Upper Dublin shuts down Lower Moreland for fourth straight win

FORT WASHINGTON — Upper Dublin shot with confidence and pressed with purpose.

Add to that Amy Ngo’s ability to multitask on the basketball court and the result was a well-rounded 53-23 victory over Lower Moreland Tuesday night.

“We like to learn our girls’ tendencies,” said Ngo, who had the daunting task of defending the Lions’ Jess Dugo, and came through admirably, “so going into the game, we know exactly what they wanna do and how to defend them.”

Ngo helped limit the dangerous Dugo to six points as the Cardinals clamped down for their fourth straight win. Upper Dublin is now 8-6 on the season and remains 5-3 in the Suburban One League Liberty Division. Lower Moreland is 5-5 overall and remains 2-4 in the SOL Freedom.

Ngo hit four of the Cardinals’ six 3-pointers, leading the way with a game-high 16 points.

“Amy made some big shots and she also had to take over some point guard responsibilities with Bliss Brenner being out,” said Cardinals coach Morgan Funsten. “And Amy did a good job defending Dugo as well. She had a big responsibility tonight and I thought she handled it really well.

“The key is to try to limit the opportunities that Dugo gets, and I thought we did a good job with that all night. We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half, and I thought we got much better with that in the second half. Going into the game, we knew we wanted to play a faster pace to get up and down and get as many opportunities as possible.”

A pair of threes by Ngo helped spur Upper Dublin to a 16-7 lead after one.

The Cardinals continued to press into the second quarter, forcing turnovers and getting extra possessions as a result.

When Aditi Foster (9 points) drove for two, Upper Dublin’s lead grew to 22-12. A three by Geena Sarnoski (9 points) moments later extended the Upper Dublin lead to 25-12.

Upper Dublin allowed the Lions just two field goals in a pivotal second quarter, and when Colleen Klammer (6-for-6, 13 points) hit a three at the halftime buzzer, the Cardinal lead was 28-12 at the break.

Said Funsten: “Now that we’ve strung some wins together, the girls are starting to shoot the ball with confidence. We didn’t shoot the ball well early in the season and I think we’re starting to hit our stride offensively, and that’s definitely something we’re excited about.”

“Those (tough games at the beginning of the season) were for us to learn and get better,” Ngo said. “As it gets later in the season, we’re looking to play and compete and looking to win.”

Another bucket by Sarnoski and a three by Ngo spiked the Upper Dublin lead to 33-16 in the third. When Ngo hit a three with four minutes left in the fourth, the lead was at 47-23 and the Cardinals were home free.

Tori Finnegan added six points for the Lions, who travel to Cheltenham Thursday evening. Upper Dublin is at Wissahickon Thursday night.

Upper Dublin 53, Lower Moreland 23

Lower Moreland 7 5 7 4 – 23

Upper Dublin 16 12 10 15 – 53

Lower Moreland: Tori Finnegan 2 2-3 6, Jess Shein 1 0-0 2, Jess Dugo 2 0-0 6, Brianna McFerran 2 1-1 5, Liz Neeld 1 0-0 2, Zoe Alden 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 3-4 23.

Upper Dublin: Alaina Sanders 1 0-0 2, Aditi Foster 3 3-6 9, Geena Sarnoski 3 2-2 9, Colleen Klammer 6 0-0 13, Amy Ngo 5 2-2 16, Kaylee Fitzkee 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 7-10 53.

3-pointers: LM-Dugo 2; UD-Sarnoski, Klammer, Ngo 4.