UPPER MORELAND >> Most of the players on Upper Moreland’s roster were 1 or 2 years old on Dec. 8, 2007. They probably weren’t aware, but something happened that day that wouldn’t happen for a long time. Upper Moreland beat Plymouth Whitemarsh.
They played twice during some seasons as members of the same divison in the Suburban One League. Recently, they’ve faced off once each year for league crossover games. Meeting after meeting, Plymouth Whitemarsh came out on top.
That streak ended Thursday night. After 5,885 days, the Golden Bears beat the Colonials again.
Junior Mikel Lancit put Upper Moreland ahead with a floater with 54 seconds remaining and the Golden Bears had to defend for the entirety of those 54 seconds. Both teams called multiple timeouts. Upper Moreland gained possession by forcing a jumpball and PW got it right back by forcing an inbound violation. At the final buzzer, junior Lianna Adames defended a shot under the basket and the Golden Bears celebrated a 33-31 SOL crossover win over the Colonials on their home floor.
“That is unreal,” Upper Moreland senior Holly Gohl said of the time between wins. “It’s a great feeling. We really wanted this win and we got it. We really worked hard for this one.
“I’m just grateful for this team. It’s a great feeling to have right now. I’m really happy with us. They’re a great team, great players and we really worked hard, worked well together to finally beat them.”
There was contact on the final shot attempt, but no foul was called. PW sophomore AJ Avery drove to the basket and drew a double team before dishing off to freshman Eliza Meersman. Meersman went up for a shot and collided with Adames while the whistles stayed silent.
“You knew they were going to have to try to get it to the basket,” Upper Moreland coach Josh Adelman said. “You didn’t want to give them a three and see that go in. We took that one foul to get to four fouls. We didn’t want to get to the fifth so they could shoot two. There were some calls I thought could have gone our way, so sometimes that happens. They swallowed their whistle there and I give them credit. They were working hard, too, tonight, I thought.”
The teams took turns trading runs after playing to a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter. Upper Moreland won the second quarter, 9-0, to take a comfortable lead into halftime, but Plymouth Whitemarsh responded with a 15-5 stretch to pull ahead, 27-26, with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Facing a 26-21 deficit at the start of the fourth, the Colonials (9-4, 6-3 SOL Liberty Division) rattled off six straight points to move in front. Meersman sandwiched two baskets around a pair of Avery free throws to give PW its first lead since the first quarter, 27-26.
Upper Moreland’s Marie Meyers responded with a three-pointer to put the Golden Bears (10-5, 6-3 SOL Freedom Division) back in front by two. After Meersman split a pair of free throws for PW, Gohl grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to get the lead to three, 31-28. Meersman’s triple tied the game at 31 with 1:13 remaining.
After a timeout, Lancit drove to the basket and sank what proved to be the game-winner with 54 seconds remaining.
“It felt amazing,” UM junior Lilly Hansen said. “They are a really good team and they played really well. It just felt amazing to beat them. We played really good defense together. Our offense was kind of shaky in the second half, but it improved. It felt really good.”
Hansen scored a game-high 14 points for Upper Moreland, including a personal 7-0 run to start the second quarter. She also impacted the game with a pair of blocks – one at the end of the first quarter that she sent into the fourth row and another at the three-point line early in the second quarter that she swatted into the backcourt, chased down and ended up getting fouled for two free throws.
“I see the ball and I just want to get it,” Hansen said. “Some people say I should play volleyball.”
“Lilly had an incredible game,” Gohl said. “She shot so well. Her defense – the blocks were incredible. She’s a good player.”
Avery and Meersman led PW with nine points apiece.
The win puts Upper Moreland in good position in the SOL Freedom championship race. The Golden Bears are one game behind Lower Moreland in the loss column but are finished with the three crossover games that are typically the toughest – Upper Dublin, Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh. Lower Moreland still needs to play Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“This is huge for us,” Gohl said. “Those are very good teams that Lower Moreland still has to face. I feel like we’re in a pretty good position now.”
“These crossover games are so important,” Adelman said. “You want to try to knock off one of those teams from the other division. Upper Dublin is such a great team. Abington is such a great team. PW is such a great team. If you can get one of those. We still have Hatboro(-Horsham), which is going to be a great game because it’s such a rivalry. It’s interesting. Lower Moreland has to get through it also. That Upper Moreland-Lower Moreland game is such a big game, too. It’s been a really good division this year.”
Upper Moreland and Lower Moreland also have to complete the second round of SOL Freedom games, including the head-to-head matchup on Jan. 23 at Lower Moreland. Upper Moreland won the first meeting, 41-36.
Upper Moreland 33, Plymouth Whitemarsh 31
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12 0 9 10 – 31
Upper Moreland 12 9 5 7 – 33
PW: Joslyn Perez 0 0 1-2 1, AJ Avery 1 0 7-8 9, Kenna Winland 1 1 0-2 5, Eliza Meersman 2 1 2-3 9, Marissa Perez 0 1 0-0 3, Taylor Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Lex Shobin 1 0 0-0 2. Total 6 3 10-15 31.
UM: Mikel Lancit 2 1 0-0 7, Lilly Hansen 3 2 2-2 14, Lianna Adames 1 1 0-0 5, Holly Gohl 2 0 0-0 4, Marie Meyers 0 1 0-0 3, Olivia Meakim 0 0 0-0 0, Molly Meakim 0 0 0-0 0, Makaila Allen 0 0 0-0 0. Total 8 5 2-2 33.
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