Indians Down Cardinals to Capture Hatters Tip-Off

12/13/09 3:52am Posted by admin_user

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Just ask the Upper Dublin basketball team.
With two seconds showing on the scoreboard clock, Aaqil Bailey buried a pair of foul shots to pull the Flying Cardinals to within four points of Council Rock North in Saturday night’s title game of the Hatters’ Tip-Off Tournament.
Not a bad way for the Flying Cardinals to end of the first half.
As it turned out, the first half was far from over. Rock North point guard Aaron Morgan saw to that as his desperation shot from beyond halfcourt banked in at the buzzer, sending the Indians into the intermission with a 34-27 lead.
“That was lucky,” Morgan said. “That was a heave – I just threw it up there.
“The momentum kind of changed because (the lead) went from four to seven, and it was like a dagger for them to go into halftime thinking about that.”
It had just the opposite effect on the Indians.
“Mentally, it was a big momentum booster for us,” sophomore Arron Goodman said. “It got us pumped up. It was a big shot in a close game.”
The Flying Cardinals hung tough but never could get over the hump, falling 71-61 despite the glittering 37-point effort of senior Jamal Brown.
“He’s a horse,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said of Brown, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team. “He’s a great player, and his teammates really look to him, and he takes it upon himself to be a leader.
 “We were right there, but it just seemed whenever we got close, they would hit a big three. You have to give them credit. They hit their shots.”
Three Rock North players finished the game in double figures. Goodman, who earned tournament MVP honors, led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds, and he put an exclamation point on the Indians’ big win as well as his own stellar performance when he glided in for a dunk in the closing seconds of the game.
Morgan (12 points) and teammate Charlie Anastasi (15 points) also earned spots on the all-tournament squad.
“I was really impressed with both Aarons, Aaron Morgan especially,” Rock North coach Derek Wright said. “He was solid last night and tonight, taking care of the basketball and making big shots when we needed them. He was a real calming influence as well.”
Morgan acknowledged that his job is made easier by the Indians’ many offensive weapons.
“Coach always has us looking for mismatches on the offensive end,” the sophomore point guard said. “We have big guys who play guard. Arron Goodman (6-4) can play guard and can post up. Andrew Stress (6-3) does that, and Charlie Anastasi with his big body rebounds (6-5). It makes my job a lot easier.”
Both teams came out firing from the opening tap, and it was the Flying Cardinals – behind nine points from Brown – holding a 16-15 lead at the end of one quarter. Morgan opened the second quarter with a tough drive in the paint for a bucket to put the Indians on top by one.
A bucket by Stress from the top of the key upped that advantage to three. The Indians led 30-23 after Goodman – who initially looked as though he was going to pass but changed his mind in midair – hit nothing but net on a hanging foul line jumper.
Brown answered with a putback, and it was a 31-27 game after Bailey’s foul shots, setting the stage for Morgan’s buzzer beater to end the quarter.
“We gave up too many points,” Brown said. “We didn’t play enough defense, but we’re going to work on that at practice and try and get better at it.”
The Indians still led by seven after Anastasi scored after an offensive rebound with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter (46-39), but Brown hit nothing but net on an impossible trey over two defenders as he fell into his team’s bench at the buzzer, making it a 46-42 game.
“He was great tonight,” Wright said of Brown. “I don’t know if anyone has ever scored like that on us individually in a game.
“We did what we could defensively as far as our strategy. I don’t think we got out of our game plan too much. He just made some great plays. He was making shots from deep, and they were contested. He got to the offensive glass when he had to. It’s important to keep in mind that if a guy is going to make tough shots and contested shots, that’s alright.”
The Indians stretched their lead to six after Anastasi sank a pair of foul shots, and the Flying Cardinals suffered a setback when they lost senior point guard James Newman on their ensuing possession when he was whistled for a charge – his fifth foul of the night.
“I think if we would have had James not get into foul trouble it would have been a little different,” Adelman said.
A baseline trey by Goodman put the Indians on top 51-42, and after a John Raymon steal, Morgan found Goodman for a bucket that gave the Indians their largest lead of the night, 53-42. Raymon gave the Indians valuable minutes off the bench, scoring nine points and pulling down seven rebounds.
It was still an 11-point game (58-47) after Rock North sophomore Matt McCloskey hit nothing but net on a baseline three-pointer.
“We executed a few possessions offensively at really good times, which I think kept them at bay despite the fact that they were playing really well,” Wright said.
Brown - who had 13 fourth-quarter points - scored five straight points to make it a six-point game.
“I was on fire,” Brown said. “I felt it.”
“It’s tough,” Goodman said of trying to contain Brown. “We scouted him, we watched film, and our game plan was to stop him or contain him, but he’s a great player.”
Anastasi answered with a basket for the Indians, and the Flying Cardinals would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Indians went on to earn the tournament crown.
“This was a big momentum booster – starting the season off 2-0,” Goodman said. “We have Pennsbury on Friday, and this game was huge.”
Wright echoed those sentiments.
“This was real important,” he said of winning the tournament. “We have not really played nearly our best, which is expected at this point in the season, but to be able to win two games but still have lessons to learn to get ready for next week – that’s all you can ask for as a coach.
“Usually you have to learn lessons after losses, which isn’t the easiest thing. We know we have a lot to work on but yet we can still enjoy winning the championship tonight.”
Upper Dublin (1-1) also returns to action on Friday when the Flying Cardinals will travel to Cheltenham for their SOL opener.
“We have a bunch of guys that can play, and I think we’re going to be a tough opponent down the stretch,” Adelman said. “The guys played 32 minutes, which is what I ask them to do.
“They never gave up, they battled. Unfortunately, they came out on the losing end, but I think this will be a good learning experience.”
NOTES: Upper Dublin’s Khalil Owens received the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award…Hatboro downed Perkiomen Valley 36-33 in Saturday’s consolation game. Senior Darrin Oliver, who had a team-high 11 points, was named to the all-tournament team.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 71, UPPER DUBLIN 61
Council Rock North (71) – Aaron Morgan 3 4-6 12, Arron Goodman 8 1-3 19, Charlie Anastasi 4 6-6 15, Andrew Stress 1 0-0 2, John Raymon 3 3-4 9, Tim Filer 3 2-6 9, Nick Donofry 1 0-0 2, Matt McCloskey 1 0-1 3. TOTALS 24 16-26 71.
Upper Dublin (61) – Aaqil Bailey 2 5-8 11, Jamil Brown 12 9-13 37, Andrew Derr 0 0-0 0, James Newman 2 0-0 4, Khalil Owens 3 0-0 6, David Lerman 1 0-0 3, Ethan Gregg 0 0-0 0, Ed Petrosky 0 0-1 0. TOTALS 20 14-22 61.
Council Rock North          15           19           12           25-71
Upper Dublin     16           11           15           19-61
3-point goals: CR North-Arron Goodman 2, Aaron Morgan 2, Matt McCloskey, Tim Filer, Charlie Anastasi. Upper Dublin – Jamil Brown 4, Aaqil Bailey 2, David Lerman.
 
 
 
 
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