Upper Moreland advanced in District One AAA competition while Upper Merion saw its season end.
By Scott Huff
Upper Moreland will move on in the PIAA District One Class AAA playoffs as the #8 Golden Bears clawed #9 Phoenixville (6-17) – 72-56. Upper Moreland (8-15) will now face #1 Holy Ghost Prep (24-1) on Saturday night at Holy Ghost with a 7 pm tip off.
“We respect Holy Ghost Prep, but we have played teams of that caliber all season long in our league,” said Upper Moreland head coach Brian Corrado. “Our conference – with Norristown, Wissahickon, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Cheltenham, Upper Dublin and Upper Merion – has to be one of the best in the area. Playing a Holy Ghost Prep is really a position that we have been in all year.”
In order for the Golden Bears to get to the Holy Ghost game, they had to defeat a run-and-gun Phoenixville team. Upper Moreland grabbed an early lead and was able to hold off numerous Phantom runs in put the contest in the victory column.
“Phoenixville likes to push the basketball, and we did a good job of running with them,” said Corrado. “We got some separation, but then they would come back and make a strong run at us. But every time they seemed to make a run to get back in the game, we had an answer.”
The answer men for the Golden Bears were junior Matt Kohn, sophomore Kevin McFall, and senior Sean Valenza. Kohn scored a game-high 23 points for UM, while McFall scored 14 points in the paint, and Valenza scored in twin digits with 14 points.
“Matt was a big part in almost every run they made at us,” said Corrado. “And we did a great job of getting the ball inside to Kevin. Plus we shot six 3-pointers in the first half to get the lead.
“We were able to finish out the game by playing good basketball in the second half,” added Corrado. “Now we have to prepare for Holy Ghost, and the kids are confident.”
Phoenixville Phantoms 15 11 12 18 - 56
Upper Moreland 19 16 16 21 - 72
Phoenixville: DeAndre Gadsden 19; Greg Hughes 11; Rasheed Lawson 9; James Riggins 8; Ian Harrigan 7; and Victor Bozzelli 2. Total – 56.
Upper Moreland: Matt Kohn 23; Kevin McFall 14; Sean Valenza 14; Nick Corbett 8; Josh Villanueva 8; and Tommy Robinson 5. Total – 72.
Vikings Sunk In Playoff Opener
Upper Merion (5-18) jetted out to an early 8-2 lead but the #10 Viking offense couldn’t generate enough scoring in a 48-41 loss to #7 Harriton (12-11). The season is now over for Upper Merion, while Harriton will move on to play #2 Octorara on Saturday.
“When we got that early lead, I thought it might be our night,” said Upper Merion head coach Francis Bowe. “James Mobley hit a three-pointer from around 28-feet, but we weren’t able to continue to sustain any type of offense.
“I really thought that if we could keep Harriton to under 50 points, we were going to win the game,” added Bowe. “We did our job defensively – they scored on 48 – but we have to be able to score 50 points to win in the playoffs. We just didn’t get it done this time.
“The season has been a success in that we put ourselves into a position to be successful,” continued Bowe. “We game 100 per cent in effort, but now we have to add hard work in the off season to become a more skilled team. We have some young players back with some varsity experience (junior Justin Lewis, junior Connor McGrath, and sophomore Eric Wells) and we have to get ourselves ready for next year.”
Upper Merion Vikings 13 11 8 9 - 41
Harriton Rams 10 12 12 14 - 48
Upper Merion: James Mobley 18; Justin Lewis 10; Connor McGrath 9; Eric Wells 2, Samik Patel 2. Total – 41.
Harriton: Matt Sherman 18; Detasia Dixon 14; Itay Levy 10; and Jake Rosenberg 6. Total – 48.
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