By: Jordan Hirsh
January 20, 2023
FAIRLESS HILLS, PA. – It was a tough shooting night for the Pennsbury Falcons as they suffered their fifth loss of the season on Thursday, falling to the Central Bucks South Titans 62-51. Both teams came into the contest hot: the Falcons winners of eight of their last nine and the Titans riding a three game win streak.
Early on it was becoming evident that it might not be Pennsbury’s night in terms of shooting the ball. They scored just six points in the first and found themselves in an eight point hole at the end of the quarter.
That trend continued into the second as the Falcons were held to just eight points in the quarter.
The first half was defined by Pennsbury’s struggles from beyond the arc. They shot just one of nine from deep including eight consecutive misses after junior forward Connor Taddei kicked off the scoring for the Falcons by hitting a wing three. As a result, the Falcons found themselves down 22-14 at the half.
Understanding that his team was going to have to score in different ways if they wanted to get back into the game, senior guard Ty Kocak came out aggressive in the third quarter. He was able to get to the rim and consistently draw fouls out of the break.
However, it appeared that Pennsbury’s misfortune from deep transferred over to their free throw shooting after halftime. Although Kocak was able to routinely get to the line, he shot just one of six from it in the third.
In fact, as a team, the Falcons shot an abysmal three of twelve from the charity stripe after halftime. That, coupled with a balanced offensive attack from Central Bucks South, led to the Falcons facing a nineteen point deficit with just under three minutes to play. Ultimately, the game ended in a 62-51 defeat for Pennsbury.
Pennsbury’s free throw shooting turned out to be the difference in the game as the Falcons missed twelve on the night, shooting just seven of nineteen from the line.
The loss dropped Pennsbury’s record to 10-5 on the season and improved Central Bucks South to 8-9.
While the Titans may be under the .500 mark, they have proven that they are still a force to be reckoned with. With this win, they have now knocked off the top three teams in the SOL Patriot division in Pennsbury, Neshaminy, and Bensalem.
The Titans have been led all season by senior forward Tyler Meinel, who once again demonstrated that he one of the top players in the SOL Thursday night. He poured on 25 points in the win, and, quite honestly, made it look rather easy. Whether it was scoring over a defender at the elbow or carving out space down low for easy layups, Meinel got just about whatever he wanted offensively.
The Falcons will look to bounce back on Saturday as they head to Holy Ghost Prep to take on the 8-8 Firebirds. Central Bucks South’s next game is a home matchup with the 5-10 Souderton Indians on Tuesday where they will look to extend their season-long win streak to five.