Boys Basketball: Penn rallies to beat St. Joseph

No. 13 Class 4-A Penn rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to defeat South Bend St. Joseph, 55-46, in a Northern Indiana Conference high school boys basketball showdown on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024.

Coach Barak Coolman’s Penn squad remains unbeaten in NIC competition with a 4-0 league record. The Kingsmen are 7-1 overall and play at Valparaiso on Saturday.

St. Joseph is 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the NIC.

Penn outscored St. Joseph 38-23 in the second half. The Kingsmen used a 20-13 edge in the fourth quarter to stretch a two-point lead at the end of the third quarter (35-33) into the final nine-point margin of victory. St. Joe had the upperhand early, leading 14-5 after one quarter and 19-8 midway through the second quarter.

Maverick Brown led Penn with 17 points.

Trey Miller scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

Alexander Hawthorne led a relentless Kingsmen defense that limited St. Joseph All-State candidate Chase Konieczny to five points in the second half after he scored 15 in the first half.

PENN 55: Ben Murphy 3, Ethan Good 0, Alexander Hawthorne 6, Casey Finn 0, Dominic Bonner 5, Trey Miller 13, Maverick Brown 17, John Bedient 0, Kellen Watson 0, Nolan McCullough 4, Peyton Miamba 7.

St. Joseph 46: Nick Shrewsberry 0, Jerry Barca 0, Chase Konieczny 20, Jayce Lee 17, Brashaun Woods 1, Elijah King 6, Braylen White 2.

PENN                    5             17           35           55

St. Joseph            14           23           33           46

Three-pointers: PENN 6 (Trey Miller 3, Peyton Miamba 1, Alexander Hawthorne 1, Ben Murphy 1), St. Joseph 4 (Chase Konieczny 4).