Upper Dublin takes care of Upper Moreland

UPPER DUBLIN >> At the 4:58 mark in the third quarter, Upper Moreland trailed Upper Dublin by one point. From there, Upper Dublin went on a 13-0 run, outscoring the Golden Bears 13-2 to close the quarter t and hold a 41-29 lead at the end of the three quarters.

The big run by the Cardinals would stand as the deciding stretch in the game as Upper Dublin held off Upper Moreland 58-49 in the Suburban One League American Conference teams’ second meeting of the year.

A big part to the Cardinals run and really their offensive game plan all night was working the ball inside.

Upper Dublin had a noticeable advantage in size and physicality over the Golden Bears and used it.

“We just said that that we could definitely beat them down low,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “Ryan Stover, every time he touched the ball they didn’t have an answer for him.”

Having an advantage and exploiting it and sticking to it can sometimes be two different things, but the Cardinals put the ball in the hands of its forwards and let them go to work and did not stop. The Upper Dublin inside attack was like watching a boxer throw body blows at his opponent, systematically weakening him, though Adelman likened the inside game to another sports analogy.

“It’s like a football team, are you going to commit to the pass or the running game,” Adelman said. “Our inside game was our running game and we just really went after it tonight.”

Cardinal forward Stover had the most success going inside as he had seven field goals, basically all layups, as he finished with a team-high 16 points. Will Derr and Jimmy Gallagher also had success going inside on the Bears defense, too, as Derr chipped in with 15 points.

“They just beat us up inside,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “We weren’t strong enough (or) tough enough to handle them inside in the post.”

Offensively for Upper Moreland, Brendan O’Donnell and Shane Stone tied for the game-high with 17 points.

However, the Bears offense was too inconsistent, particularly in the second half to get enough going to stay in the game with Upper Dublin whose offense was operating at max efficiency.

“Part of our immaturity or part of our lack of varsity experience is when things are going well we’re clicking on all cylinders,” Heiland said. “The unfortunate part is when we’re not making jump shots our lack of experience puts us in a bind.”

Both Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland are both teams on the District 1 playoff bubble, however, the Cardinals and the Golden Bears are heading in opposite directions. Upper Dublin is stabilizing, as its record improved to 11-8 after a 1-7 start where as Upper Moreland is in a nine-game losing streak that it must break out of to make a playoff push.