Upper Moreland captured the program’s first ever District One AAA title on Saturday night at Villanova University with the Golden Bears 57-49 win over Pope John Paul II. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/030213_upper_moreland_vs_pope_john_paul_ii_dl
By Mary Jane Souder
Holding an ice pack on his swollen wrist, Upper Moreland’s Matt Kohn was asked how he felt after the Golden Bears’ 57-49 win over Pope John Paul II in Saturday night’s District One AAA title game at Villanova University.
“We just (made) school history - I feel like a million bucks,” the Golden Bears’ senior captain said.
Kohn, in a courageous performance, gutted out the fourth quarter with an injured wrist that didn’t allow him to do a whole lot, but the Golden Bears could ill afford to take their undisputed floor general off the court, especially with the Panthers scratching and clawing their way back into a game they trailed by as many as 16 points.
The senior point guard, a focal point of the Panthers’ defense all night, scored just eight points, but junior Kevin McFall didn’t hesitate when asked the key to Saturday’s win.
“This guy,” McFall said, pointing in Kohn’s direction. “He led us the whole way. He didn’t have the game he wanted, but it’s his leadership.”
The district title is the first in the program’s history, and this is the stuff dreams are made of.
“Just getting that banner and knowing they are going to be talking about this for the next 20 years – it’s unbelievable,” Kohn said.
Two short years ago the Golden Bears won just two games – and lost 21.
What turned the program around?
“The kids,” coach Brian Corrado said. “They never wavered, they never gave up, they believed in what we were preaching. It’s belief and faith.”
The players rode that belief and faith – and some outstanding play on the court – to a district title that will ensure this squad a place in history.
“I told the guys, ‘You have a chance to make a legacy for the guys that came before you that didn’t have a chance,’” Corrado said. “This group will always be remembered for that.”
Any thoughts that the Golden Bears would be awestruck playing on the big stage under the bright lights of the Pavilion were put to rest early
“The one thing we tried to do was get here early and try and soak it in – kind of chew it up and spit it out,” Kohn said.
That strategy apparently worked because the Golden Bears showed no signs of nerves.
“I think it speaks to the group as a whole – their approach, their attitude, their maturity and their cohesiveness,” Corrado said. “It’s a special group. They really sacrifice for each other, and when you do that, sometimes great things happen.”
The game started out on a good note for the Golden Bears as they scored on two of their first three possessions, both on baskets by senior Mark Williams.
“We always want to come out hard and play hard right from the beginning,” Williams said. “Let them know we’re not going anywhere.
“I got a couple of chances to score, and I took advantage of it.”
The Panthers matched the Bears basket for basket and opened up a 10-7 lead, but six points to close out the quarter from McFall, who finished with a game-high 20 points, propelled the Golden Bears to a 13-12 lead at the end of one quarter.
“We got it in to Kevin early, and that’s always a goal of ours – to get it in to our bigs early because they can dominate on anybody,” Kohn said. “When Kevin started doing his work at the beginning of the game, we kept feeding him, and he kept it up the whole game.”
The second quarter featured three ties with the final one (21-21) coming after a bucket by Tim Tadros with 3:10 remaining in the first half. James Martin found McFall for an easy bucket at the other end, and then Kohn banked home a tough shot on a drive to put the Bears on top 25-21. When Kohn found Tommy Robinson for a bucket, it sent the Golden Bears into the halftime locker room with a 27-21 lead.
“We were just trying to get the ball up – set the tone, set the pace,” Kohn said. “We tried to make them tired, and I think that’s what actually happened.
“We were really prepared. Coach did a great job.”
McFall scored 12 points in the half to lead the Golden Bears.
“My goal was to get up the floor and run,” he said. “When I started getting buckets like that, I saw that they were getting a little tired, so that kind of helped me.”
The two teams came out of halftime and exchanged baskets on four straight possessions, but then came a possession that saw the Golden Bears misfire on four straight shots, but each time, they came up with the rebound. Robinson had a pair of boards and McFall had another with the fourth shot blocked out of play by the Panthers Jamel Stinson.
The fifth shot was the charm as Martin found McFall for an easy bucket that put the Bears on top 33-25. The fun was just starting.
After a Panther turnover, McFall, surrounded by three defenders, found Martin for an easy bucket. A Panther miss set the stage for Martin finding Kohn for a basket that put the Golden Bears on top 37-25. That lead ballooned to 43-28 after Martin hit his second of back-to-back three-pointers, and when McFall buried one-of-two from the foul line, the Golden Bears had their largest lead of the game – 44-28.
The Panthers didn’t go down quietly and appeared to pull to within four after Brent Mahoney buried a three (44-40), but the basket was waved off for a moving screen call against the Panthers. The Golden Bears capitalized as McFall scored on the low post to make it a 46-37 game.
With 1:20 remaining, Stinson scored to pull the Panthers to within five (50-45), but they would get no closer, and a win was all but assured when Kohn found Chris Corr for an easy bucket to put the Golden Bears on top 54-45 with 35 seconds remaining.
The celebration was about to begin.
“It is really awesome,” McFall said. “The lights, the stage, all the fans that came out – it was awesome.
“We came out strong, and we finished strong. We put in so much hard work over the last two years. It feels really great.”
“It’s so awesome,” Williams added. “It’s just hard work and wanting it. We have faith.
“We put the hours in the gym. We made this our goal every year, and we finally got it.”
Corrado has a saying he tells his players – ‘Once part of the family, always part of the family.’ On Saturday night, the Golden Bears family had itself a night they will be talking about for years to come.
EXTRA SHOTS: Williams finished with 10 points and seven boards. Robinson had eight rebounds to go along with five points. Martin scored 12 points, which included three three-pointers…Mahoney led the Panthers with 17 points.
UPPER MORELAND (57) – Matt Kohn 3 2-4 8; James Martin 3 3-4 12; Kevin McFall 8 4-7 20; Tommy Robinson 2 1-1 5; Mark Williams 5 0-0 10; Chris Corr 1 0-0 2; Damian LaRosa 0 0-0 0; Zach Carroll 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22 10-16 57.
POPE JOHN PAUL II (49) - Nick Demeno 2 0-0 6; James Bleming 2 2-2 8; Brent Mahoney 6 3-6 17; Mike Cianciulli 1 0-0 2; Tim Tadros 3 0-0 6; Jamel Stinson 5 0-2 10; Alex Plate 0 0-0 0; Paul Tagliatela 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 5-10 49.
Upper Moreland 13 14 17 13-57
Pope John Paul II 12 9 9 19-49
3-point goals: Martin 3, Bleming 2, Mahoney 2, Demeno 2.
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