Upper Moreland defeated District 1 5A runner-up Penncrest and advanced to the PIAA 5A State Tournament’s quarterfinal round. Upper Dublin saw its successful season come to an end. Check out the recaps of both games. Photos of the Upper Dublin/Monsignor Banner.
PIAA 5A State Tournament
#1-5 UPPER MORELAND 58, #1-2 PENNCREST 53
The Golden Bears had a huge first half, jumping out to a 15-4 advantage after one quarter over the defending district runner-up and extending that lead to 31-13 by halftime.
Nate Best’s 12 points led the Bears in the opening half while Jose Hernandez had nine points in the half.
Upper Moreland still had a seemingly comfortable 46-28 advantage heading into the fourth when Penncrest erupted for 25 points to make things interesting down the stretch, but the Golden Bears prevailed.
Key players: Jose Hernandez scored a game high 24 points, which included 13 of his team’s 15 points in the third quarter. Nate Best added 20 points. He was 4-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland:
–The game: “We got out to a great start. I thought we played really well defensively. We were able to do a good job of limiting their shot options on the defensive end, and we did a really good job of limiting them to one and done early in the game. On the offensive end, it just seemed like everything was clicking. We were able to knock down big shots when we had open looks, and when we got the ball inside, we were able to finish. We made a bunch of free throws early on in the game. Everything was clicking, everything seemed to be going in for us in the first half.
“It seemed that way, honestly, for three-and-a-half quarters, and then in the fourth quarter, they made an unbelievable run. They had 12 3s in the game, so that’s how they came back. We did a really good job early in the game not letting them get wide open looks. Some of them were pretty tough contested 3s, and two of them were from a guy that doesn’t really score that much for them. He knocked down two big shots in critical moments that were huge for them to continue to crawl back into the game and just keep it close.”
–Props: “Jose Hernandez and Nate Best led us in scoring. Nate had 20 and Jose had 24. They both did a tremendous job defensively too, just making their guards work, making them take tough shots and just not letting them get into a rhythm offensively.
“Cannon (Campbell) and Larry (Hughes) didn’t score a bunch tonight, but Larry had eight or nine rebounds and two or three assists, and Cannon had seven rebounds and seven or eight assists, so they both were making winning plays outside of scoring the basketball tonight.”
Up next: Upper Moreland will face District 12 champion Neumann Goretti in Friday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinal contest. Neumann Goretti defeated District 2’s second place team, Crestwood, 55-24.
“They’re a very, very good team,” Heiland said. They’ve got pretty much everybody back from last year too.”
Upper Moreland 15-16-15-12 58
Penncrest 4-9-15-25 53
Upper Moreland (58) – Nate Best 7 4-6 20; Kyle Moore 1 1-2 4; Larry Hughes 2 0-2 4; Chase Moore 1 0-0 2; Cannon Campbell 1 2-4 4; Jose Hernandez 9 2-4 24; TOTALS 21 9-12 58
Penncrest (53) – Will Stanton 6 2-3 20; Sean Benson 2 3-4 9; Connor Cahill 3 0-1 6; Finley Lester 2 0-0 6; Mikey Mita 5 0-0 12; TOTALS 18 5-8 53.
3-point goals: UM – Jose Hernandez 4, Nate Best 2, Kyle Moore; P – Will Stanton 6, Sean Benson 2, Finley Lester 2, Mikey Mita 2.
#12-3 MONSIGNOR BONNER 67, #1-1 UPPER DUBLIN 58
In a rerun of last year’s second round state tournament contest, Upper Dublin once again found itself matched up against Bonner. The outcome was same – Bonner advanced and Upper Dublin went home, but the game was vastly different. Last
year, the Friars rolled to a 59-37 win. This time around, the Flying Cardinals gave them all they could handle.
“They’re a very good team,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “Credit to them – their guard play is just fantastic. They’re always under control, they manipulate screens, and then they get in the lane. They’re short, but they make the right pass. Then they can shoot. It’s just like pick your poison.
“We didn’t do a great job executing the game plan on our screens, but tip your cap to them. We definitely could have done better, but they’re really good. You’ve got to choose something against them, and we couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch.”
Sparked by six points from both Kobe Bazemore and Horace Jackson, the Cardinals stayed close in the first quarter, trailing by just two after one (14-12). Bonner opened up a 24-14 lead in the second, but the Cardinals battled back. A Noah Cohen 3 was followed by a pair of Justin Ragsdale foul shots. An NBA 3 from the top of the circle by Ragsdale made it a 25-22 game, and the Friars led by just two at halftime, 28-26.
Bonner took a 47-38 lead into the fourth quarter. Ragsdale – despite playing with four fouls – kept the Cardinals within
striking distance, burying three 3s and scoring 12 points in the quarter, but they never could get over the hump..
Key players: Justin Ragsdale led the Cardinals with 21 points, which included four 3s. Kobe Bazemore added 17 points, and Horace Jackson had 13.
Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks:
–The game: “Their speed is phenomenal in so many ways, defensively and offensively. You have to out-physical, out-height them. We match them almost identically size-wise at each position, and they’re smart too. They recover and rotate the right way.”
–Props for Ragsdale: “He was fantastic. He’s been so good basically the last month. The start of the SOL Tournament to now – he’s been our best player, so I’m hoping he can carry that momentum into next year. Him and Horace (Jackson) and some of the other guys that are coming back.”
–Cards hold their own: “Last year’s game (against Bonner) is talked about in so many different ways within our community. And I’m at the point where it’s just like, ‘Yeah, we had a bad night.’ We’d won 28 in a row, and darn, it wasn’t our
night that one time. I thought we could beat this team. If we were a little bit better tonight, we would have beat this team.
“They’re a great team, but I think we have a lot of talent too. You know, this is what you want. This is what you play for.”
–Message to seniors: “Really, just thank you. This is the first group we coached from freshman to senior, and we just have some great kids, dedicated kids who have been such core pieces to this program. Kobe (Bazemore), Noah (Cohen) and Brandon (Altman) have played since they were sophomores, and I think our record is 77-11 (in that span), and with all the championships – it’s hard to put into words how valuable they’ve been. These are guys that are there first day of open gym in April. I’m going to miss them tremendously. It’s going to be hard to even imagine them not being around, but I’m just grateful to have coached them. They’re even better kids. They’re going to live great lives from here on out, and that’s really what’s most important.”
Upper Dublin closed out another successful season with a 25-5 record and a District 1 5A title.
Monsignor Bonner 14-14-19-20 67
Upper Dublin 12-14-12-20 58
Monsignor Bonner (67) – Korey Francis 9 8-11 28; Kam Jackson 5 0-0 13; DaShaun Holden 3 1-2 10; Jakeem Carroll 2 4-5 8; Aydin Scott 3 2-2 8; TOTALS 22 15-20 67.
Upper Dublin (58) – Kobe Bazemore 7 2-2 17; Justin Ragsdale 5 7-9 21; Horace Jackson IV 5 2-2 13; Bryce Kukla 1 0-0 2; Noah Cohen 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 20 11-13 58.
3-point goals: MB – Kam Jackson 3, DaShaun Holden 3, Korey Francis 2; UD – Justin Ragsdale 4, Kobe Bazemore, Horace Jackson, Noah Cohen.
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