UPPER MORELAND — Sean Murphy knew it was coming.
Running the floor out in front of the William Tennent defense alongside Nate Best, the Upper Moreland senior knew the ball was coming to him, but he’d have to go get it. Murphy has the height to go get those balls, standing at 6-foot-10, but he’s not generally a dunker unless the moment’s right.
It was right on Thursday, a two-handed stuff capping a 23-point night from Murphy as the Golden Bears downed visiting William Tennent 77-59.
“Once I saw it was Nate with the ball, I knew it was going to be a dunk,” Murphy said. “He’s always giving it up, no matter what, anytime it’s a two-on-one he wants to give me the ball so I had to finish the play.
“I save my dunks for big games.”
A high-paced offensive game saw plenty of big performances from both teams and a milestone for the visiting Panthers. With 3:16 left in the fourth quarter, Tennent standout Kirby Mooney drained a three from the right wing to break the 1,000-point barrier for his career.
Two days after breaking the school single-game record with 40 points against Springfield Township, Mooney humbly reflected on another milestone that was a long time coming, still holding the ball he’d scored the milestone points with.
““Honestly, it means everything, this had been my goal,” Mooney said. “Going into high school, I set a bunch of goals for myself like be four years on varsity and score 1,000 points, so accomplishing both of those means a lot.
“Tennent’s really everything for me. Staying at home, staying with my classmates who I grew up with, my family wanted me to stay here and to get it done in front of my community was amazing.”
Murphy spent the first two years of his high school career at Archbishop Wood. Last year, not only was he new to the Golden Bears, he was still trying to find his way as a player in some ways.
Knowing UM had a nice core coming back, the towering senior looked to diversify his game on the offensive end. Thursday, Murphy hit a pair of three-point shots and hit 10-of-14 overall from the floor, adding nine rebounds with five of them off the offensive glass.
“I needed to develop it these last two years,” Murphy said. “I put the three into my game, last year I started doing it and I’ve been practicing that every day. I’m trying to spread the floor a little bit, trying to be a three-level scorer.”
It wasn’t just Murphy though. Colson Campbell had a fabulous game, scoring 22 points with 13 of them coming on a perfect 5-of-5 showing in the second quarter, the junior also playing solid, sound defense and chipping in a couple assists.
Senior Alex Best was a bundle of energy, crafting several acrobatic finishes on his way to 14 points, adding seven boards and four assists. He ended the first half sticking a tough jumper then went all out diving on the floor for a steal ahead of the buzzer.
There were plenty of contributors around them, which is exactly what UM coach Dan Heiland knows will lead to this team’s best outings.
“We had this type of mentality coming out against Lower Moreland to start the week, we were a little upset about not bringing home the championship of our tip-off tournament so we had a chip on our shoulder,” Heiland said. “We reset the mind, reset the attitude, made some adjustments and we continued to preach it as coaches and these guys continue to listen.”
Upper Moreland (3-1, 2-0 SOL Freedom) racked up 15 assists as a team and just played simple, effective basketball. The Bears fed the hot hand, going to Murphy for nine first quarter points, letting Campbell pop off in the second then going back to Murphy in the third quarter.
Heiland and his staff are big on players filling their role, whether it’s starting, playing five minutes or just five seconds. Javier Velez was a good example, coming in for a couple quick spurts where his defensive activity was noticeable, any little thing letting the trio of Murphy, Best and Campbell be their best giving the team a lift.
“When you have three guys coming back that are core guys, it’s great to have going into the next season,” Heiland said. “These are guys who are unselfish with the ball and want to get others involved then take and knock down shots when they’re open and they’ll make them for the most part.”
Chris D’Ambra had a really good game for Tennent (1-3 1-1 SOL Freedom), scoring a game-high 25 points while Mooney finished with 24. Outside of that, the Panthers only got 10 points combined from the rest of the roster, something a relatively inexperienced roster will work to even out going further into the season.
“It’s important not to stay satisfied,” Mooney said. “You want to move on to the next goal.”
Upper Moreland 77, William Tennent 59
Upper Moreland 22 21 16 18 — 77
William Tennent 14 18 16 11 — 59
Upper Moreland: Sean Murphy 23, Colson Campbell 22, Alex Best 14, Brayden Martin 10, Anthony Carson 4, Javier Velez 2, Nate Best 2
William Tennent: Chris D’Ambra 25, Kirby Mooney 24, Imad Abunima 8, Sean Devine 2
