Penn Wood’s Sahmir Massenburg drops a basket at the end of the first quarter against Chichester Thursday night. PETE BANNAN – MEDIANEWS GROUP
By Matthew DeGeorge
Things haven’t worked out the way Naeem Purnell and his Penn Wood teammates wanted his season.
With two wins on their record and one week left in the season, a return to states is out of the picture. One big reason is that a few people Purnell assumed would be important this season were, likewise, long out of the Patriots’ picture, due to a combination of virtual schooling and the current pandemic predicament.
Thursday didn’t roll back the years to the crisp, resilient Penn Wood of old. But in surviving a 46-41 slog against Chichester to avenge two losses to their Del Val rival, the Patriots salvaged something of the season.
“We just tried to play with what we’ve got,” Purnell said. “Most of the year, it didn’t work out. But they came back and helped us a lot.”