This one will go down in the books as one of the GREATEST comebacks in school history, as PHC battled against Crown College in an absolutely electrifying 82-79 victory.
Right off the tip, Crown College drained triple after triple, and the Sentinels simply looked disastrous on the defensive end. Trailing 19-36 with less than six minutes to go in the first half, Coach Roynestad was perplexed at the lack of tenacity and boxing-out from the Sentinels. By halftime, they trailed by twenty points.
Having one of the more skilled rosters PHC has seen in a few years, the men were mortified at the thought of this just being another typical season. The Sentinels knew they couldn't let each other and their fans down. Freshman guard Zach Ward said after the game, “Penrod gave the single greatest halftime speech in the locker room I have ever heard, it felt like a movie scene.” Apparently, sophomore and team captain, Andrew Penrod, spoke about how the team has the potential to change the athletics culture at the college and to not let the opportunity slip away.
That clearly ignited a flame in the men, who came out full tilt in the second half. Down 37-57 to start the half, they somehow managed to climb 59-65 with 8:30 left on the clock. “It was like watching a different team,” said Coach Roynestad. Tenacity on defense and boxing out, something they did none of in the first half, was now the reason they were able to dissolve a twenty-point lead. Second-chance buckets from Penrod coupled with his 24 points and Chris Ziemnick’s 25, carried the load offensively down the stretch. The crowd went berserk as the Sentinels won 82-79.
This game shows that when PHC has the will to win and continue fighting, they are capable of great things. With the season still fresh, the Sentinels have many more battles ahead of them, but they can look back on this one to know they have what it takes.
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