Upper Dublin & Upper Moreland were winners in Friday’s opening round of the PIAA 5A State Tournament. Upper Dublin/Spring Grove photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
PIAA 5A State Tournament opening round
#1-1 UPPER DUBLIN 57, #3-6 SPRING GROVE 43
The Cardinals took what appeared to be a comfortable 31-15 lead into halftime, sparked by the nine-point effort of Justin Ragsdale while Noah Cohen – who had a pair of 3s – added eight points.
In the third quarter, after struggling to score in the opening half, Spring Grove found their offensive stride, outscoring the
Cards 20-13 to make it a nine-point game heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cards regrouped to outscore their visitors 13-8 in the fourth quarter. Brandon Altman and Noah Cohen each connected on big 3-pointers in the frame.
“You won a state playoff game – you don’t want to be too negative, but we talk about the standard being the standard,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “If you want to win championships and a lot of big games, your habits are so important.
“Hopefully, we learned from it, and we have a great practice (Saturday) and a great practice Monday because we’ve got to be really good to win on Tuesday night as well.”
For the seniors, Friday’s game was their final on their home court, and they played to a packed house. Over the past three years, this year’s seniors have lost just four games in their home gym.
“I’m happy to go out with a win with that group,” Brooks said. “Over the last four years, they were 95-18, and that’s incredible. It’s pretty special.”
Key players: Justin Ragsdale’s 18 points led the Cardinals. Noah Cohen also finished in double figures with 11, which included three 3-pointers. Kobe Bazemore added eight.
Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks:
–The game: “I thought we were pretty good in the first half – like a
B grade for us. Our energy was good, we were sharing the ball. We could have done a few things better, but you are up 16 at the half, you’ve got to be pretty happy with it.
“In the second half – it was almost like as the year goes along and everybody gets a little bit tired, you start to see these things happen more and more. It was almost like we were hoping, ‘Let’s just get this game over with,’ and it even felt like that energy in the crowd a little bit, and you just can’t do that.
“We talked about having good habits to start the second half to put this one away, get it over 20, and we give them a 6-0 run right to start, which lets them right back into the game. We were not too pleased with our second half. We needed to be mentally and physically tougher and more mature. I thought it was a little bit of a regression for us tonight. We still did enough to pull out the win, but we need to be better because the next team we’re playing (Monsignor Bonner) is a top five team in the state. If we play like that against Bonner, we’ll lose by 20 plus.”
–Props: “Justin Ragsdale was dominant in the paint. I thought he did a really good job posting up, taking his time down there and finishing. He was getting fouled. He did a good job of sealing, and our guys did a good job of entering the ball to him.
“We’ve got to shoot our free throws better. We missed 11 free throws, which is way too many, but I thought we did a good job of playing it inside today.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will face District 12’s third place team, Monsignor Bonner in Tuesday’s second round.
Spring Grove 7-8-20-8 43
Upper Dublin 13-18-13-13 57
Spring Grove (43) –Isaiah Holland 3 1-4 8; Jordon Eisenhart 3 2-3 8; Owen Renda 1 2-2 5; Keith Queen 6 0-0 14; Cooper Smith 1 3-4 6; Francisco Rodriguez 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 15 8-13 43.
Upper Dublin (57) – Kobe Bazemore 2 4-8 8; Brandon Altman 1 3-4 6; Noah Cohen 4 0-0 11; Horace Jackson 3 0-0 6; Justin Ragsdale 6 6-11 18; Luke Caron 1 0-0 2; Benji Ravitz 1 0-0 3; Lawson Tyler 1 0-0 2; Mike Pileggi 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 19 14-25 57.
3-point goals: SG – Keith Queen 2, Owen Renda, Cooper Smith, Isaiah Holland; UD – Noah Cohen 3, Brandon Altman, Benji Ravitz.
#1-5 UPPER MORELAND 61, #11-1 SOUTHERN LEHIGH 40
The visiting Golden Bears found themselves trailing by three after one quarter but changed that in a hurry with a 17-7 second quarter burst to go into halftime with a 25-18 lead.
Cannon Campbell torched the Spartans for 16 first-half points – 11 in the second quarter.
The Golden Bears – sparked by six points from Larry Hughes and five from Campbell – outscored their hosts 18-8 in the third quarter to go into the final frame with a commanding 43-26 advantage on their way to the decisive win over the District 11 champions.
“Early on, I think both teams had a lot of energy and seemed to be playing a little too quick for their own liking and just missing opportunities near the basket,” UM coach Dan Heiland said. “I think the energy and excitement was brought from the jump.
“In the second quarter, we did a really nice job of settling ourselves down and being able to execute in the half court. I think the whole game we played tremendous defense, and being able to execute in the half court offensively, we were able to have a 10-point advantage, winning that second quarter.”
Key players: Cannon Campbell led all scorers with 23 points -21 through three quarters to put the game out of reach. Larry Hughes had the hot hand in the second half, scoring 13 of his 15 points after the intermission. Kyle Moore and Jose Hernandez both added seven points.
For the Spartans, Joey Plessl’s 14 points – which included three 3-pointers – led the way.
Upper Moreland coach Dan Heiland:
–The game: “Overall, (I’m most pleased with) our team defense. They’re a team that averages 55 points a game and seven 3-pointers. They had five 3s tonight, but really it was three by one guy. We held them to 40 points, and I was just really proud of how we came out and just executed not only the defensive game plan but the offensive game plan because they’re a team that shoots a lot of 3-pointers, and when they’re making them, they are a tough team to beat.
“We were able to make them try to beat us in a different way than they’re used to, and we did a fantastic job rebounding the ball as well. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but we did a really nice job of just outrebounding them and limiting them to one-and-done on the offensive end, which helps separate us on the scoreboard.
“In March, you win any way you can and take it one game at a time and hopefully you are the better team for 32 minutes.”
–Props: “Cannon (Campbell) has been playing some high level basketball lately, and Larry (Hughes) has been working his way back from an injury he suffered midway through the season. He’s really looking like 100 percent now.
“We definitely had a height advantage inside, and I think part of our game plan was taking advantage of that. They did a nice job of complementing each other, and our guys that were on the perimeter did a nice job of finding them when they were open and making good passes for them to score the ball at higher scoring areas.”
Up next: Upper Moreland will face District 1 runner-up Penncrest in a second round game Tuesday. Penncrest defeated York Suburban 36-29 in an opening round game.
Upper Moreland 8-17-18-18 61
Southern Lehigh 11-7-8-14 40
Upper Moreland (61) – Nate Best 1 2-2 4; Kyle Moore 3 0-0 7; Tracy Owens 1 0-0 2; Brody Hughes 1 0-0 2; Larry Hughes 7 1-3 15; C Moore 0 1-2 1; Cannon Campbell 10 2-3 23; Jose Hernandez 2 2-2 7; Larry Hughes 7 1-3 15; TOTALS 25 8-12 61.
Southern Lehigh (40) – Morgan Capuano 1 2-4 4; Joey Plessl 3 5-6 14; Jack Fistner 3 0-0 7; Joshua Helms 0 2-2 2; Parker Spigelmyer 1 0-0 3; Mikey Fry 3 1-2 7; Wyatt Adams 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 12 11-16 40.
3-point goals: UM – Kyle Moore, Jose Hernandez, Cannon Campbell; SL – Joey Plessl 3, Jack Fistner, Parker Spigelmyer.
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