Lower Moreland basketball blows past Holy Ghost Prep (VIDEO)

LOWER MORELAND – Visiting Holy Ghost Prep (HGP) got off to a good start with a pair of buckets by Julian Turner and Mike McFadden in its Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) quarterfinal Tuesday night, Feb. 9 at Lower Moreland. The Firebirds also mounted a furious comeback bid in the fourth quarter.

In the end however, Holy Ghost (17-7) came undone with three turnovers in the closing moments and the Lions pulled away to a 63-52 victory. Lower Moreland (18-4) advances to face top seed Phil-Mont Christian Thursday night, Feb. 11 at P-MC while the Firebirds must await the start of the District One-AAA Tournament Saturday, Feb. 20 when they will host No. 6 Upper Moreland.

After getting out to a 5-0 edge, Ghost recoiled as the Lions out-rebounded the Firebirds 10-2 in the first period. That helped the home team get out to a 21-12 lead by the end of the first quarter.

“They really took it us in the first period with offensive rebounding and that’s something we struggled with them in the last game,” said Holy Ghost junior Mike McFadden (14 pts.). “It’s something we really work on as a team. We got one guy in there – Jack (Coolahan) – and sometimes we have two but we can’t have two guys against five.

“The whole team has got to work on boxing out.”

The Lion defenders held Holy Ghost leading scorer Jack Coolahan to just four points. The 6-4 senior poured 26 points into the basket in December’s overtime win over Lower Moreland. He also reached double digits in a more recent loss to the Lions.

The Firebirds – a team that was once 16-3 just two weeks earlier and is now 17-7 after dropping four of its last five games – just could not keep pace with the Lion shooters.

Lower Moreland senior Dan Duffey led the Lions’ scoring effort with 24 points and was the only player for his team with double digits. But Duffey had plenty of help from a cast of characters that poured five 3-pointers into the basket before the intermission.

Duffey, classmate Dicky Rhodes, , senior Jake Fazio, classmate Tyler Millan and junior Nick Smolda each drained 3-balls before the break to help Lower Moreland out to a 34-26 halftime edge. Duffey accounted for 11 of his team’s 21 point in the first period including a pair of 3-point plays and a 3-point basket that put the Lions on top 14-10.

After a trey by Smolda on a second-chance bucket and a putback layup by freshman Forrest Keys, Duffey finished the first frame off with a one-hander off the glass.

“They’re really strong,” said Holy Ghost head coach Tony Chapman. “They’re very difficult to defend, they shoot the ball extremely well – we knew that – and they’re extremely smart on offense.”

“Our guys, even though you can’t fault our effort or our hustle, I don’t think you get a sense in our play that we know where the next guy is going to be all the time and they do.”

Lower Moreland expanded its lead to 13 points midway through the second period on a spurt ignited by a Rhodes 3-pointer, a layup by Cobe Wiggins and a one-hander off the glass by Duffey.

If the ‘birds were going to have any chance to mount a comeback in the second half, they had to close the first one out strong. To its credit, Ghost did just that.

The Firebirds finished the second period off with a 10-5 scoring run with five of those points coming from McFadden, two from junior Joe Calvin on a coast-to-coast layup and two more from Turner, who hit a shot off the glass with 38 seconds left in the half.

While Ghost got a pair of early third period baskets by Turner and junior Aidan Bauer, the ‘birds were again outscored in the frame with Keys coming alive for six points in the frame and Duffey adding another five to his team’s 14 points registered in the quarter.

“They looked like they’ve played together for a long time and they have,” said Chapman. “That was the difference in the game – a little more experience and more ball movement.”

Trailing the Lions 48-37 entering the final frame, the Firebirds closed the gap to three points at 55-52 with 2:33 remaining. However, Duffey hit a pair of three throws then followed that with a layup off a Holy Ghost turnover to expand Lower Moreland’s edge back to seven. Then, Keys and Wiggins closed the scoring out with a pair of free throws, each.

“I told our kids if we keep it in the low-50s, we’ll have a chance to win. If we keep it in the 40s, we’re going to win. But if they get in the 60s, they’re tough to beat and that’s pretty much what happened.”

Holy Ghost finishes its BAL season with a record of 14-2, not a bad mark considering the ‘birds had only two regulars returning to the varsity lineup in Coolahan and Turner.

“I’m proud of our effort,” said Chapman. “We’re going to have a lot of kids back next year and this is a good experience for those sophomores and juniors that we look forward to seeing next season.”

All that’s left for Ghost at this point is to maintain focus throughout a 10-day layoff.

“I’m expecting a really good game in that first (district playoff) game against Upper Moreland,” said Chapman. “If we get the same type of effort that we did tonight, we’ll win.”

“But we need everybody on board.”

And everybody on the boards as in the backboards that became the ‘birds nemesis early on in this one.

Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Lower Moreland 63, Holy Ghost Prep 52

(Feb. 9 at Lower Moreland)

Lower Moreland 21 13 14 15 – 63

Holy Ghost Prep 12 14 11 15 – 52

HOLY GHOST PREP — Aiden Bauer 5, Ryan Wade 2, Julian Turner 13, Ryan Staropoli 2, Mike McFadden 14, John McCrane 9, Jack Coolahan 4, Joe Calvin 3; TOTALS — 18 10-14 52.

LOWER MORELAND — Nick Smolda 6, Dickey Rhoads 4, Tyler Millan 3, Forrest Keys 11, Mike Gould 2, Jake Fazio 7, Danny Duffey 24, Cobe Wiggins 6; TOTALS — 21 15-20 63.

3-POINT GOALS: HGP — McFadden, Bauer; LM — Duffey, Rhodes, Fazio, Smolda 2, Millan.