Upper Moreland edged Harry S Truman in a non-league game on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of action photos.
UPPER MORELAND 41, HARRY S TRUMAN 39
In a game filled with its share of drama, it was the Golden Bears escaping with an important non-league win as Truman’s three-pointer for the win hit off the back iron at the buzzer.
“I have been telling them – we have been playing better basketball recently,” coach Matt Heiland said. “I know the results are not what we want them to be, but we’ve played some pretty tough teams pretty good for 27 or 28 minutes of the game, just not the full 32, and then we come up a little bit short.
“In the first district playoff rankings, Truman was in the 6A field. We knew they were going to be hungry. They had a good win over Tennent last night, and they’re 7-5 coming into tonight. We knew it was going to be a battle. The coach over there (Byron Conover) is doing a good job. His team is young, but he’s got a lot of passion, and he coaches those guys up pretty good. It’s always fun to coach against a coach who’s like that.”
The game was a marked contrast to last year’s high-scoring contest that saw the Golden Bears earn a 74-61 win.
“That was probably the best game of our season last year,” Heiland said. “If I remember correctly, (Damian) Washington had 33 points and (Shane) Stone had over 20.
“They came out tonight and face guarded Damian the entire time. They made life pretty difficult for him. With
that, we adjusted some of our stuff, and that allowed Stone and other guys to attack the basket. We had some success attacking the basket and getting to the foul line.”
The Golden Bears struggled at the line, connecting on 14-of-26. They were 1-for-4 in the final 15 seconds of regulation, leaving the door open for a Tiger comeback.
“They actually had three chances,” Heiland said. “We were able to get a steal on one possession, and after we missed two free throws, we were able to get a little deflection off a kid’s knee that rolled out of bounds. (We) made 1-of-2 to go up by two, and they had a three-pointer from the top of the key as time was expiring. It was dead on – it hit the back of the rim, bounced up and hit the top of the wire. We lost a game to Upper Perk in the first game of the year on a 40-foot three-pointer with six seconds left, so it was nice to come out on the top side of that.”
The Golden Bears, who trailed 13-12 after one quarter, took a 21-20 advantage into halftime. Truman led by one heading into the final quarter.
“It was a competitive game. It was back and forth for both teams,” Heiland said. “It was a low scoring game, but it’s good to win a tight game like that and continue to learn how to win.
“We have a tough one with Cheltenham on Friday and then we go into the final quarter of our season. We’re playing better basketball, we just have to keep grinding it, take one day at a time and see where things shake out.”
Stone led the Golden Bears with seven points, and Jake Villanueva added seven. Washington was held to just six points.
Kelechi Ogbonna and ZJ Jackson both scored nine points to lead the Tigers. Jeff Nixon added eight and Gabe Gipli, six points
Upper Moreland (8-7, 3-5 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Friday, and Harry S Truman (7-6, 2-3) will travel to Council Rock South on Friday.
Harry S Truman 13-7-9-10 39
Upper Moreland 12-9-7-13 41
Harry S Truman (39) – Jeff Nixon 8, Kelechi Ogbonna 9, Danell Snelling 5, ZJ Jackson 9, Javeer Peterson 2, Gabe Gipli 6.
Upper Moreland (41) – Damian Washington 6, Ryan Coyle 4, Anthony Green 3, Brett Brossman 5, Shane Stone 15, Jake Villanueva 7.
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