Upper Dublin holds off Wissahickon

UPPER DUBLIN >> For three quarters-plus, it looked as though the Upper Dublin boys basketball team was going to celebrate its Senior Night in style, with an easy win over arch-rival Wissahickon.

But these two Suburban One League American Conference programs are not rivals for nothing.

Carrying a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter after leading in double digits for most of the second half, the Cardinals found themselves staring at the possibility of Wissahickon tying the score in the fourth quarter’s dying seconds.

The Cardinals prevailed, 56-52, but it was anything but easy.

John Barrett had a game-high 20 points and Will Derr added 14, but it was the Trojans, who got 15 points off the bench from Marlyn Johnson and 12 more from Zach Reiner, who nearly pulled off what seemed to be the impossible.

The Cardinals built a nine-point lead after the first quarter, held it into halftime (32-24) and restored the nine-point cushion to start the fourth quarter.

Then things got interesting.

With Reiner and Johnson leading the way, Wissahickon began whittling at its deficit, eventually getting it to three points on Johnson’s baseline jumper with 1:23 left.

The score stayed that way down the stretch until Ryan Stover, who had missed two free throws earlier in the quarter, made one-of-two in the final, frantic seconds to ice the victory.

Stover got to the line by partially blocking a driving layup attempt by Trojans’ guard Max Rappaport, who then fouled Stover out of desperation, leading to the made free-throw attempt that iced the verdict.

Early on, it was the Cardinals who appeared to be en route to a blowout win. They got seven points apiece from Barrett and Derr in the first quarter to build an early cushion, then watched as Wissahickon crawled back into the game in the second quarter behind nine points by Johnson.

Still, it seemed the Cardinals were going to maintain their control when eight points from Barrett helped restore the home team’s nine-point lead heading into the decisive fourth quarter.

But Wissahickon would not be denied, and while putting the clamps on the Cardinals, the visitors got four points apiece from Johnson and Chaz Owens to send a scare into the Upper Dublin faithful.

The Trojans, however, could not complete the unlikely comeback, although to their credit the home crowd was holding its collective breath until the end.

Jimmy Gallagher had seven points and a game-high nine rebounds for the winners.