Saahir Lee (above) and Penncrest survived a wild one on Tuesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
Even after he’d had a few minutes to digest it, Ben Stanton still couldn’t get over the roller-coaster ride he and his teammates had just endured.
“That was the craziest game I’ve been a part of, I think, in my high school career,” the Penncrest senior said after a 46-45 win. “The technicals, the crazy game-winner, the whole atmosphere, it was awesome. It was so fun.”
The stakes were indeed large at Marple Newtown High School, the host Tigers and visiting Lions not just neighbors and rivals but the final two teams left for the sixth and final spot in the Central League playoffs. Winner was in, loser was out, though not done for the season. Also on the line were key points in the District 1 5A seeding race, with Marple coming in No. 2 in the district and Penncrest several spots below, aiming for a top-four seed and the bye that comes with it.
Mix in two large student sections positioned right next to one another — Marple’s taking up one entire baseline, Penncrest’s students filling up the section behind its own bench — and the atmosphere was ripe for a good one.
Everybody in attendance certainly got that, and then some.