The lights inside J. Milo Sewards gymnasium and throughout the Allen High School campus went out briefly on Tuesday night in the first half of the Canaries’ boys basketball game against Nazareth.
Fortunately, the darkness only prevailed for a few seconds.
Once they went back on, Allen powered past Nazareth to build a 42-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. Then, after the Blue Eagles rallied to get within 46-44 with 2 minutes left, the Canaries used stingy defense, strong rebounding, and clutch foul shooting to pull the plug on Nazareth’s comeback effort.
A 12-2 run closed out a 58-46 Allen win in the battle of unbeatens, and coupled with Parkland’s 42-37 win over Northampton, the Canaries (5-0) are the only unbeaten team left in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
Allen senior Tiheed Wise Jr. scored all 16 of his team’s points in the first quarter and the first five of the second period. While he had just four points in the second half to finish with 25, Wise impacted the game with eight rebounds and five assists.
He finished the night with a slam dunk, bringing the Canaries’ full-throated student section to its feet.
“We just had to finish the game,” Allen coach Darnell Braswell said. “We were in control of the game. We had a halftime lead, we led in the third quarter, and we led in the fourth quarter. We just had to settle down and take a deep breath. All we needed was one basket.”
That basket to stop a 9-0 Nazareth run was a 3-pointer by Xayvon Wimberly off an assist by Wise to make it 49-44 with 1:39 left. Wise had eight rebounds and five assists to go with his game-high point total.
“I’ve said it before, and I’m going to continue to say it, and that’s that Chunk [Wise] is one of the best players in the league, if not the best player,” Braswell said. “He can dominate the game at both ends of the floor. His best ability is his passing ability. He did that. He’s extremely talented and a very capable passer. There’s nothing on the floor he can’t do.”
After Wise outscored Nazareth by himself, 18-16, going into the second quarter, the Blue Eagles adjusted their defense in an effort to slow him down.
“He’s so good,” the Blue Eagles’ first-year coach Dave Wickmann said of Wise. “He was good last year, and he’s even better this year. He’s one of the top two or three players in the league. We originally started off face-guarding him and trying to get help. Then we went zone and tried to defend him that way. But at halftime, we decided we had to play our defense, which is more of a team defense, so we switched to our 2-3 zone. If he continues to beat us, he beats us. At that point, some other kids knocked down some 3s for them.”
But Wickmann, whose team fell to 5-1 overall, 4-1 league, was thrilled with his team’s effort.
“I told our guys that in reality, we knew we were not going to go 22-0, so we knew it was going to come, but I love our guys,” he said. “They’re resilient, and they can’t wait to get back on the court. I just told my guys that I’ll take you guys over anybody all day, and every day. We’re going to be there at the end.”
Nazareth got 14 points apiece from Blake Nagurney and Gavin Kershner, but the Blue Eagles struggled from 3-point range and had five turnovers in the third quarter when Allen opened a 42-29 lead.
“We did a good job defensively the whole game,” Braswell said. “They average 70.4 points per game, and we held them to 46. I thought we did a good job throughout the game, but our offense kind of springboarded their offense. We made some bad decisions and turned the ball over, and they got some easy baskets. And Gavin Kershner and Mason Marinelli killed us on the offensive glass. We had to weather the storm and had to box out and get those rebounds to finish the game.”
Wise said the win came down to energy, defense, and rebounding.
“It feels great to be undefeated, to be honest,” he said. “Two years ago, we were 2-20. So this feels great, but we just have to keep playing hard.”
Cameron Pearsall, a senior, had 13 points, all in the second half after Nazareth focused on Wise.
“Chunk is an unselfish player, and when he is dribbling, we all have to be ready because the ball could be coming our way,” Pearsall said. “He’s a great player, but this is a team, and we all had to contribute. We have a brotherhood here. We unite as one and can do some great things together.”
Pearsall went through a 4-18 season last year at Dieruff before transferring.
“I’m enjoying this,” he said. “I came from a rival school, but I think this was a good decision. I’m just happy that Coach Braswell gave me an opportunity.”
Allen 58, Nazareth 46
Nazareth 16 – 7 – 8 – 15 — 46
Allen 16 – 11 – 15 – 16 — 58
NAZARETH (46)
Zakary Noel 2-2 0-2 4, Alex Rodriguez 0-2 0-2 0, Blake Nagurney 5-10 3-4 14, Logan Hahn 3-8 0-0 6, Gavin Kershner 7-16 0-0 14, Matt Leluga 1-4 0-0 2, Owen Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Marinelli 2-5 2-2 6, Bobby Grzenda 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 5-10 46.
ALLEN (58)
Cam Pearsall 3-5 5-7 13, Tiheed Wise, Jr. 9-19 4-6 25, Jaylen Walker 1-3 0-2 2, Xayvon Wimberly 2-5 0-0 6, Obed Lockhart 2-3 0-0 6, TeShon Gaynair 0-0 0-0 0, Nazeer Chapman 2-3 2-3 6. Totals 19-38 11-20 58.
3-pointers: Nazareth (1-12) Nagurney. Allen (9-20) Wise 3, Pearsall 2, Wimberly 2, Lockhart 2.
Rebounds: Nazareth 25 (Kershner 10); Allen 26 (Wise 8).
Assists: Nazareth 6; Allen (Wise 5).
Turnovers: Nazareth 10; Allen 15.
Fouls: Nazareth 16, Allen 10.
Other EPC games
Parkland 42, Northampton 37: The Trojans outscored the visiting Konkrete Kids 12-3 in the third quarter to take 32-24 and held on for their fifth straight win after an opening-night loss at Allen. Blake Nassry led Parkland with 15 points. Nassim Adams and Jude Ruisch added nine apiece. Ruisch’s points came on three 3-pointers.
Liberty 63, Emmaus 46: Jake Pukszyn scored 22 points, and Jarrell Teague added 11 as the Hurricanes opened a 22-12 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in improving to 5-2 overall, 4-1 EPC. Lucas Stephan led Emmaus (3-6, 1-4) with 18 points.
East Stroudsburg North 53, Stroudsburg 49: Wayne King scored 20 points, and Bernard Bowen added 13 as the Timberwolves improved to 2-4. Tae El-Bassiouni and Jarel Jackson led the Mounties (4-3) with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Pocono Mt. West 79, Pleasant Valley 44: KJ Coles scored 27 points, and Ayden Aponte and Teddy Stiehler added 18 and 14, respectively, as the Panthers improved to 5-1.
Allentown CCHS 60, Freedom 40: The Vikings outscored the visiting Patriots 17-3 in the second quarter and never looked back. Cameron Hines scored 20 points and Yariel Gonzalez added 13 as ACCHS improved to 5-2. Brody Stellato led the Patriots (0-7) with 18.
Whitehall 50, Becahi 48: Tanner Dogmanits made the game-winning basket with two seconds left as the Zephyrs won their second straight after starting the season 0-5. Seth Hoderewski led Whitehall with 26 points. Parker McClary led the Golden Hawks (3-4) with 15 — all on 3-pointers.
Dieruff 58, Easton 52: The Huskies outscored the visiting Red Rovers 22-15 in the fourth quarter and pulled out an EPC win. Alphy Deris led Dieruff (5-3, 4-2) with 16 points, while Edwin Malave and Terror Dearing-Jones added 12 and 11, respectively. The Red Rovers fell to 1-4, 1-3 despite 14 points by Algee Macon.
Pocono Mountain East 48, East Stroudsburg South 35: Cardinals improved to 4-3, 3-1 EPC.
