PENNSBURY:Falcons fall in state quarters

By BILL KENNY
For BucksLocalSports

VILLANOVA — Pennsbury got everything it wanted yesterday in its PIAA Class AAAA state tournament quarterfinal against District One rival Penn Wood … almost.
Star forward Dalton Pepper provided emotional leadership for the Falcons early on, inspiring his teammates to a balanced offensive attack. Defensively, Pennsbury managed to minimize fastbreak and second-chance scoring opportunities for the Patriots.
As a result, the Falcons led by as many as nine points late in the third quarter. But victory still slipped through their grasp.
A 10-0 run to close the third and open the fourth lifted Penn Wood to a 54-50 win at Villanova University and gave the Patriots a coveted berth in the state semifinals.
The defeat closed Pennsbury’s season along with Pepper’s stellar career. The all-time leading scorer in school history, the West Virginia University-bound senior had 15 in the game to finish with 2,207 career points, just four shy of the Bucks County record and No. 80 on the all-time Pennsylvania list.
Pennsbury, which placed fourth in the District One tournament, finished at 24-6.
“I am unbelievably proud of these guys,” head coach Frank Sciolla said of the Falcons. “They were so prepared. … They were ready to go. We took away (Penn Wood’s) strengths, outside of (rebounding). But they just wore us down.”
“Everyone wants to win, but sometimes if you put everything out there, things don’t roll your way,” Pepper said. “Everyone’s upset, but everyone played as hard as they could.”
For two and a half quarters, Pennsbury looked on track to make the state Final Four for the second consecutive year.
Pepper scored a rather modest 11 points before intermission, all six other Falcons who saw playing time also made the score sheet. Eddie DiRugeris, a senior guard headed to Philadelphia University, had six points at the break, while junior point guard Jesse Krasna had four and reserve guard Marcus Healey three.
Early on, Pennsbury scored seven in a row to take a five-point lead. The Falcons led 30-24 at halftime.
Sophomore forward Aaron Brown and senior forward Duane Johnson, each standing 6-foot-5, scored 10 and six points in the first half to keep the Patriots (26-4) in the game.
Despite holding the lead, a problem loomed for Pennsbury as Krasna picked up two fouls before halftime. According to Sciolla, one of the personals resulted from a scoring error. A referee actually made the call on center Goran Dulac, who wears No. 40, not Krasna, who wears No. 4, the coach claimed.
Krasna committed a third foul with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter. With Pennsbury leading, 40-31, Sciolla rested Krasna to protect him for crunch time.
Penn Wood, the District One runner-up, immediately exploited the absence of the crafty ball-handler by turning up its defensive pressure with a half-court trap.
The Patriots scored five in a row before Krasna returned, then five more to open the fourth quarter to take a 41-40 lead.
“Honestly, it was that three- or four-play sequence,” Sciolla said. “We had to call two timeouts. We turned the ball over (when) we threw it away. … When we turned it over, they made some shots and then they just surrounded Dalton.”
Penn Wood point guard Tyree Johnson hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
The teams exchanged the lead four more times in that final period with Johnson’s two foul shots putting the Patriots up for good, 46-45.
Moments later, with Pennsbury’s deficit at four, Pepper stole an inbounds pass underneath the Penn Wood basket and immediately dunked. After a Pennsbury stop, Pepper had a chance to tie the game at the foul line, but missed the front of a one-and-one with 52 seconds to go.
Penn Wood hit five of six foul shots in the final minute to clinch the win.

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Pennsbury (24-6) 16 14 10 10 — 50
Penn Wood (26-4) 14 10 12 18 — 54
PENNSBURY (50)
Krasna 3-2-8, Devine 2-2-7, DiRugeris 4-1-11, Pepper 7-1-15, Dulac 2-0-4, Healey 1-0-3, Marcinkowski 1-0-2, Wolff 0-0-0. Totals 20-6-50.
PENN WOOD (54)
T. Johnson 3-4-13, A. Brown 3-7-13, Pelzer 0-0-0, D. Johnson 6-3-15, Oakman 3-2-8, C. White 1-0-3, T. White 1-0-2, W. Brown 0-0-0. Totals 17-16-22.
3-pointers: Devine, DiRugeris 2, Healey (PB); T. Johnson 3, C. White (PW).