Depleted Curch Farm falls
WEST WHITELAND — The Church Farm basketball team has undergone a lot of changes since the Christmas break. Three starters left school, and to make matters worse, senior Mike Mohamed missed Thursday’s Bicentennial League game against first-place Lower Moreland, due to a one-game for getting thrown out against Holy Ghost Prep on Tuesday. Even head coach Marc Turner wasn’t present due to a lingering illness.
But, as usual, theys fought tooth and nail, but, the severely undermanned Griffins got outscored in the third period as the Lions wore down the home team and went on to a convincing 63-48 win. Lower Moreland put four players in double-figures, shooting 12 for 24 (50 percent) in the second half.
“We played as hard as we could with who we had,’ assistant coach Ryan Dunbar said. “That is what we do at Church Farm. The kids did the best they could, I thought, against a real good Lower Moreland team. They are very solid.’
At halftime, the Lions (12-0 Bicentennial, 19-1 overall) held a 35-28 lead as guard Dan Duffey led the way with eight first-half points. Church Farm (6-5, 12-8) turned the ball over 12 times in the first half — 23 for the game. Tim Davis and James Lawton were the only capable ball handlers on the floor for the Griffins as they struggled without Mohammed out of the lineup.
The third period saw the game swing solidly in the Lions’ favor as they started the period on an 8-0 run.
Phil Madden, who had 12 points, started things with a nice move to the basket for a 37-28 lead. Then the Griffins came unglued. Five straight times down the floor, Church Farm turned the ball over. Duffey took one of those miscues and rolled to the hoop for a 41-28 lead. Then, after Lawson lost the ball, Madden took a feed from Duffey for a layup. Another turnover led to a Matt Cerruti bucket and the Lions were in control at 45-28.
Church Farm did not score a point for the first 5:34 of the period until Davis, who had 12 points, hit a free throw. The Lions made the Griffins cough up the ball eight times in the period to take control of the contest. The Lions outscored the hosts 14-5 in the period and held the Griffins to one of six from the floor.
“It was hard with Mike out tonight,’ Davis said. “He is our best player and we needed a guy to help us on the wing. We tried our best. We just came up short tonight.’
The fourth period was an even affair, but every time it looked like the Griffins would cut into the lead, they turned the ball over. Lawton, only a sophomore, scored 10 points and showed flashes that he is going to be a good offensive player, scored inside for a 53-39 deficit with 6:02 to play.
But, the Lions shot 6 for 12 in the period with Duffey and Cerruti leading the way to help Lower Moreland build the lead back up to 59-39.
“We really played hard tonight. This is my first year of varsity, so there was a lot of pressure on me,’ Lawton said. “But we hung in there and fought. We will be okay.’
Lower Moreland stayed undefeated in the league and will be the number one seed in next week’s Bicentennial playoffs.
“We have a lot of guys that score and contribute,’ coach Seth Barron said. “And I like that. Everyone gets involved and we do not have one guy teams can key on. It is a very nice group.’
