Shane Ford spurs Wissahickon’s rally past Upper Moreland
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Wissahickon’s Shane Ford hit a three-pointer in the final minute of the first half to cut the Trojans deficit from nine points to six against Upper Moreland Tuesday night.
That triple turned out to be the jolt Wissahickon needed. It came out on fire in the second half and cruised to a 57-48 Suburban One League American Conference win at Wissahickon High School.
Ford’s three-pointer started a 25-4 run for the Trojans that saw a nine-point deficit turn into a 12-point lead.
Zach Reiner scored nine points in the third quarter alone and Max Rapoport added eight in the frame. The Trojans won the quarter, 26-9, to lead by 11 going into the fourth.
“We were sleeping in the first half,” Rapoport said. “We came out very slow. At halftime we figured we should start pushing the rock — wake up, rebound and run. That’s how we should be playing all the time.”
“They just crushed us in transition,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “We did a nice job of contesting jump shots in the first half, but in the third quarter of the 26 points, 20 of them probably came from layups. They just beat us down the floor. They were hungrier than we were in that third quarter.
“We won three of the four quarters. You just can’t get out-scored 26-9 in a quarter and expect to win.”
Upper Moreland trimmed its deficit to two possessions in the final quarter but could not get any closer.
The Golden Bears built their nine-point lead in the second quarter with a 10-0 run. Casey Decker hit a three to put his side ahead, 18-16, and the advantage ballooned to 25-16 before Ford hit his three.
Wissahickon’s Rapoport – who gave the Trojans the lead for good at 31-29 – scored a game-high 15 points, Reiner added 13 and Ford 10.
Upper Moreland’s Shane Stone scored a team-high 11 points. Casey Decker added nine and Ryan Coyle eight.
Both teams entered this week fighting for a playoff spot in District 1 Class 5A. Wissahickon was No. 12 in the latest unofficial power rankings and Upper Moreland No. 15. The top 16 teams make the playoffs.
“We just want to make the playoffs,” Rapoport said. “Anything can happen. We want to keep this momentum going.”
“If you look at the points we actually created a nice little gap between 16 and 17,” Heiland said. “Obviously you want to avoid 16 and going to Chester.
“A win tonight would’ve been huge for us, but we have to cross our fingers and hope maybe some of the teams we beat earlier in the year continue to win and boost our rating that way. We still have two games left. We have Upper Dublin on Friday and PW on Tuesday. We’ll see what happens after that. All we can do is try to take care of business.”
The regular season ends at the end of next week.
Top Photo: Upper Moreland’s Jake Villanueva fouls Wissahickon’s Shane Ford during their game on Tuesday Jan. 31, 2017. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)
