Upper Dublin seniors Megan Ngo and Emilia Coleman celebrated their respective milestones in Friday’s win over Abington, reaching the 500-assist and 1,000-point milestone respectively. (Photos provided)
They couldn’t have written a better script if they had tried.
Teammates and friends for the past decade, Upper Dublin seniors Megan Ngo and Emilia Coleman shared the spotlight in Friday night’s win at Abington when both reached historic milestones.
Early in Friday’s win, Ngo was credited with the 500th assist of a stellar career at point guard, and then in the closing seconds of the game, Coleman buried a pair of foul shots that lofted the senior sharpshooter to the elusive 1,000-point milestone.
“It was amazing,” Coleman said. “Megan got her 500 assists, so she started the game with that, and I ended the game with 1,000 points, which I think is really cool. You don’t really see that ever.
“We have played basketball together since we were really young – CYO and our travel for Upper Dublin and being able to do it together was really cool.”
“It was awesome,” Ngo said. “It’s really special to do it on the same night. Especially because we’ve been playing together for so long, I feel like it was only appropriate that we did it the same night.”
Appropriate but also improbable, although the possibility became a reality after UD’s win over Altoona two games ago, and sure enough, it happened.
“These are pretty remarkable milestones,” said UD coach Morgan Funsten, going on to acknowledge Ngo’s milestone that occurred early in Friday’s win. “They’re very different in that very few people do you ever hear of getting 500 assists at the high school level. It’s a huge number.
“Jess Polin had 542 in her career, and I didn’t think I’d ever see another one of my players hit 500 because it’s the type of thing where you need to start for four years, you need to be on teams that are playing 30 games a year, and you need to be unselfish, and Meg has checked all those boxes.”
Both players dealt with adversity along the way, making their accomplishments even sweeter. As a sophomore, Ngo tore her ACL in the opening round of the SOL Tournament and missed seven postseason games.
“Last year, she was cleared basically for our first game, and she didn’t miss a game, but she definitely wasn’t 100 percent all year,” Funsten said. “She fought through it. She’s a fighter, she’s a worker, and she’s a competitor.
“Freshman year she was our point guard from day one, and we asked a ton of her, and we continue to ask a ton of her. I’ve been really proud of how she’s grown as a player and a leader. Getting 500 assists just epitomizes team player. Some people do anything to win, and that’s what Meg does.”
Coleman, who transferred to Upper Dublin her junior year, lived with the knowledge that her first season as a Flying Cardinal would not include being on the court in the postseason due to the PIAA’s transfer rules.
“That was a huge weight,” Funsten said. “I think that really affected her last year. Not being in the playoffs put a damper on what was shaping up to be a pretty incredible individual season for her.
“And just our team last year – when she was on the court, we felt like we could compete and beat anybody in the state. At the end of the year, it didn’t shape up the way our team wanted, and it was really difficult to watch her just as a practice player the last month of the season and on the bench for games. Although she was new to our program, she was not new to playing with the girls in our program. She lived in Upper Dublin her whole life, so it was unfortunate for her, and I think it affected her.”
Down to the wire
It looked as though Coleman – who needed 17 points entering Friday’s contest – might need to wait another game to reach the 1,000-point milestone, but with 16 seconds remaining and two points separating the senior star from the milestone, she was fouled and awarded two shots. The LaSalle University recruit buried both and was immediately mobbed by teammates.
“It was really exciting,” Coleman said. “I didn’t really want to force it. I kind of just wanted to let it happen naturally. Whenever I get it, I get it.”
Coleman is the returning SOL Liberty Division Player of the Year and is picking up where she left off last year.
“I’ve been so proud of her,” Funsten said. “I think she’s taken on a much bigger leadership role this year.
“Her basketball IQ is just off the charts, and you can tell she comes from a basketball family. You can tell her dad (Hatboro-Horsham coach Bill Coleman) is a basketball coach. I know that the dinner conversations, everything in their house is basketball, and you can tell by the way she plays and the way she knows the game.
“She has a level of maturity about her in terms of understanding the game and understanding how important it is to do the little things, and that’s what I’ve seen from her in her two years, and I’m really proud of the maturity she’s shown as a leader this year.”
Coleman connects from beyond the arc at a 40 percent clip, 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line.
“She also defends at a high level,” Funsten said. “She has a simple game, a very effective simple game. I’m sure she’s a little relieved to get past it. We’re excited for her.”
For Ngo, setting up teammates has always been a part of her game.
“This is really special for me especially because from the time I was young, I’ve always been the point guard, and I’ve always been very aware of my role of getting the ball where it needs to be,” the Fairleigh Dickinson University-bound senior said. “Even in the high school setting, it’s really cool to still be able to do that when sometimes like my freshman and sophomore year I would have to score more.”
As for her milestone assist on Friday, Ngo admits it was hardly textbook.
“We were running a play, and I actually threw a really bad pass, but luckily, Ella (Morris) got to the ball, took a dribble and made a shot,” Ngo said. “I think I was more excited for Ella since that pass I made was a terrible pass, and it was just a good shot by her.
“Emilia’s was really exciting because it got down to 20 seconds, and I was very excited.”
A season of promise
There’s no denying that there’s a different feel about this year’s season for Coleman and the Flying Cardinals.
“I’m really excited,” Coleman said. “I know last year ended not exactly how I wanted it to, not being able to play in those playoff games, but this year, going into the season and knowing I have a full season and in the regular season, I have 24 games, but we can extend that to even 30 is very motivating.
“I know all of us on our team have discussed (our goals). We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have to take it game by game.”
“It’s feels really different this year,” Ngo said. “Last year was our year to get all of it – whatever it was – Emilia being new, me coming back (from an injury), two of our important players being freshmen – getting all of that out of the way and just having a year under our belt and the experience of how the program’s run and how things work.
“Everyone got better this summer. Especially knowing we’ll have Emilia the whole season – it’s been amazing. Everyone is just very focused on getting better as a team. I think we are all very excited to see what we can do this year.”
About the Author
