Hot-shooting Upper Dublin runs past W.C. Henderson for Great Valley tourney title

EAST WHITELAND >> One night after West Chester Henderson won a big game over Great Valley in the Patriots Holiday Tournament by shooting 58 percent from the field and getting the ball inside to center Jordan Laudato, the Warriors shot a frigid 15 for 50 from the field and failed to feed Laudato enough.

Unsurprisingly, the Warriors fell to a good Upper Dublin team, 62-41, as the Cardinals took home the championship trophy at Great Valley.

Corby Watkins, who was named the tourney’s most valuable player, led the Cardinals (6-3) with 20 points, while some big 3-point shots from Brian Klammer led Upper Dublin to a 41-18 second-half margin, allowing them to roll over the Warriors (3-5).

“This is a great feeling to win the award,” Watkins said. “But, we won as a team. We played really hard out here for two nights and we started making 3-point shots in the second half. We practiced them a lot this morning and it paid off for us. We really wanted to win this tournament.”

Upper Dublin trailed, 23-21, at halftime and it could have been worse for the Cardinals if the half was any shorter. Upper Dublin closed the half on an 8-0 run, fueled by Watkins’ six points in the final two minutes. Henderson shot eight for 24 in the first half and the Cardinals shot eight for 26, but Upper Dublin really heated up in the second half, while Henderson went ice cold.

Upper Dublin was on fire after the break, shooting 12 for 23 from the field in the second half, with five 3-pointers, including two from Klammer off the bench.

“We did not do a good enough job getting out on the shooters,” said West Chester Henderson coach Rob Frattura. “I thought we were a little sluggish tonight for a championship game. I thought we would be more fired up but it was probably my fault for not subbing guys out for rest in the second half. And give Upper Dublin credit. They only played five or six guys and they stayed fresh tonight.

“And we did not get the ball to Jordan (Laudato) down low enough. We were a little indecisive with the ball and we settled for some bad shots tonight.”

Laudato still led the Warriors with 16 points, to go along with nine rebounds, but Henderson settled for too many jump shots to overcome the hot-shooting Cardinals.

With Upper Dublin leading 38-31 after three quarters, the Cardinals put the game away early in the fourth. Jason Williams got things started by draining a corner three to give the Cardinals a 41-32 advantage. After another Warrior miss, Klammer scored on a drive down the lane to make it a 44-32 game. Shawn Fay hit a runner for the Warriors to get two of those points back, but Klammer buried a three, Watkins scored on a follow, and Drew Stover scored in tight to finish off the Warriors and send the hardware home to Upper Dublin.

“We got a lot of good things from a lot of different guys tonight,” Watkins said. “And we shot really well in both games.”

Upper Dublin 62, West Chester Henderson 41

Upper Dublin 10 11 17 24 – 62
W.C. Henderson 10 13 8 10 – 41

UPPER DUBLIN (62): Watkins 8 2-3 20, Williams 3 0-0 8, Brady 1 3-4 5, Stover 3 1-2 7, Slovak 3 4-4 10, Klammer 3 4-4 12. Totals 21 14-17 62.

W.C. HENDERSON (41): Laudato 6 4-6 16, Weirman 3 4-9 10, Fay 2 0-0 4, Harkins 0 3-4 3, Gray 1 0-0 2, Briglia 2 0-0 4, Dinari 0 0-0 0, Bertrando 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 11-19 41.

3-point goals: Klammer 2, Williams 2, Watkins 2.