Upper Dublin defeated Central Bucks West in Tuesday’s SOL Tournament title game at Holy Family University. Photos courtesy of Michael Rice. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
SOL Tournament final
#1 UPPER DUBLIN 49, #5 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 43
Brady Fogle and his Upper Dublin teammates are in uncharted territory.
The Cardinals made history with their win over the Bucks Tuesday night, capturing the program’s first ever SOL Tournament title in front of an enthusiastic crowd that packed the stands at Holy Family University.
“This means everything,” Fogle said. “This was one of our goals going into the season. We lost last year (to Central Bucks East) in the semifinals. It was just huge to get here and win.
“We’ve been playing great basketball as of late, and we just want to keep it going.”
Tuesday’s win was the 13th straight for the streaking Cardinals, and the tone for this one was set in an explosive first quarter that saw Upper Dublin race out of the gate to a 21-8 lead, a quarter that was capped when Reilly McLaughlin scored on a putback at the buzzer.
“We wanted to bring the energy – punch them in the face from the start, press them,” Fogle said. “They like to play slower, and we like to play fast, so we try to bring the pace up from the start.”
And that, according to coach Derek Brooks, was the game plan.
“I loved the effort and intensity,” the UD coach said. “I was kind of banking on that. We wanted to play fast. They don’t play that many guys and we play a lot of guys. Even though we were down two of our rotation guys today, we wanted to speed it up, speed it up.
“That’s how we play, that’s what we wanted to do and the press, forcing some turnovers and quick shots. We made shots which doesn’t always happen. It always feels a lot better when you’re making shots. It was great, the effort from the jump.”
The Cardinals connected on four 3-pointers in their 21-point first quarter – two by Idris Rines. Ryan Mulroy led the Cards with seven points in the quarter.
“I was so excited,” Mulroy said. “Just seeing all those shots fall – I knew it was going to be a fun night. I’m so proud of everyone. Every single one of these guys worked so hard in the offseason.”
The Bucks – behind a pair of 3s from Roman Kulesa and six points from Julian Phillips – outscored the Cardinals 12-9
in the second quarter but still found themselves on the short end of a 30-20 score at halftime.
When Kobe Bazemore buried a pair at the foul line early in the third quarter, the Cardinals led 35-22, but once again, sparked by six points from Phillips, the Bucks trimmed five points off that lead, and it was a 38-30 game heading into the final quarter.
A Phillips 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter made it a five-point game, but Mulroy answered with a basket for the Cardinals. West’s Dan Gallagher scored to make it a 40-35 game with just over five minutes remaining.
“They’re a good team, and I knew that lead wasn’t going to be safe with that senior-laden group,” Brooks said. “Coach (Adam) Sherman does a really good job with them, and they’ve got some good players.
“It felt like for the last two quarters – it was hanging on for dear life, and sometimes it’s like that when you’ve got the lead. We had a young team – this is new for a lot of the guys.”
Both teams went through a two-minute scoring drought that was broken by a clutch baseline drive and reverse layup by Bazemore. Kulesa scored on an inbounds after a timeout, but the Cards extended their lead to 43-37 after Mulroy sank one of two at the foul line. Matt Engle scored on a drive to pull West to within four, 43-39, but Fogle scored at the end of the press, and after coming up with a steal, Bazemore – a sophomore – connected on a pair at the foul line to put the Cardinals on top 47-39 with 46.1 seconds remaining, all but sealing the Bucks’ fate.
“He’s young,” Brooks said of Bazemore. “The first half tonight wasn’t his prettiest, but something about him in fourth quarters – his instincts take over.
“That steal was phenomenal, he knocked down some free throws, and that finish under the rim was beautiful. The fact that he’s doing this at age 15 – he’s fearless.”
As for the tournament, don’t try telling the Cardinals it’s meaningless.
“This is so important,” Mulroy said. “The last two years we lost in the semifinals. A lot of people I know don’t like this tournament because of injuries and everything, but this gives us so much momentum going into districts. It lets everyone know we’re the best team in the Suburban One and that’s an awesome feeling. I’m so hyped and I know our team is too.
“Everyone on this team has bought in. We’re hungry, we want to keep winning games. I think that’s going to take us a long way if we continue to do that.”
Playing in front of a full house in a college gym also provided a unique experience.
“That was surreal,” Fogle said. “It was crazy, just hearing the crowd behind you was awesome. It’s something you dream of.”
On the other side of the court, Sherman didn’t have to look far to figure out what went wrong.
“The first quarter just killed us,” the West coach said. “We held them to 49 and we gave them 21 points in the first quarter. You can’t give up a 21-point quarter. They were hitting every shot in the first quarter, and we were flat.
“Whatever that formula is – we have to figure it out, and we have to start better. I thought our guys mentally were frustrated because they were missing shots. Sometimes they’re thinking about a shot they missed and not their defensive assignment. That affected us a little bit. I’m proud that they fought back. We had a shot there if we had a couple plays go our way.”
The win was the 22nd of the season in what has been a season of firsts for the Cardinals.
“We beat PW for the first time in 10 years, we won our division outright for the first time in 22 years, and winning this tournament – it’s just awesome,” Mulroy said. “The job’s not finished though. We have to take care of business in districts. My freshman and sophomore years we lost in the first round of districts, and we were favored. We have to take care of business next Wednesday.”
“I don’t know the last time the school’s won 22 games in a season,” Brooks said. “The first SOL championship is awesome.
“I love this tournament. It’s one of the best public school leagues in the state. You’ve got 24 teams whittled down to eight, then you’ve got to win three games in five days against really good teams. They’re a good team and so were all the other teams in the tournament. It’s a lot of fun, it really is. It’s stressful, but it’s why you get into coaching. All the work you put into it pays off. I love that these guys were the first to do it for Upper Dublin. We’re hoping there’s more to come. It’s exciting.”
Unsung heroes – The Cardinals were without a starter – senior Chris Kohlbrenner (ankle injury) – and also were without sophomore Noah Cohen (illness).
“I want to give credit to all the guys that stepped up today,” Brooks said. “Reilly McLaughlin has not played a meaningful varsity minute all year, and he made huge plays today. He’s been waiting in the wings, he’s been working hard. He had a great season for JV. To step up in a championship game and give good minutes like that – we don’t win the game without him. He stepped up huge tonight for us.”
Those important contributions were not lost on their teammates.
“It’s so cool playing in this type of environment, and I’m so proud of the guys that stepped up at the end of the game because we were missing some guys,” Mulroy said. “I’m really proud of Kobe (Bazemore) – he played really good. Reilly McLaughlin hasn’t played all year, and he came up big tonight – just playing defense, and he had a buzzer beater. I’m proud of him and Brandon Altman too. A lot of the young guys stepped up tonight, and I think that’s going to take them really far the rest of their high school careers.”
Extra shots: Mulroy led a balanced UD attack with 13 points while Rines added 11. Bazemore finished with seven points, Fogle and Altman both had six. For the Bucks, Phillips led the way with 17, and Kulesa had 15…Upper Dublin (22-3, 15-1 SOL) is the second seed in the District 1 5A Tournament and will have an opening round bye. The Cardinals will face the winner of #10 Penncrest at #7 West Chester Rustin contest in a second round game on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Central Bucks West (18-7, 10-6) is the 11th seed in Class 6A and will host #22 Pennsbury in an opening round game on Friday.
Central Bucks West 8-12-10-13 43
Upper Dublin 21-9-8-11 49
Central Bucks West (43) – Matt Engle 2 0-0 5; Bowen Gugger 0 2-2 2; Roman Kulesa 5 2-2 15; Sam Jankowski 0 2-2 2; Julian Phillips 8 0-2 17; Dan Gallagher 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 6-8 43.
Upper Dublin (49) – Kobe Bazemore 1 5-6 7; Brandon Altman 3 0-0 6; Ryan Mulroy 4 4-6 13; Brady Fogle 2 1-2 6; Idris Rines 4 0-0 11; James Castronuovo 1 1-1 3; Anthony Oliveira-Schultze 0 1-2 1; Reilly McLaughlin 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 12-17 49.
3-point goals: CBW – Roman Kulesa 3, Matt Engle, Julian Phillips; UD – Idris Rines 3, Ryan Mulroy, Brady Fogle.
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