Bears win thriller over NW

EASTON — If you left the gym at Wilson High School for a few minutes on Saturday night, odds are that the momentum had shifted a time or two before you returned.

Pleasant Valley and Northwestern battled in a back-and-forth affair before Isaiah Howard hit a three-pointer at the buzzer in the second overtime period to give the Bears a 67-64 win over Northwestern and the championship in the annual Wilson Tip-Off Tournament.

After Pleasant Valley (2-0) went up 60-58 to start the second OT, Devan Thomas looked to take over the game for the Tigers when he pulled down a rebound and put it right back up to tie the game. Less than 30 seconds later, Thomas hit one of two free throws to put Northwestern (1-1) up 61-60.

Michael Duviella put Pleasant Valley up 62-61 before Howard gave the Bears the biggest lead that either team had since the third quarter when he hit a jump-shot to make it 64-61. Thomas nailed two foul shots and Devin Bollinger added another to tie the game with 20 seconds left, setting up Howard for his heroics.

“Coach just drew up a play for me and I knew I had to get the ball for the last shot,” said Howard.

Howard led Pleasant Valley with 18 points. The Bears also got 17 each from Deshawn Scarboro and Duviella.

Thomas was the star down the stretch for Northwestern, scoring seven points in the two overtime periods and finishing with a game-high 23 points for the Tigers. Teammate Sam Yadush finished with 21.

“This was kind of a coming-out for him,” said coach Billy Hallman of Thomas’ play. “We have had confidence in him all summer and coming into the year, he just had to believe in it. He started a little slow Friday night, but tonight he was ready to go. We count on him a lot.”

Northwestern saw an early six-point lead disappear in the first quarter as Pleasant Valley took a 26-23 lead on a three-pointer from Noah Neubert with 2:20 left before halftime. The Tigers rallied back and led by four at the break, only to see the Bears come out and dominate early in the third quarter when they went on a 12-2 run to build a seven-point lead.

The Tigers then went on a run of their own, outscoring Pleasant Valley 10-2 late in the third quarter and into the fourth.

“We tried to match their intensity throughout the game,” said Gould. “We watched some of their game Friday night, and we noticed that they only played five or six guys and we said, ‘we have to match their intensity, they’re only playing five guys and they really get after you.’ Our guys really were ready for that.”

MVP, MVP! ... Howard was named the tournament MVP, helping his team to a win over Kutztown Friday night before his heroics Saturday. Teammate Deshawn Scarboro and Northwestern’s Devan Thomas, along with Sam Yadush, were also members of the All-Tournament Team.

“It’s an accomplishment, I’m proud of it,” said Howard of the award.

GOOD START ... After averaging 13 points per game last season, Yadush is off to a good start to his junior season. He dropped 25 points on Wilson Friday in the tournament opener, before hitting for 21 against Pleasant Valley. Northwestern downed host Wilson 67-55 on Friday night, while Pleasant Valley beat Kutztown 61-49. Northwestern’s win over Wilson counts as a Colonial League game.

A TURNAROUND ... Last season, Wilson beat Northwestern three times, including both Colonial League regular season meetings. Wilson also won their Tip-Off Tournament last year.

NORTHWESTERN

S. Seyfried 0-2-2-2, S. Yadush 6-5-5-21, B. Mengel 0-0-0-0, D. Bollinger 3-4-7-10, D. Thomas 9-5-7-23, D. Holmes 0-0-2-0, L. Hallman 3-0-0-8. TOTALS: 21-16-23-64

PLEASANT VALLEY

C. Stivala 0-0-0-0, I. Howard 6-3-4-18, A. Gaddist 3-1-2-7, N. Neubert 2-0-0-6, D. Scarboro 7-1-2-17, V. Rosario 1-0-0-2, M. Duviella 7-3-3-17. TOTALS: 26-8-11-67

Northwestern 18 12 9 14 5 6 - 64

Pleasant Vy. 13 13 15 12 5 9 - 67

Three-pointers: Northwestern - Yadush 4, Hallman 2; Pleasant Valley - Howard 3, Neubert 2, Scarboro 2.