coach Keith Cochran knew his team could shoot. It was just a matter of getting that chance against a style that the Golden Knights could open up against. That chance came in the opening round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs, when Rustin hosted Penncrest Friday night.
The Golden Knights were almost perfect from three-point range in opening a comfortable halftime lead, before some stubborn defense shut down Penncrest in the fourth quarter en route to a 48-29 victory.
Rustin, the No. 6 seed, will advance to the second round against perennial state power Penn Wood, the No. 11 seed, and improved to 20-3, while Penncrest’s season ended at 12-11.
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Rustin was led by Cory Blake’s led everyone with a game-high 19 points, and teammate Zach Butcher chipped in with 18. Penncrest was led by Ben Davis, who scored a team-high 15 points.
“Penncrest is a tough team to play against, they’re smart and they’re patient,” Cochran said. “But everyone has little intricacies and we made some halftime adjustments. Now we have Penn Wood and I know they’re a little angry, but guess what, we’re a little angry, too. I try and put the kids in a position to play the best talent. And Penn Wood is certainly talented.”
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It was an interesting contrast in styles. Penncrest likes to play a delayed, pass-oriented, time-eating style, relying heavily on three-point shooting, while Rustin, with its superior size inside in 6-foot-6 junior Anthony Nash and Blake, a 6-foot-4 senior, pounding the inside.
The twist is that it was Rustin hitting from the outside. In fact, the Golden Knights were 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first half in building a lead. Penncrest led twice, 6-5 and 9-7, thanks to a pair of three-point baskets from Ian Campbell and Davis. But each time the Lions nailed a big trey, Rustin came down and answered.
There were three lead changes in the first nine minutes.
After Rustin’s Butcher nailed a three-point shot, which gave the Golden Eagles a 10-9 lead with 6:10 left in the first half, it was the last lead change. Rustin went on to a 21-14 halftime lead, and in one seven-minute span, the Golden Eagles outscored Penncrest 20-3—boosting their lead to 33-17, Rustin’s largest of the game.
From there, however, Penncrest began chipping away. Led by Davis, who went on a seven-point tear, the Lions got within 35-26 by the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Rustin shut out the lights. Penncrest got stuck on 26 and the Lions didn’t come off the number until there was less than a minute to play in the game.
By then, Rustin had built a substantial lead by walking away with a 48-29 victory.
“We know the challenge ahead against Penn Wood, but we’ll stay focused and we look at Penn Wood as just another team,” Blake said. “It’s just another team we have to beat.”
