Daley delivers late, Springfield-Montco edges Roxborough

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TOWAMENCIN >> Ryan Daley’s drive to the basket with 15 seconds to go capped a big second-half comeback by Springfield-Monto and sent the Spartans to a 49-48 victory over Roxborough in the first round of the Christopher Dock Holiday Tournament Tuesday night.

“It was a great feeling. I put it up high, a little Steph Curry action,” said a smiling Daley, who fueled the Spartans with a game-high 16 points. “We came out strong (in the second half). We took our time and we moved the ball pretty well.”

After trailing by 10 at the half, the Spartans (2-7) chipped away at the lead and fed the ball inside to Larry Clark and Matt Corrado.

Mark C Psoras--The Reporter Springfield's ,Justin Hill ,4, pushes away from Roxborough defender Jerome Wright ,21,during second half action of their contest in the Dock Basketball Holiday Tournament at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School on Tuesday December 29, 2015
Springfield’s ,Justin Hill (4) pushes away from Roxborough defender Jerome Wright (21) during second-half action of their contest in the Dock Basketball Holiday Tournament at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. (Mark C Psoras/The Reporter)

Daley kept getting to the hoop in the third, scoring 10 of Springfield’s 21 points in the period.

“We started running a new play and had a nice little comeback going,” Daley said. “We were going to the basket really strong.”

The Spartans took their first lead of the contest, 43-42, when Quentin Johnson scored from underneath early in the fourth.

Jovan Hammond scored off a turnover to put the Indians (3-6) back in front, 48-47, but Daley’s drive and score with just seconds to go propelled Springfield Montco in front for good.

Roxborough had one final chance at the other end but Johnson’s defensive rebound sealed it for the Spartans.

Early on, Roxborough came out firing, as Hammond (team-high 15 points) drained a three just seconds into the contest to quickly put the Indians in front.

Roxborough would get out to a 7-0 lead and was up 13-6 at the end of the first, thanks to six points by Hammond.

The Spartans got going in the second, with Clark and Daley getting to the foul line and Johnson and Kharee Hopkins-Bey each hitting shots from the floor.

But the Indians began to force turnovers and score in transition, as the margin widened to double digits. Hanif Alexander showed some quickness to the basket, beating the halftime buzzer with a layup that gave Roxborough a 27-17 advantage at the break.

The second half, however, would belong to Springfield-Montco.

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Kev Hunter

Kevin Hunter
Kev Hunter is a sports reporter for Montco Media. He has been a staff writer for The Reporter Newspaper in Lansdale since 2000. Prior to that, he covered sports for The Day Newspaper in New London, Conn. He began his writing career at The Courier-Post in South Jersey, along with covering prep football in Pa. for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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