Boys Basketball: Bingnear happy to be Ridley’s secret weapon

RIDLEY TWP. >> Sean Bingnear knew the start on Senior Night was ceremonial. The outcome of Ridley’s game, against fellow playoff-bound squad Garnet Valley to cap an unbeaten run through the Central League, was hardly inconsequential. And for the senior guard, the opportunity was palpable.

So much so that eight days later, with Ridley surprisingly on the brink of a premature exit from the District One Class AAAA tournament and in a more precarious position on its home court than it had been all season, Mike Snyder looked down his usually tightly-rotated bench and found a saving answer in Bingnear. Of the many surprises contained in the boxscore from that narrow, 51-49 survival over No. 29 North Penn Friday, the most glaring is the eight points attributed to Bingnear’s name. And with the No. 4 Green Raiders facing another team that’s displayed its upset potential, No. 20 Perkiomen Valley, in Tuesday’s second round, Bingnear’s postseason cameo may transform into a recurring arc.

Snyder’s methods have been fairly constant this season, opting for a six- or seven-man rotation most nights. With the Green Raiders winning a Central League title and accumulating a very unbroken 23-1 record, there was no need to fix that proposition. Bingnear, the only of the Green Raiders’ five upperclassmen to find himself outside that core, appeared in fewer than half of the team’s games this season. Before the Jaguars arrived Feb. 4, Bingnear had hit two baskets, both 2-pointers, and scored five points. His record as a junior: Four games played and two made free throws.

But given the nod on Senior Night, Bingnear responded, shooting over the GV defense to score 11 points, burying three triples. “I just wanted to prove that I can play a little bit, so I just wanted to show that I can help if they need me,” Bingnear said at practice Sunday. Ridley topped GV, 59-49. Behind Julian Wing’s game-high 29 points, Bingnear and star guard Brett Foster contributed 11 apiece, a tally that could be seen as decisive.

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Ridley’s Sean Bingnear, left, looks for room to maneuver against North Penn’s Lance Lindsay Ford in the District One Class AAAA opener Friday night, a game in which Ridley came back to win thanks to eight points from Bingnear. (Digital First Media/Anne Neborak)