PLYMOUTH – It appeared to be only a matter of time and Tuesday night that time came as Plymouth’s Pilgrims came away with a big upset win over Penn at home 56-46.
“We knew coming in they were going to be a very difficult challenge,” said Plymout boss Ryan Bales. “They made us work for absolutely everything. It didn’t feel like it was safe until the final seconds with all the weapons they have. They won 13 in a row coming in. I think it says a lot about the fight in our kids.”
The Pilgrims were looking at three straight losses against some upper echelon teams – two of those at home. One of the premier teams of the northern half of the state was in the gym again on Tuesday night and after a street fight by a pair of defensive heavyweights, it was Plymouth that was able to hand the Kingsmen just their third loss of the season.
“I can’t say enough about our kids and our coaches,” said Bales. “It has been a rough couple of weeks, I’ll be honest – to lose the way we did in a couple conference games. It’s not easy to lose in the first place but we’ve been doing it at home and that’s disappointing to our program and our fans. For us to respond this way against a tremendous opponent and a tremendous coach says a lot about our kids.”
Jumping out to a 7-2 lead fit Bales game plan perfectly but Penn (19-3) jumped back on top in the second quarter and both teams traded leads the rest of the night. Plymouth (13-6) was hoping to set the tone early and be the aggressor for the rest of the night. Guard play and an outstanding game from Josh Anders were the difference.
“We knew we had to be aggressive from the start,” said Bales. “There were moments when we were and moments when we weren’t. You could tell by the scoreboard at any given moment in the game. It reflected aggressiveness.
“I think in the second half Nick and Cam got really aggressive – what can you say about Josh Anders?” said Bales. “He was able to get some great put backs some of the rebounds you can’t teach that. You can’t coach that.”
Anders ended the night with a game high 23 points and nine rebounds. Eveland had 10 and even though he didn’t take a shot until the fourth quarter of the game still added nine and played the floor general for nearly all 24 minutes.
“We had a great team effort tonight. They all fought. That was the game plan. We wanted to fight them and I think we did that.”
Score by Quarters
Penn 6 20 33 46
Plymouth 9 19 32 56
Plymouth (56) – Barron 0 0-0 0, Eveland 2 5-6 10, Yoder 2 1-2 7, Felke 1 6-6 9, Anders 9 5-7 23, Friar 2 1-2 5, England 1 0-2 2. Totals 17 18-25 56.
Penn (46) – Miller 3 2-3 10, Bohn 1 2-6 4, Doslak 8 2-2 21, Burns 0 0-0 0, Lutz 3 0-0 8, Dittich 0 0-0 0, Trewhella 1 0-0 3 Totals 16 7-13 46.
3 Pt. FG – Penn 7-22 (Doslak 3), Plymouth 4-8 (Yoder 2).
Rebounds – Penn 17 (Bohn 5), Plymouth 24 (Anders 9).
Assists – Penn 3 (Miller 2), Plymouth 6 (Eveland 2).
Steals – Penn 6 (Bohn 3), Plymouth 3 (Friar, Anders, Yoder).
Turnovers – Penn 7, Plymouth 6.
Fouls (Fouled out) – Penn 18, Plymouth 16.
