Colonial Gym - Plymouth Meeting, PA: What do the New England Patriots and the Norristown Eagles High School Basketball team have in common?  The whole “seeking perfection” thing.  Norristown improved to 20-0 after defeating the Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 58-49 Friday night in a Suburban One interleague battle in front of a packed Colonial Gym.

Norristown set the pace for the game with an early 13-2 start that was fueled by an aggressive defense that forced the Colonials to turn the ball over several times.  “We learned from film that they have a comfort zone when they bring the ball up, so we wanted to put pressure on them,” said Quentin Watson of Norristown, who finished with 13 points.

Pressure they did.  A combination of that defense, a fast offense that fearlessly penetrated the hole, and a vocal Norristown fan base (even though the game was at Plymouth Whitemarsh’s gym) seemed to have the Colonials bewildered in the beginning.  Sheldon Mayer (10 points), Khalif Wyatt (15 points) and Russell Graham (9 points) of Norristown were especially key in putting pressure on the ball and keeping an uptempo pace in their team’s favor.  Still, the score was only 22-13 at the end of the first.

 From there, the Colonials refused to go down quietly, but Norristown managed to keep them at bay.  The Colonials got a spark from Allen Williams, who scored 10 points in the 2nd quarter en route to 21 for the game to lead all scorers.  While the Eagles’ shots were not falling as much as they did in the first quarter, they ended up getting a good amount of points from the free throw line.

In the third quarter, Plymouth Whitemarsh got the game to within 6 with 3:12 left to go thanks to the continued effort of Williams and now Jesse Berk, who aided with four points in this stretch.  But a technical foul called on the Colonials allowed Norristown to shoot 4 free throws (2 were made), and then another basket for the Eagles made it a 10 point game again.  The Colonials were just unable to get much closer as they ended up in foul trouble (giving up free throws), and were just unable to put together enough stops.

The Eagles inch closer to a perfect season now at 20-0, with Hatboro-Horsham next on Tuesday.  How has Norristown been able to do it thus far?  “I tell them to stay focused, and they set goals,” said Norristown coach Mike Evans.  “They take one step at a time to achieve those goals.” 

Therefore the next step for the Eagles isn’t to extend their undefeated streak to 21.  It is to get their 21^st one game win streak.  And if the team can stay as focused as they were Friday night, that is very possible.

Box Score: Norristown: Khalif Wyatt 15, Quentin Watson 13, Sheldon Mayer 10, Russell Graham 9, James Ramsey 5, Maurice Briggs 3, Jared Smart 2, Vonte Shippen 1 Plymouth Whitemarsh Allen Williams 21, Matt Labick 14, Lawrence Ogunka 6, Jesse Berk 4, Joe Ignas 2, Mike Curran 2 Score by quarter: Nor: 22, 13, 12, 11 PW: 13, 13, 12, 10