Penns Valley boys’ basketball secures winning season against P-O

Penns Valley boys’ basketball coach Terry Glunt warned his team by taking to the whiteboard before Friday night’s game.

The illustration itself might not have been perfect — Glunt described it as “caveman-like” — but his point was understood.

Don’t put the cart ahead of the horse.

Penns Valley, with a milestone in sight, heeded Glunt’s advice, barreling through Philipsburg-Osceola in a 74-54 win at the Ram Dome.

The victory secured the Rams’ 20th straight winning season, the ninth with Glunt at the helm.

The Penns Valley coach was proud of the accomplishment for his players.

“Tonight was more about what this game meant, than the game itself,” Glunt said. “There’s a lot of pride.”

For most of the evening, achieving that milestone seemed to be a foregone conclusion. The Rams were dominant, setting the tone with a 20-6 lead after the first quarter and a 17-point halftime advantage.

The Mounties couldn’t stop Penns Valley seniors Zach Engle and Logan Pearce, who had 21 points apiece. Engle, a 6-foot-7 center, scored at will on the block, while Pearce was deadly from distance — much to the chagrin of P-O coach Matt Curtis.

“We didn’t execute our gameplan,” Curtis said. “We can’t focus on one player, but we wanted to double down on Engle and try to get the ball out of Pearce’s hands.”

Instead, Glunt had the luxury of pulling Engle, Pearce and the remaining starters halfway through the third quarter. Penns Valley built a commanding lead, allowing the coach to clear the bench.

In all, 12 Rams played, including Garrett and Trevor Fleck, who dressed for their first varsity game.

Engle was happy to see his teammates get time.

“It’s really nice to see them grow and develop,” Engle said. “It gives them good experience for upcoming years.”

The Rams did find themselves vulnerable in the fourth quarter, though. P-O pressed the Rams’ backups and went on a mini 5-0 run to start the final period, cutting Penns Valley’s advantage to 13.

Glunt re-inserted the starting five with 6:23 left in regulation.

“We don’t want to lose,” the coach admitted. “We were working all night for it. It was starting to get a little precarious.”

The regulars did their job, outscoring the Mounties 11-2 before being pulled again with 3:35 left. The only P-O basket in that span came from Josiah Davis, who ended up with a team-high 18 points.

Otherwise, the Mounties had a tough night.

“We’re still a young team,” Curtis noted. “We’re playing for more than just right now.”

Meanwhile, the Rams are in contention for the Mountain League title. Penns Valley (12-3 overall, 8-1 Mountain League) has another conference matchup on Saturday, weather permitting as they are scheduled to travel to Tyrone.

And now that they’ve ensured another winning season, the Rams have one more objective on their minds.

Glunt said, “We have a goal of winning the conference.”

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Penns Valley boys’ basketball secures winning season against P-O."