Roundup (Jan. 5): Norristown girls’ basketball wins first PAC Liberty game, snaps 62-game skid

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Liberty Division play has been unkind to the Norristown girls’ basketball team.

Since joining the Pioneer Athletic Conference in the 2016-17, Norristown had never won against a division opponent in the league’s large-school division.

The Eagles changed their fortunes Friday night at Boyertown, a decisive 51-33 victory over the Bears giving Norristown its first PAC Liberty Division win ever.

It snapped a run of 62 straight losses to PAC Liberty schools Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford.

Azjiona Golston and Briana Minick were leading scorers for the Eagles. Golston led with 18 points, followed by 15 from Minick and Adrianna Golston’s 13. A 19-point second quarter allowed the Eagles some distance that they maintained in the second half.

Madelyn Weaver topped Boyertown with 16 points.

Norristown 7 19 7 16 – 51
Boyertown 12 6 5 10 – 33

Norristown: Minick 6 0 3-5 15, Az Golston 4 1 7-10 18, Douglas 0 0 3-6 3, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0 0-0 2, Ad Golston 5 0 3-8 13. Totals 16 1 16-29 51.
Boyertown: Morrell 0 0 0-0 0, Heacock 1 0 2-2 4, Shimukonas 1 0 1-2 3, Larkin 0 0 0-0 0, Sobeck 0 0 0-0 0, Wieber 0 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 0 0 0-0 0, Greaves 2 0 3-6 7, Mathias 1 0 1-4 3, Sinclair 0 0 0-0 0, Weaver 3 3 1-4 16. Totals 8 3 8-18 33.

Spring-Ford 71, Methacton 22

Spring-Ford stayed unbeaten in the league (4-0 Liberty, 5-0 PAC, 10-2 overall) with a home blowout of Methacton. The Rams hit 12 3-pointers and double-digit scoring from Mackenzie Pettinelli (13), Aaliyah Solliday (11) and Katie Tiffan (10).

Methacton 2 7 10 3 – 22
Spring-Ford 31 21 11 8 – 71
Methacton: Kenney 0 0 0-0 0, Forde 0 0 0-0 0, Masotta 0 1 0-0 3, Arnold 0 1 6-6 9, Fisher 0 0 0-0 0, Toaso 0 0 2-2 2, McCann 0 0 0-0 0, Cingiser 1 0 0-0 2, Kaufman 1 0 0-0 2, Hockenbrock 0 0 0-0 0, Organtini 1 0 0-0 2, Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Freese 0 0 2-4 2. Totals 3 2 10-12 22.
Spring-Ford: Preuss 0 0 0-0 0, Solliday 1 3 0-0 11, Chamberlain 1 0 0-0 2, B Azzara 0 0 0 0-0 0, Allocca 1 1 0-0 5, Kaercher 1 0 0-0 2, Miller 0 3 0-0 9, A Azzara 3 0 2-4 8, K Tiffan 2 2 0-0 10, C Tiffan 1 0 3-4 5, Pettinelli 5 1 0-0 13, Prophet 0 2 0-0 6. Totals 15 12 5-8 71.

Phoenixville 64, Pottstown 19

WIth five players scoring nine or more points, the Phantoms led by 30 at halftime and went on to a PAC Frontier win over Pottstown Friday. Leading the way for Phoenixville were Emine Ulcay (13), Kayden Baratta (13) and Allyson Turner (11).
Phoenixville (4-0 Frontier) stayed unbeaten and atop the Frontier Division (8-4 overall).

Phoenixville 25 20 10 9 – 64
Pottstown 11 4 2 2 – 19
Phoenixville: Warren 3 1 0-0 9, Ulcay 4 1 2-4 13, Gnias 3 1 0-0 9, Ford-Bey 1 0 0-2 2, Baratta 4 1 2-2 13, Turner 4 0 3-3 11, Schneider 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 1 0 0-0 2, Breisblatt 0 1 0-0 3, Chain 1 0 0-0 2. Totals
Pottstown: Hill 0 0 3-3 3, Diaz 0 0 0-0 0, McClune 2 0 1-3 5, Quiles 1 0 0-0 2, Fleming 1 0 0-0 2, Sahad 0 0 0-0 0, Gillis 1 0 0-0 2, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Beasley 1 1 0-0 5, White 0 0 0-0 0.

Upper Merion 57, Pottsgrove 23

Kennedy Coles provided an early spark and Upper Merion cruised past Pottsgrove in PAC Frontier play Friday. Coles scored nine of her 15 points in the first quarter while top scorer Devon Maiden (23 points) dominated in the middle quarters for the Vikings.

Pottsgrove 3 6 13 1 – 23
Upper Merion 15 15 11 16 – 57
Pottsgrove: Rockemore 1 1 0-3 5, Leaman 0 0 0-0 0, Kyler 1 0 0-0 2, Harper 0 0 0-0 0, Spinozzi 0 0 0-0 0, O Eckman 0 0 0-0 0, Carroll 1 1 3-4 8, Ahmed 0 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0 0-0 0, Mainor 0 0 0-0 0, M Eckman 1 6-8 8. Totals 4 2 9-15 23.
Upper Merion: Coles 6 1 0-0 15, Maiden 9 1 2-3 23, Nicolai 1 0 0-0 2, Dougherty 0 0 2-2 2, Smith 1 0 2-2 4, Jackson 2 0 0-0 4, Fox 1 0 0-0 2, Eaton 0 0 2-4 2, Canete 0 0 0-0 0, Bonifanti 0 0 0-0 0, Onwubuariri 0 0 0-0, Edwards-Boone 0 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 2 9-13 57.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Perkiomen Valley 61, Owen J. Roberts 39

Julian Sadler was hot early, scoring 11 first-quarter points with three 3s, to field Perk Valley’s PAC Liberty win over OJR on Jan. 5.

Kyle Shawaluk added 18 for PV and Jakob Harken added 10. PV got its 10th win of the year (3-1 division, 10-2 overall).

OJR got 13 from Luke Fryer and 10 from Colin King. Fryer sits 16 points from 1,000 for his career.

Owen J. Roberts 12 11 10 6 – 39
Perkiomen Valley 16 12 14 19 – 61
Owen J. Roberts: Kanyangarara 0 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 2 0-0 6, Fryer 3 2 1-2 13, Drumheller 0 0 0-0 0, Cline 3 0 0-1 6, Holmburg 0 0 0-0 0, Cashman 1 0 0-0 2, Winnick 1 0 0-0 2, King 5 0 0-0 10, Flynn 0 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4 1-3 39.
Perkiomen Valley: Harken 5 0 0-2 10, Keough 0 0 0-0 0, Rodriguez 1 0 0-0 2, MacDonald 0 0 0-0 0, Nester 0 0 0-0 0, Sadler 5 3 2-2 21, Wagoner 0 0 0-0 0, Murphy 2 0 2-3 6, Shawaluk 7 1 1-1 18, Hoppenwasser 1 0 0-0 2, Tagert 1 0 0-0 2. Totals 22 4 5-7 61.

Upper Merion 58, Pottsgrove 49

Pottsgrove went cold in the fourth quarter and Upper Merion took advantage for a come-from-behind PAC Frontier win Friday. Elijah Davis scored four of his 20 points in the fourth for UM (2-2, 3-2, 6-5) and Allen Cole chipped in 14.
Nadhir Ward was the game’s top scorer with 22 points for the Falcons (2-2, 2-4, 7-5).

Pottsgrove 20 15 11 3 – 49
Upper Merion 14 16 13 15 – 58
Pottsgrove: Ward 8 2 0-0 22, Martin 0 1 0-0 3, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Doctor 4 1 2-4 13, Rinda 0 2 1-2 7, Marshall 0 0 0-0 0, Curry 2 0 0-0 4. Totals 14 6 3-6 49.
Upper Merion: Edwards-Boone 3 1 0-0 9, Smiley 2 0 3-6 7, McFadden 0 0 0-2 0, Nguyen 0 1 3-6 6, Hirshorn 1 0 0-0 2, Cole 5 1 1-2 14, Davis 8 1 1-2 20. Totals 19 4 8-18 58.

Norristown 63, Boyertown 43

Myon Kirlew scored 24 points and the Eagles continued to built its lead throughout in a 20-point home win over the Bears.

Boyertown 13 8 11 11 – 43

Norristown 16 11 17 19 – 63

Boyertown: Johnson 0 0 1-2 1, Copeland 0 0 1-4 1, Greaves 7 0 0-2 14, Kern 2 1 0-2 7, Ellis 1 0 0-0 2, Frey 1 0 0-0 2, Schreiner 0 0 2-2 2, Kircher 0 0 2-2 2, Luft 0 0 2-2 2, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, C Rath 0 0 0-0 0, B Rath 5 0 0-2 10. Totals 16 1 8-18 43.

Norristown: Byrd 4 0 1-4 9, Daniels 2 0 0-0 4, Giddens 1 0 0-2 2, Bonds 6 0 0-0 12, Kirlew 6 2 6-7 24, John 0 1 0-0 3, Carter 1 0 0-0 2, Barr 1 0 0-0 2, Eaddy 0 0 1-2 1, Tuggle 0 0 0-0 0, Van Duyne 2 0 0-0 4. Totals 23 3 8-15 63.