Ryan Mulroy makes key plays in crunch time as Upper Dublin gets past Cheltenham
UPPER DUBLIN >> Ryan Mulroy did a little bit of everything down the stretch Friday night. The Upper Dublin sophomore scored seven points, grabbed a key offensive rebound and dished out an assist in the final 4:46 of a Suburban One League crossover game against Cheltenham.
He scored or assisted on nine of Upper Dublin’s final 11 points in a back-and-forth game that was within one possession for most of the third quarter and the entire fourth. The two points he didn’t account for were Brady Fogle’s free throws with 2.6 seconds left that lifted the Cardinals to a 48-46 win over the Panthers at Upper Dublin High School.
“(Mulroy’s) had a couple games like that,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said, “where he’s fearless down the stretch. I thought he played well tonight, but he hit an extra gear in that fourth quarter. He makes some winning plays and it’s big. It’s always great to have a guy who is fearless at the end there. He was big for us.”
“I was feeling really confident in the team and myself,” Mulroy said. “We struggled in the first half shooting, but I knew that I wanted to win that game really bad. It was important for our team. I think that’s the first time our high school’s beaten Cheltenham in a very long time, so it’s very big for our program. I knew I had to step up and take a big role in those last few minutes.”
After going 1-for-5 from the free-throw line in the third quarter, Mulroy hit a pair of foul shots to tie the game at 39 with 4:46 left in the game. On the Cardinals (10-4, 7-2 SOL Liberty) next possession, Seaton Kukla was fouled, but missed both shots. Mulroy grabbed the rebound after the second, pulled it out and ended the possession with a baseline drive to the basket and finger roll for a 41-39 lead with 3:32 remaining.
“I love playing hard”, Mulroy said. “That’s a big thing for me. I’m going to do my best. If I’m not scoring, I’m going to try to get rebounds. I’m going to play defense. I’m going to try to make the right plays when I don’t have the ball in my hand. I just want to do the best to try to make my team win.”
The Panthers (5-7, 4-5 SOL Freedom) didn’t go away. Josiah Hutson tied the game with a tough layup through contact, but Mulroy responded by finding Kukla for a basket and 43-41 lead. Osei Johnson put Cheltenham ahead with a three, but Mulroy answered with a three of his own, his only triple of the night, to make it 46-44 Upper Dublin with 1:40 to go.
“That was a really good feeling,” Mulroy said. “I’ve been struggling from the three the past few games. I was just working on my three before the game today, too. That’s a really good feeling, especially in the last few minutes to take the lead. It was great for our team.”
Hutson tied the game with 51 seconds left and Upper Dublin was able to hold for the final shot.
On a play Brooks just installed two days ago, the plan was to get the ball inside to Kukla. Cheltenham had it defended, so the Cardinals had to go to the second option – a Fogle three-pointer.
“The guys have gotten in a good groove of being able to install something and run something pretty quick,” Brooks said. “I give them credit. It’s not easy, especially in a pressure moment like that to get to the second look and execute.”
Fogle was fouled on his three-point attempt from the right wing with 2.6 seconds left. He hit two shots before a timeout to give his side a 48-46 lead. He missed the third and Cheltenham wasn’t able to get a shot off before the clock hit zeroes.
“(Fogle’s) our best shooter,” Brooks said. “That’s why we had him in the game there. It was a tough night for him from three, but he has the confidence to go up there and knock them down. I give him a ton of credit. That is a nerve-wracking spot to get fouled there. He hits the first two and it wasn’t technically a bad thing that he missed the third because they have no timeouts left and now they have to basically score from underneath their basket with two seconds left.”
“I was really confident,” Fogle said. “Just clear my mind, do what I’ve been working on all summer.”
“I’m proud of our guys,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “I think they fought start to finish. In any game, one team has to lose. Last play, would’ve liked to play it out and go to overtime but we didn’t have that opportunity. We just have to do a better job of attacking and finishing and getting to the line. I just don’t think we’re putting enough pressure right now to get to the line. They were able to at the end, to get to the line and finish it.”
Mulroy scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. He added 10 rebounds, three assists and a block. Kukla joined him in double figures with 17 points.
Hutson led Cheltenham with 14 points while Kamani Healey and Kevin Addison-Anderson each added eight.
It was a low-scoring game of runs in the first half.
Kukla scored six points in the first quarter and helped Upper Dublin close the frame on an 8-0 run for a 12-7 lead.
Hutson scored five points in the second quarter, which Cheltenham closed on a 7-2 run, to head to halftime trailing, 16-15.
DJ Cerisier and Mulroy made layups early in the third quarter and Kukla hit a three for a 7-0 Upper Dublin run to give the hosts a 23-18 advantage. Cheltenham responded with six straight for a 24-23 lead and the game was within a possession the rest of the way. The teams were tied at 26, 29 and 31 before Cheltenham took a 33-32 lead to the fourth.
The loss was Cheltenham’s fourth straight defeat.
“We’ve got to get ready for Tuesday (at Quakertown),” Fleury said. “In my tenure this is my first time I’ve been on this side. We’ve got to fight our way out. There is no laying down and taking it. Hats off to (Upper Dublin), they got the win. We just have to move forward and get better day by day.”
Upper Dublin 48, Cheltenham 46
Cheltenham 7 8 18 13 – 46
Upper Dublin 12 4 16 16 – 48
Cheltenham: Josiah Hutson 5 3-5 14, Yakeen Respes 1 0-0 2, Kamani Healey 3 2-3 8, Kevin Addison-Anderson 4 0-2 8, Osei Johnson 2 0-0 5, Malik Hughes 1 2-3 4, Nile Tinsley 1 2-2 5, Xavier Thompson 0 0-0 0. Total 17 9-15 46.
Upper Dublin: DJ Cerisier 2 0-0 4, Ryan Mulroy 7 3-7 18, Mason Pensabene 0 0-0 0, Seaton Kukla 6 4-8 17, Brady Fogle 2 2-3 6, Chris Kohlbrenner 0 0-0 0, Griffin Pensabene 1 1-2 3, Idris Rines 0 0-0 0. Total 18 10-20 48.
3-point goals: CH: Josiah Hutson, Osei Johnson, Nile Tinsley. UD: Ryan Mulroy, Seaton Kukla.
