Post leads Pennridge over North Penn
Jonathan Post scored a game-high 26 points to lead Pennridge to a 57-43 victory over North Penn in the regular-season finale for both teams Thursday night.
The Rams led by as many 19 in the third quarter then held off a North Penn rally to finish 9-3 in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
The Knights finished 6-6 in the SOL Continental. Pennridge will play in the SOL Challenge this weekend and is currently the No. 6 seed in the District 1-6A Tournament. North Penn was seeded 20th going into Thursday and also has a shot to get in.
After North Penn, led by Chris Coleman’s 11 points, closed to within six in the fourth, Pennridge was able to regain control, a pair of free throws by Post pushing the lead back to double digits.
Both teams went back and forth early until the Rams settled into a smooth rhythm inside with Post.
The junior power forward scored 10 of Pennridge’s 13 firstquarter points. On one sequence, the Rams swung the ball around,
finishing with a pass to Post, who hit baseline jumper to extend the lead to 13-6. North Penn would trim it to 13-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Then in the second quarter, Jake Pestrak came off the bench for the Rams and got hot from the outside.
Pestrak hit a trio of threepointers, and with the inside-outside combination of Post and Pestrak, Pennridge was firmly in control.
Pestrak scored nine in the quarter, Post scored eight, and the Rams began to blow the game open.
Post used a spin move down low to score on one series, later hit a difficult shot in traffic, then his defensive rebound at the other end triggered a Ram fast break, capped by a Pestrak three to make it 28-12 Pennridge.
Post, who finished the first half with 18 points, hit a mid-range jumper to provide the Rams a 31-19 cushion at the break.
The Knights played the Rams even in the third, finishing the quarter off with a three by Joey Lindsay and a strong drive and three-point play by Chris Coleman.
But Michael Molettiere’s contributions — inside play and a three — helped Pennridge take a 45-33 advantage into the fourth.