Cohen takes to air, carries Lower Moreland past Glen Mills

LOWER MORELAND TWP. — Shane Cohen admits he floats comfortably between two roles for Lower Moreland, scorer and facilitator. He also might just very well float.

The senior collected a fourth-quarter pass on the baseline, took a single dribble, and double-clutched a lay-up. Cohen hung in the air long enough to convert the shot and draw a foul. The old-fashioned 3-point play helped Cohen cross the 1,000-point, career-scoring threshold, and served as the offensive highlight in a game loaded with them.

Cohen’s 26 points, six assists, and four rebounds boosted the top-seeded Lions to a 76-46 rout of fourth-seeded Glen Mills in a District 1 Class 4A semifinal. Lower Moreland (21-3) will face Pope John Paul II in Saturday’s district championship game.

“He’s the (Bicentennial Athletic League) MVP. He goes as we go, in many ways,” Lower Moreland coach Seth Baron said of Cohen, his top scorer. “That being said, we’re very talented. We have 12 seniors. We’ve been building toward this season.”

The Lions shot 29-for-52 overall, good for 56 percent. From beyond the arc, they were nearly as efficient. They made 45 percent of their 3-pointers, connecting on 10 of 22 attempts. And they didn’t miss from the foul line, knocking down all eight free throws.

Glen Mills (7-16) made things easier for the hosts. The Battlin’ Bulls endured two scoreless stretches of at least four minutes; one to open the second quarter and the other at the start of the fourth.

The Bulls’ dry spell in the second helped relinquish the 20-19 lead they had after one quarter. And their inability to score in the fourth allowed Lower Moreland to balloon an already sizable lead.

“We go stretches where we can’t score and we can’t get any stops,” Glen Mills coach Tony Bacon said. “That’s the story of our season. We had a rough go tonight.”

The Bulls picked up 13 points and six rebounds from Aaron Thompson. Nasir Johnson gave them 12 points, five boards, and four assists. Outside of those two, the rest of the Bulls collectively shot 8-for-28.

The odds were not in Glen Mills’ favor, as the lowest-seeded team in the tournament.

“In the playoffs, you only have to be good for one day,” Bacon said. “Unfortunately, we were only good for one quarter.”

Even in that one quarter, Cohen looked unstoppable. He scored Lower Moreland’s first 13 points and finished the first half with 21 points to lead all scorers. A 30-foot 3-pointer before the horn sounded served as his only miss of the opening 16 minutes.

In the second half, Cohen turned his sights toward running the offense. He collected all but one of his six assists in the third and fourth quarters. Following a pair of free throws with 3:29 remaining, Cohen checked out of the game for the first time all night, and for good.

“We wanted him to get his 1,000th point on his home court,” Baron said.

“Honestly, I just wanted to win,” Cohen said. “I couldn’t care less about the points and where I was. At that point, if I do it and we win, that’s all that matters.”

Lower Moreland picked up significant contributions from Joey Cerrutti (15 points), Forrest Keys (11 points, four assists), and Jordan Zoubroulis (seven points, six assists, and five rebounds).

Now, the Lions turn their attention toward winning the district championship.

“I told our guys, ‘(Glen Mills) is not a BAL team.’ No disrespect to our league, but we knew this team would be tougher and better-tested than any other team we’ve played,” Cohen said. “And it was a solid test for us before the biggest game of our season.”