Check back later this weekend for action photos of the Upper Moreland/Upper Merion contest.
By Nate Oxman
Scott Smith was speechless.Whenever his Upper Moreland boys’ basketball team needed a defensive stop, a rebound, a key bucket, or a pair of free throws, for whatever reason, it just wasn’t there.
And all Smith could do after the Golden Bears’ gut-wrenching 50-47 Suburban One American Conference defeat to visiting Upper Merion Friday was shake his head in disbelief.
Of all the games for Smith and the six other Upper Moreland seniors to have one of those insanely frustrating off-nights, it shouldn’t have been this one. It shouldn’t have been on Senior Night.
It shouldn’t have been one more heartbreaking result in a season riddled with growing pains and excruciating defeats. Smith and the rest of the seniors wanted to leave their collective mark with a memorable performance in front of a spirited home crowd.
It just wasn’t their night.For the first eight minutes, however, everything appeared to be going to plan.
Smith opened the scoring with a beastly offensive rebound and put-back en route to a three-point play that - with a late three-point bomb by Josh Villanueva - helped the Bears seize a 14-4 first-quarter lead as swarming defense and solid work on the glass stifled the Vikings, who committed eight turnovers in the period.
But the Vikings switched defenses in the second quarter, opting to pressure the perimeter in an in-your-face man-to-man that played a part in forcing seven Bears’ turnovers.
“We got out to an early lead and they battled back, but we just couldn’t find our rhythm,” said Upper Moreland coach Brian Corrado. “We’ve been running man sets all year. It’s not like we saw something new tonight. We were just out of sync, out of rhythm.”
The Bears inability to run their offensive sets seemed to funnel down to the other side of the floor where they failed to keep Vikings senior Naim Cheeseboro off the boards.Cheeseboro, who went off for 22 points and 19 rebounds in the Vikings 60-47 win over the Bears back on Jan. 18, pulled down six of his 21 rebounds on the night in the quarter.
“Naim is just awesome,” said Upper Merion coach Francis Bowe. “He’s an unreal rebounder. He’s tenacious. I’ve told a lot of people who said to me, ‘You didn’t play Naim a whole lot early on,’ that he was still in football shape. Well he’s in basketball shape now and I think he might have cleared 20 rebounds tonight. He was unbelievable. His physicality and his athleticism were really key for us.”
Five different Vikings players pitched in during an 11-2 second-period run that whittled the Bears’ lead down to one at 16-15 with 1:18 left in the first half.
Senior guard Matt Worley tried to will his team onward with inspired, all-out effort on both sides of the floor, taking a pair of charges in a 58-second span, then driving hard to the bucket to score on back-to-back possessions late in the half keep the Bears ahead 20-17 at the break.
“I just try to do all of the little things it takes to win games,” said Worley, who filled the stat sheet with a game-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
The Vikings kept the defensive pressure turned up in the third, forcing five more turnovers, and helping them take their first lead of the game on a pair of free throws from Tim Vandergeest with 5:57 to play in the quarter.
They remained on top at 25-23 despite the absence of ever-improving junior point guard Pat Stringfield, who was whistled for his fourth personal foul back at the 6:43 mark and sent to the bench.
That’s when Smith and Worley tried mightily to muster one more run in an attempt to regain the success enjoyed back in the first period.
Smith scored four straight points and Worley added four points as well, including a strong defensive rebound and push up the court that led to a foul and one of two free throws to cap the 11-0 spurt the Bears so desperately needed.
But the Vikings marched right back, scoring seven unanswered points, the final five from Vandergeest (team-high 11 points) to pull within two at 34-32 entering the final frame.The Bears led 37-35 until Stringfield, inserted back into the lineup to start the fourth, took over.
He converted back-to-back hard-earned buckets to give the Vikings the lead at 39-37 and then made consecutive impressive hustle plays.
The first came after Stringfield penetrated into the paint, fell down, lost the ball, regained possession while still on the floor, and somehow found Tyreek Fairel (10 points) all alone underneath for two.
At the other end, Smith missed a pair of free throws that would have tied the game and for an encore,
Stringfield (seven points) drove into the lane on the next possession, lost control of the ball, but gathered it quickly enough to toss it over to Cheeseboro for another hoop to give his team a 43-39 advantage.
“This is my first year coaching him and getting to know him as an individual, and he has just grown exponentially,” said Bowe. “In the beginning of the year, you really couldn’t tell him anything and now he has really bought into it.
“His leadership showed tonight. He knew he was in foul trouble. He knew when he went back in that he had one more shot and to make the most of it. He’s an awesome floor general. He’s a playmaker. That’s what I love about him. And he’s only going to get better.”
When the Bears needed a rebound on the Vikings next possession, Cheeseboro snatched a Stringfield air ball, was fouled, and made one of two at the line to push the Vikings lead up to five.“The ball just wasn’t falling in for him tonight, but he had some huge rebounds, which shows his character and his senior leadership,” said Bowe. “He battled on the boards. He had three huge blocked shots toward the end there. He gave it his all and did whatever it took. He was a game-changer there at the end.”
“He’s tough,” said Corrado of Cheeseboro. “I thought we did a good job early, but he really benefits from those guards. Those guards penetrate and you have to leave him to help, so he’s left unaccounted for the on the backside either for a score or a rebound. So it’s tough.”
The Bears did pull within one on a hoop by Nick Corbett with 41.8 seconds to play, but the Vikings connected on four straight free throws to stretch their lead back up to 49-44 with 10.3 left.
Josh Villanueva drained a three with 5 seconds to go to give the Bears hope, down two at 49-47, but after Cheeseboro made one of two at the line, Matt Kohn’s last-second heave hit the gym divider hanging from the ceiling and the Vikings escaped.
“The offense was just flowing in the beginning and then everyone started to stand around and watch people drive,” said Smith, who scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds on the night, of the difference between the Bears’ early success and their struggles later on. “We stopped moving the ball. But it was a game of runs and they made some big runs that we couldn‘t answer and then we just missed some foul shots at the end.”
The loss dropped Upper Moreland to 2-19 overall, 0-12 in SOL American play entering their season finale Saturday vs. Lansdale Catholic.
The win was a key won for Upper Merion (10-12, 4-8) heading into the District One Class AAA playoffs.
“We’re really excited,” said Bowe. “I think we actually have a shot for a home game, but whether we’re home or away it doesn’t matter. These kids really have developed confidence. It’s just been an awesome season.”
Upper Merion 4 13 15 18--50
Upper Moreland 14 6 14 13--47
Upper Merion (50)--Naim Cheeseboro 3 2-4 8; Pat Stringfield 3 1-2 7; Ryan McGee 1 2-2 5; Tim Vandergeest 4 2-2 11; Conor McGrath 1 2-2 4; Tyreek Fairel 5 0-0 10; Dallas Clesky 1 0-0 3; Mahoney 1 0-0 2 Totals 19 9-12 50.
Upper Moreland (47)--Matt Kohn 2 4-6 8; Pat O’Donnell 0 0-0 0; Dan Petry 0 0-0 0; Scott Smith 4 3-5 11; Matt Worley 4 3-6 12; Kevin McFall 0 0-0 0; Josh Villanueva 2 0-0 6; Nick Corbett 1 1-2 3; Joe Green 2 0-0 4; Dave Driscoll 1 0-0 2 Totals 16 11-19 47.
Three-point goals: Vandergeest, McGee, Clesky; Villanueva 2, Worley
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