Upper Moreland defeated Harriton in a playback game Saturday to earn a berth in the PIAA 5A state Tournament. Photos provided courtesy of Greg Lindsay. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District 1 5A playback
#5 UPPER MORELAND 57, #8 HARRITON 32
The Golden Bears had just a 7-4 lead after one quarter but then outscored their visitors 14-3 in the second to go into halftime with a 21-7 lead on their way to a win that propelled the Golden Bears into the state tournament.
“I was really proud how we responded after a tough game against a very good Upper Dublin team on Wednesday,” Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland said of his team’s 70-46 loss to the SOL champions. “You know going into the game, it was win or go home, and winning allows us to get into the state tournament.
“Our guys really came out and played with an edge, for sure. They definitely came out ready to go. They executed the game plan both offensively and defensively almost to perfection. It was really great to see.”
Key players: Larry Hughes led the Golden Bears with 21 points, Cannon Campbell had 14 points, and Jose Hernandez added 12. Nate Best had nine points.
–The game: “Early on, it just seemed like there was a lid on the basket for both teams. Shots weren’t falling, the ball wasn’t going through the basket, and both teams were taking tough shots, and they weren’t falling. But in the second quarter and the third quarter especially, we settled in and we were able to get better shots, and we did a great job defensively. This was definitely one of our better defensive performances. A lot of credit goes to Nate Best, who was tasked with guard Harriton’s top scorer (Henry Belcher). He did a great job of keeping him in front, making him have to put the ball on the ground so he was not able to just catch and shoot. Not allowing him to get easy shots off was big in helping us to win.”
–Props: “Nate Best definitely did a really great job. Their best player was averaging 20 points a game the last three of four games, and to hold him to seven points was a tremendous defensive effort and then also leading us on the offensive side as well.
“Larry Hughes led us in scoring with 21 points. He had 10 in the fourth quarter alone, and a lot of that had to do with guys like Nate (Best), Jose (Hernandez) and Kyle Moore breaking Harriton’s press.
“Cannon Campbell really does a great job of getting that last pass to Larry, that assist to finish off the transition down the floor for easy layup opportunities for Larry. And that really allowed us to keep the lead and gain on it. We won by 25, so that definitely helped us hold on to the lead.”
–Back in states – Every year we definitely have three goals. Obviously, the first one is to try to win our SOL Division. We weren’t able to accomplish that this year. The next is to go for a district championship and we came up short on that, but then the third is to get into states. It’s not something that happens regularly at Upper Moreland. This is the first time in school history we’ve gone back-to-back years. It’s a really good accomplishment for our program, for sure.
“Having guys like Larry Hughes, Nate Best, Jose Hernandez and Cannon Campbell who were contributors to that team last year going back and being part of it, it just really shows where the program has come in all the years I’ve been a part of it and have watched it. And the one thing too is we’re not satisfied to just get there – we want to make some noise. It’s like March Madness. You know when you get to the dance anything can happen. You just have to put your best effort forward and whatever happens happens but just play your best basketball. That’s what we keep telling the guys – of this year, the best of the best are around, and there are no easy wins, so you take a win any way you can. The goal is just to move on to the next day, so that’s what we’re looking forward to doing.”
Up next: Upper Moreland will host #5 Pottstown in a seeding game for fifth place on Wednesday.
Harriton 4-3-13-12 32
Upper Moreland 7-14-21-15 57
Harriton (32) – Henry Belcher 1 4-7 7; Billy Wurtzel 1 0-0 3; Seth Shaw 3 1-2 9; Cam Spence 1 0-0 3; Austin Fox 0 0-1 0; Balkan Buke 0 5-8 5; Jonah Axelman 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 8 11-19 32..
Upper Moreland (57) – Nate Best 4 0-0 9; Kyle Moore 0 0-1 0; Larry Hughes 9 3-5 21; Cannon campbell 5 2-3 14; Jose Hernandez 5 1-2 12; TOTALS 23 7-12 57.
3-point goals: H – Shaw 2, Belcher, Wurtzel, Spence; UM – Campbell 2, Hernandez, Best.
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