Upper Dublin advanced to the District 1 5A final with a win over Upper Moreland Saturday. Upper Dublin/Upper Moreland photos provided courtesy of Greg Lindsay. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
District 1 5A semifinal
#1 UPPER DULBIN 61, #4 UPPER MORELAND 37
Ryan Mulroy and his teammates haven’t forgotten last year’s District 1 5A title game loss to then top-seeded Unionville. Absolutely nothing went UD’s way in a 63-36 loss.
“It left a terrible taste last year,” Mulroy said. “I’ve watched that game so many times, and I get sick to my stomach about it. It’s just a game I wish I could have back, and now I can have it back because we’re playing there Thursday night.”
The Cardinals – this year the top-seeded team – are going back because they soundly defeated Upper Moreland.
“We knew coming in we got lucky the second time playing them,” UD senior Idris Rines said of UD’s 55-53 come-from-behind win over UM in the SOL Tournament title game. “You could tell the intensity from the SOL chip and then this game. I feel like they thought they had a chance to beat us, and we took that real personal.
“We saw the quotes they said after their win versus Marple, and we took that real personal. We have a real good group of guys that want to win. We know the mission – we want to get back to West Chester and win this time. I think we had our best practice yesterday. It comes with our swing guys playing good defense, giving us a good look. A lot of credit to them, and we just kept it going.”
That sentiment turned out to be a recurring theme.
“Coach Brooks and all of our coaches do a really good job of preparing us for big games like this,” Mulroy said. “And yesterday, we were talking film, and they really got us fired up, and we were excited. We knew we wanted to get back to the district chip.
“Everyone yesterday was locked in. Our swing guys – a lot of them are JV players – really actually had a big impact on this game too. They did a really good job, locking in, running a lot of plays they run. Credit to them.”
Credit to the Cardinals for carrying over the intensity of Friday’s practice into Saturday’s game, racing out of the gate to a 16-2 lead after one quarter. Mulroy and Idris combined for 13 of those points with Brandon Altman adding a 3-pointer.
“Everyone – one through eight – was locked in,” Mulroy said. “We all wanted it. We knew we kind of left them hang in the SOL championship game. That’s a game I feel we should have won by a little more. I think we were all motivated by that, so we wanted to set the tone early today, and I think we did.”
The Cardinals, who took a 28-13 lead into halftime, never looked back, and they will now prepare
“This is huge, this is what we want,” Mulroy said. “We’ve been waiting for this since that loss last year. We’re excited. The community is going to show out.
“We’re going to get back to work on Monday. We’re all going to be locked in every second of practice, and we’re excited for the opportunity.”
“It’s been a goal of mine,” Rines said. “I want to win districts. It hasn’t been done in 40 years.”
Key players: Idris Rines led UD with 17 points, which included three 3-pointers – 12 of his points came in the first half when the outcome was all but decided. Ryan Mulroy added 13 points – 10 in the first half – with three 3s. Justin Ragsdale and Brandon Altman each added 11 points. Altman buried three 3s in a contest that saw UD connect on nine shots from beyond the arc.
For the Golden Bears, Larry Hughes led the way with 11 points.
Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks on the game: “That is a really good team Upper Moreland that is extremely well coached that I think sometimes gets slighted for whatever reason. For three years since I’ve been a coach, we have never taken them as seriously as we should have. They should have beat us at Bensalem for the SOL Tournament title. We blew that game, they deserved to win it. If you asked the boys – I was probably a little manic the last two days and a little bit before that. We were not messing around anymore.
“They played great against Marple. That is a very good team. They’re 21-6 – that’s a good team. We had an unbelievable practice yesterday. The boys were locked in. They knew it was a serious game. We got our district lives on the line. We’re fortunate to have a lot of talent, a lot of good athletes. When we play with that intensity – I thought Upper Moreland was a little surprised by it, to be honest. I don’t think we’ve ever played them with that intensity. I’m very proud of them. It was great. We were ready for their zone, we were ready defensively for the stuff they were going to do. It was an A+ game from everybody.”
–Return to the district title game: “For two years now, the previous year’s runner-up has won the next year. It was Radnor, then it was Unionville. We’re hoping for the same. This is an opportunity you can’t pass up. We haven’t won a district title in 40 years. These guys are younger. They understand it, but when it’s older, you really understand. When you get your opportunities, you’ve got to capitalize, and we’ve got to capitalize on this. This is a great opportunity for us, so we’ve got to do everything we can to win it.”
Up next: Upper Dublin (26-1, 10-0 SOL) will face #7 Holy Ghost Prep in Thursday’s District 1 5A title game at West Chester University at 7 pm. Holy Ghost Prep defeated #3 Pottsgrove 80-71 in a district semifinal Saturday. Upper Moreland (21-6, 9-1) will travel to #3 Pottsgrove in the third place game Wednesday (7 pm).
Upper Moreland 2-11-10-14 37
Upper Dublin 16-12-13-20 61
Upper Moreland (37) – Nate Best 1 0-0 2; Colson Campbell 3 1-2 8; Anthony Carson 1 1-2 3; Larry Hughes 4 3-7 11; Luke Roussel 1 0-0 2; Jadon Cybok 3 0-0 8; J Hernandez 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 13 7-13 37.
Upper Dublin (61) – Kobe Bazemore 2 0-0 4; Ryan Mulroy 5 0-0 13; Idris Rines 6 2-3 17; Justin Ragsdale 4 3-3 11; Reilly McLaughlin 1 0-0 2; James Castronuovo 1 0-0 2; Brandon Altman 3 2-2 11; Horace Jackson 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 22 8-10 61.
3-point goals: UM – Jadon Cybok 2, Colson Campbell; UD – Ryan Mulroy 3, Brandon Altman 3, Idris Rines 3.
District 1 6A playback
#18 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 70, #7 SOUDERTON 50
The Whippets looked anything but the part of the 18th seed, opening up an 18-10 lead after one quarter on their way to a 34-25 halftime lead. They added to their lead in the third quarter and took a 47-32 advantage into the fourth quarter on their way to a win that brought an end to Souderton’s season.
“We cut their lead to seven with four minutes left in the fourth, but the comeback fell short,” Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey said. “These kids have so much to be proud of. They gave their heart and soul to this season, and they made history with the seventh division title in school history. This was a special group of seniors and underclassmen who had a major positive impact on the program.”
The season: Souderton closed out its season with a 17-8 record. The Indians captured the SOL Colonial Division title with a 9-1 record.
Downingtown West 18-16-13-23 70
Souderton 10-15-7-18 50
Downingtown West (70) – Isaiah Hicklen 2 0-0 6; Keron Whitfield 2 0-0 5; Brendon Goode-Kimble 6 2-2 15; Brady Moore 5 4-8 15; Ross 1 1-1 3; Jayden Weishaar 1 0-0 2; Donovan Fromhartz 7 2-3 18; Aiden Critchley 1 0-0 3; Ry Raines 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 26 10-16 70.
Souderton (50) – Chanse Salone 4 0-0 10; Trey Bui 1 2-4 4; Chris Lewis 1 0-0 2; Nolan Watkins 6 2-3 17; Nate Rusike 2 1-2 5; Thaddeus Harter 2 1-1 5; Grady Kovach 3 1-2 7; TOTALS 19 7-12 50.
3-point goals: DW – Donovan Fromhartz 2, Isaiah Hicklen 2, Aiden Critchely, Brady Moore, Brendon Goode-Kimble, Keron Whitfield; S – Nolan Watkins 3, Chanse Salone 2.
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