Wissahickon rallies from 18 down in 2nd half to beat Upper Merion

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LOWER GWYNEDD >> Through the first half and a few minutes into the third quarter, the Wissahickon boys basketball team were sleepwalking its way to a loss.

“That first half we looked like a team that didn’t want to be on there out on the floor. I didn’t think we had energy,” Trojans coach Kyle Wilson said. “Any time something bad would happen, you’d see guys sort of walk to their spot and act like you had five guys that never played together.”

Wissahickon trailed by as much as 20 in the first half, 17 at the break and a three-point play by Matt Faw had visiting Upper Merion leading 38-20 with 5:53 left in the third.

However, eight straight points from Max Rapoport stirring the Trojans from their slumber, the sophomore’s spurt the beginning of a massive 32-5 run aided by hot shooting from that gave Wissahickon a 52-43 advantage in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings recovered to rally and take the lead by one, but Alex Tappen and Zach Gelman came up with clutch points late as the Trojans earned a 60-55 Suburban One League American Conference victory.

“Our coach was on us at halftime about sleeping on the court and we were just shooting from the perimeter,” Rapoport said. “And then second half we started driving, move the ball and playing as a team. And it was pretty hype in the gym.”

Rapoport knocked down four 3-pointer and finished with 18 points, 16 coming after halftime. Zach Reiner chipped in another 18 points for Wissahickon (10-9, 5-6 conference), which used hot shooting from 3 and a pressing defense to get rolling in the second half.

“Tonight was a night where we made more plays and they didn’t make the plays that they needed to,” Wilson said. “And we were very fortunate. I don’t think they’re team, historically, you could press a lot because they got guys, all those guys that are juniors played last year as sophomores and many played as freshmen.”

Tappen collected 12 points, his last two coming on a pair of free throws that gave the Trojans a 56-55 lead with 2:14 left in the fourth. On its trip down the floor, Upper Merion had a shot blocked while another went off-target, while Wissahickon went up 58-55 as Reiner found Gelman for a layup off a backdoor cut.

After the Vikings missed a tying three, Gelman made it a two-possession game with a free throw at 48.4 seconds as the Trojans held on to complete the impressive comeback.

“That’s basketball, man”, Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer said. “You preach it both ways. I’m sure Kyle was in the locker room saying listen, if we go do what we got to do – in a more fired up way – no point differentials too big.

“And we knew that. I think for us we went into the locker room and we were up 17 and we held them to 15 points. And you’re right where you want to be, so I think from a mental standpoint we got a little ahead of ourselves.”

Ethan Miller led Upper Merion points while Faw finished with 12 points. Aidan Newell and Chris Carita both scored 11 points.

The Vikings had won their last three and seven of their past eight – including handing Plymouth Whitemarsh their first defeat of the season – coming into Tuesday, but now have to try to regain momentum Wednesday hosting Upper Perkiomen in a non-league matchup.

“If we had to go to practice tomorrow, the guys would be down a little bit,” Quenzer said. “But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. So, we’ve been on a hot streak here for a while, we kind of get (a) heat check a little bit and you come back down to Earth a little bit. But these guys, they’ll be fine.”

Wissahickon, meanwhile, is back on the court Friday hosting Norristown. Both the Trojans and Vikings are looking for strong finishes to earn spots in the District 1-AAAA tournament.

“We know what it takes, we’ve been in that situation before that if you’re not up in the 14, 15 wins, you got your work cut out for you,” Wilson said. “I told our guys, coming down that back stretch, we got to take care of business and told them this is a must-win game for us and we were very fortunate we got the win here.”

After Wissahickon trailed 32-15 at halftime, Gelman started the scoring in the third with a three, but Upper Merion’s lead was 18 thanks to Faw’s three-point play at 5:53.

Rapoport proceeded to knock down consecutive threes with his layup after a Gelman steal slicing the Trojan’s deficit to 38-28. A Carita bucket ended the run, but two Tappen threes sandwiching a Reiner free throw had Wissahickon within five.

Newell answered with a corner 3 to put Upper Merion up 43-35 only for the Trojans to collect the third’s final six points – Rapoport scoring on a drive to make the margin 43-41 heading to the fourth.

“In the third quarter, I think we scored 26 points and we brought it to two points,” Rapoport said. “We had a lot of momentum. We just had the mindset we were going to win the game.”

Marlyn Johnson’s 3 in the corner off an inbounds gave the Trojans their first lead of the game at 44-43. Reiner’s steal and layup put the advantage at three while Rapoport hit back-to-back treys to have Wissahickon up 52-43.

Despite the home side’s massive surge, Upper Merion did not concede the contest. The Vikings scored the next nine points – Faw’s three-point play at 4:49 getting UM within two while Miller’ bucket inside made it 52-52.

Reiner’s two free throws with 2:49 left put Wissahickon back up 54-52, but Carita answered by draining a 3 from the wing for a one-point edge. Tappen’s pair from the line at 2:14 put the Trojans up for good.

In the first quarter, a Tappen trey tied the game 6-6 before Upper Merion used a 24-4 run to hold a 28-10 lead after an Andrew Persaud jumper. Baskets by Reiner and Rapoport had Wissahickon within 16. Two Faw free throws with 29.7 seconds left in the half put UM ahead 32-14, but a Tappen foul shot at 13.4 seconds had the halftime margin at 17.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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