Upper Perkiomen breaks lengthy PAC drought with win over Upper Merion

KING OF PRUSSIA >> The Upper Perkiomen girls basketball team took nothing for granted on Friday night.

Even with a comfortable double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, the Indians knew they couldn’t let up, waiting for the final buzzer until the hugs and cheers could begin.

When the seconds finally ran off the clock, an appropriate celebration ensued.

Upper Perkiomen knocked off Upper Merion, 36-23,on Friday night, breaking a 60-game Pioneer Athletic Conference losing streak and snapping a 33-game skid overall dating back to Dec. 27, 2018.

Freshman Erin States led the Indians with 21 points, followed by junior Hannah Keeney and senior Olivia Rogers with six points apiece in the squad’s first league victory since a win over Phoenixville Jan. 27, 2015.

“It was exhilarating because I don’t think I ever thought we’d get that far to win a game,” Keeney said. “Having that feeling of being proud of our team and working this hard, it felt great.”

“This year we definitely tried a lot harder in our practices,” she added. “I don’t know, these girls really worked hard this year and it made us that much better.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Upper Perkiomen-Upper Merion Girls Basketball 2.5.21

The Indians felt they had a victory in their grasp earlier this week against Pottstown when they led 34-25 at halftime. Upper Perk ran out of gas down the stretch as the Trojans wiped away UP’s lead by the end of the third before coming out with a 60-55 win.

Against Upper Merion on Friday night, Upper Perk found itself in a similar situation, leading 23-13 at halftime. Vikings’ sophomore Riley Anderson, who scored all of her team-high eight points in the third, cut the lead to 27-21 with 3:52 to go in the third.

Baskets by Kenney and States to end the quarter sent the Indians to the fourth with a double-digit lead, 31-21.

Upper Perk 23, Upper Merion 13 at half. … Huge Q2 for UP freshman Erin States, scoring 12 of team’s 14. She gets an easy one here off the feed from Mackenzie Schaffer. pic.twitter.com/r4MoJJhr3k

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) February 6, 2021

Hannah Keeney breaks a long drought for both teams to put UP up 29-21. pic.twitter.com/WQQpmjR8pr

— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) February 6, 2021

Though a scoreless first four minutes of the fourth made things nervy, Abby Pfander’s layup midway through the period extened the Indians lead to 33-21, alleviating some of the tension. A bucket by Rogers with 1:20 to put things out reach for certain.

“The game against Pottstown made us prepared for this game,” Kenney said. “We had that same situation. Today, we just wanted it more.”

“If we don’t play Pottstown the way we did and lose by 30, we don’t win today,” Upper Perk second-year head coach Matt Bowe added. “We got that feeling, we got that closeness, and today was a different game.”

Things were tight in the early going as Upper Perk needed four straight points to end the first quarter with a 9-6 lead. States exploded for 12 of the Indians’ 14 points in the second and added a couple of impactful blocked shots to give UP its 23-13 halftime advantage.

The freshman currently leads the team in scoring, coming into Friday’s contest averaging 10.1 points per game.

“I just had that (Pottstown) game in the back of my mind,” States said. “I remembered to hustle every play, get the rebound, help my teammates out, dish to my teammates if they were open. … We all just came together and played as a team. We wanted this win really bad. We all wanted it.”

States is part of a freshman group who went 12-1 for the middle school team last season, a giant leap from classes of the past.

The 2024 class has helped infuse a winning attitude into the program, which Bowe has taken notice of right away.

“They want to be different,” Bowe said. “They’re tired of Upper Perk being Upper Perk. They think they’re just as good as everybody else, and tonight they finally proved it. The hardest is the first win. Now that they have the feeling, I think it’s going to be a great couple of years.’

The youngsters have high aspirations for themselves before they leave the program.

“We all told them our goal. Our goal is to get a banner on that wall,” States said. “Everyone on this team has heart. We all want it, and we’re just going to keep putting in the work when nobody’s looking every single day.”

Win No. 1 on Friday night was a big step in the right direction.

Growing Pains >> Upper Merion’s Shawn Wheeler is another PAC head coach in his second season.

The Vikings went 4-6 in the Frontier and 6-16 overall in 2019-20, but have taken a step back in 2021 while having a variety of uncontrollables impact their season.

Wheeler had a number of anticipated returning players opt out this season, leading to group relying on a large percent of freshmen and sophomores. Freshmen Adriana Lamesta and Olivia Smith followed Anderson with six points apiece Friday.

Along with the challenge of inexperience, the Vikings also faced the challenge of lack of time. The program was put on pause this winter due to COVID-related issues. Upper Merion didn’t play its first game since Jan. 30.

“This was the first week when we had any live play,” Wheeler said. “When I say live play, I mean nine people and me. We’re teaching them a brand new language, and trying to teach them to play at the pace. … There’s some real good parts here.”

The Vikings came into Friday night with 14 total points in their first two games. Upper Merion scored 21 through three quarters against Upper Perk before the Indians’ defense locked them down for just two points in the fourth.

Wheeler has liked what he’s seen from his young group so far and knows it will take time for them to build confidence at the offensive end.

“We’re really young,” Wheeler said. “We move the basketball really well. They catch it. We just don’t play through contact yet. Most of these girls are three-sport athletes, basketball is their tertiary sport, and this is a really good league where girls are physical and they can really score the ball. Scoring the ball, it’s your last skill to come out of all the elements.”

Notes >> Upper Merion had a moment of recognition for 2020 graduate Jenna Foster before Friday’s game. Foster, who was involved in a serious crash with three of her teammates in 2018, underwent surgery Friday and was in the hospital.