UPPER DUBLIN >> Central Bucks East’s 18-point lead over Upper Dublin was gone. Multiple Patriots were on the bench in foul trouble or had fouled out. They hadn’t made a field goal since their first possession of the fourth quarter.
But they still had Jake Cummiskey.
With the score tied at 60 and the final seconds ticking away, East gave the ball to its senior guard and got out of the way. He drove to the basket and got fouled with 5.6 seconds left. After missing the first free throw and sitting through an Upper Dublin timeout, Cummiskey made the second.
Upper Dublin’s three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim and CB East celebrated a 61-60 win at Upper Dublin High School Wednesday night.
“Go score,” Cummiskey said of his mindset on their final offensive possession. “I’ve been playing varsity since I was a freshman. I feel like I’m a big part of this team and when my team needed me we ran spread, coach called spread, which is just go take it. I was like, ‘all right let’s do it.’
“(My first free throw) was in and out, right on. Shooters shoot. I remember sophomore year right here at Upper Dublin I had some foul shots to win the game. I missed. Foul shots all summer just repping them out. Luckily I was able to make the big ones.”
“We have the best player on the court for the majority of our games,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. “Sometimes coaching is pretty easy – give it to (Cummiskey) and go make a play. Other times when we have to figure things out because foul trouble or maybe he’s tired we have to be a little bit more creative, but having Jake as your lead guard is definitely a comfort for a coach.”
CB East (11-1) made its only field goal of the fourth quarter on its first possession. Cummiskey drove the lane and kicked to Dhruv Mukund for a corner three, giving the Patriots a 53-38 lead. Upper Dublin (9-3) battled back to tie the game at 54 and 60, but never pulled in front.
After the game was tied at 54, East’s Nolan Behm split a pair of free throws, Cummiskey went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and Justin DiRoberto split two foul shots to put the Patriots ahead 58-54 with under two minutes left in the game.
Upper Dublin sophomore Kobe Bazemore scored three the hard way and, after two more Cummiskey free throws, buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 35 seconds left.
“(Bazemore) has been playing very well,” UD junior Ryan Mulroy said. “He’s been here all summer. He’s a hard worker. He wants it. I love playing with him. He’s awesome on defense, probably one of our best defensive players. We just need him to keep stepping up in those moments.”
CB East held the ball until Cummiskey was fouled with 5.6 seconds on the clock.
Mulroy played a key role in the Cardinals comeback. UD trailed 46-28 after allowing the first 12 points of the second half. Mulroy scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and tallied two assists during the 26-8 run to tie the game at 54.
“We’ve had a lot of games like that this year,” Mulroy said. “PW, Henderson – where we were down 20. We just have the mentality where we’re not going to give up. We just have to keep playing. (CB East is) a really good team, but every day in practice we play hard and we know we can’t give up. We just have to keep playing. We have the mentality in the back of our heads that we’re not going to give up no matter what the score is and keep playing our game.
“We play very well in our press. I feel like in the first half we didn’t play our game. In the fourth quarter we felt like we had nothing to lose and just kept playing. We can’t be like that. We have to stick with the gameplan and play our game through the entire game. In the fourth quarter we weren’t scared. We were just going after everything. It has to be like that every quarter.”
Idris Rines scored seven points during Upper Dublin’s 26-8 run while Noah Cohen had five, Chris Kohlbrenner two and Bazemore one.
Rines hit a three-pointer to get the Cardinals within 54-48 before Kohlbrenner grabbed a steal under the offensive basket and put it in to make it 54-50. Mulroy got the deficit within two with a pair of free throws and tied the game at 54 with a layup with 3:10 left in the game.
CB East built its lead with its 12-0 run to start the second half. DiRoberto hit two threes during the stretch while Tyler Dandrea knocked down a three, Cummiskey made a layup and Miles Demby split a pair of free throws. The run extended a 34-28 halftime advantage to 46-28 with 5:14 left in the third.
“We had two or three possessions there that stretched the game where we really moved the ball well with a limited amount of dribbles,” Henrysen said. “I think that’s when we’re at our best.”
Cummiskey led the Patriots with 18 points. DiRoberto added 12, Dandrea 10 and Behm eight.
Mulroy scored a game-high 22 points for Upper Dublin. Rines added 13 and Cohen had nine.
Central Bucks East 61, Upper Dublin 60
Central Bucks East 18 16 16 11 – 61
Upper Dublin 14 14 10 22 – 60
CBE: Jake Cummiskey 3 1 9-10 18, Dhruv Mukund 0 1 2-4 5, Tyler Dandrea 1 2 2-3 10, Justin DiRoberto 0 3 3-4 12, Miles Demby 1 0 2-3 4, Nolan Behm 3 0 2-4 8, Caleb Lyzinski 2 0 0-0 4. Total 10 7 20-28 61.
UD: Chris Kohlbrenner 1 0 0-0 2, Ryan Mulroy 8 0 6-10 22, Brady Fogle 2 0 1-2 5, Kobe Bazemore 1 1 2-3 7, Idris Rines 1 2 5-6 13, Noah Cohen 2 1 2-2 9, Brandon Altman 1 0 0-1 2. Total 16 4 16-24 60.
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