-5) was also stout defensively, especially in the second and fourth quarters after Perk Valley had built momentum with a couple of six-point leads. Campbell did the lion’s share of guarding Julian Sadler, the Vikings’ offensive star, but everybody on the floor had a hand in taking the PAC’s second-leading scorer (he came into the night averaging 22.8 points per game) out of his comfort level. A week after the Rams held Sadler to 15 points in a regular-season finale victory, they again clamped down, limiting the dynamic guard to 17 points on just 2-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

“We didn’t want to wake up and see Sadler with 25 points,” Spring-Ford head coach Joe Dempsey said. “He’s a terrific player. It’s not brain surgery — give more attention to their best guy. EJ did a terrific job on him, but it really was a group effort.”

In addition to Sadler’s 17, senior forward Josh Tagert shot 6-for-7 from the field, including a 3-for-4 mark from deep, for 15 points. Kyle Shawaluk, Perk Valley’s second-leading scorer, managed just three points on 1-for-6 shooting and was clearly bothered by an ankle injury that Vikings head coach Mike Poysden said left the senior “half a step slow.”

It was the third loss in three games against Spring-Ford this season for Perk Valley, which is 19-2 against all of its other opponents. The Vikings’ last lead came early in the fourth after a Tagert bucket gave them a 39-38 advantage, but the Rams closed the game on a 19-11 run with points scored by four different players.

“I really thought we struggled to get rebounds tonight,” Poysden said. “We kept their possessions alive, and against a team like that you can’t give them second looks because they have too many ways to score. They’re big, long and athletic, and they recover well and cover a lot of space that bumps our offense too high and wide.

“They keyed on Julian defensively and did a good job with that. Josh absolutely has been one of the bright spots of our season, and it’s a credit to him and the growth he’s shown. He’s drawing more attention like effective players do, and we have to find him more.”

The Vikings (19-5) will now look to hit the reset button as they await the start of the District 1 Class 6A tournament. They came into the night ranked 10th in District 1, and with the top eight seeds receiving first-round byes, will most likely play their first game of that tournament next Friday.

Meanwhile, the Rams will look to put the finishing touches on a PAC championship Tuesday night before turning their own focus to districts. As deep and talented as they are, they will be a tough out for any team that takes the court against them, especially if a resurgent Nguyen can stay hot against Phoenixville and beyond.

“Teams have been playing Jacob really physically, so we just needed to make a few adjustments to his game,” Dempsey said. “We were fortunate to get him going, and it was great to see. He’s one of the most mentally-tough kids.”

“He’s a heck of a player,” Poysden added of Nguyen. “Kyle was half a step slow guarding him, and that’s all a kid like Jacob needs. We try to keep him on the outside, but with him getting to the rim, he hurt us in different ways than we’re used to Jacob doing.”

And while Nguyen was elated to rediscover his offensive game at the perfect time for Spring-Frd, he still wasn’t thinking about himself.

“EJ is our senior leader,” Nguyen said. “He leaves everything on the court. He didn’t have his best offensive game, but he impacted the game with rebounding, defense and leadership. He should be a scholarship player, and I want to win a PAC chip for him and Delly [Dellangelo, Spring-Ford’s other senior]. They deserve this.”

Spring-Ford 57, Perkiomen Valley 50

Perk Valley 11 7 19 13 – 50

Spring-Ford 5 13 18 21 – 57

Perk Valley: Harken 1 0 5-8 7, Sadler 3 2 5-7 17, Shawaluk 0 1 0-0 3, Rodriguez 1 0 0-0 2, Tagert 3 3 0-0 15, Murphy 0 2 0-0 6, Wagoner 0 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 8 10-15 50

Spring-Ford: Kelly 2 0 1-1 5, Nguyen 4 3 6-6 23, Campbell 4 0 0-0 8, Dellangelo 0 2 0-0 6, Mokonchu 3 0 0-0 6, Marsilio 4 0 1-2 9, Turner 0 0 0-0 0, Pufko 0 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 5 8-9 57