Boys Basketball: Penncrest makes sure Doyle’s 200th win is smooth and easy

MIDDLETOWN >> It takes about 30 seconds after the coy, “you shouldn’t have” smile and silver balloons spelling out “200” recede into the distance for Mike Doyle to turn the conversation away from himself.

As the Penncrest coach recounts all the figures that led to the 199 wins before Tuesday’s 56-26 pasting of Ridley, the discussion meanders away from the coach’s contributions. It veers toward players and assistant coaches he’s been fortunate to work with. It ambles toward what Doyle calls his “classical training” as a coach, a path studded by notable mentors — Buddy Gardler at Cardinal O’Hara, Herb Magee at Philadelphia University, Jim Boyle and Phil Martelli at Saint Joseph’s.

And finally, Doyle finds himself at the point he really wants to sink his teeth into: How good was his team’s defense today, especially Justin Heidig?

“He was gold,” Doyle said, squarely rooted in his post-game wheelhouse. “He was unbelievable. He has really stuck with it and we were just waiting. I believed in him and knew he was ready for a breakout game.”

Nice as the photo op was, Doyle is always more heartened by talk of his team, not his coaching. So it was Tuesday, with the way his team dominated Ridley, holding them to 10 second-half points in a display of execution that had blinked on and off in alternating wins and losses the last two weeks. But Tuesday, Penncrest (14-2, 9-2 Central) assembled all the elements it knows it’s capable of, the ones that powered 11 straight wins to start the season.

The defense, led by seven steals from Heidig, caused 19 turnovers and allowed just 10 Ridley field goals, none in the first 6:22 of the second half to set the stage for a decisive 13-2 run.

The offense ran smoothly, even with Tyler Norwood limited to a pedestrian 14 points. That was again thanks to Heidig, who dished six assists and keyed big days for Matt Arbogast (15 points) and Chris Mills (seven points). Heidig also scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in an all-around stellar outing.

“They find open space and they know when it’s coming,” Heidig said of the bigs. “They always are looking for the ball and they’re ready to score every time. It makes my job easier.”

“We just do our thing,” Arbogast said. “We get open space when they’re all on top of Ty, so we just move to open space and make our layups.”

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PETE BANNAN – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Penncrest basketball coach Mike Doyle’s is honored for his 200th win following the Lions 56-26 victory over Ridley Tuesday evening.