PHILADELPHIA — If Upper Dublin had any jitters playing in the program’s first Suburban One League Tournament championship game Tuesday night, it didn’t show it.
The top-seeded Cardinals came out on fire against No. 6 Central Bucks West. They went 8-for-10 from the field in the first quarter while hitting four three-pointers to build a 13-point lead.
The advantage was trimmed to five points early in the fourth quarter and four points with 80 seconds remaining, but that’s as close as it would get. Sophomore Kobe Bazemore made a pair of key plays to get the lead back to seven and Upper Dublin closed out a 49-43 win at Holy Family University.
“The last two years we lost in the semifinals,” Upper Dublin junior Ryan Mulroy, who scored a team-high 13 points, said. “A lot of people I know don’t like this tournament because, I don’t know, injuries and everything happen, but this gives us so much momentum going into districts and it lets everyone know we’re the best team in the Suburban One and that’s an awesome feeling. I’m so hyped and I know our team is, too.”
“I love this tournament,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “It’s one of the best public school leagues in the state. You’ve got 24 teams whittled down to eight, then you have to win three games in five days against really good teams. (West is) a really good team and so were all of the other teams in the tournament. It’s a lot of fun, it really is.”
With its lead trimmed to four with 1:20 remaining, Upper Dublin (22-3) executed an impressive play from under its own basket. Mulroy passed to Bazemore to beat pressure and Bazemore found Brady Fogle all alone under the offensive basket for a layup and 45-39 advantage.
On the ensuing possession, Bazemore grabbed a steal at his own three-point line, raced down the floor and got fouled at the rim. He made both free throws for a 47-39 lead with 46.1 second left.
“My mindset down the stretch was just win the game and stay composed,” Bazemore, who scored five of his seven points in the fourth, said. “They went on the little run. I know how to keep my team composed and get the win — it’s lock in on defense and then hit these free throws when I get fouled.”
“That’s what he does,” Brooks said. “He’s had some games – like the first half tonight wasn’t his prettiest — but something about him and the fourth quarters. His instincts take over. His defensive ability that steal —was phenomenal — he knocks down some free throws, a couple passes, that finish under the rim (earlier in the fourth) was beautiful. The fact that he’s doing this at age 15 — he’s fearless. He’s really, as the years go on, going to be a nice player.”
The Cardinals played strong defense and hit enough free throws down the stretch to close out the win, 49-43.
“It felt like for the last two quarters it was hang on for dear life,” Brooks said, “but sometimes it’s like that when you’ve got a lead. Our guys have done a really good job this second half of the year. We’ve got a young team. This is new for a lot of the guys.They have really learned how to close games – situational play, when to hold it, when to shoot it. A couple plays here and there would have made it a little bit cleaner at the very end, but super proud of these guys.”
Mulroy scored on the first possession of the game and Upper Dublin led the rest of the way. Fogle followed with a three-pointer and Mulroy added two more for a 7-0 run to start. Mulroy finished the first quarter with eight points while Idris Rines had six on two three-pointers as the Cardinals built a 21-8 lead through eight minutes.
“I was so excited,” Mulroy said. “Just seeing all those shots fall, I knew it was going to be a fun night.”
Upper Dublin was playing a bit short-handed, missing two key contributors in Chris Kohlbrenner and Noah Cohen. This opened a spot for junior Reilly McLaughlin, who played meaningful minutes for the first time this year.
“He made huge plays today,” Brooks said. “He’s been waiting in the wings, he’s been working hard, he had a great season for JV… To step up in a championship game and give good minutes like that – we don’t win this game without his contribution.”
CB West (18-7) won each of the final three quarters. After trailing by 13, 21-8, at the end of the first, the Bucks trimmed their deficit to 10 at halftime, eight through three quarters, five early in the fourth and four with 80 seconds left.
“The first quarter, it just killed us,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said. “We held them to 49 and we gave them 21 points in the first quarter. We can’t give up a 21-point quarter. They were hitting every shot in the first quarter and we were flat. Whatever that formula is we have to figure it out so we start better.
“I’m proud that they fought back. We had a shot there if we had a couple plays go our way. Unfortunately, it didn’t.”
Roman Kulesa scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth. He hit a three on the first possession of the final frame to make it 38-33. He added a layup five minutes later get the Bucks within 42-37 and, after Mulroy split a pair of free throws, Matt Engle scored through contact to make it 43-39 with 1:20 to play.
Julian Phillips led CB West with 17 points. He did all of his scoring in the first three quarters with five points in the first quarter and six points in both the second and third quarters.
West starts its District 1-6A playoff run Friday night. The 11th-seeded Bucks host No. 22 Pennsbury at 7 p.m.
Upper Dublin earned a first-round bye in the District 1-5A playoffs. The second-seeded Cardinals will host the winner of No. 7 West Chester Rustin and No. 10 Penncrest next Wednesday.
Upper Dublin 49, Central Bucks West 43Central Bucks West 8 12 10 13 — 43Upper Dublin 21 9 8 11 — 49Central Bucks West: Matt Engle 1 1 0-1 5, Roman Kulesa 2 3 2-2 15, Bowen Gugger 0 0 2-2 2, Julian Phillips 7 1 0-2 17, Sam Jankowski 0 0 2-2 2, Dan Gallagher 1 0 0-0 2, Jackson Wisniowski 0 0 0-0 0. Total 11 5 6-9 43.Upper Dublin: Ryan Mulroy 3 1 4-6 13, Kobe Bazemore 1 0 5-6 7, Brady Fogle 1 1 1-2 6, Idris Rines 1 3 0-0 11, Brandon Altman 3 0 0-0 6, James Castronuovo 1 0 1-1 3, Reilly McLaughlin 1 0 0-0 2, Anthony Oliveira-Schultze 0 0 1-2 1. Total 11 5 12-17 49.
