Upper Dublin advanced to Saturday’s District 1 5A semifinals with a win over Penncrest. UD/Penncrest photos courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
Class 5A quarterfinals
#2 UPPER DUBLIN 44, #10 PENNCREST 33
Upper Dublin – according to many– was a year away from making noise. The players, however, had other ideas. Why wait until next year?
“So many people really thought this wasn’t our year – next year is our year just because we’re so young,” junior Ryan Mulroy said. “We had a great
group of seniors last year, and it sucked when we lost to West Chester Rustin in the first round, but everyone on this team is bought in, everyone on this team wants to win, and I think that’s a big reason why we were able to have these big accomplishments this year.”
With Wednesday’s win, the Cardinals have already completed something of a trifecta – capturing the SOL Liberty Division title, winning the SOL Tournament crown and now, punching their ticket to the PIAA 5A state tournament. It is the program’s first trip to states since 2002.
“It’s awesome – I’m on cloud nine right now,” Mulroy said. “I’m so excited. This group of guys and the coaches are so fun to be around. I really hope we can keep the season going. I wish it would never have to come to an end. Our goal is to keep winning. Hopefully, we can continue doing our jobs.
“It means so much to me, but it means so much to everyone, and especially everyone in the school. Our school is known for football, lacrosse, baseball has had all its success, but it’s really cool now to see the basketball team have success. It means so much to our team to have the community coming out for us. Upper Dublin was packed tonight. It was so cool to see that.”
Interestingly, Mulroy didn’t have much of a frame of reference about Upper Dublin basketball when he entered high school.
“I’m going to be honest – I never went to an Upper Dublin basketball game as a middle schooler or elementary schooler,” he said. “I grew up watching the Philadelphia Catholic League because that’s where both my parents played.
“But my middle school basketball team – a lot of the guys I play with now – we just play so good together. I love playing with them – it’s so fun, and
that’s kind of the reason why I went to Upper Dublin to play with these guys, and that’s the big reason why we’re accomplishing all these great things this year.”
Penncrest’s style is a marked contrast to Upper Dublin’s. While the Cardinals prefer an up-tempo game, the Lions like to slow the game down.
“We knew it was coming because all their games are like that,” Brooks said. “Part of it is – that’s kind of what (coach Mike Doyle’s) team needs to do. He has a very young team. They’re smart, they’re skilled, they know how to play, and they execute their stuff.
“Him getting in track meet with teams is probably not the best way to play. I give credit to coach Doyle who’s done a really good job for a long time. I think that is smart.
“They had nine losses, but seven of them were by three points or less. It’s crazy. All of them are close, and they’re low scoring. It’s just how their games are. We’re used to playing at a super fast tempo, a super fast pace, getting up and down. I warned the guys – ‘We’re going to try and force the tempo. We’re going to do our press, we’re going to look to run, but don’t be surprised if you look at the score midway through the second quarter and the score is 15-13.’”
To underscore his point, Brooks showed his players Penncrest’s scores, so it was hardly a surprise when the Cards, who led 9-8 after one quarter, took a 22-14 lead into halftime.
It was a 30-24 game heading into the fourth quarter when – behind six points from Mulroy – the Cardinals closed out the game with a 14-9 quarter.
“They averaged in the 30s and 40s,” Mulroy said. “Coach Brooks even before the game told us, ‘Guys, don’t get frustrated if the game’s close in the 30s and 40s. That’s the way they play.’
“There was a point where it was 30-27 in the fourth quarter – we were only up three, and I think everyone kind of knew, ‘Okay, we’re good – just keep playing our game, calm down,’ and we did. We were able to execute and just forget about the pressure. Just take our time, and if we continue to play our game and execute our game plan, everything’s going to be okay, and that’s what we did.
“We like to play really fast, but sometimes you just have to adjust and keep playing the game. Hopefully, we’re able to do that against Sun Valley on Saturday. We’re looking forward to it.”
UD limited the Lions to single digits in three of four quarters.
“Our press did work tonight,” Brooks said. “It was the best thing we did. We were able to get a lot of stops off that, and even when we did get in the halfcourt – with the amount of time we had to scout them, we kind of knew what their set plays were. Our boys did a good job executing how to stop those plays, and they deserve a lot of credit for that.
“Penncrest is a good defensive team. They pack it in the paint, they’re disciplined, they have (Michael) Mita who can protect the rim, and we didn’t have the greatest shooting night. They executed well defensively. Fortunately, we made enough plays to build a lead and not look back. Most of the game, it was a 4-8-point lead.”
Mulroy’s 12 points led a balanced UD attack. Noah Cohen had 11 points off the bench, Chris Kohlbrenner – who was 6-for-8 at the foul line – added nine points, and Kobe Bazemore had eight.
“Ryan Mulroy, as always, was great – he was great on offense and defense tonight,” Brooks said. “Chris Kohlbrenner in his first game back after a rolled ankle gave us some really good defensive plays and provided some good offense.
“Kobe Bazemore – it was probably one of his most complete games start to finish. He was great defensively, took care of the ball, finished some of his layups and had a big jumper in the fourth quarter. Danny Cohen off the bench was huge – he was second on the team in scoring with 11 points. He had three 3s and a two in the fourth. I was thinking of finishing the game with him but ultimately finished with the starting lineup, but he played great. He hit some huge shots for us.”
Wednesday’s win was the 23rd of a memorable season for the Cardinals.
“It’s exciting,” said Brooks, who was 11 years old when the Cardinals last went to states. “It’s exciting for the boys. I don’t want to take anything away from our boys, but it is a lot easier to get to states than it used to be with the extra bids that are given and now that it’s 5A and 6A, but this was a goal. It’s a great accomplishment.
“We’ve lost in the first round of districts the last two years, so it was nice to get the monkey off our back tonight. It was a goal and another check mark for us, which has turned into a banner season for us.”
Added Mulroy, “It’s really special just to see what we’re able to do with all the hard work we put in during the offseason – it’s all paying off. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Upper Dublin (23-3, 15-1) will host #6 Sun Valley in Saturday’s District 1 5A semifinal game at 1 p.m., the first game of a boys/girls doubleheader. Sun Valley defeated defending District 1 5A champion Radnor with a 35-34 upset win.
Penncrest 8-6-10-9 33
Upper Dublin 9-13-8-14 44
Penncrest (33) – Will Stanton 1 0-0 3; Patrick Garrison 1 4-6 7; Theo Gladue 2 0-0 5; Connor Cahill 1 4-4 6; Liam Doyle 1 0-0 2; Kevin Gamlin 1 0-0 2; Michael Mita 3 2-3 8; TOTALS 10 10-13 33.
Upper Dublin (44) – Kobe Bazemore 3 2-2 8; Chris Kohlbrenner 2 5-6 9; Brady Fogle 0 1-2 1; Ryan Mulroy 6 0-0 12; Noah Cohen 4 0-0 11; James Castronuovo 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 16 8-10 44.
3-point goals: Penncrest – Will Stanton, Patrick Garrison, Theo Gladue; UD – Noah Cohen 3, James Castronuovo.
#1 UNIONVILLE 72, #4 UPPER MORELAND 65
The Golden Bears took the early lead in Wednesday’s district quarterfinal game and trailed by just two at halftime, but a 22-15 third quarter tear by Unionville proved to be the difference.
Behind five points from Sean Murphy, the Golden Bears led 13-9 after one quarter, and eight points from Alex Best kept the game close at halftime. Then came the third quarter that sent the Longhorns into the final frame with a 48-39 lead.
UM – sparked by eight points from both Best and Brayden Martin – erupted for 26 points in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Bears trimmed only two points off Unionville’s lead since the Longhorns put 24 points on the board in the final quarter.
Best’s 19 points – which included five 3-pointers – led the Golden Bears. Colson Campbell added 10 points. Murphy finished with nine points while Martin and Jimmy Perce both had eight.
Upper Moreland (14-10, 10-6 SOL) will face #5 Pottstown in a playback game for a berth in the PIAA 5A Tournament on Saturday. Phoenixville defeated Pottstown 71-61 in a quarterfinal contest.
Upper Moreland 13-11-15-26 65
Unionville 9-17-22-24 72
Upper Moreland (65) – Nate Best 2 0-0 4; Alex Best 7 0-1 19; Colson Campbell 3 4-5 10; Anthony Carson 0 1-2 1; Jimmy Perce 2 3-4 8; Sean Murphy 3 2-2 9; Brayden Martin 2 2-2 8; Larry Hughes 1 1-2 3; Jadon Cybok 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 21 13-17 65.
Unionville (72) – James Brenner 7 1-1 17; James Anderson 1 6-10 8; Jack Robbins 2 1-2 6; Ryan Brown 3 8-9 17; Charlie Kammeier 4 1-1 10; Nick Diehl 4 6-8 14; TOTALS 21 23-31 72.
3-point goals: UM – Alex Best 5, Brayden Martin 2, Jimmy Perce, Sean Murphy, Jadon Cybok; Unionville – Ryan Brown 3, James Brenner 2, Jack Robbins, Charlie Kammeier.
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