UPPER DUBLIN — Never. In. Doubt.
The top-seeded Upper Dublin Cardinals struck early and often, leaving No. 8 Neshaminy dizzy, as they breezed to a 73-46 blowout victory in the quarterfinals of the Suburban One League Tournament on Friday in front of a full home gymnasium.
Brady Fogle led the charge with a game-high 18 points. He was one of four Cardinals to score in double figures. Chris Kohlbrenner finished with 15, Ryan Mulroy had 13 and Idris Rines added 12.
“We just wanted to come out and bring the energy,” Fogle said. “We got a lot of guys in to play, we subbed quick, and we just go all-out when we’re on the floor.”
Upper Dublin (20-3), which went 10 deep, moved on to host No. 5 Abington in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal. Whichever teams reach the championship game, they’ll play Tuesday at Holy Family University, deep in Northeast Philadelphia.
Nate Townsend led Neshaminy (15-8) with 14 points and Logan Gale scored 13. Ryan Meehan, one of the Skins’ top starters, was nursing an ankle injury and barely played in a lineup that usually goes just seven deep.
The Cardinals used a motion offense and smothering ‘D’ to stifle Neshaminy for most of the contest, leading 31-12 at halftime and 44-21 after three quarters.
Upper Dublin also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Skins 27-17.
“We knew if we could make this a fast-paced game, we might be able to tire them out a little bit,” Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks said. “We wanted to make this a ‘go, go, go’ game. It worked out in our favor. I thought our energy, our intensity, and our defensive pressure — in the full court and the half court — was phenomenal. And then we shared the ball really well.
“Our thing is, share the ball,” he said. “Move, have good spacing and share the ball, and usually good things happen. And we’re very lucky to have multiple guys who can score, and the press helped us get out in transition.
“I wish we would have closed a little better, but a win’s a win.”
Neshaminy scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough. Upper Dublin, the SOL Liberty champion, countered with 29 to finish off the Skins.
“We’re not done yet,” said Fogle, whose club has high hopes for this postseason. “We’re just going to keep going.”
This was the first game of an Upper Dublin double-header, as the girls followed with a win over Bensalem.
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Upper Dublin 73, Neshaminy 46
Neshaminy 6 6 9 25 — 46
Upper Dublin 17 14 13 29 — 73
Neshaminy: Nate Townsen 4 0 6-7 14, Logan Gale 4 0 5-8 13, Emeer Coombs 1 1 2-2 7, Max Currie 3 0 0-0 6, Guy Horton 3 0 0-0 6.
Upper Dublin: Brady Fogle 4 2 4-4 18, Chris Kohlbrenner 3 2 3-4 15, Ryan Mulroy 5 0 3-4 13, Idris Rines 1 2 4-4 12, Antony Oliveira-Schultze 2 0 2-2 6, Noah Cohen 0 0 6-6 6, James Castronuovo 0 1 0-0 3. Totals — 15 7 22-24 73.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on Twitter at @the_defranc.
