Bristol boys basketball runs out of gas late in loss to Lower Moreland (PHOTO GALLERY)
Lower Moreland sophomore Shane Cohen (3) streaks past Bristol defenders Samir Brisbon, left, and Alex Jerbos, right, in boys basketball action Thursday night, Jan. 5 on the Warriors’ home court. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media)
BRISTOL BORO – Bristol got 20 points from Parker Kelly and steals from the senior standout on both the first and last possessions – and everywhere else in between – in Thursday night’s battle with visiting Lower Moreland and still, it was not enough to help the Warriors to a win.
Bristol lost 52-49 Jan. 5 in Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) action, despite taking a five-point halftime lead into the final frame.
“They just brought that pressure back that they had in the first half and we got stuck in the trap spots,” explained Warriors head coach Matt Gasper.
“We worked on that in practice; we just mentally blacked out again. Once they brought the trap back, we had like three or four turnovers in a row and that brought them back into the game.”
The Warriors gave it everything they had in this one. In the end, the Bristol boys simply ran out of gas.
“Tired legs,” said Gasper. “I only played six or seven guys tonight and they just didn’t have the same energy late in the game.
“They played hard, which is all I can ask for.”
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Contrary to the fourth quarter, the Lions’ trap defense in first period helped Bristol finish the initial frame with a 15-6 run, a scoring spurt in which Kelley pumped five balls into the basket including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that put the Warriors on top 19-18 at the end of one.
With Lower Moreland off the press in the second quarter, the scoring frenzy by both teams tapered off. At that point, Bristol began pressing and the Lions started turning the ball over.
The result was four baskets for the Warriors and only two for the visitors. Chipping in with field goals for Bristol were senior Ronnie Garrison, junior Dayeshawn Cortez, classmate Alex Jerbos (2 pts.) and of course, Kelley.
Starting the second half off with a 7-2 scoring spurt, Lower Moreland tied the game at 30-all less than four minutes into the third period and immediately went back to the press.
Again, Bristol capitalized, finishing off the third quarter with a 9-4 scoring run, highlighted by a 3-point play by Kelly and three baskets by Garrison.
Three minutes into the final frame, however, Garrison fouled out.
The Lions had already whittled away the Warriors’ edge on buckets by senior Nick Smolda (16 pts.), sophomore Shane Cohen (7) and classmate Jake Himmelstein (9). Cohen’s second field goal in the quarter put Lower Moreland up 42-41 and earned the Lions their first lead in the battle since the opening period.
From there, like two heavyweights in the 15th round of a boxing title bout, the sides traded blows. Unfortunately for the hometown Bristol basketball fans who threw the snow-cast to the wind to come out and see their beloved Warriors in action, Lower Moreland was the last man standing.
Still, in the waning moments of the duel, the game was up for either team’s taking.
Bristol showed resilience with a late 8-4 scoring run highlighted by a pair of driving layups by Cortez and a one-handed jumper by Kelley that put the Warriors back on top at 49-46 with less than two minutes remaining.
The Warriors didn’t score a basket from there, however.
Smolda – who led Lower Moreland with 16 points – latched onto a ball carried up the court by point guard Samir Brisbon (4 pts.), forcing a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing the other way. Then LM senior Kris Zoubroulis (7 pts.) found Smolda streaking down the lane for a fast layup and the Lions had the lead for good with a minute remaining.
Bristol turned it over on its next possession and while Kelley stole the ball off of Smolda in the corner of the Warriors’ end of the court, Himmelstein stole it right back and dished the ball off to big Nick, who drew the foul.
With 31 ticks left on the clock, Smolda cooly sank a pair of free throws to put the Lions up, 52-49.
But Bristol wasn’t done, even when Cortez missed the first half of a one-and-one, the Warriors kept on fighting. Kelley scrambled first to the ball, which went out of bounds off the visitors, giving the home team one last shot.
Or so it seemed.
That quick, the game seemed to slip away as Cohen (7 pts.) stole the inbound pass from Kelley. Shane promptly stepped out of bounds, however, again giving Bristol another chance.
With 10.5 seconds to go however, officials called Kelley for an offensive foul deep in the Warriors’ own end, while Parker was trying to carry the ball up the court. Clearing the defender out with his arm was the call, one of three such judgements by the officials on the Kelley boys – two, on Parker and one on Carter – in the waning moments of the contest.
Add to that a bucket that was waved off on a ball that was clearly up on the rim at the third-period buzzer and … Well, you get the picture.
Lower Moreland – now 6-2 – entered the battle sporting wins over Suburban One League (SOL) rival William Tennent, BAL rivals Devon Prep and New Hope along with Catholic League rival Bishop McDevitt. The Lions had a tough time getting a win from the Warriors, however.
“I think every team comes in here thinking they’re going to win just because we’re Bristol,” said senior Parker Kelley. “But we play as hard as we can and give them a fight. If we come out with a win, that’s what we look for.
“We do that every night.”
Joining Kelley in the double-digit scoring column were Garrison and Cortez with 11 and 10 points, respectively. At times in the first half, it seemed Garrison could not buy a basket and Ronnie missed four free throws before the intermission. Cortez missed a pair of foul shots in the final frame and the Warriors as a team missed 10 free throws in the game including four in the fourth quarter.
With the Lions missing nine of 20 attempts from the stripe, it may not have seemed like foul shooting affected the outcome. However, Smolda hit 6-of-10 free throws in the second half and was 7-for-11 from the line, for the game.
Lower Moreland 52, Bristol 49
(Jan. 5 at Bristol)
BRISTOL 19 9 11 10 – 49
LOWER MORELAND 18 5 11 18 – 52
BRISTOL (4-5) — Carter Kelley 2, Samir Brisbon 4, Parker Kelley 20, Ronnie Garrison 11, Dayeshawn Cortez 10, Alex Jerbos 2; TOTALS — 21 4-14—49.
LOWER MORELAND (6-2) — Nick Smolda 16, Coby Wiggins 4, Kris Zoubroulis7, Shane Cohen 7, Bryce Horn 7, Jake Himmelstein 9, Dan Shimon 2; ; TOTALS — 19 11-20—52.
3-POINT GOALS: LM — Smolda, Zoubroulis, Horn; B — Parker Kelley.
