Apparently, Irons went up for a dunk, the ball hit the rim and Irons flipped backward - hitting his head. He was bleeding profusely and even lost consciousness for a few minutes, Ridpath learned. Many stitches were needed to close the wound, but Irons apparently will be all right.
That was not the only injury the Patriots faced last week. Star player Richard Barnes fell over a teammate going after a loose ball in Penn Wood's loss to Sun Valley on Tuesday. He stayed in the game, but was in pain afterward, and Ridpath told him to go to the hospital to have his sore left wrist examined. At first, Barnes' hand was placed in a soft cast, and he was believed to be out for two weeks.
Without two starters, Penn Wood, the defending District 1 champion, didn't
quit. Instead, the Patriots turned in arguably their most impressive performance of the season, topping host West Chester Henderson, 62-53, on Thursday night. Ray Curry led the Patriots with 25 points.
The next night, the Patriots received another surprise as Barnes returned.
Minutes before game time, the 6-4 strongman told Ridpath that his wrist was only slightly sprained, not hairline-fractured as was originally believed. So Penn Wood trainer Joey Jacobs taped up his wrist, and Barnes gave it a go.
He must be fine. Barnes scored 27 points and pulled down 18 rebounds as the Patriots, with "Oz" written on tape on the backs of their sneakers to remember Irons, rolled past Interboro, 60-45, Friday night.
BUZZER-BEATER
Sun Valley guard Joe Tyson takes a lot of ribbing for his size. His teammates call him "Bear" because they think the 5-10 sophomore looks like a tiny bear cub.
