UPPER PROVIDENCE — The first half of Thursday night’s Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division boys basketball contest was a back-and-forth affair that included seven lead changes and three ties, with defending league champion Pope John Paul II going to the locker room with just a three-point lead.
But that changed quickly when the Golden Panthers sped up the tempo of the game with an aggressive defense, helping them to run off nine straight points to start the third quarter. And PJP kept up the pace the rest of the way for a critical 77-51 win over visiting Spring-Ford.
Ayden Wise led Pope John Paul (14-2 overall, 7-2 PAC, 4-2 Liberty) with 21 points, including 11 in the decisive third quarter, while Lucas Pekofsky scored 17. Jack Kennedy and Syaire Barnes each produced 16 for the Rams (13-4, 7-2, 4-2).
PJP, which defeated the Rams by a point in last year’s PAC final, got off to a slow start this season that included a 58-53 loss at Spring-Ford on Dec. 9. But the Golden Panthers have now won 12 outings in a row.
“I think at the beginning of the year, we got everybody’s best game,” said PJP head coach Earl Wise. “We had to get used to that. No one cares about 2025.”
“Last year we were hunting, not being hunted,” added Ayden Wise.
Spring-Ford took a 25-23 lead late in the half on a pair of free throws by Barnes. But Zahaid Edwards-Boone (nine points) knocked down a 3-pointer to put PJP on top and a Rams turnover led to a buzzer-beating layup by Wise for a 28-25 advantage at the half.
“At halftime we talked about defensive pressure and speeding the game up,” said coach Wise. “We wanted to get out and run and pick up the pace. That was a point of emphasis.”
“Definitely, the momentum changed a lot,” said senior guard Ayden Wise. “We got into the locker room and talked and came out with more energy.”
Chris Hestick hit a pair of free throws to open the second-half scoring. Then Jason Green (14 points) sank a 3-point shot from the left wing, Wise made one free throw and followed that with a 3-point play to run PJP’s string of consecutive points to 14 for a 37-25 advantage.
The lead was up to 52-37 by the end of the quarter and the Rams never got close again as the Panthers scored 24 points in the period and added 25 more in the fourth.
“We were just playing more as a team,” said junior forward Pekofsky, who added to his team’s spirited play with two dunks. “Just trying to put it together. On the defensive end, we were getting out in transition and doing what we do best.”
“We took a couple quick shots and we didn’t execute very well,” said Spring-Ford head coach Joe Dempsey. “Hats off to them. We walked into a buzzsaw tonight. The tempo of the game was more to their liking. They played very well and we didn’t play very good defense.”
The two teams are in a close race for the division title with four games to go, trailing only Methacton (5-1).
“It’s a long way to go, but tonight’s game was a good step in the right direction,” said coach Wise.
On the other hand, Dempsey hopes his team will learn from the loss.
“Hopefully, we can grow from this and learn from this,” he said. “The players are resilient. Tomorrow’s another day. Hopefully we’ll see them again.”
Pope John Paul II 77, Spring-Ford 51
SF 16 9 12 14 – 51
PJP 14 14 24 25 – 77
Spring-Ford: Magazollo 2 0-0 6, Turner 1 4-6 6, Ojakovo 1 1-2 3, Kennedy 5 4-4 16, Barnes 4 6-9 16, Plate 1 0-2 2, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Wickersham 0 0-0 0, Kuestner 0 0-0 0, Diehl 0 0-0 0, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Heller 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 15-23 51.
PJP: Wise 8 4-5 21, J. Green 6 0-0 14, Hestick 1 3-4 5, Donovan 0 0-0 0, Pekofsky 6 4-4 17, Edwards-Boone 4 0-0 9, Brady 1 0-0 2, Kessler 2 0-0 6, Schuberth 0 3-4 3, E. Green 0 0-0 0, Claffey 0 0-0 0, Totals 28 14-17 77.
3-pointers: SF- Magazollo 2, Kennedy 2, Barnes 2; PJP- J. Green 2, Pekofsky, Edwards-Boone, Wise.
